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07 Jan 2019
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Ordinary Moments That Can Bring You Joy

Finding joy may seem like an impossible task when you place too much focus on the act of “finding” it. Take the mystique out of joy by focusing on what is already in front of you. Did you know that you may be able to find joy in even the simplest of items around your own home?

Before you set out to splurge on the latest set of singing bowls and gongs in your search for joy and inner peace, take a look at some of these everyday moments around your home that could bring you joy.
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Tending to Your Garden Many start a garden to try and find a sense of peace in their home, then that beautiful piece of heaven seems to pivot into a burden. Shift back to why you started your garden in the first place. Clean eating? Saving money of fruits and vegetables? Or is it simply because you enjoy the feeling of getting your hands dirty, the fresh smell of grass and your growing bounty. Cling to living in the present and enjoy those moments outdoors with your garden shears.

Seeing Your Reflection on Newly Cleaned Counters
Nothing beats a clean home, especially clean countertops. The practice of spritzing a cleaning mist over your counters to work out the grime of last night’s delectable dinner of raviolis and freshly shaved parmesan. Enjoy your time cleaning those tried and true countertops, then smile at your reflection when the job is done. Take note of your facial features and how they’re obscured in the marbled pattern of your counters. Then, take a deep breath and smile.

Tune Into the Soundtrack of Your Home
Open your ears to the natural sounds around your house. You might hear birds chirping through an open window and kids playing upstairs. The white noise of your appliances, such as the hum of your dishwasher or the gentle swishing of clothes being dried and warmed in your clothes dryer, can prove to be a peaceful experience too. However, be sure to listen carefully to these appliances. A clunking or wobbling machine can be annoying and even distract you from your meditation practice. If this is the case, take the time to remedy the nuisance with a quick call to your local repairman or home warranty provider. Sometimes, something as simple as a phone call can bring joy in knowing everything is running smoothly in your home.

Feeling the Warmth of the Sun Shining From Your Windows
On those beautiful sunny days where you get to enjoy opening up the blinds and curtains to brighten up your home, take a moment to enjoy the sun. Stand in front of the window with your eyes closed and feel the heat of the sun warming your face. Little moments like these to enjoy life helps us appreciate all that we’ve been given over the years.

Inhaling Freshly Cleaned Linens
Not much beats the smell of freshly cleaned linens. The experience of taking your bed sheets and blankets out of the warm dryer and placing the cloth against your face and inhaling deeply allows us to take a moment and simply be. Don’t think, just feel. Enjoy the warmth of the cloth, the smell of cotton and detergent, and cleanliness.

About the Author: Ascension Lifestyle Guest Contributor

Paige A. Mitchell is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about making homes healthier and more functional.

05 Nov 2018
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Better Sleep, Improved Mental Health: Three Tips for Both

Getting enough sleep every night is an essential part of maintaining one’s mental health. When sleep disorders come into play, they can lead to problems such as anxiety, moodiness, and feelings of depression. Of course, mental health issues themselves can cause sleep disruption. For instance, people experiencing depression may experience symptoms such as hypersomnia or insomnia. When a person experiences sleep disturbances alongside mental health issues, it can end up being a vicious cycle from which they have difficulty breaking. That’s why it’s so important to maintain sleep hygiene to facilitate uninterrupted rest and better mental health.

Upgrade Your Mattress

If you’re tossing and turning all night and waking up feeling unrested, it may be time to upgrade your mattress. Mattresses should be replaced at least every seven to 10 years (though this number depends greatly on the type), but even if yours is relatively new, it’s worthwhile to consider a different model. Our bodies and their needs change with time, so it is very possible the soft mattresses you loved when you were younger are not giving your spine the support it needs. This can lead to pressure, pain, and inflammation, which makes it difficult for the body to rest properly at night. You wake up with aches and pains while feeling like those eight hours were no more than two. Look into new models of mattresses on the market today and narrow down your search by finding ones that fit your particular sleep needs.

Exercise Every Day

Next time you have difficulty falling asleep at night, ask yourself what you did during the day to use up energy. If you spend the majority of your hours sedentary, it’s likely you didn’t do enough to wear yourself out in order to fall asleep. Humans need activity, but the conveniences and responsibilities of modern life have most of us sitting down all day. Adding exercise to your daily routine may not sound fun, but it could help with insomnia. You may not see immediate payoffs, but with consistency, you will sleep better, deeper, and longer at night.

Avoid exercising right before it is time to sleep; instead, aim for morning or early afternoon. Among the many benefits of regular exercise is the sudden surge of feel-good endorphins as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. However, there are ways to beat post-workout insomnia, so you can’t use “it’s too late” as an excuse not to exercise.

Reduce the Blue

Perhaps the single biggest contributor to sleep problems is the use of artificial lighting and blue light-emitting electronics at night. Blue light is natural — the sun emits blue waves along with the red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet wavelengths that make up our color spectrum. When we are exposed to sunlight, it makes us feel more alert and energetic so we can get through the day. What’s not natural is how often we are exposed to artificial blue light through fluorescent bulbs, LED electronics, televisions, computer monitors, smartphones, and tablet screens. Overexposure to this light tricks the brain into thinking it isn’t night and thus makes it more difficult to fall asleep. Blue light even suppresses the brain’s production of melatonin, the hormone that helps signal to the body that it’s time for bed.

