Food For Thought | Ascension Lifestyle

18 Jul 2022
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How To Live Sustainably As A Renter

Small changes go a long way in creating a healthier planet for years to come. Whether you rent an apartment or an entire house, there are several ways you can lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

Thankfully, you don’t have to live off-grid or have a solar roof to reduce your environmental impact. In fact, renting a space is the perfect chance to build eco-friendly habits and make sustainability your main priority.

Here are seven ways to be a more eco-conscious renter.

1. Save More Energy

You can improve your unit’s energy efficiency with only a few steps.

A draft blocker is a great way to keep unwanted hot or cold air coming in through windowsills or doorways. You can even make one yourself by recycling an old shirt or pair of pants. Simply cut the fabric to match the length of the doorway, sew it into a tube shape, stuff it with stuffing or other cloth and stitch it closed. Preventing drafts from creeping in will reduce your need to run the air conditioner or heater.

Wearing the right clothes for the weather is another simple way to improve temperature comfortability. A sweater may not be the best attire if it’s midsummer. Likewise, you’ll want to use a blanket and wear socks during the winter to prevent a chill.

Additionally, the average American family uses 40 gallons of water daily, with showers accounting for 17%. Save water by taking shorter showers or changing an old showerhead to a water-conserving model.

Laundering your clothes only when you’ve accumulated enough for a full load is another way to save energy and decrease water consumption. Also, make a conscious effort to use cold water, since running hot water uses more power.

2. Buy Secondhand Or Sustainable Décor

Decorative tastes change over time, and you may feel tempted to purchase new furniture when you relocate to a different apartment. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that furniture waste reached 12.1 million tons in 2018 — about 4.1% of the nation’s total landfilled solid waste.

If you’re tired of your rental unit’s current look, spruce up the space with reclaimed pieces or sustainable home essentials instead. Thrift stores, antique malls, local markets and e-marketplaces are excellent sources for used furniture and quality decor at an affordable price.

Otherwise, look for new items made from sustainable materials and read up on brands before buying. Some furniture pieces may be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), meaning wood products have met stringent environmental standards during harvesting and throughout the supply chain.

3. Build A Local Share Community

Minimize your environmental impact by creating a local share community, which is a trade economy of goods and services.

For example, community members may share appliances, devices, exercise equipment, laundry machines, ingredients, clothing or anything else you can think of. A few suggestions to make this economic model work to your advantage include the following:

Create a forum — WhatsApp, Facebook group, etc. — where building residents and neighbors can reach out for assistance or ask to borrow an item.
Ask your local share community if you can add a few grocery items to someone’s shopping list to save on transportation emissions.
Create a book swap or secondhand library in your building.
Host donation drives for various items or activities, such as board games, for others to use.

Get to know the residents of your building by introducing yourself to others within common areas. You’re bound to find someone interested in creating a local share community with you.

4. Reduce Food Waste By Recycling And Composting

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the United States wastes about 30%-40% of the food supply at the consumer and retail levels. However, you can play a critical role in helping the U.S. meet its goal of minimizing 50% of its food waste by 2030.

Although your rental space may be limited, ensure you have two bins in your kitchen to make separating trash from recyclables easier. You might also decide to build a small compost box on your balcony for leftover scraps.

Starting a meal-prepping routine is another great way to reduce food waste while renting. It prevents needing to throw away rotten ingredients by using all of the week’s groceries in your recipes right away.

5. Switch To LEDs

Swapping out incandescent lightbulbs for energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is an affordable and easy upgrade for a greener apartment or rental property.

LEDs typically consume about 75% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, with an end-of-life cycle that lasts 30 times longer. Consider adding LEDs to the following light products:

Chandeliers
Ceiling fan lights
Lamps
Appliances
Under-cabinet lighting
Pantry lighting
Recessed lights
Holiday lights

It may not seem like a significant switch, but LEDs are an eco-friendly initiative you can take to live more sustainably as a renter or tenant.

6. Go Green With Plants

An apartment probably won’t come with a backyard for a garden. However, you should still consider adding a few indoor plants to improve air quality and create a more natural aesthetic.

A recent study found that indoor plants, such as peace lilies, corn plants and fern arums, can reduce nitrogen dioxide pollutants by 20% in small spaces.

If you’re lucky enough to have a balcony attached to your unit, you can also add potted plants to grow fresh produce or herbs.

Space might be limited, of course — so get creative with flower boxes, smaller pots on your windowsill or a vertical garden on a wall. Even better, if you start composting, you can use the soil to grow your plants.

7. Speak To Your Landlord

You might pay the rent, but your landlord ultimately maintains control. As such, living more sustainably in your rental may require you to speak to them about your concerns.

Educate your landlord about generating greater energy efficiency with eco-friendly appliances and upgraded heating and cooling systems. For example, an older building may have outdated pipes or electrical wiring and need frequent maintenance. They may be keener to make improvements after you explain how advanced technologies can help save them money on repairs and enhance the building’s energy use.

Your landlord may not always see eye-to-eye with you or make any changes, but you can at least rest assured that you did your part in broaching the subject. However, a good landlord will be open-minded toward your suggestions and aim to implement positive changes.

Living in a rental unit or home doesn’t mean you can’t have a greener lifestyle. There are plenty of ways to make your place more eco-friendly and develop a sustainable community with fellow renters.

Original article here

13 Jul 2022
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10 Things Incredibly Likable People Never, Ever Do (and Why You Love Them for It)

Some people are incredibly likable because of the things they do. Some people are incredibly charismatic because of the things they do.

And some people are incredibly likable because of the things they don’t do.

If you know someone who possesses the following qualities, share this with them—and also tell them how much you appreciate the fact they are in your life.

1. They don’t blame.

Friends make mistakes. Employees don’t meet your expectations. Vendors don’t deliver on time.

So you blame them for your problems.

But you’re also to blame. Maybe you didn’t provide enough training. Maybe you didn’t build in enough of a buffer. Maybe you asked too much, too soon. Maybe you weren’t as good a friend as you could have been.

Taking responsibility when things go wrong instead of blaming others isn’t masochistic; it’s empowering, because then you focus on doing things better or smarter next time.

And when you get better or smarter, you also get happier.

2. They don’t control.

Yeah, you’re the boss. Yeah, you’re the titan of industry. Yeah, you’re the small tail that wags a huge dog.

Still, the only thing you really control is you. If you find yourself trying hard to control other people, you’ve decided that you, your goals, your dreams, or even just your opinions are more important than theirs.

Plus, control is short term at best, because it often requires force, or fear, or authority, or some form of pressure—none of those let you feel good about yourself.

