Earlier this week, I worked five hours--from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.--at a well-run local soup kitchen. I made about 30 gallons of soup with three other people, washed a heap of cherry tomatoes, and made a quart of salad dressing. Then we served the meal, stacked the dishes, and cleaned both the kitchen and the serving area.
Every time I do this, I have to stay up until one or two in the morning preparing my CM blog for the following day. I don't mind though. It feels good to work hard for someone else.
But guess what: I'm getting far more than an altruistic rush out of this. In exchange for working at the soup kitchen monthly, I receive work/membership credit from the Park Slope Food Co-op, which then enables me to purchase every conceivable kind of health food at a discount. Because the Co-op is owned and operated by some 8,000 unpaid members like me, it doesn't need to mark up its prices the way a conventional store would. Plus, the Co-op has the best produce in Brooklyn. Dare I say, all of New York? Only the local farmer's markets are as good.
Of course, I'd like to think I'd work in a soup kitchen monthly without the Co-op membership perk. And I have volunteered my services many times in the past, but never on as strict a schedule.
I'm confident that most of you volunteer through your house of worship or some other venue and out of the goodness of your heart. But I know that if the Food Co-op didn't regularly lure me into the soup kitchen, I wouldn't help feed the hungry as often; activities with my kids would intervene. I know I'm opening myself up to ridicule for confessing that it takes a perk to regulate my volunteerism. But as more companies are encouraging their employees to do something for their community in exchange for work credit or another reward, I'd love to engage you guys in a conversation about how it might be okay to foster helpfulness throughout society this way. I'm grateful to the Co-op. The whole exchange is good for everybody.
Are you employed by a company that encourages you to tutor, cook, pick up trash or in other ways give to your community? Tell us about it. If you're on your own or volunteering through your church or synagogue, are you loyal to your community service commitments? What keeps you going? Has volunteering with a friend you wouldn't see as much become an extra incentive? Let us hear your story!
Part of one's spiritual journey involves confronting spiritual materialism. What is that, you may ask? Is it acquiring the hottest mat and outfit for your yoga practice? Lusting for a fancy spa in California? Festooning your neck and wrists with cool--and medicinal!--jewelry?
Yes, all those preoccupations involve materialism, but spiritual materialism--as the term was used by the late meditation master Chogyam Trungpa--is more subtle, more common, and more insidious, though I'm not sure I'm supposed to label it "insidious" because spiritual materialism is just part of the path, something to be beheld without judgment.
Spiritual materialism relates to a different kind of possessiveness. It is the impetus to get healthier, improve relationships, or attain results (like being better respected by others) through your spiritual practice. Spiritual materialism is when you strive to own a better life--with fewer complications, more happiness, and less stress--through your hard-earned spiritual enlightenment. Huh? What's so wrong with that? Doesn't everyone see religious practice as a way to let their light shine and improve themselves as people? Well, it shouldn't be entirely about that.
An anecdote: Years ago, I regularly attended meditation classes in Dallas at a yoga center run by a lovely man who once worked as a carnival acrobat back in India. His name was Kumar. How he landed in Dallas, I'll never know. But he taught yoga, meditation, and ran a bulk foods grocery store in front of his studio. And after meditation practice one evening, I remember chasing Kumar around the wooden counters of his shop, describing to him something I'd vividly seen in my mind's eye as I was meditating. It was like a lotus seen from above, vibrantly colored, purple foam around the center--"a real vision, fabulous!" I kept telling him with great enthusiasm. I cheered myself on by continuing, "I didn't make this up! This vision just came to me!"
Kumar nodded, experimented with smiling slightly, but mostly he seemed to want to escape me. I longed for him to say: "Oh good, you are really advancing now. What an excellent meditator you've become!" But as my teacher, he had no interest in encouraging me to run down this lotus questing path (cool as it was). Years later, after more practice and reading, it hit me that Kumar knew not to label my "vision" any kind of advancement. There was no meaning to it really. It just was. I remember he bought me off by saying, "Yes. Yes." and nodding somewhat optimistically.
I've bitten off a big topic, and it's late Friday afternoon; I must pick up the Chattering children soon. But perhaps we can talk here as the days go by about how much we invest in the notion of our spiritual progress. We throw all our ambitions into this spiritual course, and when we're doing that, we're not just "being." We're pursuing something else. We're not accepting ourselves or the moment. We're striving for the vast beyond. Here's an Ösel Tendzin quote on the subject that I lifted from the wonderful Buddhist blog Woodmoor Village:
"Spiritual materialism is based on trying to possess the highest spiritual state, trying to have the best meditative experience. We adopt a spiritual disguise in order to mask our own fear and clinging; we convert spiritual teachings into personal territory. We smother any spark of intelligence, and in the process, we deceive ourselves and produce spiritual fraud."
"Depression, loneliness, and insecurity are tangible experiences that can be improved. But if you seek to reach God or enlightenment because you want to stop being depressed or anxious, if you want greater self-esteem or less loneliness, your search may never end.
"This area of understanding isn't cut-and-dried. Some people feel tremendously self-improved as their awareness expands; but it takes a strong sense of self to confront the many obstacles and challenges that lie on the path. If you feel weak or fragile, you may feel weaker and more fragile when you confront the shadow energies within. Expanded awareness comes at a price-—you have to give up your limitations—-and for anyone who feels victimized, that limitation is often so stubborn that spiritual progress becomes very slow.
"To the extent that you feel any deep conflict inside yourself, a large hurdle stands before you on the path. The wise thing is to seek help at the level where the problem exists."
Today's New York Times has a New Yorky take on what's happening in the homes of those who want their children to eat highly healthy food, but whose careers necessitate employing babysitters who may not share their whole foods philosophy.
You'll cringe because the story brings out a painful class divide quite evident these days--we've got the Eat Divinely Wells and the Eat What You Can Affords. Organic, hyper-healthy dining is assuming an obsessive "prissy" image that I find unfortunate. Believe me, I'm as organic as I can get, but I also let my two sons eat fried foods I'd never touch in kid-friendly restaurants. If I argued over every piece of pizza, I'd make myself and my kids nuts. What to do?
You can talk to your children about their food choices, and discuss as a family what really tastes delicious. Everybody's different. My guys went through a Happy Meal phase, but they no longer jump for glee when we pass a McDonald's. Intriguingly, the 10-year-old Chattering recently listed "sushi" as his favorite food on a school getting-to-know-you project. He also balked when we decided to hold his birthday at a bowling alley this coming weekend because the pizza there might be "of low quality." Hmmm. What have I wrought?
