healing | Ascension Lifestyle

09 Jul 2022
Comments: 0

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
Comments: 0

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
Comments: 0

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
Comments: 0

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

15 Jun 2022
Comments: 0

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.

13 Jun 2022
Comments: 0

How We Changed the World ~ ALLchemical Mastery

Alchemy has always seemed a somewhat mysterious ability to many people. The word itself evokes a level of power that, in the past, many have been frightened to step into.

I began my journey into alchemy back in the mid 1990’s when I read Serge Kahili King’s book ‘Urban Shaman’. It was an eye opener for me into a world of exciting possibility and global transformation. I would say the most important insight from this book was about becoming one with something (like a hurricane, a computer, the oceans, etc.) to elevate its purpose in this world.

So I dove into transformation with an incredible fervour … and not just people transformation, but global transformation as well.

I realised that the greatest relationship that I was seeking was to become the Universe, the Force, the Source (whatever we might like to call this incredible consciousness and energy that carries magic in its might and limitless creation at its core).

I let go of my identity. I surrendered my being to be remade over and over until I had evolved sufficiently to embrace myself as that universal force, innovating ways to live as that.

I discovered a power that I hadn’t known existed earlier in my life. A power that surged life, potential and possibility into play in ferocious and playful ways.

I made friends with that power, that force. I aligned myself with Life and for all things that would allow Life to thrive everywhere throughout the galaxies and upon this world.

I opened up brilliant new relationships with the consciousness and energy (the emerging entities if you will) of everything … organisations, countries, worlds, nature, the Earth, etc. And once I did that I discovered an open door to a world of wondrous alchemical creation that I had not known before.

Next I invited my consciousness buddies to join me in this exploration, with each one of them bringing something extraordinary into the co-creation. Together we became these Life Powers & Forces, we united as the Earth and the Universe, we surged possibilities into play everywhere our attention was drawn to play and create.

The callings came fast and furious through us all as we sourced a breakthrough in what I now love to call ALLchemical Creation.

ALLchemical creation is about tapping the new dream of us all, about becoming the Source and the Universe in Creation … then allowing ourselves in our collective, collaborative mastery to create breakthrough after breakthrough after breakthrough as Life surged through us to become whatever was next for it and for us all.

ALLchemy is collective and collaborative. It’s not just something you do as an individual expanding into greater connection and consciousness. It’s something we all are, all together embedded in a power source beyond our own, aligned with what Life wants to bring forth for all life to thrive now.

It is a pure, powerful, delightful thing to be a part of as you are moved by the desires and breakthroughs surging from Life through you. You create like never before in what I love to call collaborative genius fusion or kaleidoscopic creation, each one of us bringing something truly breath-taking to the ultimate outcome for all.

For me, ALLchemy is my future. It’s my ALL as I continue to surrender myself over and over again to whatever wonders it wants to create through me / us. It gifts me a life well lived and a joy for creation that has been a long time coming in this lifetime. But now IT is here ~ IT meaning that mysterious, wondrous, miraculous, power force of the Universe that chooses to entertain us as a home base for its miracles to occur.

I am honoured to have found my way into this magnificent art form that utilizes my whole beingness in this lifetime. When (and if) I leave this planet, I will do so completely fulfilled and wildly in love with Life, having lived in a way that I wish that everyone will discover in the coming days, months and years. For I am a collaborative ALLchemist and what a brilliant life that has given me and a miraculously unprecedented future for this world!

About the Author:

10 Jun 2022
Comments: 0

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Yes, I have blatantly plagiarized the title of a recently released film starring Michelle Yeoh. I’ve not even had the pleasure of seeing this work of cinematic art yet, but I am familiar enough with the plot to know that the central character could represent any one of us. If you’ve seen it, you will know what Michelle’s character is facing. An audit by the Internal Revenue Service, and dilapidated laundry business barely able to provide a living for her and her bumbling husband, and strangers popping in from the future asking for her help to save the world. All in a day’s work I’d say!