Find people who want to go where you’re going. They’ll work harder, have more fun, and create better business and personal relationships.

And all of you will be happier.

3. They don’t try to impress.

No one likes you for your clothes, your car, your possessions, your title, or your accomplishments. Those are all “things.” People may like your things, but that doesn’t mean they like you.

Sure, superficially they might seem to, but superficial is also insubstantial, and a relationship that is not based on substance is not a real relationship.

Genuine relationships make you happier, and you’ll form genuine relationships only when you stop trying to impress and start trying to just be yourself.

4. They don’t cling.

When you’re afraid or insecure, you hold on tightly to what you know, even if what you know isn’t particularly good for you.

An absence of fear or insecurity isn’t happiness; it’s just an absence of fear or insecurity.

Holding on to what you think you need won’t make you happier; letting go so you can reach for and try to earn what you want will.

Even if you don’t succeed in earning what you want, the act of trying alone will make you feel better about yourself.

5. They don’t interrupt.

Interrupting isn’t just rude. When you interrupt someone, what you’re really saying is, “I’m not listening to you so I can understand what you’re saying; I’m listening to you so I can decide what I want to say.”

Want people to like you? Listen to what they say. Focus on what they say. Ask questions to make sure you understand what they say.

They’ll love you for it—and you’ll love how that makes you feel.

6. They don’t whine.

Your words have power, especially over you. Whining about your problems makes you feel worse, not better.

If something is wrong, don’t waste time complaining. Put that effort into making the situation better. Unless you want to whine about it forever, eventually you’ll have to do that. So why waste time? Fix it now.

Don’t talk about what’s wrong. Talk about how you’ll make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. Don’t be just the shoulder they cry on.

Friends don’t let friends whine. Friends help friends make their lives better.

7. They don’t criticize.

Yeah, you’re more educated. Yeah, you’re more experienced. Yeah, you’ve been around more blocks and climbed more mountains and slayed more dragons.

That doesn’t make you smarter, or better, or more insightful.

That just makes you you: unique, matchless, one of a kind—but in the end, just you.

Just like everyone else.

Everyone is different: not better, not worse, just different. Appreciate the differences instead of the shortcomings and you’ll see people—and yourself—in a better light.

8. They don’t preach.

The higher you rise and the more you accomplish, the more likely you are to think you know everything and to tell people everything you think you know.

When you speak with more finality than foundation, people may hear you but they don’t listen.

And they don’t want to be around you.

9. They don’t live in the past.

The past is valuable. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the mistakes of others.

Then let it go.

Easier said than done? (Even Troy Aikman struggles with this, but in a really good way.) It depends on your focus. When something bad happens to you, see that as a chance to learn something you didn’t know. When another person makes a mistake, see that as an opportunity to be kind, forgiving, and understanding.

The past is just training; it doesn’t define you. Think about what went wrong, but only in terms of how you will make sure that, next time, you and the people around you will know how to make sure it goes right.

10. They don’t let fear hold them back.

We’re all afraid, of what might or might not happen, of what we can’t change, or what we won’t be able to do, or how other people might perceive us.

So it’s easier to hesitate, to wait for the right moment, to decide we need to think a little longer or do some more research or explore a few more alternatives.

Meanwhile days, weeks, months, and even years pass us by.

And so do our dreams.

Don’t let your fears hold you back. Whatever you’ve been planning, whatever you’ve imagined, whatever you’ve dreamed of, get started on it today.

If you want to start a business, take the first step. If you want to change careers, take the first step. If you want to expand or enter a new market or offer new products or services, take the first step.

Put your fears aside and get started. Do something. Do anything.

Otherwise, today is gone. Once tomorrow comes, today is lost forever.

Today is the most precious asset you own—and is the one thing you should truly fear … wasting.

Original article here

09 Jul 2022
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How Stress Hits Women’s Brains Harder—and Why Men Don’t Always Get It

If you’ve been stressed out and ignoring it—isn’t everyone stressed right now?— it could be time to do something about it. That’s because even though you may be basically healthy, tension is doing its stealthy damage. The latest evidence? Researchers have linked high levels of the stress hormone cortisol to brain shrinkage and impaired memory in healthy middle-aged adults. And get this: The effect was more pronounced in women than in men.

This research underscores an important point. Though stress affects your whole body, ground zero is your brain. It’s not just the effects of cortisol—it’s that teeth-grinders like traffic jams, personal snubs, and financial worries are perceived and interpreted by your gray matter. Fortunately, research focused on the brain is pointing to new, more effective ways to reduce your tension.

But first, let’s drill down and see how and why your brain’s natural reactions make you more vulnerable to the zings and arrows of tension.

How Stress Affects Your Brain

Aspects of the brain’s design that served us well thousands of years ago now make us susceptible to negative emotions and mental fatigue, both of which ratchet up our stress, says Amit Sood, M.D., professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and founder of the Mayo Clinic Resilience Program. Although our brains have evolved over time, “the speed of life today is the main stressor—it’s much faster than our brain’s ability to adapt,” he says. And that means we often end up with too little time and too few resources to address what life throws at us each day, which adds to a diminishing sense of control over our lives. Perceived lack of control has been shown to be a huge source of stress.

In his book Mindfulness Redesigned for the Twenty-First Century, Dr. Sood describes a number of traps that frequently ensnare our brains. Three of the most challenging:

Focus Problems

When giant predators roamed Earth, a scanning, outward-directed focus served us well—but today that focus is directed inward. Now, 80 percent of the time, our minds are wandering, stuck in an unfocused state even if we’re not aware of it.

Studies have found that this state makes us less happy, and the unhappier we are, the more our attention wanders and our thoughts pile up. It’s like having a huge set of open files on your computer, Dr. Sood says, only they’re in your brain, distracting you and demanding attention. Our tech dependence, a source of constant distraction, adds to our inability to focus.

Fear

Our survival depends on the ability of the brain (mostly the amygdala) to detect physical and emotional threats. Moments or events that elicit fear raise our heart rate, which the brain stores as information that might protect us from future danger. This so-called negativity bias makes us prone to paying more attention to bad news than to good. We readily remember bad things that happen to us because our brains also release hormones that strengthen those specific memories, and this further embeds them in our minds. The result? More stress.

Fatigue

While a number of body organs (e.g., the heart and the kidneys) can keep going like the Energizer bunny, the brain is not one of them. After working hard, it needs rest. The more boring and intense an activity is, the faster your brain will grow tired—and that can happen in as little as four minutes or as much as an hour or two. You can tell when your brain is fatigued (it has to signal this indirectly, since it has no pain receptors) because your eyes feel tired and stuff happens—you start making errors, become inefficient, lose your willpower, or see a dip in your mood. Brain fatigue leads to stress, and stress leads to fatigue, in a continuous closed loop.