I do think discussing what passes as a good meal should be reviewed with any sitter you employ. And questions like "What do you eat?" or "How can I stock the refrigerator to keep you healthy?" or even "How do people feed babies in your country?" (if that question applies) are nice things to ask sitters (you might even soak up helpful wisdom).
I employed sitters three days a week when my sons were young. Two women over a period of five years came into the house while I wrote at home. And I treated both of them like queens. Maybe too much so. But I was so grateful, and they returned the love. There was only one time when I thought the whole love-your-nanny-thing was lopsided: I once found myself rushing out to buy a surprise going-away cake for the sitter who was returning to Guatemala for a month's vacation on the tax refund she received from our on-the-books wages. Where was she as I made the mad dash to buy cake for her going-away party?
Taking care of my kids, of course.
Got any good stories about food, babysitters and love?
posted by Chattering Mind @ 10:41 PM | Permalink |
Tomorrow, we'll discuss Spiritual Materialism. Today, we'll attend to three new products in the most recent Isabella catalog.
Labels for your water bottles: Put love in every sip by placing a sticker with the word LOVE on your water container! (Dr. Masaru Emoto alleges that this can actually make water crystals healthier.)
Upscale Mala: If your five-dollar sandalwood bracelet has lost its pizazz, now you can chant your mantras on pearls.
Click here to watch Swami Beyondananda (a.k.a. comic/activist Steve Bhaerman) talk about how "being in the now is the wave of the future."
This guy is interesting. Before he embraced comedy, Bhaerman wrote books and founded an alternative high school in Washington D.C. Raised in Brooklyn, he claims to have earned a "black belt in Borscht Belt" before moving to California. Here are some dead-serious excerpts from the his sly 2006 "State of the Universe" address:
"...people are growing dissatisfied with the positionality of 'my side vs. your side,' and are seeing the whole issue of 'sides' from a new angle: Maybe we're all on the same side. For example, this argument between creationism and evolution is just another way for dueling dualities to steal our energy. I believe in both. I believe the Creator created us to evolve, otherwise Jesus would have said, 'Now don't do a thing 'til I return.' I have it on good authority that the Creator is pulling for us: 'Come on, you children of God! It's time to grow up and become adults of God instead...
"The time for revolution and overthrowing has past [sic]. Now we need an evolution where we 'overgrow' the current dysfunctional system from the grassroots up. You are probably familiar with the story of the Native American grandfather who tells his grandson that there are two wolves fighting inside all of us: The wolf of fear and anger, and the wolf of love and peace.
"'Which wolf will win?' asks the young boy.
"'Whichever one we feed,' replies the grandfather.
"...So I will tell my vision for 2006: This is the year of the American Evolution, where all those who prefer the Golden Rule to the rule of gold get past left and right, and come front and center...I see us in a new reality show--Extreme Planetary Makeover...Just think! Something more compelling than reality TV. It's called reality."
If you know anyone getting married in the next year or contemplting marriage, send them to Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway's Wedding Goddess Wisdom weblog, a font of good advice on how to soak in all the blessings to your union whilst preserving your all-important Goddess Mojo.
Since we were on the subject of God and amputees yesterday, you might be uplifted by Beliefnet's homepage article about the faith of disabled people and their families. Be sure not to miss Lilit Marcus's piece on her life with hearing impaired parents, and all the thoughts that rushed in when her father was in a car accident.
Thanks to faithful reader Pacific231 for this response to our conversation about sending love to bullies and other irritating people:
"I strongly believe that feeling compassion for a bully must not translate into martyrdom... A very recent Buddhist book on the subject of politically-engaged Buddhism... mentioned how ancient Buddhist armies were most certainly not pacifistic. They would try to avoid killing their enemies and instead shoot them in the legs or otherwise render them unable to kill or maim, keeping them alive, thus retaining the possibility they might still realize enlightenment.
"Using this same logic, one could therefore argue that fighting and beating up a physically violent bully, instead of sustaining a martyr-like beating, stops the bully from bulling and actually helps them find a new, better way of living and behaving."
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:49 AM | Permalink |
Atheists will applaud the website WhyDoesGodHateAmputees.com. But if you believe in God, or are on the fence about God's presence, you'll still be fascinated. The authors try to explain as clearly as is conceivable--as if they are speaking to fourth graders--why believing in God is patently ridiculous, and makes little logical sense. I think those of you who "experience" God in small, miraculous ways will NOT be convinced.
But positioning yourself in opposition to what's said is part of the excitement. At this site's affiliate web presence, GodisImaginary.com, you'll find some fifty "proofs" that God does not exist including "Notice you ignore Jesus," as well as broadband videotapes like this one called "Why Belief in Prayer is a Superstition." Have a look. What do you think?
posted by Chattering Mind @ 10:09 PM | Permalink |
Click here to learn more about Environmental Action's "pledge to pay the difference" campaign. Upon collecting 3,600 pledges, the group is hoping to tell U.S. auto makers that E.A. members will pay more for environmentally friendly vehicles--if U.S. makers create them. My bet is that the E.A. will get more that number of digital signatures.
The catch: You have to pledge to buy an American-made car if auto makers double the mileage-per-gallon of domestically manufactured models. The pledge goes like this:
"I pledge to you that if you double the mileage standard of your vehicle fleet from 27.5 mpg to 55 mpg, and your light truck/SUV fleet from 20.7 to 41.4 mpg, I will not only purchase one of them the next time I buy a new car, but I will also pay the difference of cost to increase the standard."
posted by Chattering Mind @ 12:09 PM | Permalink |
What a great moment of the year to encourage the children in your life to build fairy houses, pint-sized outdoor residences for the spritely nature divas and spirits that bless the earth, commune with frogs and bugs, cobble shoes, and maybe hide your house keys. Boys and girls love to craft natural fairy homes like these, and if you live near a wooded area, a fairy-house party is a terrific way to celebrate a child's autumn birthday.
Do you work in a place where deadlines aren't respected and coworkers complain about management behind closed doors? Does every morning pep talk get ridiculed at lunch? Do you ever feel as though there's a sameness to everything and that your work life is oddly reminiscent of your days at home as a kid? Even if you've worked like crazy to get into a "conscious," passionate romantic relationship (thanks in part to the many great books on love and sex), do you still spend your office hours lapsing into unconscious, neurotic resentments?
