Call us toll free: +1 4062079616
How To Be Spiritual In A Material World
Call us toll free: +1 4062079616

Full Width Blog

18 Oct 2015
Comments: 0

Encouraging Neurogenesis through Self-Care and Mindfulness

3 Ways Your Lifestyle Can Encourage Neuron Growth and Brain Health

Neuronal_activityThere are trillions of cells in our body, and like us, they don’t live forever. Neurogenesis is the generation of new neurons (nerve cells that transmit information throughout the body). I’ll only briefly describe neurogenesis here; once you start to discuss the brain, there is labyrinth of questions and an abundance of new vocabulary around every corner. I’ll also share examples below of how to support this type of growth in your own noggin. Neurogenesis booms during pre-natal development, and in the 90’s Nature Medicine published a report stating that, contrary to previous understanding of neurogenesis, this process continues in our brains to varying degrees throughout our lives.

The Wellesley College Biology Department site tells us that “examples of neurogenesis are found in the hippocampus of mammals, song control nuclei of birds and the olfactory pathway of rodents, insects and crustaceans.” The hippocampus is responsible for memory and spatial orientation, and its ties to emotional behavior are being studied. For example, reductions of size in this area have been linked to depression. Neurogenesis supports neural plasticity, or the ability of our brain to change and adapt as part of learning, development, and even to recover from brain injuries. The current hope is that scientists will discover a successful and safe way to guide neurogenesis.

texture-neuron-spark-digital-art-and-gns-neusenz_2511284
One of the key players in neurogenesis is a protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). If it’s been awhile since you’ve been in science class (like me) here’s a little re-fresher: proteins are large molecules which perform a wide array of functions. They consist of one or more chains of amino acids, which are organic compounds; the main elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, though they can contain other elements. BDNF is called a neurotrophin; a type of protein that effects the development and function of neurons.

Not surprisingly, neurogenesis can have a positive effect on learning and memory skills while lower BDNF has been linked to Alzheimer’s, depression, and schizophrenia. Luckily, the gene that activates BDNF can itself be activated by our daily behavior. Below are 3 examples of things we can do encourage neurogenesis.

effects-excercise-social-anxiety

1. You guessed it: Exercise.
Exercise is important for so many reasons; it has a positive effect on mood and sleep patterns and reduces the likelihood of developing heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes. And, it helps us to produce more BDNF, which supports neurogenesis. In a study done in 2008, adults with mental impairment showed an improvement in cognitive function after 6 months of regular exercise.

Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet with Walnuts. (PRNewsFoto/California Walnut Commission)

Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet with Walnuts. (PRNewsFoto/California Walnut Commission)

2. Yup, Diet.
A dietary restriction involving reducing caloric intake within a balanced diet has been shown to increase neurogenesis. Green tea, salmon, and blueberries are all high on the list of brain-healthy ingredients. Also, two specific dietary ingredients that boost neurogenesis are listed below:
-The spice turmeric, composed primarily of curcumin, increases our BDF levels.
-Resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine, as well as being antioxidant (decreasing cellular damage) and anti-inflammatory, increases neurogenesis. Stephanie Liou of Stanford University reminds us that because alcohol can also damage the body, it is important to use moderation and weigh the benefits and costs.
Tao-mindfulness

3. And, Self-Care and Mindfulness.
Both getting adequate sleep and engaging in sexual activity, as well as being generally healthy, are good for neurogenesis (hooray!).

Neuroscientists have learned that chronic stress and cortisol (a steroid hormone released during stress) can damage the brain and reduce neurogenesis. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce the amount of cortisol.

A study published in 2010 showed that participating in a program of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for eight weeks was found to produce increases in the size of the left hippocampus (which, remember, effects our memory and mood and is a place where neurogenesis has been previously observed). This program was developed by Medical Professor and Author Jon Kabat Zinn, and I can personally also recommend his books, Full catastrophe living: how to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation, and Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, as excellent guides to incorporating mindfulness into your lifestyle.

So in short, eating well and consciously, exercising, and practicing mindfulness, are good for your brain, and what is good for the brain, is good for all of you! These activities can even help the brain keep growing new cells as you age. Take care of yourself, and neurogenerate!