Why Stress Hits Women Harder Than Men

Stress almost seems to have it out for women. In an annual survey by the American Psychological Association, women have repeatedly reported higher levels of tension than men and sometimes even more stress-related physical and emotional symptoms, including headache, upset stomach, fatigue, irritability, and sadness.

What’s more, midlife women have been found to experience more stressful events than both men and women of any other age, reports an ongoing study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute on Aging. Stress overload may even lead to chronic disease: Long-term pressures at home and work plus stress from traumatic events almost doubles the risk of type 2 diabetes in older women, according to a recent study at the University of California, San Francisco. Women are also more prone to stress-induced mental health problems such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Here’s the why of it: A triple whammy makes women uniquely vulnerable to strain and pressure, says Dr. Sood. First, women’s brains make them more sensitive than men to stressors and a perceived lack of control. The limbic areas of women’s brains, which help control emotions and memories, are highly active, making them remember hurts and slights more readily. Stewing over these and having difficulty letting them go strengthens the brain circuits of those negative emotions—another example of the negativity bias at work—which also increases women’s stress.

In addition, the multiple demands of parenting and being in charge of the well-being of the household mean that women’s focus tends to be more diffuse. And an unfocused brain, as noted earlier, is another source of stress. A mom’s protective radar is always up for her kids too, which makes her sense a threat more quickly, and she’s more likely than her husband to get stuck and dwell on it, says Dr. Sood.

What Men Don’t Always Get

The differences in how men and women experience tension don’t play out in isolation, of course. They affect how husbands and wives, friends, and work colleagues experience and interpret the world—and yes, often the result is conflict. If you’re a woman, think of a time you had an upsetting disagreement with your boss. When you vented to your husband about it—how your boss looked at you, what she said, how you responded, how you felt, what she said next—maybe you saw his eyes glaze over, and maybe he said, “It’s over now; why don’t you just let it go and talk to her tomorrow?” Which made you feel hurt, angry, and dismissed—and depending on which feeling was uppermost, you either escalated the conversation into an argument or retreated to mull it over.

New studies are looking at how the genders process stress in the moment and coming up with reasons for the disconnect. Recently, using fMRI to measure brain activity, researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine found that while imagining a personalized, highly stressful event, the action- and planning-oriented parts of men’s brains were actively engaged, while women’s brains were busy visualizing and also cognitively and emotionally processing the experience.

In the second part of the study, when men and women were experiencing intense anxiety, brain regions that were active in women were inactive in men. This suggests that women tend to get caught up in processing their stress, turning it over and over in their minds and reimagining it, says Rajita Sinha, Ph.D., director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Stress Center.

“Women cope by talking about being anxious and describing their emotions and stressors,” she says. This could put them at risk for ruminating about the issues. Men seem not to access that cognitive-processing part of their brains and “are more likely to quickly think about doing something, taking an action, as opposed to expressing their distress verbally. It’s just the difference in the way we’re wired.”

That might explain why women tend to provide emotional support to someone who is stressed, whereas men might offer advice or something tangible like money or physical help. Ironically, what both genders want is emotional support when they’re tense, says Jennifer Priem, Ph.D., associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University. So men and women who are stressed out prefer to get support from women.

Bridging the Gender Stress Gap

Priem has found that problems arise between couples when each person has a different perception of what’s stressful. The result: When people are really tense, their partners aren’t necessarily motivated to offer support if they think, If I were in this situation, I wouldn’t consider it that big a deal. So how do you get the response you want when you need it?

Ask your partner to just listen

“That’s number one—listening to and validating the other person’s feelings,” says Sinha. “So even just saying ‘You’re really frustrated by this’ in a nonjudgmental way is validating and will ease someone’s anxiety.”

Explain that you feel defensive when he dismisses your experience

“When a partner downplays the significance of something, the person who’s stressed may hold on to it more or feel they have to convince the other person it’s true and that they have a right to feel that way,” says Priem. “You might say, ‘I’m really upset right now, and I feel frustrated when it seems you’re making light of my feelings. It would make me feel better if you’d be more responsive to the fact that I’m upset, even if you don’t understand it.’”

Treat yourself with compassion

“Women tend to be more self-critical about not being able to control their emotions,” says Sinha. So they may see a partner’s comment as judgmental even when he didn’t mean it that way. If that’s the case, forgive yourself and let it go—and hug it out, which can reduce tension and boost positive feelings.

Learning to negotiate conflicts is a big step in easing pressures. Also important: figuring out strategies to deal with the distractions, fears, and fatigue your brain naturally accumulates (see below for four smart ones). These can help you take stress in stride, with a terrific payoff: better health and greater happiness, plus a more resilient brain.

How to Control Stress and Calm Your Brain

To keep stress in check, you should of course be eating healthfully, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep to improve your mood, emotions, and cognition. But those are just the basics—and they’re not always easy to accomplish, especially when life is throwing lots of tension your way. Dr. Sood has advice that can up your stress-reducing game, based on the successful resilience program he runs at the Mayo Clinic. Here, four of his brain-focused, research-based strategies that work in just minutes a day.

Give your brain some RUM

That stands for Rest, Uplifting emotions, and Motivation. You need all three to help energize your brain and head off fatigue. So when you’re engaged in a task, take three to five minutes every couple of hours (or sooner, if you start getting fidgety) and pause for RUM.

How-to: Get up from your computer, or stop what you’re doing, and look at photos of your kids or of your favorite vacation spot, read inspiring quotes, text or call a friend, or watch a happy short video. Choose an activity that makes you feel good and is motivating.

Begin a morning gratitude practice

Take control of your brain before it gets hijacked by the day’s concerns and greet the morning in a happier, more connected frame of mind.

How-to: When you first wake up, before you get out of bed, spend a few minutes thinking of some people who care about you and silently send them your gratitude. Another reason it’s a good idea: A recent study found that anticipating a stressful day when you first wake up affects your working memory later that day—even if nothing stressful actually happens. (Working memory is what helps you learn things and retain them even when you’re distracted.)

Be mindfully present

Meditation is a great stress reliever, but not everyone can sit still, looking inward, for 20-plus minutes. Good news for the fidgety: Research has shown that focusing your attention outward engages the same brain network, so you can get similar stress-easing benefits by consciously giving the world your attention.

How-to: Challenge yourself to be curious and notice details—the color of the barista’s eyes at the coffee shop, the pattern of your boss’s necktie, which flowers are blooming in your neighborhood. Curiosity feeds the brain’s reward network, which makes you feel good; it also augments memory and learning.