"Conscious Business" author Fred Kofman can help you align your career with your highest aspirations--even if your workplace functions decently and you are already spiritually alert. Raised in politically troubled Argentina in the 1960s, Kofman credits his peoples' cheery refusal to acknowledge governmental corruption with giving him a keen understanding of duplicitious business settings. Kofman believes that too much emotional pain is triggered by failed projects, missed communications, and bad relationships at the office stemming from "unconscious," unanalyzed patterns you can break through with the practice of mindfulness.
Kofman teaches how to meld Eastern philosophy and business relationship skills. And fear not--if you get pangs of that oh-I-can't-change-my-workplace-by-myself feeling, the newly released "Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values" CD set is a wonderful thing to share with your coworkers. You'll find your new mindset wonderfully infectious. Kofman's lectures contain really thrilling material, impressive in that it could help huge numbers of people embrace fulfillment through meaningful work.
Rabbi Michael Lerner has posted an item on a blog for "Spiritual Progressives" in which he encourages everyone to "take advantage of the Jewish custom of repentance at the High Holy Days" (a period of soul-searching and renewal that launched last Saturday evening and continues through October 2).
Lerner writes: "This year every American has plenty of reason to repent--and our society desperately needs a time for collective reflection on how we have gotten to where we are and how we might turn things around... Wouldn't it be amazing if we could use this time period to ask every institution in American society to dedicate 10 days to reflection on the degree to which it is currently living up to its own highest ideals?"
Blessed is the grace that crowns the sky with stars, and keeps the planets on their ways; the law that turns our night to day, and fills the eye with light; the love that keeps us whole, and day by day sustains us."
In the name of eating seasonally, Ayurvedic teacher John Douillard, Ph.D., recommends eating two to four apples a day from now until Halloween, "along with more pomegranates, other ripe seasonal fruit, and veggies."
If you've got a moment, try his body type quiz to discover if you're Vata, Pitta, or Kapha. You'll never look at your favorite foods the same again!
I was thinking that telegraphing love to irritating people and struggling to keep lines of communication open were the themes of my week alone, but apparently, we're all under the influence of a new moon and solar eclipse that can release negativity, and tempt us to sweat "small stuff."
Here's what April Elliott Kent wrote about the new moon in Virgo for MoonCircles.com: "It’s time to release the tendency toward busywork that distracts us from the real work at hand; the urge to criticize the efforts of others; the complete denial of life’s poetry and magic, in favor of a rigid, rational approach. This Solar Eclipse lies close to the Moon’s South Node, drawing a line that connects us to a long pattern of this kind of such negativity in our lives. Where, in the previous years when eclipses fell in Virgo (most recently 1997 and 1998), were you to quick to criticize, too slow to notice the beauty around you, and too busy sweating the small stuff to keep your eye on the big picture?"
"Just as the Spring Equinox is about new growth and activity, the Autumn Equinox is about putting things away. It's a day for putting your house in order, making sure you have the supplies you need, canning fruits, assessing your home to make sure it will be tight against winter storms, making sure your finances are in order."
You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting - over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
New Age business mogul Sir Richard Branson has always favored yoga, meditation, and massage. Now, he's devoting a huge chunk of his fortune to find cleaner fuels.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:10 AM | Permalink |
Click here to see a marvelous animated short film, "The Meatrix," the story of a pig who discovers what really happens on factory farms. It's been making the web rounds since 2003; more than 15 million people have seen it and it's been translated into 28 languages. Now, in honor of the Dalai Lama's upcoming visit to NYC (Sept. 23-25), the creators of this ingenious spoof (and its sequel) have translated it into Tibetan.
"We feel the Dalai Lama's visit is a fitting occasion to release this Tibetan translation," said Diane Hatz, executive producer of "The Meatrix," in a press release. "'The Meatrix' is a film about problems on today's industrial farms, problems such as environmental destruction, animal welfare issues, and the negative impact on farmers and local communities. His Holiness teaches that we must learn to be compassionate, and respect for the environment and all beings are essential tenets of Buddhism.”
I've met her. I love her. She's got incredible abs (which she used to invite reporters to punch). But no, this is not the best use of Denise Austin's enormous talent. Sorry.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:44 AM | Permalink |
How does one deliver the right nod, bow, Namaste, or abbreviated prostration at the conclusion of a yoga class, talk, or more formal teaching? I learned what I needed to know here and here and here. You can also just watch others. Best bet in a pinch is to hold hands in prayer position at the heart chakra, palms not touching, lower head, hold, slowly come up and smile.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 10:54 AM | Permalink |
Even before I looked at your posts regarding what you do when you dislike or hate someone, I found wisdom in the September issue of 'Shambhala Sun' (such a good magazine), which referred to Thich Nhat Hanh's advice on managing angry feelings: The noted Vietnamese monk suggests you say, "Oh, my baby anger," while cradling your rage in your "loving arms." I'll pass that along to my son.
I really don't hate anyone these days either. But when upset by others, I sometimes limp around feeling disgruntled. When this happens, I see that my chattering mind is working overtime, and that my thoughts are defining me again.
Here's what you guys had to say on this tough subject:
From Daria: "When I meet someone with whom I clash, I just admit it...Mostly, though, I pray. It may take time, but it's near-impossible to feel negative about someone for whom I'm praying.
Thanks to Elmo for this: "...it's those who describe themselves along the lines of "ultra-accepting progressives" who seem to be the most divisive, probably because they are the least willing to face that they are not as accepting as they would like to be."
Writes Rebeccat: "My approval or disapproval of [someone else's] behavior is simply not relevant in the scheme of things. Very few people are intentionally toxic or hurtful...Knowing this helps me not to take offense at such behavior."
From LMS: "Hate is not a good thing to feel."
Jan Riggs taught her son to look "deeper" when faced with a bully or unpleasant person: "That person is the MOST in need of love."
Says Anna: "I've found phraseology to be particularly effective in easing my own hurt or anger...Let them find what they need to move along their path, let their hearts be wrapped in love and comfort."
A woman took a parking place of mine today as I was sitting in front of the exiting vehicle with my blinkers on. She just dove in there, as parking thieves are prone to do. But I didn't honk. I just backed up and looked. Well, okay, I might have glared at her slightly. But since her eyes were studiously avoiding mine, I quickly drove on and was confronted by a better parking space down the block, off the meter. Whomp. Big, beautiful, a breeze to pull into.