There are two sides or stories to the conundrum that the star of the movie, and us, all face. One side is all about the amount of effort and attention most of humanity is forced to expend just to stay afloat financially or socially in the current world structure. Most of the folks I know are simply exhaustipated (wiped out) by the demands of the daily routine, and the expectations arriving from all directions. Food shopping and prep, earning enough to pay for the food, rent/mortgage, put Junior through college, pay the bills, pay the taxes, keep dealing with 2-factor authentication every time you want to log into something, dealing with the partner, the in-laws, the neighbor who is building an extension on their home (you cannot hear yourself think, much less run an at-home business!), and the list goes on and on.

The other side of this circus is the possible reality that unity consciousness might bring to us if we had every barrier to it suddenly lifted. We just might flame out and disappear with the sheer immensity of seeing, knowing, and feeling everything, everywhere, all at once. Is that what Spirit/God/Goddess/All That Is experiences? How can one know for sure? How in the heck does the Great Spirit cope with all that anyway? These are some of the questions that I entertain when I wake up in the middle of the night.

One thing I can report on, is that when I had a unity experience about a year after my kundalini awakening occurred in 1994, it didn’t feel at all like I imagined it to feel. It was…intimate, quiet, intense and relaxing all at the same time. Like being cradled in the arms of one’s mother, yet totally alert and aware…of everything! Not just that, but aware that Everything is You, and You are in or are part of Everything. The aftermath or comedown was a devastating one for my ego…which was to be emotionally overwhelmed with gratitude, awe, wonder and ecstasy. Can you feel so much ecstasy without exploding? I guess so, cause I’m writing about it here.

The former side, the crazy upside-down busier than I have a right to be world is just plain nuts in my view. Our culture promotes and rewards striving and hard work, but it never praises anyone who chooses a path or inner or outer peace. Those types are lazy, or a burden on society. Most of my childhood programming centered on becoming a “productive member of society”, which is code for a good, obedient little consumer. My mother’s messages supported all of that – “go along to get along” or “don’t rock the boat”, and loving statements like that.

Fortunately, many of us (and if you’re reading this you are probably part of this tribe) sort of awakened from our sleepwalking. Maybe some of us cottoned on to the con game no one else saw at a very early age. Others have had a midlife crisis, a divorce, and serious illness, a relationship gone bad, and then awaken during or after those event(s). We begin to REMEMBER. We have few words to describe it, but we somehow know that Life wasn’t necessarily meant to be this mad or busy, or so full of compromises. Our souls knew better, and we left behind what we previously embraced, for it no longer resonated, no longer entranced us.

There are three upcoming astrological markers that will dovetail into the main points I’m sharing here. All the action happens on June 11th, and on both sides of June 15th-16th.

On June 11th at 11:51pm BST (10:51pm UT) transiting Venus meets up with and kisses Uranus at 16 degrees of Taurus. Can you say “unusual” or “unconventional” when it comes to sexual loving, flings with the opposite or same sex, and coming to terms with what our true natural values and needs are as regards our sexuality? I knew you could. This transit is brief but can certainly upend your own status quo regarding sexuality, which may lead you into unusual encounters with possible partners or with society at large (“…that is indecent and immoral, and you need to stop that now!”). You get my drift. Judgment always crops up when Uranus is in town and is wearing a bull costume. You may also have unusual and possibly revelatory experiences with your own sexual nature. Uranus encourages exploration and trying new things, so this weekend could be interesting! If you in fact have any aspects to anything at 16 degrees of Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius or Leo, you may feel this “hit home”. The potential stinger in this conjunction could be a further eroding of the value of Bitcoin, fiat currencies (paper money), and digital money (the M3 money supply). The almost hyperinflation happening is definitely tied to Uranus in Taurus, as is the deflation of cryptocurrency values.

The next upcoming astrological markers that will dovetail into the main points I’ve been sharing here is the Full Moon in Sagittarius on the 14th squared to Neptune, followed by Neptune in Pisces being squared (challenged) by the Sun in Gemini on the 15th. Hermes, or Mercury, is a data hog and likes to collect information. Sometimes this causes mental indigestion. This Full Moon is lit up by the Neptune point…everything at 23 to 25 degrees of mutable signs. Like anything can happen but it may go unnoticed, or more delusion/confusion may arise, especially in the “news” or official pronouncements from the powers that rule. In other words, words and messages that deceive.