Focus on kindness

Even the nicest among us are quick to judge others, especially if they’re different from us (thank the amygdala, a region of the brain that interprets difference as a threat).

How-to: To calm the amygdala, focus on two things when you’re feeling judgy about someone: that every person is special, and that everyone has struggles. Start a practice of sending silent good wishes to people you pass on the street or in the halls at work. The benefits for you: Your oxytocin, the hormone of connectedness, rises; your heart rate slows; and you feel more benevolent. All of which makes you healthier and happier.

Original article here

05 Jul 2022
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The Keys to Self Mastery

Self-regulation, within the space of wellbeing, is actually emotional self-regulation. In other words, the capacity of managing our emotions on a daily basis. During the day, we experience a range of different emotions, from joy, love, and peace to anger, frustration, anxiety — and the way we respond to events will determine our state of being. The important point here is that we have a choice, we always have a choice: we can choose to give free rein to negative emotions and dwell on them, or we can choose to acknowledge these emotions, find a solution, and move on.

In my opinion, free will is the faculty of choosing what is best for us. Now, here is when we can start talking about self-mastery, because there is a slight difference between self-regulation and self-mastery.

What is self-mastery? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, self-mastery is the ability to control one’s own desires or impulses. However, when we are talking about consciousness, the meaning of self-mastery becomes a bit broader, because it also means to have the ability to act in certain challenging situations in a controlled manner, peacefully and harmoniously. There are many techniques out there to help us with this process, because it really is a process. Self-mastery is not something that you are born with, it is a quality that you acquire through your life’s journey, and many of us never get it completely.

The first step to self-mastery is actually acknowledging that there is such a thing. People in general are pretty good at controlling themselves, at self-regulating themselves, but when it comes to basic emotions like anger, for example, only a few can say that whatever the situation they are in, they are able to remain calm and composed. Therefore, first we need to incorporate into our vocabulary the word self-mastery, and comprehend and experience its meaning.

The second step is to practice self-regulation to get closer to self-mastery, which is not an easy task. How do we do this?

There are a few steps you can take, for example:

breathe deeply when confronting a difficult situation
count to 10 to calm yourself
go outside to get fresh air
close your eyes for a while
feel your heart beating and try to pace it, etc.

Now, you can certainly try all of these easy actions and not see results, or maybe you can find one or two that work, but not all the time. In these instances, keep trying until you find what is best for you.

The third step is when consciousness comes into play. When I say “consciousness” I am talking about that inner awareness of being more than flesh, being part of something larger, where we are one and unique, where there is peace and there is freedom. As conscious beings we know that our inner self plays a role in our wellbeing, and if we are able to go to that internal place, then we can receive the benefits of understanding that everything comes from within and that we are in charge of our own life.

Several tools give us the power of self-mastery. The regular practice of meditation or any other techniques that awaken and elevate our consciousness will make our life in this physical field more masterful. The idea and intention is to become little Buddhas, remaining calm and composed in the face of adversity — and in happy times, too.

Find our own unique way to connect with the Source. You might call it Spirit, the Great Architect, Archetypal One, Origin, whatever you prefer, because when we are wired to those realms of consciousness we experience deep inner peace and harmony and we become co-creators, together with the Source. We then are attuned to the fields of superior perfection.

Let’s recap:

Acknowledge that self-mastery is not only a concept, it is a way of being.
Practice self-regulation techniques, which get you closer to self-mastery.
Be aware of being more than a body, and that everything comes from within.
Find a way to connect with the Source and co-create your daily life from this connection.

Through practice and discipline, we can face any situation in a state of inner peace and calmness. Sure, from time to time we might forget that we are here to learn to create with love, and that self-mastery is the most important component of this learning. However, I can assure you that if we are able to pause, rethink and change our ways of reacting, sooner than later we will achieve self-mastery and accelerate our process of ascension.

About the Author:

Veronica Sanchez De Darivas is Chilean-Australian, now living in the UK and a proud mother of teenage twins. A spiritual awakening teacher, bestselling author, pineal gland (third eye) activator and Certified Instructor for the Cyclopea Method, Veronica is currently the only instructor in the world teaching the Cyclopea Method in English.

01 Jul 2022
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Sleep: The Best and Worst Foods to Eat Before Bed

There are a number of different factors in your day-to-day life that can make it difficult to get to sleep, from stress to our central heating. People are reporting sleep disturbances more than ever: the average person is losing two hours of sleep a night and 37% of people in Britain are sleep deprived, according to 2021 research from fitness tech brand Zepp.

But what if we told you that the answer could lie in something much more simple than lavender sprays and supplements? When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, your diet can play a huge role. Studies, including a 2016 paper from Columbia University, have found that our dietary patterns and consumption of specific foods can have a significant impact on our sleep quality, with some foods having the potential to really disrupt our time snoozing.

Certified Health Education Specialist Brielle Merchant and Dr Aishah Iqbal both know just how important sleep is, and how much our eating habits can affect it. So we asked them for their expert insights into the link between diet and sleep, what you can eat to ensure you sleep well – and what foods are most likely to disrupt your rest.

How Important Is Diet to Good Sleeping Habits?

As Brielle explains, “eating well balanced meals supports your body’s pathways when regulating your hormones”, some of which “impact how much sleep you get and how well you sleep”. This means that eating foods containing nutrients that support sleep – and in the right amounts – is crucial to ensuring you are able to drift off when your head hits the pillow.

It works the other way too, with your sleep impacting your food choices. Both of these factors can influence your energy levels throughout the day. So, Brielle recommends “trying to keep a consistent sleeping and eating pattern, so that they are able to work together to supply your body with energy”.

When and How Much Should You Eat in the Evening?

Dr Iqbal explains that “there is growing evidence to suggest that the time you eat can impact your circadian rhythm”, also known as your sleep-wake cycle. As a result, eating too close to when you go to bed can potentially impact your sleep routine, and so “it’s best to eat earlier in the evening, allowing yourself a couple of hours to digest your meal before going to sleep”.

However, there is no hard and fast rule for when you should be eating. As Brielle explains, “it’s important to listen to your body and how you feel, so aim to feel satisfied when you eat in the evening, but not stuffed or hungry. It all depends on what works well for you”.

What Are Some of the Worst Foods to Eat Before You Sleep?

Some ingredients may not always be a good idea to eat close to bedtime due to their energising nature. Both Brielle and Dr Iqbal particularly warn against the consumption of caffeine too late in the day, “because it stimulates the brain and gives you energy, thus keeping you awake”, says Brielle.