Life doesn't always work this way, but good things do occur--and your body enjoys the benefits--when you don't sweat the small stuff.
"In the long run I am only temporarily an American. I will not be labeled or trapped into any collectivity on the basis that I have some fixed essence that belongs to that collectivity."
Yesterday in the car, 12-year-old Chattering Son One said, "I don't like ________[a boy at school]. He's mean and cynical."
At first, I beamed at the use of the word "cynical" since I'd never heard him use it before. Then, I inwardly resonated--because I don't warm to this kid either.
But instead of saying, "Yeah, that guy IS a turkey," I tried to help my son comprehend the depths of this child's suffering by sharing details of his family life to which I was privy. But my son already knew. Oh, okay. Now what? A wave of helplessness fell over me because the mere contemplation of another's hardship seems so antiquated-ly liberal (remember I sprang from Republican parents). I mean, shouldn't folks, even young people, be accountable for their rotten behavior? A part of ultra-accepting, progressive me falls back into dividing all human beings into two groups: those who are worthy, and those who are not.
So, what should I do to help my son to NOT model the worst of me?
I advised him not to put energy into disliking the boy in question, but to instead notice the boy's behavior and sit with whatever comes up. Just notice. Maybe a part of my son is disowning this other fellow's attributes. Maybe the other boy owns my son's shadow.
We vowed to stay in touch with the feelings and talk more about this later.
What do you do when you find yourself hating someone's guts?
"The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself."
I know some of you probably just read this blog and don't ever write back or read posts. That's totally cool (though I always love hearing from you). But if you have been reading reader posts, you may have noticed Brian, a 23-year-old fellow who apparently has enough time time on his hands to religiously pepper the CM blog with surly remarks (today's: "Yoga is boring"). Hey dude, we love you!
So let's tune into Brian now as a group, and send him more love and acceptance than he's possibly ever experienced. Let us pray for the healing of whatever limiting constrictions he may be enduring. If we accept him completely, he will no longer be the unacknowledged, unhappy presence he is, the voice we all have inside our heads, the critic/taskmaster, the drone of disapproval. Let us hope for Brian that he develops a place for himself in the world where his opinions are of value, and his voice can be heard!
The editorial staff of Beliefnet.com is hard at work on a site redesign and expansion that will offer all kinds of fascinating new features throughout the next year. Because of the stress that they're all under, my editor Valerie won't be able to take the time to put photographs in my blog for awhile. I've been meaning to sit down and learn how to do use Photoshop, but in the meantime, bear with the spare, unadorned appearance of Chattering Mind.
I heard yoga teacher John Friend deliver the keynote address at the Omega Institute's "Path of Yoga" conference at a Sheraton Hotel in New York City last Friday. This conference is always a nice one, drawing well-regarded yoga practitioners like Kofi Busia, Baron Baptiste, Cyndi Lee, and Seane Corn, and Lilias Folan.
Friend's lecture was all about the beauty of yoga's diversity, and about how exciting it was that people from all over the world of yoga could unite in one place to teach, learn, and enjoy each other's company. Friend then noted that about 75 percent of the teachers at this confab for hundreds came from the same basic "lineage," or line of gurus--Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, whose most famous pupil alive today is B.K.S. Iyengar.
Despite the similarities, yoga politics abound today with American teachers often speaking critically of each others' ways of teaching a posture, or another's teacher-certifying structure. The world of yoga today is not one big peaceful place. And that was Friend's stepping-off point.
Since so many people in the audience live and breathe yoga, and since so many of them come from the same yoga family, it behooves them to stop cutting each other down. "If the yoga teachers can't get along..." Friend's voice seemed to fade into wordless despair. He shook his head, "We're trying to build peace in the Middle East," he said, and if yoga teachers can't appreciate their own diverse community, how can they help to create a world where their students and others choose peace over conflict?
I've never tried Friend's Anasura yoga method. But I thought the speech was great. And he strengthened his peace-through-diversity argument by volunteering many details about his own multi-faith path. He's had spiritual teachers of all stripes and nationalities, including a "white practicing witch in full black robes" who died of AIDS.
"Everything's alive," he said. "There's good in everything... And we all have our own path. It's important to always look for the good, for the highest in all. May we be positive examples."
Deva Premal and Miten performed at Omega's yoga conference, and led several chants. Miten sang "All Are Welcome Here," the final song on this album, but Deva Premal's best received work is on this CD (kind of a massage therapy classic) and it is available through Amazon.
“I wake every morning feeling like I’m living in a miracle – where spirituality, creativity, work, and love have all come to mean the same thing. My life has been shaped by mantras; I have become their servant.”
How fascinating that so many of us have felt unprepared when asked to sputter life wisdom, baby blessings, and parenting advice at spiritual baby showers. Let's help each other with good material! Send your suggestions in! Here are a few of my favorites to get you started.
"Sleep when the baby sleeps." That's an old chestnut, as too many new parents try to get chores done during the baby's naps, but then become exhausted when the baby's awake and needy again.
"It's NEVER teething." That's a line of my own design. I used to carry my feverish babies around, thinking they were teething, when in fact they had a virus or an ear infection.
"All will go well if you don't buy a Game Boy." I'd like to tie that one to a kite and fly it.
On a more spiritual note, there's always Kahlil Gibran's great passage: "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself."
The end of that long passage is less well known, and shower guests would be glad you dug it out: "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth... Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness."
My mother read this lovely baby poem at my firstborn son's baby naming, and I treasure the home movie we have of her reading it.
What about you? What are some of the greatest tips and thoughts you've gotten or gained?
Sure enough, inside the International Campaign for Tibet's direct mail envelope (which arrived at my home today), is a neatly folded two-inch square prayer flag garland. How could one not send money back?
I noticed a little sign on the cooler shelf today that essentially said, "Sorry, we're trying to keep bottles of G.T. Dave's Kombucha tea in stock, but you guys keep buying us out. Bear with us."
On his website, G.T. Dave describes the environment in which his popular tea is fermented:
Each batch is gently placed in a warm and spiritual environment where the walls are painted purple and spiritual music is played. Though it may sound silly, the most important thing that we do when making our batches is to give them LOTS of love."
I have not seen the new Ric Burns documentary “Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film,” now ending a two-week run at one New York theater. But The New York Times said the film's most significant contribution (from an art critic's standpoint) was the linking of Warhol's serial portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Elvis Presley, et al to "the grid portraying the images of saints that Warhol encountered as a child in a Catholic church, where he spent many hours a week."