 

By: Ascension Lifestyle Contributor Julia Travers

JTraversHeadShot

 

 

 

 

 

https://juliatravers.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/traversjul


17 Oct 2015
Comments: 1

DOCUMENTARY OF THE MONTH (October)- Billions In Change

ascension doc of month

 

The world is facing some huge problems. There’s a lot of talk about how to solve them. But talk doesn’t reduce pollution, or grow food, or heal the sick. That takes doing. This film is the story about various groups of people trying to make the world a better place through the elegantly simple inventions they have made to change the lives of billions of people, and the unconventional billionaire, Manoj Bhargava spearheading the project.

Manoj Bhargava is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder and CEO of 5-hour Energy. When 5 Hour Energy was introduced to the market in 2004, retail sales skyrocketed to over $1 billion by 2011, and now the company owns 90% of the energy shot market. The genius of his innovation included the 2 oz. packaging, stating that people who needed energy were also not necessarily thirsty enough for an 8 ounce drink. The smaller size packaging enabled retailers to strategically place the product near checkout counters and point-of-sale locations.

manoj gharava

Bhargava’s foundations include Knowledge Medical Charitable Trust and Rural India Charitable Trust. The charities have funded medical research in the United States and over 400 charities in India. Two of the major initiatives are hospitals for the poor and education for disadvantaged women in rural areas.

The Hans Foundation is solely supported by the Rural India Charitable Trust, and in five years it has given $48.1 million U.S. In November 2014, Bhargava committed $80.2 million to develop villages in Uttarakhand, India. In September 2012, Bhargava joined “The Giving Pledge” and has pledged 90% of his wealth to charity, with an emphasis on a common sense approach to philanthropy. Rather than simply giving money to charity, Bhargava believes that personal involvement is necessary.

The Center for Public Integrity dubbed him the “political kingmaker nobody knows” after finding out that “he makes donations through several of his more than 70 limited liability companies”. Michigan politicians have said that Bhargava has never tried to influence a piece of legislation nor has he asked for anything in return for the donations.

Check out his documentary above and leave a comment. If you want to get involved with his organization you can join the movement at:

billionsinchange.com

facebook.com/billionsinchange

twitter.com/billionsnchange

Manoj-Bhargava working hard


15 Oct 2015
Comments: 0

Deep “E”-cology: Coming Home to Ourselves


yin_yang_of_chaos_and_disorder_by_misellee-d3jop07

There’s a war going on, and it’s not with Iraq. (Or Afghanistan. Or Syria.)

This war is on a scale so vast it’s difficult to see, so ancient we’ve taken it for granted.

It’s a war that has been gathering momentum since humanity first became conscious. It cuts to the very core of existence. It’s what drives the corporations and the deep ecologists, the religious right and the lovers. It’s woven so tightly into the fabric of our lives that we’ve accepted it blandly, without knowing there was ever a choice. It’s caused untold human misery for millennia, and still it burns on, more vividly in the digital age than ever before, as our collective awakening arches toward Armageddon — or quantum evolution.

It is the struggle between truth and heresy. Between subservience and sovereignty. Between opening our minds to wisdom, and clinging to what we’d prefer to believe. Between following a well-worn path, and cutting a swath through the wilderness of our souls.

This war marshals all of our natural resources. Passion and commitment. Love and communion. Faith and ecstasy. If we use them well, our stores will increase. If we use them foolishly, a barren landscape is certain. Because this war is taking place inside each one of us.

World Wide Web

fractal-ying-yang-jaroslaw-grudzinski

It is a clarion call to yinify: to wed our masculine and feminine energies for internal and external balance, harmony and peace at every level of co-creation.

Becoming whole — embracing our assertive/dynamic/solar/yang side and our receptive/magnetic/lunar/yin side, both within ourselves and as a planetary organism — is the creative quest of our time. It’s a homecoming, a re-membering (making membership again). As we are able to celebrate this marriage first in our own hearts, the joy and the love we then have available to share with our sisters and brothers increases exponentially.

Evolution through relationship defines the true “world wide web”: weaving our oneness through the meeting of minds and the holding of hands.

No lasting outer peace is possible without this inner reunion. The absolution of duality is the key to living Heaven on Earth, because it means the end of judgment. As the cosmic comic Swami Beyondananda says, “Nonjudgment Day is coming.”

With nothing to choose between, we are integrated, living in integrity, whole. In the seventh century, Zen master Sengstau expressed this potential eloquently in Verses On The Faith Mind:

The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.

When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.

Make the smallest distinction however
and Heaven and Earth are set infinitely apart.

Understandably, this is not an easy task for most of us to master — or to choose to master.

