Habits to Break

The first thing is you need to want to change. I recently had an interaction with someone who I thought wanted to quit smoking but learned that she did not. When you do not desire this change, no article, advice or anything will penetrate. I remember my midwife asking me to just consider the possibility of quitting smoking which I resumed after my daughter was born. It took another 10 years for me to make the big (and it was BIG) decision to quit. I had quit for a year previously twice and resumed smoking after a year. This time I meditated and asked how I could stay quit. It seemed more difficult each time, so I wanted to make it permanent this time and so far I have. It’s been 29 years since I’ve had a cigarette, so if you are looking for help to quit, read on. If not, skip to the next blog entry.

This is just my personal experience and not backed by any double blind Placebo controlled studies. I went through a weaning program switching from menthol to non-menthol, then gradually decreasing the amount of nicotine. I bought a whole carton of my next step ciggs so I would stay with it until I became accustomed to that level/taste. By the time I got to NOWs, I felt like I was just smoking air.
In my meditation I was shown that there are circuits of energy that are built up by habits. We are aware that it takes energy and effort to build a positive habit and that was present for me building a habit of smoking. I had to fight against all the signals my body sent me that told me this was not good for my body: dizziness, nausea even vomiting. When you build a habit energy circuits are formed. There is a daily circuit, a weekly circuit, a monthly, a quarterly, and a big yearly circuit. Each has to be broken to succeed at quitting. Knowing that at a year there will be a day that will be so full of urges that it will feel almost as bad as the first day of quitting helped me realize it was only one day and I could push my way through that one day. The first three days of quitting break the daily cycle. The first three weeks break the weekly one and so on. The first year was the worst. Later years were easier. There are also object and event specific cycles like after a meal. It helps to substitute something in it’s place, a strong mint gives a nice sensation and opens your air passages. Go outside and enjoy the air while taking your mint.
The meditation also suggested that I pay myself the amount I saved from not smoking and keep it until 10 days after my anniversary of quitting. I was to spend it on something to reward myself, something I would find rewarding. Initially I chose jewelry because I had little at the time and had great fun and a huge sense of accomplishment when I spent that first year money on some nice jewelry. I still buy myself a piece of jewelry each year to commemorate, but now the money goes to travel or to something I want that I normally would not allow myself, like a spa day. I call it my “mad” money. This has helped me stay quit when situations have offered the opportunity to smoke. I have looked a cigarette in the eye and said, I’m not giving up my mad money because as a true addict, I cannot even have one (one is too much a hundred are not enough).
Exercise was crucial and I was guided to take a steep uphill walk picking up a large stone and carrying it until I became winded. I walked the same path daily and picked up the stone each day to carry it further giving me a very real indication of the improvement in my breathing abilities.
Homeopathics to cut urges helped.
Isolating myself from my family on my worst days helped. I had to tell them not to expect me to be reasonable for three days initially and again at intervals for a day here and there, especially at the year day.
Switching from coffee to chai tea helped because the tea was not associated with smoking.
Staying out of bars and places where smoking was prevalent also helped. It was a few years before I could risk this and it has been helpful that most establishments have gone to no smoking indoors.
Breathing deeply on purpose helps.
I’d love to hear what helped you quit smoking. What is your success story?

Fibroids Revisited

The posts on Fibroids receive the most comments of all the posts on this website. Interesting how many are seeking natural ways and how many are experiencing fibroids. In previous posts, I have specified the types and amounts of digestive enzymes that worked for me. What I want to focus on here is the emotional aspect behind the fibroids. You can get rid of fibroids, but if you do not heal the underlying issues, they may return until you do. I am not of the school that all illnesses have emotional substrates. I believe that some illnesses are programed into our lives by us to help us learn or experience certain things. Another cause can be that we have come to clear certain kinds of illnesses as a service to humankind. Then there are the effects of karma. When there is an emotional substrate, Soul Integration is one process which can help you access and clear them. There were definitely emotional issues in my case and Soul Integration: questioning in deep meditation and opening to the feelings, memories and visions (some found in past life experiences) led me to understand and heal them and I have been able to help others do the same. Hand and hand with physical measures, clearing emotional strands can help speed recovery and can contribute to its permanence.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol-lowering medication use increased with age, from 17% of adults aged 40–59 to 48% of adults aged 75 and over. About 71% of adults with cardiovascular disease and 54% of adults with hypercholesterolemia used a cholesterol-lowering medication. (CDC Report https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db177.htm). As a massage therapist, I have worked with many clients who had fibromyalgia like symptoms which all disappeared when the clients got off their statin drugs.
As I have already reported, I was able to lower blood pressure by eating 6 stalks of celery a day (mostly in smoothies). I have turned to Jeff Primack’s course for help with cholestrol. So what can help cholestrol? Why pay for meds and chance the side effects when you can adjust your food or add a simple tea?
First, lower the LDL (bad) cholestrol.
Avacado is wonderful for the heart and for lowering LDL Cholestrol. The pit is important too. Add the pit to your smoothies and it adds a very mild nut-like flavor. You probably need a 3 hp blender to accomplish this but as Jeff says, the Bible instructs us to eat the seeds of tree bearing fruits. The avacado pit is very healthy for you.
Coffee contains chlorogenic acid which lowers LDL Cholestrol. Eggplant also contains chlorogenic acid. Gogi berries are also helpful and a tea formula has helped many of Jeff’s students lower LDL by more than 50 points in 1-2 months by taking the following tea. Boil:

Eggplant.
Mushrooms (especially oyster mushrooms)
Gogi berries
For more food-based information on how you can achieve healthier levels of cholesterol, you might want to sign up for a consult with Lyneah.