Grid? What grid? I wrote Beliefnet senior religion editor Laura Sheahen and Beliefnet contributor Frederica Mathewes-Green (who happens to be an expert in Christian iconography) to ask them what saintly line-up Warhol was likely to have seen as a kid. Here are their wonderful responses.
From Sheahen: "I imagine the Warhol grid may have been based on what's called an iconostasis. It's a screen covered with saints' icons and it is found in Orthodox and Eastern Rite (Byzantine) Catholic churches. I just did a quick Google search and found out that Warhol is descended from Carpatho-Russians in Slovakia, so it's likely he would have encountered iconostases in his youth. Here (scroll down) and here are are examples."
From Mathewes-Green, upon reading what Sheahen wrote: "That's a good description of an iconostasis; it's the screen that stands (stasis) between the congregation and the altar, covered with icons: a central door, Christ to the right of it and the Virgin to the left, and other saints in all directions. There is a large bottom row and one or even two or three rows above, with smaller icons, a set pattern--one row is for apostles, one row for Old Testament saints, etc. Here's a "map" of an iconostasis. But I suspect what Warhol meant was a single icon that showed a number of different images at once. One might show many different saints--for example, a "menaion," or month, would show all the saints whose feasts are in a given month, with their postage-stamp images in a literal grid. Here's a 16th century icon for February, which begins with the presentation of Christ in the temple, and continues with portraits of saints celebrated that month.
"Since Warhol repeated the image of the same person, however, maybe it is more like an icon of a saint that shows scenes from the saint's life--usually one big portrait icon in the middle, and smaller chronological icons depicting life events and miracles around the four sides. Here's a life icon of St George."
Here's a letter--masterful in its straightforward, noncommital, but compassionate wording--written by Senator Barack Obama to constituent Ken Goze regarding the VA's continued refusal to allow the Wiccan pentacle on the gravestones of Wiccans buried in veteran cemetaries. This letter, posted on a Wiccan website (we haven't confirmed the letter's veracity, but have no reason to doubt its authenticity), does a good job of recapping the controversy. But you can read more about this 10-year-old argument by visiting CircleSanctuary.org.
July 21, 2006
Dear Ken:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) refusal to allow "Wiccan" symbols on tombs in veterans' cemeteries. I appreciate hearing from you.
As you know, the VA has refused a widow's request that her fallen husband's grave marker include a Wiccan symbol. The soldier, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in Afghanistan and is a recipient of a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Many observers share your disapproval of the VA's decision. I understand their position, especially in light of the military's apparent tolerance for the religion in most other policies. The media has reported that some 1,800 military personnel are open Wiccans, and they enjoy the same privileges as any other religious group in the Armed Services. In fact, Sgt. Stewart's dog-tags identified him as a Wiccan.
Wiccan emblems are not among the 38 religious symbols approved by the VA for use at cemeteries. Approved symbols include those representing humanism, atheism and other unorthodox belief systems. According to the VA, the Wiccan symbol is still under review.
Many have taken issue with the fact that the VA has held up the approval process for Wiccan symbols for ten years while other symbols have been approved in much shorter periods of time. The VA has argued that it is in the process of developing a uniform set of standards for these reviews in hopes of preventing delays like this one.
In my view, the VA needs to make a decision one way or another. Sgt. Stewart's family deserves an answer, and the excuses given thus far are unacceptable. Furthermore, the VA should take seriously its promise to develop uniform guidelines and get them done before more disputes arise.
Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely, (signed) Barack Obama United States Senator
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:57 AM | Permalink |
You know, this Chattering Mind blog is currently attracting some 17,000 unique visitors a month. And usually, you readers are a relatively quiet bunch. But inspiring chatter was indeed released by my three-part series on the clutter we keep in our closets and basements! My play-ZZTop-to-your-stagnating-garbage suggestion really hit ya'll in the right spot! I find it remarkable that worldly possessions are such real-life burdens, and that keeping our living spaces free of stuff we don't use is indeed a spiritual challenge.
"I am in great need of being able to tackle the clutter that I have held onto for decades. I ask for prayerful guidance and the energy to go to it," wrote one anonymous reader.
Wrote Eva: "As we Jews are approaching the New Year, glorified by the Day of Atonment...cleaning our our spiritual closet...is exactly what the [upcoming] Holy days of Awe are all about."
Myrna said that she could use a "daily or weekly prayer specifically on our shared need to clean out old energy." Good idea.
Said Patty: "I lost my father-in-law, husband and both parents in 3 years time. You want to talk clutter, and it's not all mine. How do I part with their lives? A lot of us need help."
Laurie wrote of the house cleaning we all inspired: "The first thing to go? The old, dried petals from the roses that my ex-husband gave me ten years ago--the only time he gave me flowers. Wow! Now that was a purge--and as I spread them on my garden, I did so with a prayer that his new marriage will be fulfilling and joyous for both of them...I released many old dreams with those petals, and many of the things surrounding that container began to take on new significance...Namaste."
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:30 AM | Permalink |
This month's Mothering magazine offers fabulous ways to honor a pregnant friend at her baby's shower.
* Pass a "wisdom book" around and ask each guest to contribute words of encouragement.
* Tell guests to bring canned goods for a local women's shelter and have everyone at the party join hands to pray for all the babies and mothers of the world.
* Throw the shower in a park on hill and have guests write little blessings for mom and the babe, which can then be tied or taped to a kite and flown by the group on a string.
There's more cool stuff. Look for the magazine on your local newstand.
Thanks to the Feingold Program's newsletter for guiding me to "Find a Remedy," a website where folks being prescribed drugs by doctors can read reader-generated reviews of the medicine, and compare notes with others.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 10:23 AM | Permalink |
Here are some excerpts from what I'll call the Aura Debates, all spawned by my family's aura pictures (scroll down if you missed 'em).
From an electrical engineer named Brian: "...aura just means an energy field, specifically around biological organisms. It's similar to running a current through a wire; it produces an EM field. Everything your body does starts with chemical reacts and electric synapses. The idea of this field being a reflection of our souls is bogus."
From an electrical engineer named Shiro: "I think that if auras do exist they probably won't be a form of electromagnetic field. Maybe they manifest or create one, but in essence they are not. Why? Electromagnetic fields are artificial and can be created by lifeless devices. Auras being a mere electromagnetic field would suggest that a device with arbitrary aura can be created. This can't be correct. Can it?"
