A Balanced Approach to Wellness!

Relief from LCD addiction

04 17 14

Post 119-LCD addiction

My friend tells me her 11-year-old son is addicted to his smartphone. I work with children who are addicted to their smartphones, computers, apps, computer games, etc. I know adults who are addicted as well. I am sort of addicted to my computer; I’ll admit it. I sit at the computer to receive words of wisdom from Spiritual Presence, and instead I check my Facebook page, my email, my blog stats, and so on.

I’m turning to Spiritual Presence now to ask what can be done. What can be done about the LCD addiction (the term that will be used to represent addictions to computers, smartphones, etc.)? (Reading an e-book doesn’t count in the LCD addiction definition.) Here is the information I am receiving:

  1. The more time people spend in nature, the less time they will spend with the LCD.
  2. The more time people spend taking part in face-to-face interactions, the less time they will spend with the LCD.
  3. The more time people spend with animals, the less time they will spend with the LCD.
  4. The more that is done for other nonhuman aspects of the world, the more the focus will be off the LCD.
  5. The personal involvement in creative endeavors lessens the grip of the LCD. Creative endeavors includes making music, participating in athletic games, dancing in groups, bringing about artistic creations, actualizing family/friend gatherings, participating in traditional rituals—the list goes on and on. Creating materials to be viewed on the LCD do not count.

What to do:

  1. Plan more outings in nature.
  2. Get together with family and friends in person.
  3. Go to the zoo (if it is a humane zoo) or a petting zoo.
  4. Plant plants.
  5. Find a cause that inspires you and volunteer to help it.
  6. Participate in a group activity that invigorates you.
  7. Find puzzles you like and put them together. If you don’t like puzzles, then learn how to cook an ethnic food that you like (that it not from your ethnicity).
  8. Go for a walk and pick up trash in your neighborhood.
  9. Help, whenever you can.
  10. If you have children, include them in all these things.

Category:

Addiction to screens

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An excerpt from Book #5: “Vitality! How to Create a Life that is Healthy”

04 13 14

Post 99-Book 5-VitalityI have finished the second draft of Book #5 and it is about to go to my editor.

I am interested in feedback from people who follow my blog. Would you please read the following excerpt from the Introduction and consider its tone:

 “This book is titled Vitality! because vitality is necessary to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. By living energetically, a person is living as designed. People are not meant to be sluggish-crawlers. They are meant to be vibrant creators and observers. Living energetically does not mean living at a frenetic pace all the time. It means living fully and filling life with moments of full attention and engagement. Being ready to attempt and to strive, being ready to attempt again and strive more.”

In the excerpt, you can see elements of my writing on this blog. My main question is this: do you think the term sluggish-crawlers is too derogatory? It is the word I received (from Spiritual Presence), but it feels a bit unkind. What do you think? Is its descriptiveness needed to wake people up?

Feel free to add a comment to this post or to write me privately at Renee4Libra@gmail.com.

Thanks for your input!

Renee

Category:

EGC books and articles

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Spiritual connection exists within the soul

04 11 14

 

Post 97-wild flowers

I’m working on book #6, which I mentioned in passing in an earlier post (Yes, I know books 4 and 5 aren’t out yet. Book #5 is in second draft and book #4 is on hold.). The main subject is the soul, and the information I am receiving is exciting.

Here’s a small taste…

 “Spiritual connection exists within the soul. It is a bound element that enables the soul to achieve transcendent thought. Spiritual connection enables people to live within the cycling nature of life and to do so in varied and fresh arrangements. Spiritual connection provides capabilities to choose, mold, and direct living that is purposeful and fulfilling. Purposeful and fulfilling can occur without acknowledging the role of spiritual connection, but it is there, with or without the acknowledgement. Spiritual connection exists in all living things, but its binding to the soul is what elevates the possibilities of humans. Despite the interconnectedness of the soul to the body, people function without awareness of the soul’s participation in daily and routine actions…”

 

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Spiritual connection

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Is happiness the goal?

04 08 14

Post 116-life goals

Is happiness the goal? Is monetary success the goal? Is recognition the goal? Is leadership the goal? Is applause the goal?

