1 Simple Practice That Can Harness The Transformative Magic of Fire!

Fire consumes, transforms, and clears. The very act of lighting a candle or lamp can cause a change in your state of awareness. Fire is the absolute purifier and transformer. 

Fire is very powerful in helping you focus your intention. 

I love how Denise Linn suggests we “code” the fire with our intention.

Just prior to lighting a lamp or candle become very clear on why you are lighting it. Focus your attention on your desired results. 

Take 3 deep full breaths, allow the quietness to expand inside you. Allow a “feeling” of the results that you intend to fill you. Now visualize the room filling with this feeling. When the feeling/visualization has reached clear intensity, project your purpose onto the lamp/candle and light it. In this moment the flame acts as a magnifier and projects your thoughts and feelings into the room. 

Simply gaze into the flame and allow your intention to fill the room. 

Do this is for a few days. 

In the coming few days/weeks be open to synchronicities and chance encounters. These are not coincidences, but a means for your intentions to come to fruition. 

 

Clear Kitchen Clutter to Activate Flow Of Abundance

 

Today’s kitchen is the most popular place in a home. Not just guests, everything else ends up there too. 

The modern day kitchen is the most cluttered of spaces. Objects are piled on every surface usually out in the open. 

This interferes with our ability to enjoy cooking. It also interferes with our ability to enjoy a meal. We chronically feel rushed. 

We are distracted by the un-kitchen related material surrounding us. 

Reminders of work to be done and other responsibilities vie for our attention and time. We even eat on the go. 

Kitchen clutter creates NEGATIVE DECOR. 

The kitchen symbolizes our prosperity and financial resources. This is where we connect with what sustains us. It is also associated with fire, which is an activating force for abundance. 

• An ideal kitchen is clean, light and airy, and full of  free flowing prana/chi 
  
  
• There should be plenty of natural sunlight 
  
  
• Bright and cheerful colors are best as they convey a sense of health, happiness, and vitality
  
  
• Fresh herbs, fresh fruit bowls, rope of garlic, dried chill peppers and even dried herbs are all nourishing 
  
  
• The mood you create in the kitchen directly affects the health and vitality of all the occupants
  
  
• The thoughts and feelings you have while preparing a meal will be evident in the meals you consume
  
  
• Take time. Make the kitchen a place you want to spend time in, a place which radiates warmth and vibrant life force 

Take a few minutes and remove as many as possible (preferably ALL) things in your kitchen that have nothing to do with food and food preparation.

FEEL THE AMBIENCE CHANGE!

8 Steps To Maintaining A Natural Weed Free Lawn Without Herbicides

 

If you live in a suburban area, you probably have a lawn. If you have used any form of weed killers, weed ' n ' feed, roundup, or any chemicals to get rid of the weeds, its important to know how they affect your children and you. Perhaps you have handed over the responsibility to a lawn care company and aren't even aware of the exact chemicals being used on your lawn. 

The effects range from simple nose bleeds, allergies, neurological effects, to severe brain dis-function, cancers, Alzheimer’s. Children needing eye-glasses, attention disorders, autism spectrum disorders, all link back to pesticide exposure from our lawns. Even very little exposure has very strong effects on kids developing organs. Their bodies and organs absorb way more of these toxic chemicals than adults. Their effects are cumulative and can show up later in life.  

It is possible to get a natural nontoxic low maintenance lawn! It's just a matter of knowing the steps. And the first step is knowing the soil composition. 

The secret is in knowing and maintaining a particular soil composition.

A natural organic weed free lawn strives for balance. If you maintain the natural balance weeds naturally do not grow and grass is strong.

Synthetic fertilizers give plants quick bursts of nutrients that disrupt the delicate balance encouraging weeds and weakening grass

Get your lawn off drugs. The longer a lawn is on synthetic fertilizers, weed control products and insecticides, the weaker the lawn gets and the cost of maintenance increases over time. 

An organic natural lawn gets easier and cheaper to maintain over time as the balanced soil and stronger grass are self sustaining. Here are 8 steps to get started.