From psychotherapist, author, and former electrical engineer Jerry Hirschfield: "Yes, of course, auras are real! I'm surprised to see so many readers of your blog on the fence about them! There is no longer any doubt that we are made of energy--in fact, the energy of Pure Love! That energy (plus the energy of our egos)is what the aura cameras pick up. Contrary to Shiro (the electrical engineer, above) the energy is electromagnetic. It is simply in a frequency range too high for our current instruments to measure (but the Kirlian camera is able to transduce the frequencies down to the color/light range)...I believe what the physicists are now confirming, once again--that there is no such thing as physical matter! All is energy--the entire physical realm is our ego's illusion created by us, spiritual beings with egos, to explore and further the gift of individuality bestowed upon each of us at creation."
From Brian (to Shiro): "An electromagnetic field is the most common 'aura.' This field is produced by all matter, including dirt, air, space, and all living things. As a quick (more tangible) proof, if something has heat, which everything does, then it has an aura. Heat is just one tiny type of EM radiation, however. Matter radiates all wavelengths, visible light included, etc., yet the levels are far too low to be detected in the presence of stronger fields, for example visible light from the sun. Don't expect a rock to shine in a dark room, just rest assured that it is radiating EM. The radiation of all matter stems from the fact that all matter is made of tiny particles which vibrate."
From Brian (to Jerry): "You are mixing metaphysical theories with physics. Love is not an energy, it is a feeling and an emotion. Ego is just as intangible as love, it cannot be physically felt, nor does it produce anything. I would never compare something as complex as love, or ones ego to something as simple and concrete as an energy field. You said that physicists are now confirming (once again) that everything is energy. What are the names of physicists, and where do they research? I would like to see some case studies supporting what you claim. Right off the bat, an aura surrounds a physical object. If everything is energy, then what is the energy surrounding? More energy?"
Did you see this? Quite inspiring. A woman who discovered at the last minute that her husband-to-be was unfaithful, turned her non-refundable wedding reception into a charity fundraiser.
I am basking in full-on workshop afterglow. I heard Ken Wilber speak twice this weekend in New York to 300 people for two hours last Friday and two-and-a-half more on Sunday.
Wilber currently serves as head of the Integral Institute, a spiritual think-tank that aims to elevate people to higher levels of awareness and compassion through meditation, conversation, and thoughtful study.
For more than 30 years, KW has written books that present a new, East-West take on arenas like psychotherapy, medicine, law, politics, business, parenting, and spirituality.
People of all ages attended this weekend. Seeing Wilber answer questions about integral philosophy (which he called "a powerful path to liberation") while also telegraphing a sweet humility (very different from the impression one might get by only reading his most dense works) was intensely thrilling. The fact that Wilber is traveling (despite an ongoing illness and recent fall), and launching websites for his numerous projects, makes this depressing moment in world history feel like a great time to be alive.
Oh, and what did he say, exactly? I can give you a framework.
First and most simply: Meditation is important. A steady daily practice can increase awareness and compassion. He sited a study that shows college students especially can progress quickly to more enlightened states.
Second: Accepting your "shadow" is key to your development. You must claim and welcome the parts of yourself you judge as so icky, unacceptable, or terrifying that you must disown them. You are many people. Instead of shunting your unwanted aspects, you can integrate and invite them all to your life's table.
Third: If you meditate and become more real, you may go through an awkward phase when you either feel superior to everyone else or feel totally out of place (even to yourself). Wilber says this is normal.
KW unabashedly believes that people who meditate and start seeing the divine in everything are functioning at a higher level than those who interpret the Bible literally and believe that God can give somebody AIDS or destroy New Orleans. Those folks faithful to a "mythic" vision of a punishing God aren't going to groove to our higher frequencies or relate to the small percentage of us who grow to understand this integral stuff. "Some people say to me, 'Oh well, you're just trying to one-up everybody," he said. "And I reply, 'You're saying that as if there's something bad about it!'"
I fear I'm over simplifying. If you are a longtime Wilber reader, please chime in. Oh, and if you were there this weekend, please share your observations with us because I missed his presentations all day Saturday!
In 1983, my friend Christopher Stahnke lent me a Ken Wilber book, saying, "You really ought to read this guy..." and I couldn't penetrate it. Perhaps I wasn't ready. Today, there are more books, and easier ways to become more integrally aware. The Intergral Institute sells a very useful, clear Integral Life Practice kit for $150, and with it you get DVDs that explain what has in the past been difficult to read. Also, as I've mentioned before, Beliefnet.com has published some of Wilber's work and hopes to continue to do so.
If you've always been searching for ways to conceive God and your role on this planet, if you are seeking a contemplative style that is accessible and doesn't contradict your faith traditon (this is designed to fortify faith, not diminish it), then I advise you to check out the new edition of <
a href="http://www.amazon.com/Integral-Spirituality-Startling-Religion-Postmodern/dp/1590303466/sr=8-1/qid=1158003007/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7638272-0731123?ie=UTF8&s=books" target="_new">"Integral Spirituality," as well as his website about integral spirituality, and his flagship website IntegralNaked.org.
In the context of the Wilber talks, I'm finding it rather unfortunate that my last post from Friday was about how I put my 10-year-old son to sleep with a Robert Browning poem that basically teaches that God is up in Heaven (outside of the human sphere), God is mythic, and God is male. A beautiful daily prayer coming out of the Integral Institute goes like this:
"I contemplate God as all that is arising--the Great Perfection of this and every moment. I behold and commune with God as an infinite Thou, who bestows all blessings and complete forgiveness on me, and before whom I offer infinite gratitude and devotion. I rest in God as my own Witness and primordial Self, the Big Mind, that is one with all, and in this ever-present, easy, and natural state, I go on about my day."
Washington National Cathedral continues to publish wonderful broadband of its most important talks and speeches. Scroll down to see Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman talk about the "Joyous Science of Kindness and Wisdom" here.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 12:34 PM | Permalink |
Last night around 10 p.m., I was sitting at the dining room table with my portable computer before me, doing my ambitious woman blogger thing, setting up my posts for today.
My 10-year-old Chattering, who'd gone to bed 30 minutes earlier, descended the stairs and walked toward me, looking most adorable in his underwear.
"Mommy, I can't sleep. I don't know if it's because today was the first day of school, or if it's just hot in my room."
