Tuesday, February 18, 2014


he Scientific “Cheat” That Gives You ALL The Benefits Of Exercise And Meditation


The Scientific “Cheat” That Gives You ALL The Benefits Of Exercise And Meditation…In Just A Few Minutes A Day using Special ‘Optimized’ Mind And Body Techniques
Vishen explains the topic of the next class on Mindvalley Academy
- See more at: http://mindvalleyacademy.com/special/introducing-30x30#sthash.PRcOXglG.dpuf

Saturday, February 8, 2014


Amazing article on Fasting


http://realitysandwich.com/181121/fasting-av/

Clearly one of the most important features distinguishing humans from all other mammals is the size of our brain in comparison to the rest of our body. While it is certainly true that other mammals have larger brains, scientists recognize that larger animals must have larger brains simply to control their larger bodies. An elephant, for example, has a brain that weighs 7500 grams, far larger than our 1400 gram brain. So making comparisons about “brain power” or intelligence just based on brain size is obviously futile. Again, it’s the ratio of the brain size to total body size that attracts scientist’s interest when considering the brain’s functional capacity.  An elephant’s brain represents 1/550 of its body weight, while the human brain weighs 1/40 of the total body weight. So our brain represents about 2.5 % of our total body weight as opposed to the large brained elephant whose brain is just 0.18% of its total body weight. But even more important than the fact that we are blessed with a lot of brain matter is the intriguing fact that gram for gram, the human brain consumes a disproportionately huge amount of energy. While only representing 2.5% of our total body weight, the human brain consumes an incredible 22% of our body’s energy expenditure at rest. This represents about 350% more energy consumption in comparison to body weight compared to other anthropoids like gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees.

So it takes a lot of dietary calories to keep the human brain functioning. Fortunately, the very fact that we’ve developed such a large and powerful brain has provided us the skills and intelligence to maintain adequate sustenance during times of scarcity and to make provisions for needed food supplies in the future. Indeed the ability to conceive of and plan for the future is highly dependant upon the evolution not only of brain size, but other unique aspects of the human brain.

It is a colorful image to conceptualize early Homo sapiens migrating across an arid plain amongst carrion of animals less able to survive as they lacked our advantageous clever brain. But our earliest ancestors had one other powerful advantage compared to even our most closely related primates. The human brain has developed a unique biochemical pathway that proves hugely advantageous during times of food scarcity. Unlike other mammals, our brain is able to utilize an alternative source of calories during times of starvation. Typically, we supply our brain with glucose provided by our daily food consumption. We continue to supply our brains with a steady stream of glucose (blood sugar) between meals by breaking down glycogen, a storage form of glucose primarily in the liver and muscles. But relying on glycogen stores provides only short term availability of glucose. As glycogen stores are depleted, our metabolism shifts and we are actually able to create new molecules of glucose, a process aptly termed gluconeogenesis.  Gluconeogenesis involves the construction of new glucose molecules from amino acids harvested from the breakdown of protein primarily found in muscle. While this adds needed glucose to the system, it does so at the cost of muscle breakdown, something less than favorable for a starving hunter-gatherer.

But human physiology offers one more pathway to provide vital fuel to the demanding brain during times of scarcity. When food is no longer available, after about 3 days, the liver begins to use body fat to create chemicals called ketones. One ketone in particular, beta hydroxybutyrate (beta-HBA), actually serves as a highly efficient fuel source for the human brain, allowing humans to function cognitively for extended periods during food scarcity. Our unique ability to power our brains using this alternative fuel source helps reduce our dependence on gluconeogenesis and therefore spares amino acids, and the muscles from which they are derived. Reducing muscle breakdown provides obvious advantages for the hungry Homo sapien in search of food.  It is this unique ability to utilize beta-HBA as a brain fuel that sets us apart from our nearest animal relatives and has allowed humans to remain cognitively engaged and therefore more likely to survive the famines ever present in our history.

This metabolic pathway, unique to Homo sapiens, may actually serve as an explanation for one of the most hotly debated questions in anthropology, the disappearance of our Neandertal relatives. Clearly, when it comes to brains, size does matter. Why then, with a brain some 20% larger than our own, did Neandertals suddenly disappear in just a few thousand years between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago? The party line among scientists remains fixated on the notion that the demise of Neandertals was a consequence of their hebetude. As William Calvin described Neandertals in his book,


A Brain for All Seasons,  “ Their way of life subjected them to more bone fractures; they seldom survived until forty years of age; while making tools similar to overlapping species, there was little inventiveness that characterizes behaviorally-modern Homo sapiens (p306).

While it is convenient and almost dogmatic to accept that Neandertals were “wiped out” by clever Homo sapiens, many scientists now believe that food scarcity may have played a more prominent role in their disappearance. Perhaps the simple fact that Neandertals, lacking the biochemical pathway to utilize beta-HBA as a fuel source for brain metabolism, lacked the “mental endurance” to persevere. Relying on gluconeogenesis to power their brains would have led to more rapid breakdown of muscle tissue ultimately compromising their ability to stalk prey or migrate to areas where plant food sources were more readily available. Their extinction may not have played out in direct combat with homo sapiens but rather manifested as a consequence of a simple biochemical inadequacy.