Another thing about this is the Sun-Moon being square to the planet and sign that rules the waters (oceans, oil, amongst other things) and the everything everywhere. It will come as no surprise if we feel like we’re having more of an out-of-body experience while dealing with data overload, all at the same time. You might find yourself waking up from a dream and going right into a daydream. The veils will be thin, very thin, and all manner of tricksterish energy and entities will be around. Ground and earth yourself, that’s the remedy. Take your shoes off and wiggle toes in grass, or better yet, dirt or sand. And watch how much you engage with others in electronic mediums! Trolls and bad actors love this sort of dissociative energy.

The other aspect that will help is Mars and Chiron meet at exact midpoint of Aries on June 15th as well. Aries is the embodiment of “I Am”. The warrior and the Centaur meet, and this bodes well for those who recognize the divine value of individuation. You see, the film “Everything, Everywhere, All the Time” fragments the concept of a “self” and does so in a humorous way. Living in the digital soup that we all inhabit these days; it is becoming increasingly challenging to even feel who we are beyond the surface. Our inner life is more and more fragile and distant, hard to get a grip on, living in such an artificial electronic construct.

We can easily delude ourselves whilst in this environment, so it is super useful that Mars and Chiron team up now. It revs up the status of the individual, and the value of our inner self/being to a powerful degree. It could make us not only walk around saying “I Am” but acting more authentic. Caution: people might not like that and get riled and annoyed with you, or worse. But believe me, it is much better to be in trouble with others instead of being in trouble with yourself.

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.

05 Jun 2022
Comments: 0

Who Are You?

I am always careful when using phrases and sentences saying something like, “Be you”, “Discover yourself “, or “Be authentic”. I admit that this kind of statement puts me off. However, sometimes it is difficult to express experiences that happen to us at a deep inner level, and I have come to the conclusion that, no matter what, words are here to be used the way we know and when adding the feeling from which they are expressed, any word gets validated.

From childhood we hear that we are here to grow up, go to school, study, get a degree, get a job, marry, have children, grow old and die. It seems like a futile cycle and quite frankly, a somehow boring one.

Are we more than just our bodies? Why are we here? Is this all? What is our purpose? Who are we? Where are we going? These are a few of the fundamental questions that many people have in their mind. However, a vast number of people never ask themselves these questions, and go through life just playing their roles and waiting for the “end”. Maybe they are not curious about being more than just flesh and bones, or maybe the system we live in is powerful enough to keep us numb and oblivious to the invisible realms of existence. Whatever the case, I still think that most of us know deep inside that we are more than what we can see.

Thanks to the spiritual teachings I practise, I have been able to experience my real being in an unquestionable manner. Meditation, pineal gland activation and other techniques have made me aware of my inner self. I am a light being, inhabiting a human body. Not a complicated realisation at all and cliché, if you want. The thing is that today, more and more people are starting to be aware of the fact that there is an invisible part of themselves they cannot ignore anymore, their own experience shows them this reality.

Everything is energy and science has been talking about it for quite some time now: think of Einstein and his famous formula, E=mc2. Remember Nikola Tesla as well, who said, “If you want to find the secrets to the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

We could say that we are consciousness or we have a conscience, something beyond the physical plane that is powerful and profound and is in our experience. And this consciousness manifests itself in the physical field through a body, tangible and visible.

Every time we acknowledge what we call our “soul” and place our attention on our thoughts and feelings of love, for example, we actually go beyond the body, we enter an invisible realm of existence. Every time we acknowledge our heart as a way of awakening intuition, we go to this intangible field of reality and, even more, every time we are there, we have the wondrous feeling of being home, of belonging.

I encourage you to find what resonates with you in order to experience the inner world. In the meanwhile, I invite you to sit down in a quiet place and start by feeling your body, then be aware of your breathing, inhale and exhale slower than normal, place your attention on your heart, feel it full of light and love. Enjoy this state for at least ten minutes and repeat it hopefully two times a day, everyday.