Many have run, continue to run, for apparent refuge, either into religious doctrine, which tells us how to think and what to believe, or into other well-organized movements masquerading as paths to freedom. Some groups purport to focus solely on spiritual love, ignoring the truth that matter is Spirit in form. Others emphasize sexual union as the ideal path to oneness, omitting the sacred element, and once again it is a lie.

It can be comforting to be a foot soldier in someone else’s army. You don’t have to do any real thinking. You don’t have to take responsibility for the outcome you help create. You can externalize your role: it’s terrorists, it’s the government, it’s anybody who looks or acts or sounds different from me. This is the old, patriarchal view that’s held sway for five thousand years. This Weltanschauung has run its course and is completing its earthly cycle, now.

If you choose not to acknowledge the war at all, you can still go on raising a family behind a white picket façade, with Sunday suppers and comfortable routines that mark a life. But the time for hiding out in this delusion is deliquescing, like Dali’s famous clocks. The light of universal fire is bleaching falsehood from our souls, enlightening and enlivening us, one by one, cell by cell, bringing more joy to the journey.

What we can learn from the limbic brain

knowledge-lana-grant[6]

The truth is, we’re all equal backstage, when the make-up and the costumes and the constructs come off. We are all rays of the One Being, sharing the same life support system, Mother Earth. Our similarity is the great leveler, because it humbles our unique, snowflake selves into awareness of a greater whole.

This was brought home to me recently when I was having dinner in a Chinese restaurant where I’ve eaten many times. I like a certain dish on the menu, substituting a sweet and sour sauce for the standard garlic sauce. One waiter, who is Chinese, knows my order so well he even “recognizes” me over the phone when I place a to-go order.

The other evening, dining at the restaurant, I ordered that same dish. The place was bustling. When I went up to pay, the waiter, who happened to be standing by the cash register, did not know me as the woman who always orders the dish with the different sauce.

I had a flash of insight and asked him kindly, “Please don’t be offended, but Caucasians — do we all look alike?” With a relieved grin he said, “Yes.” The Caucasian cashier was amazed by my question, but I understood. I told her, “It’s like this for every race, every culture. Isn’t it more difficult to differentiate between Asian or African-American people whom you don’t know, than other Whites?” She admitted it might be.

We’re coded with an innate affinity for our own small portion of the whole. This is the ancient, limbic brain in action, defending our “territory” against invaders; limbic means, “forming a border.” To bridge this chasm is the beginning of world healing. Recognizing the Other through conscious understanding takes both patience and practice.

To see the big picture we have to widen our scope, extend our artificial boundaries. There are no actual map lines on Earth, delineating this country, this language, this religion, this culture from the next. We’ve created it all. It’s our collective game. As we become technologically proficient, the playing field shrinks to a more agreeable size, and the game starts to seem superfluous.

A meta-field is beckoning. We’ve called it outer space. Again, we put the cart before the horse, our eagerness ahead of our readiness. Inner space is the foreign territory we must master first. Yinification begins at home.

Deep “E”-cology

unnamed (2)

This is the potential of the Internet: to help us come home to ourselves, as a species, as a people, as one culture united through whatever we choose to call the animating energy that informs our existence. The ‘Net is a universal connector, a universal translator, the key to deep ecology in the most profound sense. “Eco”, from the Greek oikos, means home. “Logy” is a branch of learning or study. Ecology is, literally, learning about home!

Coming home to ourselves means owning the truth that there is no separation, except what we allow to exist, through fear. Fear contracts our hearts and minds; love expands them. Many of us learn to open our hearts through sacrifice, which means, “to make sacred.” Releasing our deepest attachments is a crucial part of the initiation on our journey to self-awareness. Our gift is as great as our grief. The poet David Whyte says, “The rest of creation is waiting, breathless, for you to take your place.”

We can start by detaching from what numbs us (like television), and focusing on what feeds us — like “tell-a-vision,” a subtle shift that transmutes suppression into inspiration. The price of freedom is your voice. Begin to share your vision of the world you want to co-create! As you do, you become a “rainbow warrior,” awakening and balancing your energy throughout your being in order to realize the full spectrum of your purpose and potential.

Heaven on Earth exists in being fully alive in the infinite Now. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, as The Fifth Dimension sang ‘way back in 1969. They were early messengers, carrying our Divine blueprint via the medium of music.