Our ability to utilize beta-HBA as a brain fuel is far more important than simply a protective legacy of our hunter-gatherer heritage. As Harvard Medical School professor George F. Cahill stated, “Recent studies have shown that beta-hydroxybutyrate, the principal “ketone” is not just a fuel, but a “superfuel” more efficiently producing ATP energy than glucose… It has also protected neuronal cells in tissue culture against exposure to toxins associated with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s” (Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2003; 114:149-61; discussion 162-3. Ketoacids? Good medicine? Cahill GF Jr, Veech RL).

Indeed, well beyond serving as a brain “superfuel,” Dr. Cahill and other researchers have determined that beta-HBA has other profoundly positive effects on brain health and function. Essentially, beta-HBA is thought to mediate many of the positive effects of caloric restriction and fasting on the brain including improved antioxidant function, increase in mitochondrial energy production with increase in mitochondrial population, increased cellular survival, and increased levels of BDNF leading to enhanced growth of new brain cells (neurogenesis).

"I fast for greater physical and mental efficiency.” --Plato (428-348 B.C.)

Clearly, the idea of substantially reducing your daily calorie intake will not appeal to many people, despite the fact that it is a powerful approach not only to brain enhancement, but for overall health as well.

What seems to be more appealing to most people is the idea of intermittent fasting. That is, a complete restriction of food for a defined period of time at regular intervals. Research has clearly demonstrated that many of the same health providing and brain enhancing genetic pathways activated by caloric restriction are similarly engaged by fasting, even for relatively short periods of time.

Not only does fasting turn on the genetic machinery for the production of BDNF, but the Nrf2 pathway is also powered up, leading to enhanced detoxification, reduction of inflammation, and increased production of brain-protective antioxidants. Fasting causes the brain to shift away from using glucose as a fuel to a metabolism that consumes a special type of fat, manufactured in the liver called ketones. When the brain is metabolizing ketones as a fuel, even the process of cell suicide (apoptosis) is reduced, while mitochondrial genes are turned on leading to mitochondrial replication. Thus fasting shifts the brains basic metabolism and specifically targets the feminine DNA of mitochondria enhancing energy production and paving the way for not only better brain function and clarity, but also a deeper connection with the divine healing feminine energy.

As my colleague Gabriel Cousins explained,

"I often observe in fasting participants that concentration seems to improve, creative thinking expands, depression lifts, insomnia stops, anxieties fade, the mind becomes more tranquil, and a natural joy begins to appear. It is my hypothesis that when the physical toxins are cleared from the brain cells, mind-brain function automatically and significantly improves, and spiritual capacities expand." --Gabriel Cousens, M.D. (Founder, Tree Of Life Rejuvenation Center, Patagonia, AZ)

The expansion of spiritual capacities referred to by Dr. Cousens is a manifestation of the opening of the gates to the divine universal energy by the expansion of mitochondrial number and function brought about by the shift in brain metabolism that fasting imparts. It is through this functionally enhanced and increased population of mitochondria that the eternal energy is imbibed into our being. As Paramahansa Yogananda eloquently put it in his collection of essays entitled, Man’s Eternal Quest. "Through fasting, let your mind depend on its own power. When that power manifests, the life force in the body becomes increasingly reinforced with the eternal energy continually flowing into the brain and spine from the cosmic energy around the body…”

Indeed the utility of fasting in spiritual quests is an integral part of the human religious history. All major religions to this day retain fasting as far more than simply a traditional ceremonial act. It remains a fundamental part of the spiritual practice to gain enlightenment as in the Muslim fast of Ramadan and the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur. Yogis practice austerity with their diets and shamans fast during their vision quests.

Father Thomas Ryan, Director of the Catholic Paulist Society's North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations summarized the gifts offered by fasting by stating, "Fasting as a religious act increases our sensitivity to that mystery always and everywhere present to us. It is an invitation to awareness, a call to compassion for the needy, a cry of distress, and a song of joy. It is a discipline of self-restraint, a ritual of purification, and a sanctuary for offerings of atonement. It is a wellspring for the spiritually dry, a compass for the spiritually lost, and inner nourishment for the spiritually hungry."

"Fasting is the master key to mental and spiritual unfoldment and evolution."--Dr. Arnold Ehret (1866-1922; German Father of Naturopathy, a.k.a. Naturopathic Medicine)

So many manifestations today:
- Daddy agreed to Brandon's green belt graduation
- Daddy is skipping ice fishing and staying home with us (love)
- The homeowners of the house I want to buy came back with a lower counter offer

Thank you universe~ (love love love)



Wednesday, February 5, 2014

http://realitysandwich.com/1261/how_shamans_dream_world_being/

What's even more baffling is the fine tuning of the parameters of the universe that occurred, particularly here on the surface of the earth, which has maintained a perfect temperature balance between the freezing and boiling point of water for more than a billion years. The unlikelihood of these ratios that permit life to appear suggests the presence of an intelligent force. The Earthkeepers call this the Infinite Source, or Infinity.