Establishing and Maintaining Digestive Health

Establishing and Maintaining Digestive Health

In his class and book, Conquering Any Disease, Jeff Primack states, “You aren’t what you eat, only what you absorb.” Jeff recommends two foods daily to help establish and maintain digestive health.  The first is Papaya. The digestive enzymes in papaya work “better than any other food” for enzymes which can digest undigested food in the intestinal tract. He says papaya is “like drano getting all the old crud out of your intestines, not with fiber, but with protein digesting enzymes.”  It can be difficult to get fresh organic papaya in this country. In Panama papayas grow huge. I saw some three feet in length and large enough around I had to ask what they were. They were also deeply colored and delicious. Same is true I Hawaii though I did not see ones as large there.  Papaya is optimal when eaten on an empty stomach.

The second food surprised me.  Perhaps it will surprise you as well. This food  is aged parmesan cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano. Aged cheese goes through a digestive process which rids the cheese of lactose and builds Lactabacilus rahmnosus, “the most studied probiotic with more than 800 scientific studies.” This probiotic survives bile and colonizes the intestinal track. Aging for 36 months has a greater probiotic effect.  Jeff recommends 1 to 3 Tablespoons a day of aged parmesan cheese.

“In one compelling study, infants with intestinal problems were given formula with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese aged 36 months. All infants showed rapid release of symptoms!”

Personally, I have been intolerant of even organic cheeses but I have found Parmigiano Reggiano helpful in my diet and I have been delighted to have the ability to eat cheese again.  Aged cheeses are easier to digest and I do find that eating Parmigiano Reggiano helps keep my digestion regular. I do look for organic Parmigiano Reggiano and have found it at various health food stores and at Trader Joes.

All references appear on page 188 of Conquering Any Disease, blue cover edition.

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The Matrix

Jean Huston in her Mystery Schools used to use the movie The Matrix to demonstrate the difference between superconsciusness and third dimensional consciousness. Have you seen the movie? Have you looked at it from a spiritual perspective? Neo is trying to learn how to maintain super consciousness while in the Matrix. It’s much the same for us. Setting intention to incorporate your superconscious self more and more is a first step. Actually practicing it is a second step. Connecting in over and over during the day helps. Many years ago, my meditation teacher had me sit under a dogwood tree and meditate. This process was to help me connect into my superconsciousness. One day he said, “It is now time to do moving meditation.” and he instructed me in conscious walking. Placing the toes first then the mid foot then the heel and completing the shift of weight smoothly from one to the other before lifting the opposite foot. As Eve Olive used to say in Eurythmy class “Lifting, carrying and placing…lifting carrying and placing” and the placing had a three fold aspect of placing the toe first (to test the waters), then the mid foot and the heel last and then shifting weight onto that foot before raising the other. Such conscious walking has been taught in Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Meditation and Eurythmy classes I’ve taken My walk was outside overlooking WV Laurel Mountains and it was weeks before I was told I could go on to conscious working, these steps are required to bring the superconsciousness present in more than just still meditation. Another example appears In the movie Kung Fu where the master teacher has the student do wax on wax off and other repetitive tasks as a meditative exercise in preparation for using them in Kung Fu. What activities can you use to advance from still meditation and still maintain your superconsciousness presence? Peeling potatoes? In the Anastasia books, Anastasia suggests peeling potatoes as an activity for preparing to teleport. She suggests setting a timer while you peel a potato consciously. then in your mind replay the actions of peeling the potato in your imagination. When you can reproduce them perfectly in the same time you have moved a step closer to being able to teleport. .Start by choosing a task to perform after meditation to begin bringing your superconsciousness into action.

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By Request - I've had several requests for this chapter of Thirsting for a Raindrop

Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks CHAPTER 11 CROE: LUTHIERS AND LOGGING Driving around the countryside getting to know that part of West Virginia shortly after our arrival, we drove south out of Philippi toward Buchannon. “Charles Mason, Luthier, Lap and Hammered Dulcimers,” announced a homemade sign complete with a lap dulcimer rendering. We came back around and turned into the long driveway to find out who was behind this sign. By the time we got to the house a man in his early 60’s with thinning hair and an angular weathered face hiked up his green work pants as he walked toward us greeting us in a friendly way. “Noticed my sign did you?” asked the mountain man. We talked about musical instruments, especially lap and hammered dulcimers. “Luthier has nothing to do with religion,” Charles kidded. “I’m not a Lutheran. A luthier is a builder of stringed instruments and I build mostly lap and hammered dulcimers.” I first fell in love with dulcimers in the large geodesic dome in Northern Ontario. Easy to transport and easy to play I wanted to build one and hoped today to find someone who would be willing to teach me. I was tired of not knowing things beginning to end. We chatted easily as if old friends. “C’mon inside,” Charles invited. I paused at the door, let my eyes adjust and looked around. A room full of music greeted us. The largest presence was a blonde hammered dulcimer about three feet wide and more than two feet across set up on a stand. Charles stood at it, indicated where we should sit, picked up his dulcimer hammers and started to play a snappy tune. I continued to look around the room finding eight lap dulcimers leaning against the far wall, a guitar case against the side wall behind a chair and a fiddle on a stool. We clapped for Charles’ performance and he grinned widely at the praise and started another tune. He seemed happy to have an appreciative audience. “Mr. Mason, where did you learn to play like that?” I asked over our applause. “Call me Charles or Charlie,” he said with a wide warm grin hiking up his 61 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks pants again. Suddenly the atmosphere turned cold. A dark haired woman with wary eyes walked into the room, wearing an apron over her cotton dress. “I’d like you to meet my wife Suzie,” Charles said never losing his enthusiasm. Suzie offered us a generous helping of icy cold mountain hospitality. He tried to warm her with his smile and a soft touch on the arm, but she bristled at his attempt. Susie’s frosty stares were a stark contrast to Charles’ warmth and kindness. She never said a word, turned her back and returned to the kitchen where we heard water running and the clanking of pots and pans. “Never you mind her,” confided Charles, “she just don’t take lightly to outsiders.” Charles played several of his instruments for us with joy and enthusiasm. We applauded with delight. He was quite the showman. We chatted with an ease typical of a long–term friendship and eventually I felt comfortable enough to say what I really wanted. “I would like to have an instrument that I know from beginning to end. I’m tired of knowing only beginnings and endings and not knowing the middles. Would there be any possibility of building a dulcimer with you?” “Waaaaaallll…” Charlie reflected, stroking his chin and looking toward the kitchen shifting from leg to leg. “Right now probably not, but maybe someday.” We exchanged names and telephone numbers before we left but I had little hope he would ever call. I knew it was a lot to ask, and Susie’s frigid attitude stood like an iceberg in the way. I let it go. If it were meant to be, it would happen. We left glad for the experience of hearing Charles play and speak. ***** “My wife’s gon’ an’ killed herself,” Charles’ steady voice reported immediately after I answered the phone. “I’m going to be lonely, and if you still wanna build a dulcimer, it’ll be time when I have my affairs settled.” “What happened?” I asked astonished at his announcement. “My wife’s an epileptic – crushed her skull on the basement ceeement stairs in a fit. She’s in a coma to Morgantown. They don’t expect her to live.” Who was this man who was arranging for his life after his wife’s death before she was fully declared dead? He sounded so down to earth and realistic about his feelings. He knew he’d need time to mourn and transition, but also knew loneliness would set in and he would need company. His children and their families lived many hours away. I was intrigued by 62 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks his practical attitude. He was not an uncaring man. He just cared for himself and took responsibility for his future in a most down to earth way. I respected that and was a bit in awe. ***** After two weeks of exacting wood and metal work, stringing up an instrument is magical and far different from finishing a cabinet, a table, or a chair. My first white walnut lap dulcimer had just been strung, and now I would play it for the first time. “Bringgggg,” sang the strings and I was hooked. It had a lovely voice. Charles had already taught me a few simple tunes on one of his dulcimers. It is magical to hear the voice of something you built. Charles stood behind me smiling as I played. He tapped me on the shoulder with a dulcimer hammer (a light wooden mallet) and said, “Gurrrl, you could be a Luthier. You have the talent. I’d like to offer you a partnership.” “You mean an apprenticeship,” I corrected. “Nope, don’t believe in them. When you do the work, you get the pay. That’s fair,” Charlie looked me straight in the eye as he said this and continued doing so after he stopped speaking. “Oh, yes, yes…” was my eager reply confident we would work out the details. I started working with him immediately part time. In spring, I left teaching to study with Charles full time. Later Don started working in the shop and we both became accomplished Luthiers. I loved this business: collecting wood, building instruments, playing music, attending arts & crafts festivals and county fairs. Most of all I enjoyed getting to know Charlie, the grandfather I never had. ***** “Lucy has a big sugar maple tree that needs cut. It’s good dulcimer wood, and I know a sawyer who’d rip it for us. Do you know anyone with a logging truck?” Charles never really asked, he assumed we would take down the tree. I was strong and buff from all the farm and construction work and it never occurred to me to say no. Steam rose from the moist pavement as the rising sun started to penetrate the foggy morning. Ricky’s half–ton logging truck creaked over the bumps in the dirt road just a ‘fur piece’ from Charlie’s place. The truck groaned to oblige the unexpected stop for two fawns and a doe frozen in the middle of the road. They stared at us with their big glassy eyes. Don had the presence of mind to turn off the head lights to break the spell. They still stared at us dazed for another minute. Then they turned their heads and meandered in no hurry. They knew it was not yet hunting season. We heard their hooves 63 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks crunch the thick carpet of leaves next to the road. We watched as they disappeared into underbrush beneath a canopy of birch, cedar, pine, oak, and a gigantic molting mottled barked sycamore tree. Another quarter mile down the road we were grateful the skunk disappeared into the mountainside without spraying. Flashes of color lit our path as male red, blue and indigo bunting birds dashed across in front of us, trying to divert our attention from their nested mates and “youngins”. Doors open, Charlie’s car stood on top of the hill alone. He soon emerged from the house hiking up his Sears & Roebuck’s green work pants. We waved, and he pointed to the sugar maple tree towering over the house to the right. It would have taken two of us to ring the bottom of that trunk. He indicated felling it into the empty lawn in front of the tree. From down here it seemed big enough to allow the tree to fall forward without hurting anything. With a bit of an angle, the upper limbs should clear the house. The lawn gently sloped until it met a