Foods high in sugar can also be stimulating for the body and mind. As Dr Iqbal explains, they “heighten arousal and give you a dopamine hit, which keeps you feeling alert”.

According to Brielle, some foods cause disrupted sleep simply because they take longer for the body to digest. If you’re struggling with your sleep, try to stay away from heavy proteins in your evening meals, and minimise the high-fat foods which require longer to be broken down.

Foods to avoid

Coffee
Tea (especially those high in caffeine)
High protein foods (red meats, whey shakes)
High sugar snacks (sweets, fizzy drinks)

What Foods Will Help You Get a Good Night’s Sleep?

Brielle explains that kiwis are excellent sleep aids. In fact, “in a study, participants who started consuming kiwis regularly before bed were able to fall asleep 42% faster” than they did before. Foods high in melatonin are great as well, because melatonin is the hormone that helps to regulate your circadian rhythm. Dr Iqbal recommends cherries and nuts such as walnuts and almonds as good sources of this crucial hormone.

Fatty fish such as salmon and tuna are a good option for your evening meal. They are a great source of vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids, “which help to regulate serotonin, the hormone that is responsible for maintaining sleep”, explains Brielle. Milk contains vitamin D, too, as well as tryptophan, “both of which have been linked to supporting sleep”.

Other minerals, such as magnesium, have also been shown to support your sleep cycle and send you into a deep sleep. Foods such as spinach, nuts, salmon and banana are high in the mineral and great to be included throughout your day to maintain levels.

Foods to eat

Kiwi fruit
Cherries and tart cherry juice
Nuts (try to go for unsalted varieties)
Salmon, tuna and other oily fish
Milk
Spinach
Bananas

Original article here

27 Jun 2022
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How to Stop “Shoulding” Yourself

A dear friend — a friend I admire for her ability to guide others — recently admitted to suffering from a bout of the “shoulds.” She pointed out that every time she told herself she “should” have done something or “should” be doing something, she was essentially flagellating and shaming herself.

Barbara Barna Abel, a media coach and the host of the Camera Ready & Abel podcast, is the friend I’m speaking of. “We get stuck into this idea of an endless list of things we should do in terms of life, career, how we live our lives, or what we believe in,” she told me. “My feeling is we get stuck in what we should feel and what we should do versus what we want to do, what makes us happy, what we’re good at, and where our passions lie.”

“Shoulds” are an inevitable part of everyone’s self-speak vocabulary, but this can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Barna Abel says the “shoulds” often feel burdensome to her because they imply obligation. “When [we’re] doing something because we feel we ‘should’ and it’s out of obligation, we also start to build resentment toward ourselves, other people, and situations that can lead to depression, a victim mentality, and all sorts of other [negative] things. When we’re doing things because we ‘should,’ we gloss over the idea of choice,” she says.

Kristin Neff, PhD, an associate professor at the department of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of Fierce Self-Compassion, says though the “shoulds” can spur you into action temporarily, over-“shoulding” can carry negative side effects, like reinforcing fears of being unacceptable and a fear of failure. “This actually creates performance anxiety and [feelings of] failure, which undermines your ability to achieve in the long run,” she says, adding that procrastination and performance anxiety can make it harder for you to do your best, have grit, and stay focused on your goals.

A propensity toward a “should” mindset can come from early neural imprinting within fear-driven cultures, says neuroscientist Tara Swart, author of The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain. “Cultures can mean family, society, school, or religion. Even in adulthood, the ‘shoulds’ are about the things you had to do to survive without punishment, which can be literal or be shame, guilt, or humiliation.” Telling ourselves we “should” be doing this or “should” be doing that subconsciously brings up the shame or guilt that would have been the punishment for not behaving as expected during childhood, says Swart.

Though the word “should” in self-talk can seem — and sometimes is — innocuous, it can also signal that we’re being hard on ourselves, and that’s something to be aware of. Negative self-talk can lead us to perceive the world as an “unsafe and punitive place with scarce resources,” says Swart, which can feed into a victim mentality rather than a sense of agency over our lives, and keep us from taking healthful risks.

Science recognizes the harsh impact negative self-talk can have on our psyches, outlook, and health. In 2018, Neff, who has conducted tons of research about the power of self-compassion, examined how self-compassion affected academic performance for college students. It was associated with “reduced self-presentation concerns and increased student communication behavior,” implying greater class participation. “Self-compassion allows students to see themselves clearly, accept their mistakes and imperfections, and take action to correct mistakes,” reads the conclusion of the study.

Another randomized field experiment conducted by different researchers found that children with negative competence beliefs would often achieve below their potential in school. They also looked at whether engaging in positive self-talk would benefit the students’ mathematics performance. The researchers found that kids who weren’t all that confident, but engaged in encouraging self-talk performed better and effectively “severed the association between negative competence beliefs and poor performance.” It seems they gave themselves permission to succeed by learning positive ways to self-reassure.

Negative self-talk can even take a physical toll on us if we aren’t careful. Swart says it reduces the DOSE hormones: dopamine for reward, oxytocin for bonding, serotonin for mood, and endorphins for the feel-good factor. “It leads to increases in the stress hormone cortisol, which puts our brain in survival mode and doesn’t free up resources for higher brain functions like regulating emotions or overturning biases, including those we have against ourselves,” she explains.

Neff says negative self-talk is often linked to depression and anxiety. “Self-criticism activates the sympathetic nervous reaction, which is your fear response (or your fight-or-flight response), and self-compassion activates the sympathetic response and calms it down,” explains Neff. “If you find a depressed person, they’re almost guaranteed to be very self-critical. A lot of anxiety is caused by constant self-criticism, and anxiety undermines our ability to perform if you’re totally activated.” An activated fight-or-flight response isn’t great for you physically and can contribute to health issues like high blood pressure.

So how can we best coach ourselves through a case of the “shoulds” like Barna Abel did?

Get to why you’re shoulding

Barna Abel says, situation permitting, her first step in quelling the inner “shoulds” is to check in with herself and ask what would it look like to let go of what she thinks she should do and actually start to do what she wants to do. “It’s just stopping and being honest with yourself about your resistance. A lot of times, what gets stuck in the ‘shoulds’ are things that we’re not good at. There are things you may have been putting off because they aren’t things you really want to do, or are things that you may find difficult,” Barna Abel says. Then, actually plot out your options. “Ask yourself: If I knew I couldn’t fail, success was assured, and money was no object, what would happen? This gets you to open up in terms of possibility and alternate solutions,” she adds.

Neff also recommends taking a beat to examine your motives. “A self-compassion break is like hitting the reset button on a computer,” she says. Acknowledge that you’re struggling in some way and validate your own feelings. “Whatever you’re feeling — be it shame or disappointment — voice the negativity and acknowledge the pain with mindfulness,” she says.