The shamans with whom I have studied in the Andes and the Amazon believe that we can only access the power of this force by raising our level of consciousness. When we do so, we become aware that we're like a drop of water in a vast, divine ocean, distinct yet immersed in something much larger than ourselves. It's only when we experience our connection to Infinity that we're able to dream powerfully. In fact, it's our sense of separation from Infinity that makes us become trapped in a nightmare in the first place. If this sounds like circular thinking, you are right. Which came first, the nightmare or the sense of separation from Infinity? The answer is that they occur simultaneously.
http://realitysandwich.com/1428/homo_luminous_the_new_human/

One day, I was walking with a medicine woman and her husband deep in the Amazon. “Alberto, go across the clearing,” they said. “Go back into the rainforest and see what happens.” So I turned and went back into the forest. From all around me, the forest was full of song. The sounds of the macaws and the monkeys and the parrots from all about were as an orchestra. First step, second step, third step, and then, everything stopped. The shamans came up to me and said, “See? They know that you’ve been kicked out of the garden. They know that you don’t belong here.”
http://realitysandwich.com/1428/homo_luminous_the_new_human/

The shaman believes that we live in a benign universe. Evil exists, but only in the human heart. We live in a collaborative, benign universe that will actually go out of its way to conspire on our behalf. But you have to be in proper relationship with it. In the medicine traditions, the shaman sees no difference between being killed by a microbe or killed by a jaguar. To us, one of them is an illness, and one is an accident, Poor boy, he went to the river at dusk, and got eaten up. For the shaman, these two are identical. You have to be in proper relationship with microbes and with jaguars, otherwise they both begin to look at you as lunch. When youre not in proper relationship, the universe turns predatory. It begins to stalk you. When we come out of proper relationship, the universe becomes adversarial we hit obstacle after obstacle but when we are in proper relationship, it conspires on our behalf. The most unlikely possibilities line up to make things work for us. This is an essential aspect of the healing process in the medicine way: to come into proper relationship. Not to medicate, to treat, to intervene, but to come into proper relationship through an energetic process.
http://realitysandwich.com/1428/homo_luminous_the_new_human/

In times like these we are constantly challenged to face little deaths in our lives: who we once were, a relationship ending, loss of a loved one, a career, a cherished time in our lives. During transitions, we have time to reinvent ourselves. When we dont, a deadening happens. That deadening causes us to age instead of becoming the sage. If we go through these little deaths consciously, they become opportunities for new life. Instead of being wounded by transitions, we become inspired by them if we have the prerequisite courage. How we respond to adversity turns us into courageous beings. Courage can come out of frustration, illness, from many sources, sparked by adversity or by the divine.
http://realitysandwich.com/1428/homo_luminous_the_new_human/

I remember when my daughter was thrown from a horse at age six. The horse stepped on her and ruptured her liver. She was very close to death for three days. I was in the Amazon at the time. It was the longest journey of my life coming back to upstate NY. When I arrived at the hospital, she was in pediatric ICU, hooked up to tubes and IVs. We didnt know if she was going to make it. I sat beside her, crying, praying to God that she be saved, when an immense clarity came over me. My sadness disappeared and I spoke to her soul. Although she was unconscious, I said to her, Sweetheart, I love you, and you have to make a choice if its time for you to go or not. Its your choice. I love you, your soul knows if your journey is done. Three minutes later, she regained consciousness. She chose yes.
http://realitysandwich.com/1428/homo_luminous_the_new_human/

The shaman is a person of the percept, of perceptual traditions. In the west, we are people of the precept. We get precepts, laws, rules. We get the ten commandments, elect legislators and law makers that make more rules. When the shamans want to change the world, they work at the level of the essential to bring about a shift in perception. By shifting perception, we dream the new world into being and the world changes. That is our task, to dream with our eyes open.
invest on teaching spirituality to your kids - when they are spiritual they can deal with anything in life
as adults we should take the time to help our kids understand and manage their emotions
new learning today: we are moving from being homo sapiens to homo luminous

http://realitysandwich.com/1428/homo_luminous_the_new_human/

Many prophesies in the indigenous world speak of this time in human history as a period of great transformation. In the medicine tradition of the Inca, legend tells of a great angel who looked into the future and saw that humanity would face an enormous task at the beginning of the 21st century. Extenuating circumstances in an extremely difficult and challenging time would require extraordinary effort to bring about peace and heal the heart of the world. “Who would like to volunteer?” the angel asked. Knowing we could make a difference, we jumped up and said, “Me!”

The legend reminds brings to mind a scene in The Lord of the Rings when the dwarf says, “No chance of success, certain death ahead? What are we waiting for!” Of course, our odds are better than those faced by the dwarf, but the problems humanity is facing are huge. It is no longer a matter of global warming or carbon emissions, but the possible collapse of the entire climate system – a catastrophe beyond imagination. At the human level, the distribution of water is a huge problem. Who owns the water? Can private interests own the water? And how do we distribute water to places that don’t have it? The problems we face are vast and overwhelming. But the problem the Earth is facing is simple: do away with the parasite affecting it. The Earth has an immune system that recognizes what is toxic and will do what is necessary to eliminate it.

The indigenous peoples have a body of prophesy that says up to two-thirds of humanity will be eradicated in the next decade, between now and 2012. There is to be a tremendous culling of humanity because the earth can no longer sustain this parasite humanity has become. But every crisis brings with it a marvelous opportunity and this is why we stood up and said, “Me!” Our work is to find new solutions, to develop sustainable ecological practices in commerce, business, and medicine. This is what we came to do.