Reduce your exposure to blue light before bed to ensure your body has enough time to wind down and feel sleepy. Instead of scrolling through Instagram or binge-watching shows, try reading before bed to reduce stress, increase empathy, and even improve dreams.

When you don’t sleep well, you don’t feel well. If you are trying to improve your mental health, practicing good sleep hygiene is a must. Consider upgrading your mattress to something that supports your sleep style to prevent aches and pains the next morning. Daily exercise allows the body to expel energy so there’s none left to keep you up at night. Finally, most of us are making it harder to sleep by staring at blue light-emitting screens at night. Turn of the tablets, smartphones, and televisions, and pick up a book for better sleep and mental health.

About the Author: Ascension Lifestyle Contributor Julie Morris

Ms. Morris is a life and career coach who strives to help others live the best lives that they can. She believes she can relate to clients who feel run over by life because of her own experiences. She spent years in an unfulfilling career in finance before deciding to help people in other ways.

24 Oct 2018
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Becoming Homeopathic: You Are Your Own Medicine

Just as our planet contains all of the resources we need to create and heal — awaiting only our discovery and ingenuity — we contain the ability to self-heal on an intrinsic level. This was brought home to me one day when, in the midst of a strong (and highly unusual for me) allergic reaction, I was looking for a homeopathic remedy.

To my great astonishment and amusement, one of the chief ingredients in the remedy I selected was ignatia amara. I picked another remedy off the shelf, and discovered ignatia amara listed there as well.

In fact, when I did an online search of the remedy, it seemed to describe my very nature to a “T”: “Women of sensitive nature, mild disposition, quick to perceive, rapid in execution. Rapid change of mental and physical condition, opposite to each other.” The website also stated a supreme aversion to coffee — and I can’t stand the smell of brewing coffee!

The Heart of Healing

I smiled in wonder at all this: I am my own antidote. The feeling was immensely empowering. We each, all, contain the answer to whatever toxin that’s currently affecting us, whether physical or mental, personal or global. We need not use a canon when a kiss will suffice: becoming homeopathic is about recognizing, and choosing to use, the smallest possible “dose” to activate healing.

This is how we begin crafting the new global community we’ve been inching towards for decades. It’s a spiritual emergence-y (emerge and see), as we emerge from the cocoon of complacency, the old paradigm, into a courageous new world. Courageous, from the French, means “heart”.

Now it’s about choice: how quickly and collectively we will segue from the old reptilian, limbic brain (the same impulse that drives materialism, separation, self-interest, and misuse of power) into the higher realms of consciousness, where love, wisdom and power are synthesized into service.

It’s a quantum yet infinitesimally subtle shift: from scared to sacred, density to destiny, toxic to tonic, reactive to creative. Homeopathy operates on the principle of “like cures like”, and the minusculedose: the more dilute the dosage, the more powerful the remedy. It’s the exact opposite of what you might expect to effect a healing. Not a canon, a kiss.

I invite you to become homeopathic. Discover and embrace your inner healing/wholeness that has always been there, and decide to make the subtle shift that brings you back to balance.

As for me, I’m going to live ever more deeply into my own name. Blessings!

About the author:

Amara Rose is a metaphysical “midwife” for our global rebirth. A former personal health columnist for Nation’s Business magazine, she’s written for numerous other publications, both digital and print. Subscribe to Amara’s resource-rich monthly newsletter. You can connect with her on social media at Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

21 Oct 2018
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Ascension Lifestyle Creative of the Month: Sacred Geometry Artist Jeremy Richardson

This month we’re featuring an artist who’s

sacred geometry-inspired work we absolutely love!

Jeremy Richardson, a California based “Artistic Engineer”, combines his background as a Mechanical Engineer with his love of physical form, aesthetics, and Sacred Geometry to create one of a kind 3 dimensional multi-layered geometric mandalas that he calls Activated Art.

Here’s a look at one of his pieces, a 22″ Sri Yantra made from 9 layers of Birch plywood, which Jeremy individually laser cuts, stains, and then glues together to create the final piece:

And here’s one of his Flower Of Life designs:

When asked what inspired him to create Activated Art, Jeremy had this to say:

“Everywhere you look in nature – every physical form you see – follows some type of geometry… so you could say that Geometry is the building blocks of life. It informs the characteristics of different elements, as well as how they connect and relate to each other.

So when I see beautiful geometric patterns, I’m reminded of the natural interconnectedness and interdependence between all forms of life, and especially between all of us as human beings.

To me, Activated Art isn’t just about visual aesthetics – I see and experience these mandalas as channels that inspire us to connect to more deeply to ourselves, our community, and our purpose in life.

It’s my intention that Activated Art will inspire you to fearlessly follow your passions and give the gifts that you’re uniquely here to give to the world.”

Want to get a piece of Activated Art for yourself? Jeremy currently has a Kickstarter live right now, where he’s over halfway toward his $15,000 goal to create the first batch of Activated Art pieces.

The deadline for him to reach his goal is the end of October, just a few days away!

If you feel inspired to join us in supporting him while getting your own pieces of Activated Art, you can make an order at the link below.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/674750126/activated-art-laser-cut-geometric-mandalas?ref=5l7gwy

Also, in case you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, your credit card will NOT be charged unless the campaign is successful at the end of the month.