Remember our common humanity — and that humans make mistakes

“Compassion, in Latin, means to suffer with this inherently connected compassion,” says Neff. “Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone is imperfect. Tell yourself there’s nothing wrong with me for having this issue. Tell yourself you’re not the only one.”

Give your words a positive spin

Swart suggests getting to the root of what drives your “shoulds” — and making the opposite thought your mantra. For example, swap “I should be famous/employed/rich by now!” for “I am exactly where I’m supposed to be in my life and will continue to work toward my goals.” For another way to redirect negative self-speak, Neff recommends asking yourself if you’d use the same language you use to chastise yourself and direct it at someone you really care about. If the two don’t match, write down what you’d say to your loved one and try saying it to yourself.

Show affection toward yourself

“Physical touch is one of the ways to change the nervous system — it actually helps you calm down and reduces cortisol,” says Neff, who adds that a simple self-soothing gesture, like putting your hands on your heart, is a surprisingly simple and effective way to help you calm down and feel kindness toward yourself.

In closing, Barna Abel says that redirecting her “should” self-talk freed her up to be even more productive. “Letting go of resentment is very personally empowering,” she says. “It really starts to switch the energy from ‘should’ to choice.” And who wouldn’t enjoy more choice?

Original article here

24 Jun 2022
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Are We in the End Times?

Welcome to Summer! Welcome to Winter! Completely depends on whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres, doesn’t it? Still, happy Solstice to one and all.

The Summer Solstice occurred on the 21st of June, and next up on June 29th is a New Moon at 7 degrees of Cancer. We are almost fully immersed in the vibes of the Great Mother, as represented in the Cardinal Water sign of Cancer. Many things are contrasting with this energy of nurturing and providing, especially in the economic and financial sectors of the current world systems.

I was born during the sign of Cancer, and under a Full Moon. That Moon is in Capricorn, in the house of my chart that rules financial and emotionally security – which in ancient times revolved around food, livestock, the health of the crops, and the general bounty of the tribe and the surrounding environment. The upcoming New Moon still has Capricorn involved, with Pluto near the Anaretic Degree of Capricorn (29), so the vibe is there. Pluto in Capricorn, along with Uranus in Taurus are factors in the changes that are happening. Pluto in Cap asks “can you get along on less”? Uranus in Taurus says “be prepared for the unexpected, whether it is food or monetary security. We are being tested…in a manner of speaking. Maybe we’re testing ourselves.

Things are changing rapidly, and a pall of uncertainty is in the air. What will happen with inflation, monetary deflation, cryptocurrency deflation, the upward spiraling of the prices at the pump and the grocery store? Are there really shortages, or are the chains of the supply and demand being manipulated? Greed is fuelled by the belief in “not enough”, and I am sure there is some price gouging happening, which is totally rooted in the fear of not enough. However, I am also aware enough about the financial structures and the cycles of boom and bust to recognize that the dislocations we are currently experiencing are never accidental. To believe that is so is to believe that everything in your life, or Life in general, is just a series of random events that simply happen. When you spend some time studying patterns and the correlation of events, randomness becomes less reliable.

We are currently the only species on this planet in which everyone must “earn” their living. Do you even ever question that assumption? I do…a lot. Jobs were created when the Industrial Age started. Before that everyone had a trade or vocation. People specialized, whether they were the baker, butcher, or candlestick maker. Everyone was sort of an entrepreneur. Before that, we lived in cooperative communities in which everyone contributed to the mutual welfare and survival of all the members of the group. Concepts such as hoarding and “not enough” were unknown. Yes, there were tough times; when the hunting was poor, or there was a drought. But the fluctuations were part of the planetary ecosphere evolving, not because someone somewhere saw a way to make a quick buck speculating in the commodities market. We might well ask what changed to cause us to abandon the natural equilibrium we had with Nature and when and how did it change. Is what we see in front of us now really fair and working for you and me?

The times ahead, whatever might happen, will challenge our assumptions about the way the world actually works, versus how we were told it works. This is our final exam, in a manner of speaking, and will define in what direction we evolve to as a species. It should be obvious that the accumulation of great wealth at the top of this system that benefits the few at the expense of the many is not sustainable for a great many reasons. The destruction of the ecosphere for corporate profits and personal accumulation of assets is just one of those reasons.

During this window between the Solstice and the New Moon in Cancer may we remember our many blessings and be grateful. May we also remember that it might be a good time to check in with our intuition and see what we may need to do to prepare for times of economic uncertainty or dislocation. We don’t have to be doomsday preppers, but we can be more prepared. This will be important not just to guarantee our personal survival, but to be present for those who have less, and cannot provide for themselves for various reasons.

A new thought teacher by the name of Catherine Ponder once said, “abundance is having just enough to share.” When we share from our blessings, no matter how meager, we are sending out a message to the Universe. We have cast our “bread on the waters” which will return to us when we may be in need. As we give to others, we give to ourselves.

I entitled this post “are we in the end times” for good reason. I feel that is true, but not in the Biblical sense. It simply implies that the older orders of things is simply not working any longer, especially the dogma that creates and sustains it. Time to see that the ending of things does not imply the cessation of life, just the cessation of life as we have known it, or in a modern context, the way the world has been fashioned by a small minority who are motivated by greed, and have lost their connection to Source values. We are at choice now to be open to a new way of thinking, doing and being. We are at choice to begin a new time. May it be so, with grace and ease for all.

About the Author:

Isaac George is an internationally recognized intuitive mentor/coach, evolutionary astrologer, conscious channel, self-published author and musician. After a life-altering spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1994 he explored various healing modalities, including hypnotherapy and Reiki. In 1998 he began spontaneously channeling Archangel Ariel and other dimensional intelligences.

Originally from the United States, Isaac currently resides in the UK and offers Spiritual Mentoring sessions and programs and Evolutionary Astrology consultations.

23 Jun 2022
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Make Peace With Your Unlived Life

Tina was at a crossroads. Her daughter had recently left for college, and her husband had his own pursuits. And although she’d once enjoyed banking, she now bore little interest in her work. For some time, she had been asking herself whether she should quit. But what would her colleagues and bosses think of her?

This stream of consciousness carried Tina to deeper, more revealing questions. What if all her choices had been in response to what others expected? She had always been her parents’ golden child – a star student who married a man they approved of and went into the same industry her father and grandfather had pursued. Now, at the age of 45, she was wondering if these choices were really pseudo-choices, given the pressure her family had put on her? And even more frightening: what other choices did she have at this point in her life?