I see the main problem as a spiritual one. Not resource problems, but the problems centered around human beliefs, the troublesome elements founded in our mythology. Our problematic mythology is collapsing all around us. It is a mythology that is predatory, that is abusive, that reaps the cream of the earth – timber, water, topsoil – and passes the furtive costs onto future generations. These greedy, rapacious paradigms that pose humans as a dominator over nature are no longer sustainable.

One day, I was walking with a medicine woman and her husband deep in the Amazon. “Alberto, go across the clearing,” they said. “Go back into the rainforest and see what happens.” So I turned and went back into the forest. From all around me, the forest was full of song. The sounds of the macaws and the monkeys and the parrots from all about were as an orchestra. First step, second step, third step, and then, everything stopped. The shamans came up to me and said, “See? They know that you’ve been kicked out of the garden. They know that you don’t belong here.”

Certain that all of nature could smell my underarm deodorant, my hairspray, my toothpaste, my athlete’s foot powder, I looked around for a way to cover up my scent. By the edge of the river, I came upon a couple of Indians cooking a boa on a spit. I asked them for the fat they had been collecting from the boa. Stripping down to my shorts, I smeared myself with the boa fat, thinking this would conceal my smell. I walked back into the rainforest. First step, the forest was full of song. Second step, the forest was full of song. Third step, and again, everything stopped. Except for the flies, hundreds and hundreds of flies swarmed about me.

It took ten years of study with the indigenous people before I was able to walk through the rainforest and have it continue singing. No longer did the forest recognize me as someone who did not belong. I belonged in the garden again.

This reveals a great deal about our mythology. Mythology creates our beliefs and those beliefs inform our reality. In the west, we have the only mythology on the planet in which we are kicked out of the garden. Nobody else was cast out of the garden. The aborigines were not kicked out, the sub-Saharan Africans were not kicked out, the indigenous Americans were not kicked out. These peoples were given the garden. They were the stewards and caretakers of the garden. We, on the other hand, were not only cast out, but as we were being cast out, a voice said, “And cursed is the earth because of you,” pointing to the woman. And to the man, condemning him to a life of hard work, “With the sweat of your brow you will take your fruit from the earth and the earth shall produce thorns and thistles for you.”

This is the original damnation. The Bible doesn’t say, “And the earth shall grow strawberries and mangoes and papayas for you.” It says thorns and thistles. This is our mythology. From the beginning, we have a hostile relationship with the feminine, with the earth itself. And if we look still deeper, even before we were cast out of the garden, we learned on the seventh day of creation that all of the food on the planet belongs to us. The animals and the trees and the flowers were created for our pleasure and for our feeding as humans. Instead of putting us in a position of stewardship with all life on the planet, it puts us in the position of the consumer. The assumption is that all of the food on the earth belongs to humans. It doesn’t. The food on the earth belongs to all living beings on the earth.

A second element unique to western culture is that we have practically the only mythology on the planet in which the masculine gives birth to the feminine. Eve is made from the rib of Adam. Nowhere else, except in Greek mythology, does this appear. As the ways of the feminine began to be lost, Zeus became the dominant god. In the early Greek mythologies, the goddess, the “creatrix”, was predominant. As she began to be eclipsed by the masculine principle, Zeus became predominant. And though Zeus took the goddess Hera for his bride, she refused to submit to him. Thereafter, she was known in mythology as “the bitch” because you cannot repress the feminine without ill effect. Eventually, it becomes deadly for a culture, and this is what has happened to us.

The paradigms of the west are the paradigms of the masculine. This is at the core of the problem. We have to break free of this mythology that sees the earth as ours to consume and sees the feminine as damned. These mythologies express themselves in our economic, political, social, and educational systems. Even our medical practices are, by their very nature, hostile and aggressive. These paradigms hold that all the food and resources on the planet belong to us. Not to the other animals, not to the plants; it all belongs to us. We can rape, loot and pillage, we can spoil the earth and postpone the price of clean-up to future generations. We have been in the grip of a mythology that has exhausted itself. Our economy, our political system, education, and even our relationship paradigms – all show signs of collapse. The old mythology has taken us as far as it can.

Now we must look for mythologies of sustainability, of collaborative relationships with the earth. This new mythology has yet to emerge, but we have the traditions of the Earth Peoples to provide us with models of the kind of world our children’s children can truly inhabit. The Earth People have an animistic relationship with all of life. Animism is practiced by people who believe they can speak to the rivers and to the trees and to the canyons and to the mountains and to God. This is what we were able to do before we were cast out of the garden. We were still in relationship with Spirit and with the natural world. Spirit is actually talking to us all the time. But we, in the west, don’t open our ears to hear. If we are to find that self that still walks with beauty on the earth, that speaks to the rivers and to the trees and to God, and to whom the rivers and the trees and the voice of spirit talks back, we need a great kind of soul retrieval.

I embarked on my study in shamanism nearly 30 years ago as a result of my frustration with western psychology and my inability to discover the workings of the mind. I spent 25 years, first as a medical anthropologist and psychologist, and then becoming a student of the shamans, immersing myself in the ways of the shaman. I began to study the techniques, methodologies and practices of the earth peoples who have developed a body of knowledge for stepping beyond mind, for living mindfully, but outside the visceral grip of the mind.