The realisation of being a light being, will make you conscious of the fact that everyone else is a light being too, therefore we are all the same, we are equal and any differences disappear. Experiencing our inner self is understanding the concept of wholeness, of being part of the One, is finding our true origin and purpose, is initiating our journey back home, is ascending.

We have the opportunity of looking at life as a spiral of experiences that elevate us from just being “human”. We are so much more than our body. We cannot see it with our physical eyes, but we feel it, we know it, we live it. We are infinite beings.

About the Author:

23 May 2022
Comments: 0

3 Simple Habits That Can Protect Your Brain From Cognitive Decline

You might think that the impact of aging on the brain is something you can’t do much about. After all, isn’t it an inevitability?

To an extent, as we may not be able to rewind the clock and change our levels of higher education or intelligence (both factors that delay the onset of symptoms of aging). But adopting specific lifestyle behaviors – whether you’re in your thirties or late forties – can have a tangible effect on how well you age. Even in your fifties and beyond, activities like learning a new language or musical instrument, taking part in aerobic exercise, and developing meaningful social relationships can do wonders for your brain. There’s no question that when we compromise on looking after ourselves, our aging minds pick up the tab.

The Aging Process and Cognitive Decline

Over time, there is a build-up of toxins such as tau proteins and beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that correlate to the aging process and associated cognitive decline. Although this is a natural part of growing older, many factors can exacerbate it. Stress, neurotoxins such as alcohol and lack of (quality and quantity) sleep can speed up the process.

Neuroplasticity – the function that allows the brain to change and develop in our lifetime – has three mechanisms: synaptic connection, myelination, and neurogenesis. The key to resilient aging is improving neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons. Neurogenesis happens far more in babies and children than adults. A 2018 study by researchers at Columbia University shows that in adults, this type of neuroplastic activity occurs in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that lays down memories. This makes sense as we respond to and store new experiences every day, and cement them during sleep. The more we can experience new things, activities, people, places, and emotions, the more likely we are to encourage neurogenesis.

With all this in mind, we can come up with a three-point plan to encourage “resilient aging” by activating neurogenesis in the brain:

Get your heart rate up

Aerobic exercise such as running or brisk walking has a potentially massive impact on neurogenesis. A 2016 rat study found that endurance exercise was most effective in increasing neurogenesis. It wins out over HIIT sessions and resistance training, although doing a variety of exercise also has its benefits.

Aim to do aerobic exercise for 150 minutes per week, and choose the gym, the park, or natural landscape over busy roads to avoid compromising brain-derived neurotrophic factor production (BDNF), a growth factor that encourages neurogenesis that aerobic exercise can boost. However, exercising in polluted areas decreases production.

If exercising alone isn’t your thing, consider taking up a team sport or one with a social element like table tennis. Exposure to social interaction can also increase the neurogenesis, and in many instances, doing so lets you practice your hand-eye coordination, which research has suggested leads to structural changes in the brain that may relate to a range of cognitive benefit. This combination of coordination and socializing has been shown to increase brain thickness in the parts of the cortex related to social/emotional welfare, which is crucial as we age.

Change your eating patterns

Evidence shows that calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, and time-restricted eating encourage neurogenesis in humans. In rodent studies, intermittent fasting has been found to improve cognitive function and brain structure, and reduce symptoms of metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Reducing refined sugar will help reduce oxidative damage to brain cells, too, and we know that increased oxidative damage has been linked with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Twenty-four hour water-only fasts have also been proven to increase longevity and encourage neurogenesis.

Try any of the following, after checking with your doctor:

24-hour water-only fast once a month
Reducing your calorie intake by 50%-60% on two non-consecutive days of the week for two to three months or on an ongoing basis
Reducing calories by 20% every day for two weeks. You can do this three to four times a year
Eating only between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. as a general rule

Prioritize sleep

Sleep helps promote the brain’s neural “cleaning” glymphatic system, which flushes out the build-up of age-related toxins in the brain (the tau proteins and beta amyloid plaques mentioned above). When people are sleep-deprived, we see evidence of memory deficits, and if you miss a whole night of sleep, research proves that it impacts IQ. Aim for seven to nine hours, and nap if it suits you. Our need to sleep decreases as we age.