Happiness, monetary success, recognition, leadership, and applause are aspects of living, but they are not the goals of life. The goals of life are these:

  • Acknowledging the awe that exists in the natural world
    Accepting the limitations of our humanness
    Assisting others in overcoming their personal difficulties
    Overcoming personal difficulties
    Avoiding intentional damage to the environment
    Avoiding intentional damage to ourselves
    Protecting weaker species
    Guiding the future generations in the correct ways of living
    Assisting others in achieving spiritual awareness
    Creating warm and lasting relationships with family members
    Creating warm and lasting relationships with chosen friends

from The Gift of Intuitive, Dedicated Comfort.

These goals enable us to be connected to our surroundings, connected to our future, connected to our past, and balanced in our living. These goals steady our focus and guide our actions. These goals lead to contentment and understanding. These goals breathe.

Wanting to be happy is elusive, but wanting to have warm and lasting relationships is nourishing. Wanting monetary success is time-qualified, but wanting to provide for oneself and any dependents is time-extending. Having recognition brings a sense of accomplishment, but guiding future generations in the correct ways of living is true accomplishment. Leading is important, but accepting one’s limitations as a human being is required for true leadership abilities. Applause brings momentary excitement, but spiritual awareness and acknowledgement brings continuous amazement and passion.

Goals are necessary for productive and purposeful living. Large goals are like maps; smaller goals are like road signs. Each showing the way in a world that is unclear without them.

Category:

Sustaining activities

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Traveling on airplanes—tips and explanations

04 06 14

Post 114 airplane travel

In my last post “Airplane interactions”, imbalance problems caused by airplane travel are presented. In today’s post, I am presenting tips for lessening the damage and issues to think about. Some of the tips should be familiar to you if you have previously researched this topic.

Preparations before a flight

Food

  • If you eat fried foods as part of your regular diet, be sure not to eat anything fried for the two days preceding the flight and don’t eat fried food on the day of the flight.
  • If you eat sugared foods at most of your meals and in your snacks (foods containing sugar or foods that you add sugar to) and you will be traveling for more than five hours (travel to the airport + processing and wait at the airport + flight + and travel to destination), on the day of your flight eat half the amount of sugared foods.
    If you eat sugared foods about twice a day and you will be traveling for more than nine hours, start limiting your sugar intake to once a day for two days before the flight. On the day of the flight, try not to eat any sugared foods.
  • If you eat well—balanced meals and controlled portions, but you sometimes binge or eat large portions of fried or sugared foods, take nutritious foods with you on the plane to help you resist snacking on the fare provided by the airline.

Hydration

  • If you drink more than two cups of coffee daily and you will be traveling for more than seven hours, start limiting your coffee intake to one cup a day for four days before the flight. If your flight departs early in the morning, wait to drink your cup of coffee on the plane. If your flight departs in the afternoon, drink your cup of coffee at the normal time you drink the first cup. If your flight departs at night, drink your cup of coffee 1 ½ hours before landing. The next day you can resume your regular coffee drinking habit unless you will be flying again within three days, in which case, you should limit to one cup of coffee a day until your next flight.
  • Drink water, and no other drinks, for 12 hours before the flight. This tip applies even to short flights. If you regularly drink coffee or caffeinated tea, limit them to one cup during the 12 hours before the flight.
  • Avoid carbonated beverages for 24 hours before your flight.

Information intake

  • Because of stress that usually accompanies flying, try to avoid reading or watching disturbing information for at least 24 hours before your flight.
  • Even if you have work to do on the flight, bring light reading or entertainment that you can turn to if you feel too stressed during the flight.

Preparations optional

These tips lead to well-being when flying.

  • The following supplements can be helpful if you already take them: Vitamin C, elderberry, and zinc. A small dose of these supplements six hours before a flight can boost your immune system.
  • Exercise before a flight is helpful as long as the exercise is not overdone.

Well-being on the flight

  • If your flight is longer than ½ hour and less than three hours, stand up and move a bit once every ½ hour.
  • If your flight is longer than three hours, your need for movement is much greater; however, if you sleep during the flight, then your need for movement is reduced. Aim to walk and stretch for several minutes between sleeps, movies, meals, etc. The more walking and stretching, the better.
  • Talk to the person sitting next to you, even if you have work to do. The connection on a plane is important for well-being.
  • Airplane food can be nutritious if you eat the nutritious offerings. Try to avoid the processed foods. Bring nutritious snacks with you.
  • If you drink only water on the flight, your body will be very appreciative. Avoid the carbonated beverages and sweetened juices. Limit alcoholic beverages to one.
  • Smile at the flight attendants and feel compassion for them. Their work is harder than it seems.