My studies led me to South America, to the rainforest, to study with medicine men and women of the Amazon. These traditions had been neglected by anthropologists and by students of religion because they had left no body of writing. Modern prejudice says that if you do not learn to read or write, you are illiterate and therefore, not intelligent. These traditions were dismissed, whereas students of religion and anthropology have been studying the other world traditions, ones that left the Vedas and the Sutras and the Koran and the Bible, for hundreds of years. The indigenous practices of the Americas were neglected because writing is largely absent. Only since Margaret Meade and the advent of experiential anthropology have we begun to discover the true wealth and beauty of the indigenous teachings of our land, of the Americas.

The shaman believes that we live in a benign universe. Evil exists, but only in the human heart. We live in a collaborative, benign universe that will actually go out of its way to conspire on our behalf. But you have to be in proper relationship with it. In the medicine traditions, the shaman sees no difference between being killed by a microbe or killed by a jaguar. To us, one of them is an illness, and one is an accident, “Poor boy, he went to the river at dusk, and got eaten up.” For the shaman, these two are identical. You have to be in proper relationship with microbes and with jaguars, otherwise they both begin to look at you as lunch. When you’re not in proper relationship, the universe turns predatory. It begins to stalk you. When we come out of proper relationship, the universe becomes adversarial – we hit obstacle after obstacle – but when we are in proper relationship, it conspires on our behalf. The most unlikely possibilities line up to make things work for us. This is an essential aspect of the healing process in the medicine way: to come into proper relationship. Not to medicate, to treat, to intervene, but to come into proper relationship through an energetic process.

The shamans of the Americas understand that we have a luminous energy field that surrounds the physical body. It informs the physical body in a way similar to the energy fields of a magnet that organize iron filings on a piece of paper. In the paradigms of the west, we are intent on shuffling and moving the iron filings about, trying to change at the level of the physical. Shamans possess a body of ancient energy healing practices that move and shift at the level of the energetic – moving the magnet – and the physical body follows. The shaman works at the core, at the essential level and healing happens.

The shamans discovered that time runs in figure 8s, that it loops in wormholes back and forth. The way we can know that is by breaking free of the grip time and experiencing infinity. The core healing practice of the medicine way – the illumination process – happens outside time, in infinity. It happens when we access a self that never entered the stream of time, that cannot be affected by disease, that cannot be touched by ill health. Once having made contact with the infinite, we can re-inform who we are today. We can grow bodies that age differently, that heal differently, that die differently.

In times like these we are constantly challenged to face little deaths in our lives: who we once were, a relationship ending, loss of a loved one, a career, a cherished time in our lives. During transitions, we have time to reinvent ourselves. When we don’t, a deadening happens. That deadening causes us to age instead of becoming the sage. If we go through these little deaths consciously, they become opportunities for new life. Instead of being wounded by transitions, we become inspired by them if we have the prerequisite courage. How we respond to adversity turns us into courageous beings. Courage can come out of frustration, illness, from many sources, sparked by adversity or by the divine.

I remember when my daughter was thrown from a horse at age six. The horse stepped on her and ruptured her liver. She was very close to death for three days. I was in the Amazon at the time. It was the longest journey of my life coming back to upstate NY. When I arrived at the hospital, she was in pediatric ICU, hooked up to tubes and IV’s. We didn’t know if she was going to make it. I sat beside her, crying, praying to God that she be saved, when an immense clarity came over me. My sadness disappeared and I spoke to her soul. Although she was unconscious, I said to her, “Sweetheart, I love you, and you have to make a choice if it’s time for you to go or not. It’s your choice. I love you, your soul knows if your journey is done.” Three minutes later, she regained consciousness. She chose yes.

To go from victim to hero we go into the feminine, into the earth, the mother, the great one. There is no way to make a personal journey without embracing the greater journey of the planet. The heroic stories are the stories of accepting that call to the hero’s journey, accepting the calling to a destiny. While we all have a future, only a few have a destiny. A destiny is something you must make yourself available to by saying yes to life, yes to God, yes to your own growth, your own spirit.

The medicine way is as contemporary today as it was 50,000 years ago. My mentor believed that the new shamans, the new caretakers of the earth would come from the west. We are the ones who can bring healing and transformation to our families, to our communities, and to the earth. This is a critical time in history, a time for a reawakening of the earth and of our own feminine. It is a time of tremendous transformation. All our old models are being reinvented, in every facet of society. And we are the change agents. That is what the shaman has always been. The shaman is a map-maker. We need new map-makers. Essential maps do not simply lay out the territory, but are a guide to the territory. So we must make new maps.

The nature of the dialog that the shaman has with nature is one of life speaking to life, life connecting with life, life responding to a call and responding to life, to us. We call on four great archetypes: the serpent; the jaguar; the hummingbird; and the condor, the eagle in the east. These are the four organizing principles in the medicine tradition. They are known by different names among the Hopi, among the Shoshoni, among the Navajo, the Maya and the Inca. The important thing is not what you call it, not whether it’s the jaguar in the west or the buffalo – the important thing is that when you call it, it comes. That is the shaman’s agreement with spirit. Our agreement with spirit, that each and every one of us has made, is that when you call, spirit comes. Not 60% of the time, not 90% of the time, but 100% of the time.

Each of the four archetypes is the embodiment of organizing principles in the universe, described in animistic fashion. Each one of the directions represents one of the steps that the shaman must go through to become a man or woman of knowledge. The shaman differentiates between information and knowledge. Information is what we are flooded in every day. Knowledge is wisdom. Information is knowing that water is two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Knowledge is being able to make it rain.