Tina increasingly began to question herself. Where was all of this coming from? Was there a hidden part of herself she didn’t understand – or maybe even know about? She remembered how as an adolescent she had always been preoccupied with: “What do people want me to do? And who do they want me to be?” Perhaps, the time had come to revisit these questions—to take an honest look at what she really wanted to do, not what others expected her to do. But what did the “True Tina” really want?

The idea of a “true self” and a “false” or “shadow” self has long preoccupied psychologists. For example, Carl Jung introduced the notion of the shadow side of our personality. He viewed “the shadow” as our unknown, dark side—made up of the primitive, negative, socially depreciated human emotions such as sexuality, striving for power, selfishness, greed, envy, jealousy, and anger. But although the shadow personifies everything that we fear, and therefore refuse to acknowledge, it remains a part of us. Jung believed that unless we come to terms with our shadow side, we are condemned to become its unwitting victim.

Similarly, Erik Erikson, another famous psychologist, introduced the idea of the identity crisis. Erikson, like Jung, suggests that identity formation has its dark and negative side. There are parts of us that are attractive but disturbing and therefore tend to be submerged. In the process of becoming an adult, we not only internalize what’s viewed as acceptable, we also internalize (be it only subliminally) parental and societal attitudes about undesirable qualities and characteristics. For many of us, these “undesirables” turn into “forbidden fruits”–things we are attracted to. To feel more authentic, we may have to integrate these forbidden fruits into our sense of identity.

Donald Winnicott elaborated on the idea of the “true self” and “false self.” He explained that beginning in infancy, all of us, in response to perceived threats to our well-being, develop a defensive structure that may evolve into a “false self.” He suggests that if our basic needs are not acknowledged—not mirrored back to us by our parents—we may presume they are unimportant. Complying with our parents’ desires, we may repress our own desires, not actualizing what we really like to do. We may believe that non-compliance endangers our role in the family. In addition, we may internalize our parents’ dreams of self-glorification through our achievements. But this acquiescence to the wishes of others is an emotional lie. It comes at the price of suppressing our own needs. In our efforts to please others, we hide and deny our “true self,” which in turn leads to self-estrangement. If that’s the case, the “false self” will get the upper hand. It becomes a defensive armor to keep the “true self” at bay and hidden.

If there is too great a discrepancy between the “true” and the “false” self, it will make for a vulnerable sense of identity. And if we are unable to acquire a stable sense of identity—we may end up one day unraveling as Tina did. After a lifetime of complying to others’ expectations, Tina was experiencing what Erikson would call a delayed identity crisis. At a certain point in her life, it became difficult for her keep up the lie.

What Tina’s case also illustrates is that the journey of identity exploration that often begins at adolescence doesn’t stop there. In her case, the tension between “false self” and “true self” came to a head, contributing to a renewal of the confusion she had experienced at an earlier stage of life. Not living a full, complete life—not integrating these other parts of herself, call it her shadow or negative identity—turned out to be extremely draining, contributing to life choices that didn’t accommodate her real needs. Ignoring her shadow side was taking an enormous amount of energy, depleting her of her inner creativity, and contributed to various stress symptoms, including depressive reactions.

But the “return of the repressed” should not be looked at as a purely negative experience. Although a person might view these parts of herself as a representation of her unlived life, a delayed identity crisis can also contain the seeds of psychological renewal—the motivation to enter new directions in life. Romancing your shadow—accepting these unlived parts of yourself and learning to read the messages that are contained in it—can lead to a deeper level of consciousness, as well as spark your imagination. When a person is ready to accept these parts—and not try to push them aside — she or he may discover all sorts of creative, positive ideas begging for fulfillment. These buried desires will help them to reflect not only on the question of “Who am I?” but also “Who do I want to be?” This can turn a negative spiral of self-pity turned into the opposite.

That’s what happened in Tina’s case. She came to grips with her previous life experiences. She captured her dreams in a journal, and wrote about the associations that came to her. She wrote letters to her past and future self. She told her husband about her dreams and the emotions they evoked. Together, they talked about her feelings of frustration and anxiety. Her husband began sharing some of his dreams with her, as well. Their conversations eventually took a more concrete turn, as they discussed their future together, including their careers, finances, and upcoming life choices. Her self-exploration gave her greater awareness both of her inner theatre and what her life journey had been up till this moment.

Reassured and invigorated, Tina took a hard look at her work responsibilities and saw ways that she could make changes that would benefit the bank as well as herself. She even got into an argument with her father at the dinner table about politics, and to her great surprise, he seemed to respect her opinion.

Most of us find this difficult, confusing work, as Tina did. But learning to sort out our inner demons can be liberating. Questioning, reflecting, and having meaningful conversations with important people in our lives can help us come to terms with our shadow sides and create the rapprochement needed between our “false” and “true” selves. To do this, we have to figure out how to accept what we learn about ourselves without judgment. And to do that, we must approach self-knowledge with curiosity, as if it were a fascinating adventure – an exploration of the riches contained in this previously unknown world inside the self.

Original article here

18 Jun 2022
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10 Surprising, No-Waste Uses For Strawberry Tops

Believe it or not, strawberry tops—the part you cut off and toss into the garbage or compost—can be repurposed in a variety of creative ways. While munching on the green tops itself doesn’t sound all that appetizing, you’ll be surprised at how they can be used.

Strawberry Tops Have Health Benefits

Strawberries as a berry are a nutritious, healthy snack, and it turns out, even their leaves and stems pack a powerful nutritional punch, carrying many health benefits. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, strawberry leaves are high in vitamin C, iron, and calcium, as well as contain tannins, which helps with digestion, nausea, and stomach cramps.

Strawberry tops are loaded with caffeic acid, a compound that alleviates inflammation, which is good news for arthritis sufferers.

10 Things You Can Do With Strawberry Tops

1. Make A Refreshing Water Infusion

Infusing your water with the leafy tops of strawberries adds flavor, and helps to use up those excess pieces that are headed to the compost bin. This works especially well if you’ve cut off too much of that precious strawberry meat. To make, place your cleaned strawberry tops into a lidded container and top with water. Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, and sip (you can strain if you prefer). Ten to twenty tops should do the trick, but you can play around with the amount depending on how strong you want the taste. Strawberry infused water also pairs nicely with some cucumber peels or fresh mint.

2. Make Strawberry Vinegar

Fruit-scrap infused vinegar recipes are popping up everywhere. Strawberry vinegar made from your strawberry tops is delicious drizzled on a salad, mixed into a BBQ sauce (or any vinegar-based sauce), or added to a cocktail. To make, cover your strawberry tops with a vinegar of your choice (white, apple cider, red wine, or balsamic). Cover, and allow it to steep for about a week in the cupboard. Strain the mixture and use your strawberry infused vinegar however you would normally use vinegar. Delicious!