precipice before a drop–off too steep to support plant growth. I backed the truck through the ditch while Don directed until the truck bed was snug against the hillside. We had a plan: we’d roll the tree trunk pieces to the edge of the lawn and then let gravity do the rest of the work, landing them on the truck bed. We hiked up the steep driveway carrying our tools. The smell of good coffee quickened our steps. The neatly kept country home’s back door was open to the kitchen where Lucy was putting plates on the table. Bacon, sausage, eggs, grits and ‘biscuits and gravies’ made for a full meal to start a hard, physical work day. Charlie had already mapped out how to “fell” the tree and had marked the tree trunk at the level Lucy wanted for a table to be left. There was enough open space, no wires in the way and we determined that the house was not in jeopardy of being hit by falling branches if it was properly notched. We all agreed ropes were unnecessary. After breakfast, I brought the sunshine yellow Husqvarna chainsaw over, and Don started it up. “Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm,” rang the chainsaw, echoing off surrounding mountain sides. Don, the expert, made the first cut at just the right angle. The chainsaw roared louder with the effort to finally get the wedge out on the second cut. Don paused for water and breath before making the third cut from the other side directly opposite and above the wedge. The roar of the chainsaw rose and fell as Don rocked it to get through the huge sugar maple tree trunk. It was some time before the tree started to creak and tip. One more roar of the chainsaw, and we all got out of the way and watched as this gentle giant tipped forward in the silence and thudded to the ground exactly as planned. 64 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks “Swoosh…crash,” repeated the echo before still returned to the air. Our deep breaths were audible, relieved to have it on the ground so smoothly. Don and I took turns cutting and hauling the upper branches into the woods. The first ten trips were easy and fun. Then the heat of the day moved in with the rising sun and we needed to change out our sweatbands during hydration breaks. By lunch, we had the brush removed and the firewood stacked. ***** After lunch, we were down to the trunk logs. We wanted to keep as much of the bottom as we could because that would give us our choice of the best dulcimer wood. The truck bed could handle a 15’ log, so we cut the trunk into three lengths, the widest part being the longest. I placed my leg on the log and ran the chainsaw through a little at a time. Don took a turn and then I completed the cut. At the widest, the trunk was slightly higher than my knee. Charlie shook his head in the way that meant he was proud of me and surprised by my abilities and willingness to do ‘men’s work.' Don and I took our places on either end and rolled the biggest trunk log one careful revolution at a time. We wanted it on the truck first. It settled into place with a thud with each revolution. We took our time moving it toward the drop point. We stayed in front of the knee–high 15-foot long log to keep it from getting away from us. We stopped it about five feet from the precipice. Don was concerned for the truck bed if the log built too much momentum, so he wanted to control it as long as possible. I stopped and got out of the way when I thought it was time to just 'let ’er roll.' Don walked to the edge, intentionally kicked a stone and watched it tumble clinking off rocks on its way to the bottom. It hit the truck bed with a thud. “Now’s when we should have cant hooks,” said Charlie, the sidewalk supervisor, hands behind his back. Unfortunately, we had not thought ahead to borrow some. “Don’t need ’em,” responded Don confidently. “We can roll it one more time before the hill takes it. It’s best to control it as far as we can,” Don said with authority. “No, we can’t,” I protested quickly looking at him as if he were crazy. “Yes we can, just one more roll,” he said, nodding his head trying to convince me it would work. Charlie stayed out of the conversation. “No way!” I protested, and we continued to argue back and forth. Several situations had shown Don knew my strength better than I did. I was stronger than I ever thought I could be. Eventually I gave in to his confidence and his Aries the Ram insistence. “OK, let’s do it,” I agreed and took my place slightly left of center, downhill of the log. Don moved to his place right of center, and I waited for 65 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks his signal. “Go!” We rolled the log one more revolution with the intention of stopping it. When I realized gravity had it, instead of immediately jumping free, I took a split second to see if Don was safe. He, of course, jumped free, and the horror on his face as he realized I was pinned underneath the log branded in my brain. I was headed down the mountainside, and, there was nothing any of us could do. I actually remember feeling sorry for Don when I saw the helplessness written across his face. The log bounced on my legs as it dragged me down the rocky mountainside. Baba Ram Dass says the greatest thing about an accident is that you have nothing to do but pay attention. He’s right. I did. Grateful for the yoga I’d practiced I relaxed staying remarkably calm and focused. Unaware of pain I let the log roll me without resistance. Hyper aware, I watched and rolled with the log. Where it pushed I went – resistance was truly futile! Everything moved into ‘slow mo’ with the volume turned up on colors and details. I waited for the log to roll onto the truck bed hoping it would free me. I have no memory of feeling fear as we bounced and tumbled together – me on my back, legs under the log, but when it reached my right hip, I felt the first pangs of resistance, “Don’t get my vital organs.” I thought. I was so focused on the log and what it was doing that I didn’t even notice the rocks cutting into my backside. Soon after, I felt the pressure lift, and I rolled immediately hard and fast to get under the truck bed. The log, not centered on the truck, bounced back and forth violently hitting the ground right where I had been seconds earlier. I stopped under the truck, relieved to be alive. The log came to a stop with one end on the ground and the other in the air. The midpoint rested on the front corner of the passenger side of the truck bed. A cloud of dust made me cough, and coughing was not comfortable. Astonished and momentarily relieved and probably in a state of shock, I looked into Don’s eyes as he bent under the truck and intensely asked, “What do you want to do?” Without hesitation, I answered his searching and apologetic look, “Take me up to the couch and help me heal this,” I said with soft firmness. He gently scooped me up, strode smoothly up the driveway to the house and placed me on the already sheeted couch. Both Charles and Lucy chased him, pestered and badgered him with questions about taking me to the hospital. I don’t think he wasted time answering. He placed towel draped pillows under my feet to elevate my legs. Perhaps adrenaline kept me from knowing how badly I was hurt. Perhaps faith kept me hopeful, or I recognized a life contract deep in the recesses of my soul. The back of my 66 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks shirt was torn beneath the denim shirt jack and my legs were covered in scrapes and blood. I turned quickly from outer to inner sight. I had already run the hospital scenario through my mind and rejected it. Wasted time and energy arguing with hospital personnel over unhelpful procedures and policies would have slowed healing. There was plenty of energy reverberating in and around me and I preferred channeling it immediately into healing. How I knew we could transform that energy into healing if we were not distracted, I cannot explain. I just knew deep inside this was the better way to go for me. The miraculous healings of the past two years encouraged me and Don seemed hopeful. Don held his hands over me, prayed for and allowed healing to flow through us. I sank back into meditation