The shaman is a person of the percept, of perceptual traditions. In the west, we are people of the precept. We get precepts, laws, rules. We get the ten commandments, elect legislators and law makers that make more rules. When the shamans want to change the world, they work at the level of the essential to bring about a shift in perception. By shifting perception, we dream the new world into being and the world changes. That is our task, to dream with our eyes open.

Through this great transformation, a new human is emerging on the earth. I call this new human “homo luminous.” Shamanic traditions understand that evolution happens within generations. In the west, we believe evolution happens in between generations: maybe your children will be smarter and more handsome, maybe the indigo children will climb to the next rung on the evolutionary ladder. The shaman understands that evolution happens within generations. It is for us to take that quantum leap into who we are becoming. We can become homo luminous in our lifetime. This is our greatest task: to take that quantum leap individually because as we do it for ourselves, we do it for the entire planet. Each and every one of us, when we choose truth, when we choose life, when we choose light, we are transforming the world.
partner with your kids - let them learn the meaning of partnership from YOU and not from kids in school or anyone else
teach the child to recognize his voice within - his spirit, his intuition - and he can only hear that when he has quiet time --- in other words teach meditation early on
know your family values -- and determine how those values are shared with your kids and how they are articulated to them
kids dont need a lot of time, they need quality time --- and to prepare for that quality time, you have got to "exhale" before you spend time with them -- find ways to exhale before you see and bond with your kid
journal what your kids say when they are younger and that will help you help them figure out their purpose in life --- give them the freedom to express themselves
we parents are role models --- be real and be honest and be loving - spend quality time with your kids, connect with your kids~
form a partnership with your kids --- you cant say "we know what we are doing, just listen, you dont know anything" --- kids are pure and know more than we do; everything we know is based on how we are programmed by society and parents --- and we should learn from kids' unbiased look at the world and life

Alternative to Punishment #4: Offer an Alternative

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Alternative to Punishment #4: Offer an Alternative
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One very effective alternative to punishment that helps boost your
child's self-esteem is to offer an alternative. It's important to remember
that your child wants to explore the world, and they need space in
order to do that.

But at the same time you don't want a mess everywhere, so
here's a great way to create a "win-win" situation for you and your
child.

If your toddler is exploring the effects of gravity by pouring milk on the
floor, before you react like the house is on fire, first take a moment.
Evaluate the situation and think about offering your child an alternative.

Water in the sink would be one alternative,
playing outside with the hose would be another.

There's no point in punishing your child with harsh words, which
only fosters low self-esteem. Instead there are many alternatives.

We know that non-reaction can be a real challenge. As parents, we
are usually over-worked and under-rested — so we can often find
ourselves faced with these situations when cleaning up milk off the
floor is the last thing we want to do. I go into this in detail in
my 7 week online program Busy Moms Guide to Awesome Parenting


Let's use some examples of alternatives:

-When your child wants to play ball in the house
and they knock something over. Instead of punishing
or yelling, first cool yourself down and then ask them to go outside.

-When your child wants to climb on the furniture.
Prop some pillows up with an old mattress instead.
Or encourage them to climb in the trees.

-When your child wants to pull on the cat's tail,
see if they want to play tug of war instead.

-When your child starts mushing their food around,
put them at the sink with water and toys.

The thing to remember is that if your child has an idea that
you don't like, they don't need to be reprimanded for it.
Often times their ideas come from a sincere desire to learn and
explore the world. If you punish them for this, you will teach
them to be less confident, less independent, and harm their
natural sense of self-esteem.

By talking to them in a respectful and mature way, you will
not only foster their confidence and self-esteem, but you will
also teach them to talk to you in a respectful and mature way.
Since children model what you do.

By getting upset at them, they feel bad about themselves
and act out later. It becomes a vicious cycle.

An alternative is an excellent way to treat your child with respect
and at the same time allows them to be part of the decision making
process. If one alternative doesn't work for them offer another.

This has happened countless times with our son. I offer
him one thing and he says no, I get frustrated, but keep my cool and
offer him another. Then he happily agrees. He's waiting for
something that's closer to the learning he needs to do.

For example, he's trying to hammer a nail in to the floor,
I offer him some wood and he isn't interested. I then offer
him Styrofoam and he's excited and ready to work.

Try this the next time your child does something you don't want them to:

First, EVALUATE the situation and think of an alternative.
Refrain from getting upset at your child and just offer them something else
right away. Make it clear in your tone of voice, and in a loving manner,
that they need to select an alternative because their present actions aren't
acceptable for you.

Try this out a few times over the next week and notice how your child behaves differently...

To review the Alternatives to Punishment that you've learned so far:
First you learned how to "PREVENT" unecessary stressful events
with your child by taking a few steps in advance.

Next you learned how to "EVALUATE" the situation before you react,
so you can start responding in a way that helps your child dissolve
their undesirable behavior.

The third alternative you learned was to "ASK A QUESTION,"
in order to get a better understanding of your child's behavior.

And this week you learned about "OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE,"
which allows you to redirect your child, away from actions that
stress you or cause a mess, without harming your child's self-esteem.

Now you can offer them something that allows it to be a win-win for both of you. Conflict free.