3. Go Sweet With Strawberry Syrup

Turn your discarded strawberry tops into treasure by making scrumptious strawberry syrup. Perfect for pouring over ice cream, pancakes, waffles—the sky’s the limit. You can also add this syrup to flavor lemonade, home-brewed kombucha, iced tea, or smoothies.

To make: In a bowl, combine the tops from two quarts of strawberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir, cover, and place in refrigerator overnight to allow the contents to soften. Blend until smooth, and then strain through a metal sieve, scraping the sides of the strainer with a rubber spatula making sure to get all the delicious strawberries. This makes about 2-3 cups of syrup and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or longer in the freezer.

4. Blend Them Into A Nutritious Smoothie

Leafy greens are often tossed into smoothies for an additional nutritional boost, but don’t stop at spinach or kale—toss in your leftover strawberry tops in as well. They’ll give your smoothie an extra boost of nutrients. Simply drop the whole berry, top and all (or saved tops) right into your blender. You can also freeze the tops after they have been hulled, saving them for smoothies down the road—making it easy to grab a handful when needed.

5. “Lift” Your Spirits

Kick your favorite cocktails up a notch! Just like water, you can also infuse your favorite alcohol with strawberry tops to make your own custom flavored rum, vodka, or gin. Toss tops into a lidded bowl or mason jar, fill with your choice of liquor, and let the boozy concentration sit for about two days. Strain, and use to shake up a new summer cocktail.

6. Make A Healing Tea

Strawberry leaves have a long history of being used as an herbal remedy. Wild strawberries have more condensed healing properties, but conventional ones will get the job done. Strawberry leaves, like other leaves and herbs, can be used to make a healing tea to treat diarrhea, aid in digestion, combat nausea, and settle an upset stomach. One cup of strawberry leaf tea contains enough tannins to ease symptoms.

Drying the strawberry tops in an oven or food dehydrator will allow you to preserve them for later use when needed. Add three to five fresh or dried strawberry tops to your teacup. Optionally, you can add a teaspoon of other fresh or dried herbs of your choice (mint, verbena, rosemary, lavender, basil). Pour boiling water over the tops and let steep for five to ten minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon or sweetener of your choice. The cooled tea can also be used to soothe sunburned or inflamed skin.

7. Clean And Whiten Teeth

Your dentist will probably never tell you this secret, but strawberry leaves are an effective tooth and gum cleaner. Those tannins act as a powerful astringent, helping to fight plaque and keep gums healthy. Or for a whiter smile, dip your strawberry top into baking soda and rub it onto your teeth. Leave the mixture on your teeth for a few minutes before brushing as usual.

8. Add Them To These Yummy Recipes

Pesto doesn’t have to be all about basil. You can make pesto out of almost anything including strawberry tops. Use them alone or add them to other pesto greens in this no-cook sauce. Strawberry tops combined with parsley, with a touch of garlic or ramps is a delicious and healthy way to use them up. You can also thin out your strawberry top pesto with more oil and lemon juice and turn it into a tasty salad dressing. Or try adding some fresh strawberry leaves to your salad greens–the small leaves add a nice contrast to bigger leafy salad greens.

9. Make An Itch-Relieving Bath

Not only are strawberry leaves nourishing for the inside of your body, but they are also beneficial for the outside. That inflammation-reducing property helps with skin inflammation, too, helping to alleviate rashes, eczema, and even acne. The vitamin C and antioxidants found in the tops are also beneficial for aging skin. Simply fill a tea bag or tea ball with some strawberry tops and toss into the bath with you. Your four-legged furry friends will also love a strawberry top bath, which is especially helpful for pets with dry, itchy skin.

10. Livestock Treats

Share these tasty scraps with your farm animals! Strawberry tops make a great snack for chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits, pigs, horses, and more. It helps recycle your scraps, while also gaining your flock’s love and trust.

Original article here

15 Jun 2022
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Tipping Over the Vibrational Horizon

Yesterday I was chatting with a friend and I found myself saying the words ‘tipping over the vibrational horizon’. I had never used those words before so I set out to discover exactly what I meant by this.

You see, there are two realities in the world today (yes I know, there are many, but let’s play just for a moment to distinguish it as two).

There’s the old reality, which is embedded in polarity, duality, separation and a pretty low vibrational frequency. This is the reality where you feel dull or switched off much of the time, sort of like walking around in a trance. Yes, sometimes in this reality you can feel good, happy even. But even then it’s still at a vibrational reality that is lower than what’s actually available on the planet and in the cosmos today.

Then there’s the NEW reality. Now let me tell you that this one shines. The words I use to describe it are excited, exhilarated, connected, witnessing beauty and wonder in an awe state everywhere you look … and when you look through these new eyes, the world up-levels with your gaze. You become an alchemist … an activator of genius, ideas, innovation, potential, possibilities and an ever increasingly high vibrational way to live.

To access this NEW reality is simple. Tip over the vibrational horizon.

Raise your vibrational reality to match that of the Earth and the Universe now, for they have already risen to a brand new state. The Schumann Resonance of the Earth (measurable vibrational frequency of the planet) is pretty consistently far higher now than the normal 7 that it used to be. In fact, today as I write this it’s at 46.

Once you tip over this vibrational horizon, you find yourself in a flow state, feeling the pulses, forces and power of the Universe moving through you to make this a brighter and better world. You become a force for Life to thrive on planet Earth. You walk as an alchemical agent, a quantum creator of a new dreaming of us that is already taking shape upon this world.

You discover here that the Earth is a beautiful and miraculous being. That the Universe is a breathtaking intelligence that calls us to partner with it in Life’s evolutionary leaping now.

You let go of the age-old journey of self discovery to find that you as Earth, Oceans, Forests, Universe, etc. is a far grander adventure that leads to you being a Source Creator of Life in wondrous new ways.

You touch the infinite.

You enhance and enrich your intelligence.

You fall wildly in love with life in all its wondrous forms.

You walk in wonder.

You live in awe.

You create in genius flow.

You see magnificence everywhere you look.

You become a creator of the NEW reality of this world as it is meant to become.

For me, this is one of the most fulfilling things I could ever dream of giving my life to.

About the Author:

Soleira Green is a visionary author, quantum coach, ALLchemist & future innovator. She has been creating leading edge breakthroughs in consciousness, quantum evolution, transformation, innovation, intelligence and more over the past 25 years, has written and self-published eleven books, and taught courses all over the world on these topics.