and gratitude. Lucy’s friend, Mary, had been there since lunch. Mary was my definition of a ‘mess’. We had visited her house once at Lucy’s request to help her move some things and it smelled so awful that I had to hold my nose and use a bandana to filter the air. She was five foot nothing, weighed over 350 pounds, had a chin and neck full of amazingly long untended facial hair and the stains on her chin indicated she chewed tobacco. She smelled of cigarette smoke, alcohol and coal. Who would have known she had a gift of healing? Perhaps it was because of this gift that she drank. She laid hands on the soles of my feet, lowered her head without a word and stayed right there – all night long. I could feel the energy running through us. I don’t remember her even getting up to go to the bathroom before dawn. This was a large lesson in not being judgmental. I worked internally with angels in what I call my ‘upper room’: a place where my everyday awareness doesn’t need to know details. Most of my consciousness was in the upper room and very busy. In this state, I was able to transcend pain. The job of my wakeful conscious mind was to relax, to allow and to believe. I was distantly aware that we were working with spiritual beings to heal bones and tissues. Occasionally detailed images of bones knitting together surfaced like looking at the living cellular level through a stereoscope. I was conscious all night and astonishingly peaceful and focused. Mary and Don were also completely focused on healing. We did not speak; we just did the work. First light accented the sheer white curtains flowing in the open window’s breeze when Don took a bathroom and cigarette break. I had felt her presence before I saw her – Lucy swaying in the doorway, an empty brown bottle of booze in one hand and the other holding onto the door frame keeping her mostly vertical. Lucy’s blue chiffon nightgown mimicked the movement of the curtains. Suddenly she staggered forward, her nightgown eerily following her 67 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks dangerous movements. The first flare of fear flowed through my stomach. The swinging bottle, an ominous extension of her right arm, sent whiskey wafts on the breeze. I turned my head to avoid breathing them in and tried to pretend to be asleep. She stumbled to the couch, pulled a pillow from under my legs and slurred, “If yer awe raaaght and don’ need no hospital, git up ’n walk,” Lucy stumbling backward, jerked her empty hand in a gesture meant to make me get up. I gasped, acutely aware of pain for the first time as my legs fell on the sofa with one thud. I held my breath and my tongue and rode the waves of pain. Don appeared in the doorway wondering what to do. Mary, at my feet, never flinched. When no one responded except with stunned silence, Lucy stumbled back to bed and passed out. We didn’t see her again until breakfast. I’m sure she felt responsible and worried. When I heard her snoring, I relaxed back into deep meditation and started to work on healing again. Don replaced the pillows under my legs with exquisite care. Mary never looked up. Her breathing was shallow, but not hollow like someone asleep. Don took his place standing over me running energy through his hands again. The first rays of daylight streamed through the lightly moving shear curtains when I finally fell asleep. ***** Sizzling bacon brought me to wakefulness in full sunlight. I felt surprisingly refreshed and free of pain. Charles’ voice in the kitchen indicated he had returned and somehow Lucy was lucid enough to make breakfast. The place Mary had held at my feet was empty and I heard Don talking with Charles in the kitchen. “How’s she doin’?” “She’s fine,” I answered Charlie’s question. Charlie entered the living room with a pair of crutches and tried to smile. He looked me over with a wince and extended the crutches to me shaking his head. I must have been quite a sight. I perused my legs and found the scrapes were well scabbed like they had happened a week ago rather than yesterday, but they were not pretty. Don helped me rise up on the crutches and I smiled when I found I could walk surprisingly well with their help. I maneuvered around the furniture into the bathroom. In the kitchen I accepted the steaming bacon, eggs, grits, apple juice, toast and muffin breakfast, gratefully eating my fill. We didn’t talk much and avoided the subject of the accident altogether. After thank you’s for the breakfast and assuring Lucy I’d be alright, I crutched to the truck, pulled myself up and in. Thank God, my arms were still working well. 68 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks We had scheduled a party for the next day and most of our friends lived without telephones, so we just went ahead and had the party. I changed my shirt, but left the cut offs on, unwilling to try the weight of any fabric on my ninety percent abraded legs. Don ever so gently patted a soft cloth soaked in warm water to remove excess blood. I was surprised to find the scratches were not as deep as I thought and most of the blood patted away easily. Despite this, I had to assure each new arrival that it looked much worse than it was. “I’m really fine.” I assured each guest group as they went through their shocked response. “Really, I’m fine now, please have something to eat and drink,” I pointed to the buffet table and those who brought refreshments added theirs to our repast. This ritual had to be repeated for each new group but eventually everyone settled in. People ate, drank and made merry. We played dulcimer music and I told some of my famous ‘shaggy dog’ stories which were met with rolls of moans and groans and we even laughed about the logging incident though I knew it was not funny. The party was a great distraction for me. I don’t even remember taking aspirin. I was back to teaching special education at the local high school within the week. Filled with gratitude that I could walk at all, it took many therapies and many years to get my legs back to complete health, but I walked without help in less than six weeks. If I had gone to the hospital, I suspect I would have never walked again. They would have X–rayed my legs and said, “You will never walk again. The damage is too extensive.” Either I would have believed them and spent my life in casts and wheelchairs, or I would have wasted a lot of energy fighting their opinions. Instead, I applied that energy to healing. Today most people cannot see my injury in my walk. ***** Don held his hands over me from midday to dawn running healing energy through me with concern on his face. He did all he could to help me heal that night in the WV mountains. Don did his utmost to care for me. He cooked, cleaned, gently bathed my legs with herbs and tenderness that repeatedly brought tears to my eyes, my heart overflowing with gratitude. We were very close, in love. He hovered nearby every time I crutched my way to the outhouse or truck to make sure I didn’t stumble or fall. Where was that man now? How had he become so callous? Who was this white gorilla yelling at the top of his energy about me interrupting his DM calls? What happened? What stimulated such a 69 Thirsting for a Raindrop Lyneah Marks dramatic change? Midlife crisis yes, but what was this midlife crisis? I did not know. It was nothing like the ones my friends’ husbands had – he didn’t run off with a younger woman or give me an STD and I am grateful it did not take that shape. Rudolph Steiner defined the midlife crisis as a time when we revisit the unresolved issues of adolescence, providing an opportunity to heal. Others say it’s a time when we have a choice to deny or face the facts of aging. That explains the running away with younger women, but it did not explain Don’s version. I longed to know what had turned him into someone who could coldly leave me alone in our Carolina log home with questionable broken bones thirsting for a glass of water, thirsting for companionship and love, thirsting to make sense of my current world. What had taken me from a strong liberated woman to a broke and broken mess on the couch like a desert plant thirsting for a raindrop?