Let’s revisit the lyrics: “When the Moon is in the seventh house”. In Western astrology, the Moon is symbolic of feminine, receptive energy, what we draw in; the seventh house is about intimate interaction with other people. I’ve dubbed this new way of relating a call to yinify: to unify in the Divine Feminine essence. “And Jupiter aligns with Mars”. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, of expressing our truth through storytelling; Mars is the planet of pure desire and, when dishonored, of war. To have them align means telling ourselves a new, expansive story: transmuting war in the alchemical fire into spiritual warriorhood.

Then, as the group sang, “Peace will guide the planets/And love will steer the stars.”

How clear the message becomes, once we are able to truly hear. The battle cries dim; the masks fall off. A layer of separation evaporates as we become transparent to the truth of who we are. People start to seem somehow familiar, even though we’ve never met them before. It’s the resonant déjà vu of realizing there are no strangers. “Service with a smile” suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.

Getting there calls for a subtle shift in perception and behavior: from acquire to inquire, from escalate to elevate, from scared to sacred. As we cease consuming planetary resources and each other at the speed of greed, let go of buying more in favor of being more, we reclaim our true heritage as Earth stewards. And then barrenness transmutes into bounty. Separation into synergy. Fear into faith. Longing into Love.

We use the expression, “Live and learn.” Implicit is the understanding that what we learn, we will also teach. We become self-renewing by gathering knowledge from our experience, forging it into wisdom in the alchemical fire, and serving as vessels to share the gift that is uniquely ours, but not meant to remain arcane.

Conscious evolution favors the curious and kind mind. Truth nourishes us in ways we might never have imagined. Synchronicity takes us by the hand and we laugh in child-like wonder as we witness Spirit-in-action, again and again and again. This is the Garden, and it is good.

Welcome Home.

By Ascension Lifestyle Contributor Amara Rose:

unnamed (1)

Amara Rose is a catalyst for quantum evolution. Her services include transformational coaching, talks, e-courses, and an inspirational monthly newsletter. She is widely published in health, business and new thought magazines, both digital and print. Learn more:

 

 

http://www.liveyourlight.com
http://twitter.com/Amara_Rose
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amararose


05 Oct 2015
Comments: 0

Ready For A Major Breakthrough? It Starts With Fire

breakthrough1

Fire Soul.

You know, your soul has signed up for a lifetime of being fused. Purgatory.

Phoenix souls disobey many natural laws. They fall, they die, they resurrect and soar, stronger than before. Knowing they’re going to die over and over again. It’s insane and not for the faint of heart.

But having those magical phoenix traits, you’re aware of your depth and strength. You can handle your mission. You can stand to look into the abyss, sensing the heat that’s going to kill you, with terror in your eyes, your ears ringing, heart racing, knees shaking, tears pouring down your cheeks – knowing that it will happen.

Well, of course there is something like a choice for you. There is always an alternative, even with your back against a wall, you’ll still find a way out, a plan B.

But if you refuse to be fused, it will get worse even. The pangs of yearning in your soul, the awareness of what you can be and of what is actually calling you, the anguish of denial, that doesn’t let you sleep at night… because you can hear it. You are called.

You know your truth. The truth. The whispers have been with you since the day your senses started working. The terror won’t stop, it will push you towards the edge, mercylessly. You can make it a slower and more straining process, but the flames are inevitable.

Don’t be stupid, just think of the countless times you’ve been burning. Of course it’s terrible.

But what’s the alternative, really? Running through life, with your hands before your eyes, pretending to be invisible: “I can’t see you, so you can’t see me!” Is that what you’ve burnt and died for a zillion times before? To try your hardest to put things on hold this time?

Yes, you are tired. Yes, it sucks. It’s freaking unfair. Why not pass the ball to somebody else? Taking a well-deserved time out.

It could have been so nice: you’ve imagined yourself staying in that lovely bubble of predictability and safety (aka your comfort zone). You did everything you could to avoid things that could have you waking up.

8dc3c789c578b9dac800431585a4f43e

Blinders, earplugs, TV, addictions, friends who are asleep themselves, keeping yourself busy with stupid boring dayjobs, with attempts to be perfect and to juggle all the masks you’ve taken on over time.

You tried to starve your soul, that sucker. It never shuts up! It constantly made you wake up with that hollow feeling in your tummy, that feeling that something was essentially off. “I don’t see you – you don’t see me! Lalalalalaaaahh!”

But there is some serious magical stuff going on in your environment which is beyond your capacity to control. ‘External triggers’.

Oh the joy and the giggles, that sound – like a million little bells – through the entire Universe. Synchronicity. Magical encounters. “Coincidences”. Catalysts. Soul-shaking Awakening.