Next week you'll discover alternative #5: EXPRESS HOW YOU FEEL

When you get it, you'll find out:

* One surefire technique to elicit your child's cooperation almost every time.
* How to express your feelings without guilt, anger or yelling.
* Why letting your child say "no" can reduce their chances of becoming a juvenile
delinquent by as much as 90%. (learn the correct formula)
* An amazingly simple game you can play with your child that's fun while at
the same time boost their self-esteem in a BIG way.
* How a strong self-esteem helps kids withstand peer pressure.

Here's to your happy child!

Love,

Busy Mom Ashley
Busy Moms Guide to Awesome Parenting
An Essential 7 Week Course for Busy Moms!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Alternative to Punishment #3: Ask a Question

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Alternative to Punishment #3: Ask a Question
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It's critical to always ask questions to get clear on your child's motives.
I will use a real-life example to demonstrate.
But you want to frame your questions in the way that will help you provide
the solution to your child's problem.

So if your child is lacking affection - you can ask a question like:
"do you want mommy to just hold you?"

If your child responds positively, then this question addresses their true needs.

Here's a story where we can use a different type of question...

My son was scratching paint off the wall with a spoon and I asked the question:
"What are you doing?"

Instead of immediately jumping to a conclusion, I asked a question.
In this way I'm able to quickly discover why my son was doing that
in order to provide a better solution so as to prevent it from happening
again.

By asking and listening I'm gaining vital information
about my son as well as myself.

So, after asking my son what he was doing
when he was scratching paint off the wall...
He looked at me as if he couldn't believe I
was asking such a ridiculous question, and said:

"I'm taking the snow off my spaceship."

Now my first thought was he was trying to drive me nuts.
But when I saw that he really truly believed with all his heart
in what he was doing, I understood him better. I was better able to
empathize and in turn not react in an "old way".

When I understood the situation I could then explain to him that I
don't want paint coming off the wall but would be happy to provide
something else to do of a similar nature.

Things that seem absurd to us can be perfectly normal to our
children. Their doing something that makes sense to them, but
it may not always make sense to us.

So instead of just assuming that your child is purposely making a
mess, or bothering you, stop and ask a question first.

You may be surprised at what they tell you and gain a better
understanding of their motives. Children have wild and vivid
imaginations. The more we understand and respect our child,
the more they will respect us, and in turn become more cooperative.

I've seen this work for countless of families who've used this approach.
The more children are given space and respect, the more they want to help out.

Here's another good example of when I asked a question....

We were at a restaurant with my son. And like most children,
he sometimes doesn't eat his vegetables. At the table he took the
soy sauce and poured some in his water..

"oh oh!" I thought "this could get messy..."

But before reacting, I evaluated the situation and observed...
Then I could see that he was going to pour his water in his
food bowl...
I was considering objecting and offering him an alternative,
but instead I asked him what he was doing...

He then told me he was enjoying his broccoli in a "certain way".
By dipping it in the soy sauce water and eating it. It wasn't an
appetizing recipe for myself...

But he was happy eating his vegetables that way
- so who am I to try and stop him?

Try it for yourself and see. If you start asking questions
instead of jumping to conclusions you will notice a
marked difference in your child.

Try this the next time your child does something that upsets you...

First empathize with your child and practice "non-reaction."
Then ask them what they're doing.
Once they tell you what they are up to,
try to understand what they are doing from their point of view.
From here you can offer them something else to do
(which we will talk about in great detail next week).

Also, pay close attention to see if they act differently.

What if my child is too young, or doesn't answer me?

If your child is four or under,
here's something handy to keep in mind...
Everything your child does is out of pure innocence and zest.
They are not doing it to upset you.
They may try to get your attention by defying you if
they need your attention,
but they are not deliberately trying to hurt you.

What if my child ignores me?

If your child blatantly ignores you
or doesn't want to speak with
you about what they are doing, that's ok.

Ask them again and explain to them what's going on for you.

"Mommy is wondering what you're doing,
and I'm concerned about the paint on the carpet.
Could you tell me what your idea is so
that I can better understand and help you."

You see, most children are used to being punished,
so they will hide what they are doing at all costs.
So if you have punished your child before, it may
take some time to get your child to openly communicate
with you without being afraid of the punishment.

If you want to have a cooperative and respectful relationship with
your child, you need to teach your child that it's safe for them to be
open and honest with you, even when they make mistakes.
This is covered more in detail in my 7 week program:
The Busy Moms Guide to Awesome Parenting


They need to know it's safe to trust you. So have patience
while you practice this with your child, and be persistent. Let
them know that they can trust you and that you want to
understand them.

Remember, authoritarian punishment may make the child "behave"
in the short term, but the long term effects of this may backfire.

Here's what research has discovered:

"Children from Authoritarian parenting lack social competence as
the parent generally predicts what the child should do instead of
allowing the child to choose by him or herself. The children
also rarely take initiatives. They are socially withdrawn and look
to others to decide what's right. These children lack spontaneity
and lack curiosity."

"These children are often the most vulnerable to enter into
relationships with or marry equally abusive and controlling
partners or develop mental illness when they enter adulthood.
(Although arguably this may be genetic as mental illness sometimes
might be the reason behind some of the more extreme cases of
authoritarian parents.)"