Of course, there are individual exceptions, but having consistent sleep times and making sure you’re getting sufficient quality and length of sleep supports brain resilience over time. So how do you know if you’re getting enough? If you naturally wake up at the same time on weekends that you have to during the week, you probably are. If you need to lie-in or take long naps, you’re probably not. Try practicing mindfulness or yoga nidra before bed at night, a guided breath-based meditation that has been shown in studies to improve sleep quality. There are plenty of recordings online if you want to experience it.

Pick any of the above that work for you and build it up until it becomes a habit, then move onto the next one and so on. You might find that by the end of the year, you’ll feel even healthier, more energized, and motivated than you do now, even as you turn another year older.

Original article here

18 May 2022
Comments: 0

The Secret to a Meaningful Life is Simpler Than You Think

Some people seem to spend their whole lives dissatisfied, in search of a purpose. But philosopher Iddo Landau suggests that all of us have everything we need for a meaningful existence.

According to Landau, a philosophy professor at Haifa University in Israel and author of the 2017 book Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World, people are mistaken when they feel their lives are meaningless. The error is based on their failure to recognize what does matter, instead becoming overly focused on what they believe is missing from their existence. He writes in The Philosopher’s Magazine:

To my surprise, most of the people with whom I have talked about the meaning of life have told me that they did not think that their lives were meaningful enough. Many even presented their lives as outright meaningless. But I have often found the reasons my interlocutors gave for their views problematic. Many, I thought, did not pose relevant questions that might have changed their views, or take the actions that might have improved their condition. (Some of them, after our discussions, agreed with me.) Most of the people who complained about life’s meaninglessness even found it difficult to explain what they took the notion to mean.

In other words, Landau thinks that people who feel purposeless actually misunderstand what meaning is. He is among many thinkers over the ages who’ve wrestled with the difficult question, “What is a meaningful life?

The Question of Meaning

Philosophers’ answers to this question are numerous and varied, and practical to different degrees. The 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, said the question itself was meaningless because in the midst of living, we’re in no position to discern whether our lives matter, and stepping outside of the process of existence to answer is impossible.

Those who do think meaning can be discerned, however, fall into four groups, according to Thaddeus Metz, writing in the Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy. Some are god-centered and believe only a deity can provide purpose. Others ascribe to a soul-centered view, thinking something of us must continue beyond our lives, an essence after physical existence, which gives life meaning. Then there are two camps of “naturalists” seeking meaning in a purely physical world as known by science, who fall into “subjectivist” and “objectivist” categories.

The two naturalist camps are split over whether the human mind makes meaning or these conditions are absolute and universal. Objectivists argue that there are absolute truths that have value, though they may not agree on what they are. For example, some say that creativity offers purpose, while others believe that virtue, or a moral life, confers meaning.

Subjectivists—Landau among them—think that those views are too narrow. If meaning happens through cognition, then it could come from any number of sources. “It seems to most in the field not only that creativity and morality are independent sources of meaning, but also that there are sources in addition to these two. For just a few examples, consider making an intellectual discovery, rearing children with love, playing music, and developing superior athletic ability,” Metz proposes.

For subjectivists, depending on who and where we are at any given point, the value of any given activity varies. Life is meaningful, they say, but its value is made by us in our minds, and subject to change over time. Landau argues that meaning is essentially a sense of worth which we may all derive in a different way—from relationships, creativity, accomplishment in a given field, or generosity, among other possibilities.

Reframing Your Mindset

For those who feel purposeless, Landau suggests a reframing is in order. He writes, “A meaningful life is one in which there is a sufficient number of aspects of sufficient value, and a meaningless life is one in which there is not a sufficient number of aspects of sufficient value.”

Basically, he’s saying meaning is like an equation—add or subtract value variables, and you get more or less meaning. So, say you feel purposeless because you’re not as accomplished in your profession as you dreamed of being. You could theoretically derive meaning from other endeavors, like relationships, volunteer work, travel, or creative activities, to name just a few. It may also be that the things you already do really are meaningful, and that you’re not valuing them sufficiently because you’re focused on a single factor for value.