Layovers in airports

  • If your layover is longer than two hours, make sure to walk around to loosen your muscles and stretch your spine.
  • Avoid eating fried and sugared foods.

After the flight

  • Immediately after the flight, drink a cup of water.
  • Wait a day before resuming eating the foods discussed above, unless you have another flight within three days, in which case, wait until the day after the second flight.
  • Walk for at least 15 minutes to release tension in your body.

Category:

Airplane travel

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Airplane interactions

04 04 14

Post 114-aiplane window

I just spent 14 hours on a plane. Plenty of time for reflection on airplane interactions.

The environment on an enclosed and unnatural airplane is interesting. It is exclusionary because it excludes those who cannot afford the entry price. It is dictatorial because all who enter know they must follow the rules set by the airline and the various ruling bodies that set guidelines for airplane behavior. It is grueling for the attendants because of the fragile state of many of the passengers.

Stress

Airplane travel is stressful. Stressful for all who cross the passenger entryway.

Parents of young children are stressed because they worry that the other passengers will be annoyed by their children, they worry about the state of their children during the flight, they worry about what awaits them on the other side of the flight (visit to relatives, return to home, move to new destination, etc.), and they worry about regular worries (finances, health, etc.).

Business travelers are stressed because of deadlines, expectations from the employer and from family members (if they live with family) or other close people, worry, tiredness, and so on.

Vacationers are stressed from the preparations before, anticipation of what’s to come, and other personal concerns.

People with major health concerns (real and imaginary) are stressed from thoughts of what could happen to them during the flight.

People who fear flying are stressed on top of normal stress.

Lack of movement

“People are meant to move—at all ages, no matter the occupation, no matter the location. Restricting movement is a mistake.” … from Pond a Connected Existence.

If a flight is longer than 30 minutes, then people are not moving enough. The longer the flight, the more the suffering from lack of movement.

Sleep confusion

The body requires a certain amount of sleep, and airplane travel can significantly disturb this requirement. If time zones are crossed, the body doesn’t know how to process the time differences. Flights that depart during sleeping hours confuse the body and guarantee irregular sleep.

Choices presented

Traveling on an airplane presents many choices that can cause imbalance. Sitting by a person who is unlike oneself can be unsettling. Eating food that is not usually consumed can cause digestive issues. Sitting still when the body calls to walk around is a mistaken choice (except when the fasten seatbelt sign is on).  Going onto the plane with negative emotions can lead to disruptive behavior during the flight, digestive upset, and unbecoming behavior towards other passengers. Rudeness towards other passengers is a choice that can lead to discomfort physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Electronic device undutifully influencing

Before electronic devices were so proliferated, passengers had more interaction with one another. Parents were forced to provide entertainment to their children (with help from some airlines). Passengers were forced to take breaks from work, notice others, and think. The electronic devices add some positive aspects, but they mostly distract from connection to others.

The connections that are created on flights may seem irrelevant, but they are not. Short encounters are often enriching and intellectually stimulating in ways that electronically delivered information is not. Yes Wikipedia is intellectually filling, but it is not enriching in the way that connecting with a plane-ride companion is. Being forced to encounter others of different backgrounds and experiences in a shared environment of stress, imbalanced choice possibilities, and regulations develops people in ways that are enlarging and without possibility in normal living.

How to remain balanced when flying

Tips for maintaining balance, even when the flight was started from a state of imbalance, will be presented in the next blog post.

Category:

Airplane travel

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Learned satisfaction

03 31 14

photo083YU4RG

I have spent the last three weeks in Los Angeles imparting Spiritual Presence awareness, connection, and nudging. The transfer of wisdom from Spiritual Presence was through individual sessions with people, an organized energy gathering, get-togethers with friends and relatives, and encounters with people on the plane, in restaurants, and by farmers’ market stalls. A welcome beginning for much more to come.