"On the opposite side of the spectrum some children might also
rebel by openly defying the parents by leaving home at a younger
age, partaking in drugs, alcohol, and sexual behavior at a much
younger age than some of their peers as well, dating and/or
marrying a partner whom they know their parents would disapprove
of, and often might be estranged from their parents during
adulthood."

I hope you found this alternative to punishment useful.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g

very inspiring article i found about meditation in schools called Quiet Time

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Meditation-transforms-roughest-San-Francisco-5136942.php

At first glance, Quiet Time - a stress reduction strategy used in several San Francisco middle and high schools, as well as in scattered schools around the Bay Area - looks like something out of the om-chanting 1960s. Twice daily, a gong sounds in the classroom and rowdy adolescents, who normally can't sit still for 10 seconds, shut their eyes and try to clear their minds. I've spent lots of time in urban schools and have never seen anything like it.
This practice - meditation rebranded - deserves serious attention from parents and policymakers. An impressive array of studies shows that integrating meditation into a school's daily routine can markedly improve the lives of students. If San Francisco schools Superintendent Richard Carranza has his way, Quiet Time could well spread citywide.
What's happening at Visitacion Valley Middle School, which in 2007 became the first public school nationwide to adopt the program, shows why the superintendent is so enthusiastic. In this neighborhood, gunfire is as common as birdsong - nine shootings have been recorded in the past month - and most students know someone who's been shot or did the shooting. Murders are so frequent that the school employs a full-time grief counselor.
In years past, these students were largely out of control, frequently fighting in the corridors, scrawling graffiti on the walls and cursing their teachers. Absenteeism rates were among the city's highest and so were suspensions. Worn-down teachers routinely called in sick.
Unsurprisingly, academics suffered. The school tried everything, from counseling and peer support to after-school tutoring and sports, but to disappointingly little effect.
Now these students are doing light-years better. In the first year of Quiet Time, the number of suspensions fell by 45 percent. Within four years, the suspension rate was among the lowest in the city. Daily attendance rates climbed to 98 percent, well above the citywide average. Grade point averages improved markedly. About 20 percent of graduates are admitted to Lowell High School - before Quiet Time, getting any students into this elite high school was a rarity. Remarkably, in the annual California Healthy Kids Survey, these middle school youngsters recorded the highest happiness levels in San Francisco.
Reports are similarly positive in the three other schools that have adopted Quiet Time. AtBurton High School, for instance, students in the program report significantly less stress and depression, and greater self-esteem, than nonparticipants. With stress levels down, achievement has markedly improved, particularly among students who have been doing worst academically. Grades rose dramatically, compared with those who weren't in the program.
On the California Achievement Test, twice as many students in Quiet Time schools have become proficient in English, compared with students in similar schools where the program doesn't exist, and the gap is even bigger in math. Teachers report they're less emotionally exhausted and more resilient.
"The research is showing big effects on students' performance," says Superintendent Carranza. "Our new accountability standards, which we're developing in tandem with the other big California districts, emphasize the importance of social-emotional factors in improving kids' lives, not just academics. That's where Quiet Time can have a major impact, and I'd like to see it expand well beyond a handful of schools."
While Quiet Time is no panacea, it's a game-changer for many students who otherwise might have become dropouts. That's reason enough to make meditation a school staple, and not just in San Francisco.
David L. Kirp, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, is the author of "Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School District and a Strategy for America's Schools."

Waldorf Education

I chanced upon the Waldorf Education in the book that I am reading and I want to share it with you.

http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/02_W_Education/index.asp
http://www.prairiehillwaldorf.org/

Essentially it is like home away from home schooling.
The teacher moves with the children through all levels of the primary and elementary learning experience.
For all those years he children have the same teacher, rather than moving from one person to another.
You can just imagine the bond that was formed there.
The teacher comes to know the child as if it were his or her own.
The child moves to a level of trust and love with the teacher which opens doors.
At the end of those years, the teacher reverts back to the first grade, starting over again with another group of children.
This model recognizes and announces that the human relationship, the bonding, and the love which is shared is just as important as any facts the teacher may impart to the child.

It is very inspirational, unfortunately, the tuition fees may not be affordable to many.

I would also like to share with you some excerpts from this book that I am reading:

Create the grandest version  of the greatest vision you had about yourselves as a human race.
Then take the values and concepts which undergirds such a vision and teach them in your schools.
Why not courses such as:
Understanding Power
Peaceful Conflict Resolution
Elements of Loving Relationship
Personhood and Self Creation
Body, Mind and Spirit: How they functon
Engaging Creativity
Celebrating Self, Valuing others
Fairness
Joyous Sexual Expression
Tolerance
Diversities and Similarities
Ethical Economics
Creative Consciousness and Mind Power
Awareness and Wakefulness
Honesty and Responsibility
Visibility and Transparency
Science and Spirituality
... in other words -- values-based curriculum and not just facts-based curriculum

Very insightful and inspiring things.
Wouldn't it be nice to have these concepts and practices embedded and incorporated into our public schooling, get funding from our state/govt?

thank you for allowing me to share =)
my journey in desiring to become the great parent to brandon and the great wife to my husband all comes down to becoming a better person spiritually, mentally, and physically.  this desire has attracted to my life wonderful people, events, articles, opportunities that contribute (and still do) to my personal growth. in other words, you have got to be the best you before you can become the best for everyone else.