1. Aerate every season - discourages many common weeds. Compacted soil is a welcome sign for weeds

2. Overseed - nature abhors a vacuum. When you over seed there is less space for weeds to creep in 

3. Do a soil test. See images for balanced soil composition for natural lawn. Amend the soil appropriately with natural and organic elements. Pay particular attention to secondary and micro nutrients. Almost all the weeds are caused by an imbalance in these - usually too less calcium, low iron and too much phosphorus. This is the best way to get rid of weeds. The correct soil composition naturally deters weeds

4. Mechanically remove weeds or use an all natural non-selective weed remover (these are usually vinegar based. Regular vinegar is not strong enough. You need horticulture strength vinegar to get weeds. This will also get the grass so use with caution)

5. Water deep but infrequently. This makes the grass roots go deeper and get stronger

6. Mow higher allowing grass to get stronger. 

7. Watch out for the calcium in the soil. Make sure its ratio is correct 7 parts calcium to 1 part magnesium

8. Be patient. Organic methods take longer to work as they amend the soil and work at solving the problem at the root unlike synthetic cures that work in 24-48 hours. 

Just a little patience and you will be doing a world of good to your children, your self, and humanity. 
 
The shift is not going to happen overnight. If you already have a weed free lawn but on herbicides, you can gently begin to take it off drugs and maintain the soil composition so it stays weed free.

Here is a link to an old NPR interview with Paul Tukey, author of the book The organic lawn care manual
 
NPR Interview with Paul Tukey

6 Simple Ways To Incorporate Sound Therapy Into Your Daily Life

“Sound can change our immune function. After either chanting or listening to certain forms of music, your interluken-1 level, an index of your immune system, goes up between 12.5% and 15%. Not only that, about 20 minutes after listening to this meditative type of music, immunoglobulin levels in your blood are significantly increased. There’s no part of our body not affected. Even our heart rate and blood pressure are lowered with certain forms of music. So, it affects not only our soul and our spirit, but it affects us on literally a cellular and sub-cellular level.”  

“Sound can redress imbalances on every level of physiologic functioning and can play a positive role in treatment of virtually any medical disorder” 

Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, Cancer Specialist, Cornell Medical Center. 

Dr. Gaynor first came across the technique while treating a Tibetan monk in 1991. He then began incorporating singing bowls into his research and practice getting phenomenal results. 

Gongs: When played properly symbolize the beginning or end of a mindfulness experience 

Binaural Beat Tracks: A Binaural beat has two different pure-tone sine waves of low frequency with a subtle difference between each one. The frequency is 1500Hz or less with a difference of up to 40 Hz usually. Binaural beats are effective when using headphones or earbuds. This sound therapy is powerful before bedtime. You can even choose to fall asleep to it. 

Singing Bowls: Offer different frequencies and play different notes. Very helpful for various sound therapies, at-home meditation and yoga practices. Their sound therapy effects are powerful whether you listen to it live or via a recording. Link your breath with the sound and motion of playing a singing bowl for a moving sound meditation. 

Using Singing Bowls

Use singing bowls everyday. Incorporate it into your daily routine. Here are some suggestions: 

1. Use them as part of your mindfulness & meditation practice
   
   
2. Make them a part of your yoga practice 
   
   
3. Bring them into your classroom to raise everyone's attention
   
   
4. Use it at your events and activities 
   
   
5. If you volunteer or serve in any capacity, bring your singing bowl along. It will help provide stress relief and peace of mind
   
   
6. Take it to an arts and crafts session to help it stimulate creativity

It's really up to you how you choose to share your singing bowl. You are limited only by your imagination. 

Two Main Ways To Play A Singing Bowl 

1. Striking: Balance the bowl on the palm of your hand. Do not grip it with your fingers. Let the striker gently hit the upper, outer rim of the bowl, and listen to the tone it produces. Feel the vibrations from the bowl as they move up your hand. Experiment with different strikes - from gentle taps to stronger firmer strikes. Listen to the sounds and see how they resonate with you. This itself can produce incredibly calming and relaxing effects. 
   
   
2. Playing The Rim Of Your Bowl: Again, balance the bowl on the palm of your hand. If you grip the edge of the bowl you will dampen the sound or prevent it altogether. Use the striker to create a note. Hold the striker loosely and with a soft wrist run the striker around the rim. The sound will depend on how fast you go and how hard you press. Start slowly and “catch” the note as you run the striker around the rim of the bowl. You can build the note up in volume. Connect with the bowl and don’t worry if the vote falls or stops. Strike again and try once more. Notice how it feels in your body.  

SOURCE: SILENT MIND SINGING BOWLS