FOCUS

FEMININE/MASULINE, DIVINE/Fallen, FOCUS and Help for Challenging Times

Recently I packed up my Motor home and headed for Mt. Shasta for a training to become a Stargate Experience Facilitator and the next week to take the Stargate Intensive program. To call this a peak experience just begins to let you know how wonderful it was.

During this set of experiences, one day we called in the energy of the divine feminine and enjoyed basking in this strong energetic of pure love. No one wanted the meditation to end. The energy built to a very high pitch and exploded around the world. Divine Feminine is so needed in the world now.

We later called in the energy of the divine masculine and while it is a different flavor, it too is an energy of pure love. The experiences were palpable and strong. It got me to thinking about the difference between masculine and feminine energies and the difference between divine and fallen energies.

We often blame the masculine for all the problems of the world: wars, insensitivity, power, etc.  Mars, the war God, is the epitome of this archetype. In astrology his symbol is the masculine symbol. This is not quite accurate as the divine masculine is pure love. The fallen masculine is the force that has been trying to rule the world for many thousands of years. It is a force of control, manipulation, and power over others. It is a consciousness of separation and works in the illusion that you can control others. In the short run it seems that is possible, but in the long-range picture the only person we can truly control is ourselves.

Too often women in positions of power imitate the fallen masculine and provide nothing in the way of the divine feminine energies resulting in the fallen feminine. Our world needs love and tender care.  We are at a point of having to choose planetary destruction or change. We need new ways of being, new ways of doing and new ways of protecting our planet. The divine feminine is pure love.

Where we focus our energies grows. In a recent meditation, Pragreet channeling Alcazar said that our super conscious pays attention to where our focus is and responds by bringing us more because it assumes that what we focus on is what we are wanting to experience. Where is your focus?  Your energetic focus, your thought focus, your emotional focus, they all count. Are you focusing on the news? There are so many different reports of what is really going on at the physical level. Perhaps it would be better to focus on what is going right.  I have recently started watching a Netflix original series Down to Earth. “Actor Zac Efron journeys around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien in a travel show that explores healthy, sustainable ways to live.”  This program shows many countries/people using technology that is helpful to the earth. Did you know that Paris offers free clean drinking water all over the city?  That Iceland has moved away from burning coal into using geo-thermal energies? Searching out new technologies and focusing on them is one way we can help our planet, our Mother Earth. There are many other sources of positive information and if we seek them out, we can turn our focus onto what is going right.

Male or female, meditation is essential during this time of Covid-19. If you are just learning meditation, The Five Basic Exercises can be found http://www.bodysoulandangels.com/five-basic-exercises and many have found them immensely helpful. I will also be guiding Stargate Meditations which are designed to help you keep your vibration at higher frequencies. Check the schedule at www.bodysoulandangels.com for details or email me at Lyneahmarks@gmail.com.

 

Many have found the following  meditative verse of Rudolph Steiner helpful in difficult times.

 

FOR THIS MICHAELIC AGE                  Rudolph Steiner

 

We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what comes toward man out of the future.  We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations about the future. We must look forward, with absolute equanimity, to everything that may come and we must think only that whatever comes is given to us by a world direction full of wisdom.  It is part of what we must learn in this age; namely to live out of pure trust, without any security in existence, trust in the ever present help of the spiritual world.  Truly, nothing else will do, if our courage is not to fail us.  Let us seek the awakening from within ourselves, every morning and every evening.

 

MORNING

Oh, Michael,

Under Your protection I place myself,

With Your guidance I connect myself,

Wholeheartedly,

So that this day may become an image

Of your destiny-ordering Will.

 

                                                                EVENING

                                                                I carry my sorrow into the setting sun,

                                                Place all my worries into her radiating womb

                                                Purified in love, transformed in light,

                                                They return as helping thoughts,

                                                As strength for self-sacrificing deeds.

 

 

Where you focus your energy, grows. Focus on something positive.

 

Lyneah Marks is an LMBT (Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist) NC 644, a Soul Integration Therapist, and an Intuitive Healing Facilitator. Formerly from Durham, NC, she currently resides in California doing phone and video consults for her clients.  When she is in NC, she sees clients at the Health Center of Hillsborough.

Finding Peace in a Pandemic

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TYPES OF STRESS There are many types of stress and they can be divided into two major categories:  innate and learned.  Innate is the hard-wired response that is based on centuries of having to run from real physical life-threatening dangers, let’s call them ‘dinosaurs’. When there were large scary ‘dinosaurs’, we learned that survival depended on one of two things:  flight or fight.  That’s what happens when a sudden noise of someone scaring you or a near miss in traffic puts you into flight or fight mode – you either run from the ‘dinosaur’ chasing you or you turn and fight. In the case of flight, we run off the adrenalin and shut down the adrenal complex. In a fight: we use up the chemicals in the process of fighting. That’s how it worked in earlier times and it is programmed into our DNA.