"Hmmmm," said I. After hours, I get into a space where I don't like to speak. I just want to do what I want to do, you know? But I tore myself away from Blogger.com long enough to say, "Okay!"
I stood up and faced him. "Just look at me, and repeat: God is in his heaven..." I said.
"God is in his heaven." He looked quizzically at me, but he's kind of getting used to this sort of thing.
"All's right with the world."
"All's right with the world."
"God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."
"God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."
"Now, get into bed and close your eyes and keep saying that."
"O-kay."
"God's in.."
"God's in his heaven."
"All's right with the world. It should help."
My son walked away repeating this, but when he got to the bottom of the stairs he turned and asked, "Is this a trick?"
"Ahhhh... hmmm. It works. It's very calming."
"O-kay." He put one foot on the stairs and started mounting, happily muttering "God's in his heaven, all's right..."
So I ask you, my readers, as we edge toward the fifth anniversary of 9/ll: Is the verse true? Is God in his heaven? And is the world alright? Or what? Can such a line ever be true for all of us at the same time? Is there an order to the events unfolding? How divine is it?
I don't have the answers. But my son went to sleep. And I got my work done by a chiming clock we keep to toll the hours.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 10:44 PM | Permalink |
Wonderful video is available here with statements from Joan Z. Borysenko, Tony Campolo, Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, Jerry Jenkins, James Martin, Brian McLaren, and Uma Mysorekar on how to see hope in these trying post-9/11 times. Also, click here to view Beliefnet.com reader-generated commemorative 9/11 artwork.
Doreen Virtue has organized an International Angel Day this Sunday, September 10th, a day when angel communicators are available en masse to teach others about "angelic healing and communication." Virtue claims that "The angels want us to hold this event so that we'll all focus on light instead of dark, love instead of fear" as we approach the 9/11 anniversary.
My only gripe: I don't think an angel would look like the bodacious babe she's got pictured on the homepage of her International Angel Day website. Angels are pure light, don't you think?
There's a great story in today's New York Times about green home design with quotes from various sources on the importance of living around growing things. While there's some debate about whether walls like these clean the air or create molds that might cause allergies, the future looks bright for this kind of connected-to-nature style.
If you're the sort of person who says, "Oh, plants just die on me," please stop labeling yourself that way! Give yourself a break and try to nurture something green this fall. Buy a plant, water and spritz it, and keep fostering the mutually-beneficial relationship!
Also in the Times today was a photo of this laptop desk, which intrigues me. I've written Louis Slesin, creator of the informative website MicrowaveNews.com to see if this is an acceptable way to avoid EMFs and keep your lap top off your lap when you're away from your home desk! Will let you know what he says.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 12:33 PM | Permalink |
If you're a parent, the good news might be that your kids are back in school, and you have slightly more time to yourself. The bad news (though you're not supposed to tell anyone you feel rotten about this) is that there's nightly homework to cope with again. And the settling-into-homework period can be a trial for everyone.
Here's how I get around it: I encourage my kids to do Brain Gym exercises that miraculously unite the left and right sides of their brains, preparing them for serious, integrated periods of concentraion. I took a two-day workshop in the Brain Gym method (which is influenced by concepts found in meditation and yoga practice), and I most habitually use the sequence of movements known as PACE (which stands for "positive, active, clear, and energized," all things kids need to be before homework gets done).
The steps of PACE are easy to move through (the first one is to get your kid to drink a full glass of water!), and if your child willfully refuses to assume the postures, you can stretch them out of the floor and--like the good parent you are--manipulate their legs and arms through the movements (which most kids will put up with and giggle through if they're not in active melt-down).
It sounds wild, but I've seen my own children go from floppy and full of rage over their homework assignments to engaged and on task in less than fifteen minutes. Think of it as brain yoga. Oh, and guess what: writers, musicians, public speakers, grown-ups of all sorts find these exercises incredibly useful too.
My best advice is to take a course in Brain Gym at your earliest convenience, especially if you are the parent of a child with learning issues. Here's where to find one near you. The next best thing is to examine the Brain Gym websites, buy some books and products and try to teach yourself the basic movements. More and more elementary school teachers are getting Brain Gym training. If you show up the first day of school and see a Brain Gym chart of postures in the classroom, thank your child's guardian angels, and consider yourself incredibly lucky.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 12:23 PM | Permalink |
If you are not inclined to take a Brain Gym course or buy the books, just try this posture to get an inkling of what I'm raving about. You can easily relax in this at your desk. I sometimes just sit in it at concerts or at the theater (no one's looking, right?), or do it when I'm getting ready to write. Unfortunately, the web offers no perfect pictures. But we can get pretty close. Look here and here. You can try this pose when you are standing, sitting, or flat on your back. Sitting is probably the best way to start.
Brain Gym's developers call this pose "Hook Ups" because it requires some mental coordination to hook yourself into it, and it immediately integrates your left brain with your right, so you are engaged with your creative, intuitive powers and your more mechanical, rational ones all at once.
This posture is so calming, a great thing to try when you first get into bed at night. You can also encourage your children to try this when they can't quite settle down.
The exercise actually has two parts, getting into the twist and breathing there for two or three minutes, then uncrossing everything and breathing with feet apart, and your right thumb and right finger tips touching the matching fingers and thumb of the other hand in a prayer pose without palms touching. You'll find detailed intructions here (scroll down to "hook ups"). And here's a whole kindergarten class essentially doing the first part of the routine.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:29 AM | Permalink |
I don't know if you've ever felt your own aura--or energy field--or seen a loved one's hue or essence. But, you've probably taken an immediate dislike to an individual, or inexplicably felt drawn to someone else for some intangible something-or-other. Some might say, oh, that's just pheromones, but others might suggest that we needn't believe in auras or vibrational frequencies to be influenced by them.
Actually, I don't know if I "believe" in auras myself. I can expand my awareness and mysteriously sense them when I set my heart and mind to it, but nearly all the time, like most everyone else, I am not paying attention. So I had no idea what my sons (10 and 12) and I would discover when I paid the spiritual bookstore Crystal Essence, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, seventy-five dollars to have our auras photographed this past summer by an expensive Aura 6000 camera said to make electromagnetic energy visible.