And you can’t resist it. It washes over you. It pulls you into depth, darkness, fire, it drowns your bullshit in love and digs out your gold from places you’ve never known existed.

Damn, and there it happened again: You find yourself in the flames, screaming. Although you’ve been there so often, you still hate the “shit, I’m dying in the flames again”-part.

Yes, after the burning it’s so obvious how blessed you are for having such a fiery and strong soul. How much needed it’s been to shed some old layers of crap again.

355df-pierre-alain-d

Even the “wow, I’m soaring, like always after death”-part is an ambiguous event: You feel the refinement, the increased focus and energy, your magical oomph is deeper, louder, more magnetic.

If you make the mistake to buy into the stuff your mind is making up, even the rising can be awkward. The doubting whether you’ve just gone crazy, the fear of soon finding yourself in a straightjacket. The not believing you can do this. The fear of owning your power.

“What power?”, you ask.
Well, start with the power of braving the fire. Of harnessing the elements on your behalf to work potent magic in the world. The power to direct energy and attention in ways that alter reality for you and for others. The power to cut through the BS and see the big picture of things. The power to tear up illusions.

“Really? I can do this? But how? Are you kidding?”
By using the courage and strength that you gained with every survival, every conscious choice of death and resurrection, like it’s the most common thing in the world.

It is, by the way, but most muggles don’t ever get there, you can’t do this when you’re sleeping. You can’t dream it to make it happen, you have to fucking show up and do it.

That’s what you’ve always done. You kind of forgot about it. This was for your protection. Are you ready to remember your power? Are you ready to use it?

That magic wand you crafted yourself? It wasn’t just for fun. The crystals you’ve always carried with you because they made you feel better? Not coincidental at all. The pull towards the stars, and studying the planets? Makes sense. The feeling of your chest expanding to the point of physical pain? That’s the space that contains your shining soul, and with it the capacity and the urge to love. Not just a bit, but fully, whole-soul, divine love of All-That-Is.

04bcb279e077629dfc75be0546131ab0

Notice something? The closer you look at it, the more the puzzle of your oh-so confused life becomes an image of magic and purpose. Those triggers that you used to hate? The pangs of Awakening? Divinely orchestrated to get you the fuck over your fear.

The experiences you’ve had – that’s the fabric others write novels about. That’s true for the terror and the miracles you’ve encountered. Your soul is holding the Universe together. Don’t you think it’s about time to honor that and contribute with all you’ve got, everything you’ve learned instead of remaining in denial, just because you’re scared of the fire still?

You unite the elements in your heart, alchemized to gold. Sprinkle it everywhere, goddamnit. It’s there, it’s you.
Get the fuck over your endless overthinking and doubting the good things. You’re a magical and powerful soul.

Your resistance isn’t a bad thing in general, though. It made you get through the blaze unharmed and stronger than before. It made you hold on to life, over and over again.

But look, you’re filled to the brim with magic, you have to put it somewhere, otherwise you explode. Or implode. Both scenarios don’t sound very alluring or desirable. This all is energy, don’t waste it. You’re on fire. Share it, turn up the heat, let the gold flow over. Create, share, be magic. Because that’s what you are.

You’re magic, through and through. Don’t break our hearts by refusing to be it, to be you.

fire

It might look like life the way you knew it is about to collapse and fall apart. You have no clue what this all means and it feels kind of scary.

Trust that something enormous and magnificient is about to emerge, and it is going to fill the void that you’re in right now. Remember: enormous and magnificient like your soul defines it, not the way you expect it or wish for it.

Be open for a major shift. Go with it. You will be engulfed, it will be terrifying and amazing. You will survive and be spit out a different person. You’ll get there. And it will be so worth it.

There are cracks filled with light, you’re a work in progress. You never could imagine how things will turn out. Trust, sweet soul! This is happening for you.

6a00e54fcf7385883401a73ddcc757970d-800wi

Your time is *now*.

 

By: Ascension Lifestyle Guest Contributor 
Lina Boldt

lina

 

 

 

Lina Boldt is a seeker, healer and writer, she has a Ninja-warrior survival record, and can often be found in the thick of deep transformational work, which made her gain quite some expertise in breakdowns and breakthroughs. Her current mission is all about surrender, and she can’t live without chocolate.

Website: Disobey With Grace
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karolinger.in
Facebook Group: for non-conformists and messy souls


Leave a Comment!

You must be logged in to post a comment.