But what about the second form of stress?  There is no dinosaur and we still respond with survival physiological responses: adrenalin surges through our bodies, our pulse increases, hyperactivity floods our senses and we are “on edge”. This is meant to be a short-term surge to get us out of harm’s way. We often neither fight nor flee. It’s the stress of your job or the stress of no job and of having to stay at home for COVID-19 and there is no fight or flight to reduce adrenalin, what happens? Unless we take action to reduce it, the stress continues, robbing us of our peace and can lead to multiple health issues including compromising our immune systems.

How do we stop this adrenal overreaction?

·         Running, especially sprinting reduces the stress response, as does fighting, which most of us prefer to avoid.  Aerobic activities shut it down. Even a good imagined sprint can help.

·         Yoga can be an effective stress reliever.

·         Gentle Touch: Massage, a good hot shower or soaking bath, hugs, touch in general which is also limited under the COVID Pandemic unless you are in a relationship that includes gentle touch.

·         Meditation can be very effective and does not require a lot of space or special equipment.  If you find meditation challenging, you might check into the FIVE BASIC EXERCISES http://www.bodysoulandangels.com/five-basic-exercises which are designed to help beginners and advanced meditators alike. 

A simple verse to memorize can be very helpful.  Creating ritual in our lives can provide a sense of comfort and security. Here is one I have found most helpful in challenging times. There are two simple verses: one for the morning upon rising and the other at sunset or before sleep. Making a ritual of these two verses has been helpful to many of my clients in challenging times over the years.  Perhaps you, too, will find it helpful now.

FOR THIS MICHAELIC AGE                  Rudolph Steiner

 

We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what comes toward man out of the future.  We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations about the future. We must look forward, with absolute equanimity, to everything that may come and we must think only that whatever comes is given to us by a world direction full of wisdom.  It is part of what we must learn in this age; namely to live out of pure trust, without any security in existence, trust in the ever present help of the spiritual world.  Truly, nothing else will do, if our courage is not to fail us.  Let us seek the awakening from within ourselves, every morning and every evening.

AM PM Michaelic Age.jpg

Lyneah Marks, LMBT, Soul Integration, Meditation, Classes, Phone and On-Line sessions.  www.bodysoulandangels.com  author of Thirsting for a Raindrop www.thirstingforafraindrop.com available on Amazon.

Guest Article from Shiela Olson

The Best Solutions for Staying Fit During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Image via Pexels

Image via Pexels

 

Staying in shape has become a challenge for many people with the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This is especially true if you regularly went to the gym, took fitness classes, or had a social-walking group. Because of social-distancing requirements, none of these approaches are really an option anymore. However, that doesn’t mean you have to sit around while waiting for your favorite fitness activities to become available again.

 

Here’s how you can stay fit at home by yourself or with your family.

Living Room Workout Ideas

You don’t need much equipment — if any — to get fit in your living room. In fact, many exercise accessories are so small that you can store them in a basket or cubby completely out of sight when you’re done with your daily workout. 

 

No-Equipment Living Room Workout

Beginner’s Fitness Tips: How to Turn Your Living Room Into a Gym

The Comprehensive Yoga Mat Buying Guide

How to Use Resistance Bands: 20 Exercises to Try

How to Determine What Size Resistance Bands to Buy

Total Body Training with Only a Pair of Dumbells

The Best Dumbells to Add to Your Home Gym

Family-Friendly Fitness Solutions

If you’re spending more time with your family, look for ways that you can all be active together. There are countless activities you can do without leaving your home or backyard.

 

Resource Roundup: Free Online Activities the Whole Family Can Enjoy from Home

10 Fun Games to Get Kids Active

Quick Backyard Workout for the Whole Family

12 Active Games for Kids to Play Alone

5 Backyard Games from Around the World

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Basketball Court?

 

Social distancing might mean you can’t go to the gym right now, but you can still stay in shape throughout quarantine. By working out at home or in the backyard, you can keep up with all of your fitness goals until you’re able to get back into your old routines.

 

Sheila Olson of fitsheila.com | info@fitsheila.com

Yoga Guest Article from Sheila Johnson

How to Amp Up Your Yoga Routine on a Budget

Yoga is one of the best ways to get your body fit, and many people have found other benefits that come with it as well. When used in conjunction with meditation, yoga can also reduce stress, help individuals relieve anxiety, and alleviate the effects of depression. Once you find a routine that works, however, you might be inclined to stick with it for a while, and that can become boring. When you get bored with exercise, you’re far less likely to stick with it. Also, when you drop off in your routine, it can lead to negativity where your self-esteem is concerned.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to amp up your yoga routine without spending a ton of money. Most of us are on a budget these days, so it’s important to find simple ways to make your exercises fun and refreshing. Rather than going all-out on a membership to a studio, look for yoga tutorials online or via an app, or create an inexpensive home gym.

Read on for a few easy, budget-friendly ways to boost your yoga routine.

Add an App

There are many yoga apps that can help you with your routine — Pocket Yoga is a good place to get started — so look for one or two that will boost your regimen and help you stay on track, even when you’re on the go. If you need to turn your phone into a mobile hotspot, look for a new device that fits your budget and still has all the features you want. 

Find the Right Tools

Yoga is one of the easiest workouts to refresh because you can add and change out different tools to make it different each time. Stability balls and yoga straps are all wonderful items that can be used within a yoga workout, so do some research to find the right tools for your needs. These are all budget-friendly items and can be gathered one at a time in order to create an inexpensive home gym, where you can fit in exercise any time you want. Make sure you do your homework to help you determine which poses and stretches work best with each item. Additionally, if you want to help cut the cost of these purchases, look online for coupons and promo codes for stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Get Outside

Sometimes, a change of scenery is just the thing to get excited about your exercise routine again. The great thing about yoga is that it’s adaptable for just about any person or place, so you can take it outside and enjoy the mental health benefits of spending time in nature. You might even find an outdoor class you can take; many classes these days allow you to bring your dog along, which will help you beat stress in the cutest way possible. If your budget won’t allow for a class, simply take your mat and phone into a shady spot and practice poses on your own.