Being "Star Wars" fans and disciples of "The Force" (as in "May the Force Be With You!") my sons liked the aura camera concept. We walked upstairs to a room containing the camera on a tripod, a chair flanked by boxes topped by hand-shaped metal plates, and an attractive woman calling herself "Waterfall" who made us feel at home right away. I sat down first, placed my hands on the plates and was photographed. Except for the plates (which are said to sense the body's electromagnetic meridians), I could just as well have been in a Sear's portrait studio. The boys took their turns at the camera after that. Then we waited.
posted by Chattering Mind @ 11:06 PM | Permalink |
"Oh, it's such a kick to photograph children's auras," Waterfall said gleefully as she tore the membrane off the Polaroid prints. "The energy of children is so BIG! See? You can't even see their bodies or faces!" Sure enough, both photographs of the kids were nearly all yellow, both with an orange outline, and no human likeness, even faintly visible, anywhere on the print.
At first, the boys didn't seem to know what to make of this.
Waterfall analyzed my youngest son's aura portrait first--since it was the simplest, and a base for the rest of us. She explained to us that his "energy" was huge, "out there," playful, friendly, happy, full of curiousity and probing intellect. The orange in the aura is said to be attractive to others, joyful and altruistic.
The youngest Chattering seemed pleased with that assessment.
Waterfall also warmed to the twelve-year-old Chattering's aura, which she said was similar to his brother's, but maturing nicely with some comforting, sheltering green evident with the yellow and orange. "I see this green in the auras of people who are therapists, healers, and teachers," she said. "Green in the color most strongly connected with the heart chakra." Green is also the color of people associated with social justice.
The word "helper" in this context got my chattering mind churning because, actually, I had just been ragging on Chattering Son Number One for not helping enough, not cleaning his room, not picking up his towels and so forth. So it was tremendously touching to sneak a peek at my son's grateful face as Waterfall was telling him what his "green" meant, because I could see that he was quite relieved to be called a helper, a teacher, a champion of good causes, and so forth. And I realized in that moment as she was talking, that my mom-ish haranguing about how he doesn't often think of ways he can be of service to me had actually wounded him. Now, he was nodding, smiling brightly at Waterfall with a face that looked so relieved, so understood. And I recognized then that he is pretty much a normal kid at home, and a tremendous helpmate and counsel to his many friends, and someone who, yes, does have a passion for social service and a hope to save the world.
So I would have just sat there bathing in the glow of this realization if Waterfall then hadn't then turned to "read" me.
You know how it is when someone starts telling you something about yourself? If you're like me, you listen a little and then pass out. Thankfully, I did take notes. It felt like Waterfall was saying to me, "You must be blogging about spiritual development, yoga, and meditation for Beliefnet."
But she didn't, exactly. Instead, she said, "Wow, this is the portrait of someone exploring the subjects of intuition and faith. You are showing your own thinking and confusion, as well as shining clairvoyance on religious subjects." My notes say: "There's a lot of thought, connectedness to the core, thinking abt. faith, heart growth, change."
"You mean, internal chatter is taking place?" I should have asked, but didn't.
But I know Waterfall would have said, "Yes!" The white misty areas around my head apparently indicate that.
At least the colors of the aura reveal that I am chattering at a high level. In fact, that's the rub too: there are no reds, oranges, or yellows--the colors of the lower chakras--evident here. Waterfall suggested that, while my aura seems pretty interesting and impressive in its lofty purpose, I could work to "ground" myself, discover more joy, physicality, and playful happiness in the life of my "inner child."
Both of my kids nodded eagerly at that.
This aura photograph was taken a few weeks before I started taking antibiotics for inflammation of my stomach lining, and Waterfall noted that the left side of my body was devoid of color, perhaps revealing some kind of "block," some kind of weakness in my "masculine side." But she wished to make no further medical pronouncements since that would extend both her training and the equipment beyond their abilities. I'd be interested to go back to see what's there now. Depressingly, after all that, I did spy an advertisement near our discussion table for an aura "bath" product that can alter one's aura with a single soak. That slightly discredited the whole experience for me, making me wonder how an aura could be so quickly changed or "corrected." But Waterfall never mentioned or pedaled these products to us.
I can't tell you how much I treasure these three photographs. I see them as accurate aura "Rorschachs," and I think Waterfall captured the three of us exquisitely well. I'd still never vehemently argue that auras exist. What's the point? I must tell you though, that my kids and I floated out of the store, hugely happy and filled with wonderment.
For the sake of balance, here and here are links to folks debunking the technology of aura photography.
Oh, and listen: I regret that I cannot tell you where in your neighborhood you can go to get your aura photographed! There seems to be no centralized network of aura camera photographers, and each camera apparently costs as much as $10,000. Through Waterfall, I found the camera owner employing her, and he says you'll just have to ask around and keep your eyes open. He says the Aura 6000 camera is the latest, and best technology.
Please post if you've had any experiences! Or if you think the whole thing is "hooey," post that too! I was very pleased that each photo only cost $25.
If you believe in the Chinese theories of yin/yang, cold/hot foods, eating ice cream every evening is--sadly--a really bad idea. Especially at this time of year. Any icy slushy drink cold enough to give you a headache is actually giving the rest of your body a terrible time. When you ingest cold food, according to this theory, you are making your metabolism work overtime to warm it up before digestion can occur. And continual cold dining, day after day, night after night, fatigues the body. A food is "cold" when it is literally frozen OR "cooling" as the body metabolizes it (foods like apples, celergy, corn, oranges, pears, pineapple, watermelon, strawberries, bean sprouts, cucumbers, and spinach are considered "cool"). Come September, it is time for us to warm our bodies for the coming cooler months.
I remember when this was first explained to me, I couldn't see why a pear was a "cool" food, and a parsnip was "warm," but when you sit with it, and perhaps remember that your grandmother might have intuitively adhered to this kind of nutritional theory, it makes sense. In autumn, we need fewer salads, and more root vegetables, more ginger, more butter, garlic, and cheese. Most cuisines--French and Italian come to mind--have winter dishes and summer ones. But because we live in a country where almost any food is available any time, we get off our seasonal eating schedules.
Women who dine on crunchy salads daily in an effort to lose or maintain their weight are especially prone to cooling their bodies down too much--and losing their vitality. It is good that we can now allow ourselves to indulge in the warm soups and fattier foods we don't crave in summer quite so much!
I've found an article that explains this concept well. And here's a list of which foods are considered cold, neutral, warm, and hot.
Chattering Mind is a blog on motherhood, aging, health and healing, yoga, whole foods, spiritual music, meditation, as well as the struggle to manage time and clutter.
Read more about writer Amy Cunningham.
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