He points to the example of existentialist psychologist Viktor Frankl, who survived imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps in World War II and went on to write a book, Man in Search of Meaning. Frankl’s purpose, his will to live despite imprisonment in the harshest conditions, came from his desire to write about the experience afterward. Frankl noted, too, that others who survived the camps had a specific purpose—they were determined to see their families after the war or to help other prisoners live, maintaining a sense of humanity.

Landau argues that anyone who believes life can be meaningless also assumes the importance of value. In other words, if you think life can be meaningless, then you believe that there is such a thing as value. You’re not neutral on the topic. As such, we can also increase or decrease the value of our lives with practice, effort, action, and thought. “I can ruin or build friendships, upgrade or downgrade my health, and practice or neglect my German. It would be surprising if in this particular sphere of value, the meaning of life, things were different from how they are in all the other spheres,” he writes.

For a life to be valuable, or meaningful, it needn’t be unique. Believing that specialness is tied to meaning is another mistake many people make, in Landau’s view. This misconception, he believes, “leads some people to unnecessarily see their lives as insufficiently meaningful and to miss ways of enhancing meaning in life.”

He notes too that things change all the time: We move, meet new people, have fresh experiences, encounter new ideas, and age. As we change, our values transform, and so does our sense of purpose, which we must continually work on.

You Are, Therefore You Matter

Some might protest that Landau’s being simplistic. Surely there must be more to existence than simply assigning a value to what we already have and thinking differently if we fail to recognize purpose in our lives.

In fact, there are even less complex approaches to meaningfulness. In Philosophy Now, Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London in the UK, provides an extremely simple answer: “The meaning of life is not being dead.”

While that may sound coy, many philosophers offer similar responses, although few as pithy. Philosopher Richard Taylor proposes that efforts and accomplishments aren’t what make life matter, writing in the 1970 book Good and Evil, “the day was sufficient to itself, and so was the life.” In other words, because we live, life matters.

It can be disconcerting, perhaps, to have such an easy answer. And detractors might argue that nothing can matter, given the immensity of the universe and the brevity of our lives. But this assumes our purpose is fixed, rigid and assigned externally, and not flexible or a product of the mind.

The Question is the Answer

There are other approaches, too. Casey Woodling, a professor of philosophy and religious studies at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, proposes in Philosophy Now that the question of meaningfulness itself offers an answer. “What makes a human life have meaning or significance is not the mere living of a life, but reflecting on the living of a life,” he writes.

Pursuing ends and goals—fitness, family, financial success, academic accomplishment—is all fine and good, yet that’s not really meaningful, in Woodling’s view. Reflecting on why we pursue those goals is significant, however. By taking a reflective perspective, significance itself accrues. “This comes close to Socrates’ famous saying that the unexamined life is not worth living,” Woodling writes, “I would venture to say that the unexamined life has no meaning.”

Mystery is Meaning

In the Eastern philosophical tradition, there’s yet another simple answer to the difficult question of life’s meaning—a response that can’t be articulated exactly, but is sensed through deep observation of nature. The sixth-century Chinese sage Lao Tzu—who is said to have dictated the Tao Te Ching before escaping civilization for solitude in the mountains—believed the universe supplies our value.

Like Woodling, he would argue that goals are insignificant, and that accomplishments are not what makes our lives matter. But unlike Woodling, he suggests meaning comes from being a product of the world itself. No effort is necessary.

Instead of reflection, Lao Tzu proposes a deep understanding of the essence of existence, which is mysterious. We, like rivers and trees, are part of “the way,” which is made of everything and makes everything and cannot ever truly be known or spoken of. From this perspective, life isn’t comprehensible, but it is inherently meaningful—whatever position we occupy in society, however little or much we may do.

Life matters because we exist within and among living things, as part of an enduring and incomprehensible chain of existence. Sometimes life is brutal, he writes, but meaning is derived from perseverance. The Tao says, “One who persists is a person of purpose.”

Original post here