Find a Friend

Workouts are much better when you don’t have to do them alone, so find a friend who will practice along with you. Set up a time to get together each week, or meet up on your lunch break. Not only is this a great way to change up your routine, but it will also boost your self-confidence and motivation to have a friend with you, and it may even help to elevate your mood. 

Boosting your yoga routine doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. With some simple changes, you can make your workout work for you without spending a ton of money, and you can ensure that your motivation doesn’t waver at the same time.

How to Amp Up Your Yoga Routine on a Budget

Yoga is one of the best ways to get your body fit, and many people have found other benefits that come with it as well. When used in conjunction with meditation, yoga can also reduce stress, help individuals relieve anxiety, and alleviate the effects of depression. Once you find a routine that works, however, you might be inclined to stick with it for a while, and that can become boring. When you get bored with exercise, you’re far less likely to stick with it. Also, when you drop off in your routine, it can lead to negativity where your self-esteem is concerned.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to amp up your yoga routine without spending a ton of money. Most of us are on a budget these days, so it’s important to find simple ways to make your exercises fun and refreshing. Rather than going all-out on a membership to a studio, look for yoga tutorials online or via an app, or create an inexpensive home gym.

Read on for a few easy, budget-friendly ways to boost your yoga routine.

Add an App

There are many yoga apps that can help you with your routine — Pocket Yoga is a good place to get started — so look for one or two that will boost your regimen and help you stay on track, even when you’re on the go. If you need to turn your phone into a mobile hotspot, look for a new device that fits your budget and still has all the features you want. 

Find the Right Tools

Yoga is one of the easiest workouts to refresh because you can add and change out different tools to make it different each time. Stability balls and yoga straps are all wonderful items that can be used within a yoga workout, so do some research to find the right tools for your needs. These are all budget-friendly items and can be gathered one at a time in order to create an inexpensive home gym, where you can fit in exercise any time you want. Make sure you do your homework to help you determine which poses and stretches work best with each item. Additionally, if you want to help cut the cost of these purchases, look online for coupons and promo codes for stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Get Outside

Sometimes, a change of scenery is just the thing to get excited about your exercise routine again. The great thing about yoga is that it’s adaptable for just about any person or place, so you can take it outside and enjoy the mental health benefits of spending time in nature. You might even find an outdoor class you can take; many classes these days allow you to bring your dog along, which will help you beat stress in the cutest way possible. If your budget won’t allow for a class, simply take your mat and phone into a shady spot and practice poses on your own.

Find a Friend

Workouts are much better when you don’t have to do them alone, so find a friend who will practice along with you. Set up a time to get together each week, or meet up on your lunch break. Not only is this a great way to change up your routine, but it will also boost your self-confidence and motivation to have a friend with you, and it may even help to elevate your mood. 

Boosting your yoga routine doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. With some simple changes, you can make your workout work for you without spending a ton of money, and you can ensure that your motivation doesn’t waver at the same time.

How to Amp Up Your Yoga Routine on a Budget

Yoga is one of the best ways to get your body fit, and many people have found other benefits that come with it as well. When used in conjunction with meditation, yoga can also reduce stress, help individuals relieve anxiety, and alleviate the effects of depression. Once you find a routine that works, however, you might be inclined to stick with it for a while, and that can become boring. When you get bored with exercise, you’re far less likely to stick with it. Also, when you drop off in your routine, it can lead to negativity where your self-esteem is concerned.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to amp up your yoga routine without spending a ton of money. Most of us are on a budget these days, so it’s important to find simple ways to make your exercises fun and refreshing. Rather than going all-out on a membership to a studio, look for yoga tutorials online or via an app, or create an inexpensive home gym.

Read on for a few easy, budget-friendly ways to boost your yoga routine.

Add an App

There are many yoga apps that can help you with your routine — Pocket Yoga is a good place to get started — so look for one or two that will boost your regimen and help you stay on track, even when you’re on the go. If you need to turn your phone into a mobile hotspot, look for a new device that fits your budget and still has all the features you want. 

Find the Right Tools

Yoga is one of the easiest workouts to refresh because you can add and change out different tools to make it different each time. Stability balls and yoga straps are all wonderful items that can be used within a yoga workout, so do some research to find the right tools for your needs. These are all budget-friendly items and can be gathered one at a time in order to create an inexpensive home gym, where you can fit in exercise any time you want. Make sure you do your homework to help you determine which poses and stretches work best with each item. Additionally, if you want to help cut the cost of these purchases, look online for coupons and promo codes for stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Get Outside

Sometimes, a change of scenery is just the thing to get excited about your exercise routine again. The great thing about yoga is that it’s adaptable for just about any person or place, so you can take it outside and enjoy the mental health benefits of spending time in nature. You might even find an outdoor class you can take; many classes these days allow you to bring your dog along, which will help you beat stress in the cutest way possible. If your budget won’t allow for a class, simply take your mat and phone into a shady spot and practice poses on your own.

Find a Friend

Workouts are much better when you don’t have to do them alone, so find a friend who will practice along with you. Set up a time to get together each week, or meet up on your lunch break. Not only is this a great way to change up your routine, but it will also boost your self-confidence and motivation to have a friend with you, and it may even help to elevate your mood. 

Boosting your yoga routine doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. With some simple changes, you can make your workout work for you without spending a ton of money, and you can ensure that your motivation doesn’t waver at the same time.

Sheila Johnson
ZENthusiast
Sheila@wellsheila.net
wellsheila.net



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