I have experienced EGC sessions with people who are needing the wisdom that Spiritual Presence can give, and they have been eye-opening, cathartic, and beyond expectation. The people receive specific ways to bring balance and clarity into their lives, and witnessing this process is gratifying and amazing for me. People need the same basic things in life, yet the ways to achieve them are varied and individualized. Connection to Spiritual Presence brings the actions and revised thinking required to live with purpose and satisfaction.

I have been living with a cousin of mine who challenges and expands my connection to understanding and wisdom. Our invigorating conversations have led me to the subject of book #6. It will explore and explain issues of the soul.

I have walked and walked and walked this fascinating city, which has led to further understanding about people, animals, and jumbled living. I have eaten the most wonderful produce purchased at neighborhood farmers’ markets and have mostly eaten vegan and raw foods. My body’s feeling good!

My connection to Spiritual Presence has developed during this time, and I am learning about well-being, forgiveness, and satisfaction. I am grateful to my cousin for introducing me to people who are open to the wisdom that flows through me. I am grateful for my family who supports my new-found purpose.

Heading back home soon with renewed Vitality!

Category:

Spiritual connection

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Kindness to the animals we care for: muzzles for dogs

03 28 14

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In the book Pond a Connected Existence, caring for pets in listed as a sustaining activity for people. We are drawn to animals that can be domesticated, and they in turn learn to depend on us. The intertwined existence of people and domesticated animals requires careful observation and empathy by people who care for them.

A few days ago on one of my many lovely walks in L.A., I saw a woman walking several dogs of varying sizes. As I approached them, I saw that the largest dog had a rubber band holding his mouth shut. I also noticed that the supposed-to-be-caring dog walker looked very rushed. As we passed one another, I felt a surge of negativity and so I asked Spiritual Presence about what I had just witnessed. I witnessed injustice, cruelty, and selfishness.

This post is a reminder to people who live with or care for dogs. There are humane ways to prevent a dog from opening his mouth when being walked in public. Muzzles are not injustice and cruelty. Many are made in a somewhat comfortable way that allow the dog to have a somewhat normal experience when being walked.

If you or anyone you know puts a rubber band around a dog’s snout, know that the dog is experiencing injustice, cruelty, and loss of trust in humans. People should know better, and if they don’t then they shouldn’t be caring for dogs.

Category:

Flora and fauna

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Life is struggle: meeting with people unknown

03 27 14

 

Post 111 Life is struggle

Unwanted, unacknowledged, untended, underfed, unappreciated, unloved, unnoticed, undervalued, undone. The life of the drunk man who sneaked on the bus today and sat by me.

Wanted, acknowledged, tended, fed, appreciated, loved, noticed, valued, empowered. My life.

I was riding on an L.A. Metro bus waiting for my soon-to-arrive stop, when the bus stopped to let people off and he sneaked in from the back door and sat next to me. His breath reeked of alcohol, he was dirty, and he was hoping to avoid the notice of the bus driver. He was hopeful that I would not make a fuss, because his day had been one more difficult day in the accumulating number of difficult days that are his life. He didn’t really choose me; I was simply sitting in a convenient place for him to slide in.

I told him that I was about to get off so he shouldn’t sit there, but he ignored me. He spoke somewhat incoherently and I didn’t understand what he said. I told him he hadn’t paid and he started to panic and began talking about how he lives in the Hollywood Hills and is very rich, and the alcohol smell was strong. I felt very uncomfortable and decided to change the subject because he seemed agitated and was moving closer. I talked about the unseasonable rain in L.A. that morning and he was distracted. He realized I wasn’t going to say anything to the bus driver so he became chatty. But then he asked me my name, gave me his, tried to take my hand, really reeked of alcohol.

I was unsure what to do but then we reached my stop, and I told him to press the button for me because we had arrived at my stop. He moved and I pressed the button and asked him to let me out. I was unsure—afraid he might get off and follow me, unsure whether to just go out the back door or go to the front and notify the bus driver, unprepared for this situation. He turned slightly in his seat barely giving me room to get by. I grabbed my things close, forgot my scarf, and exited the bus from the back. He didn’t follow. I felt relieved, noticed my forgotten scarf, walked the wrong way and then corrected my direction.

And what about him? He felt gratitude towards me that I had remained silent, sat quietly for the rest of the trip, got off at his stop to continue his usual existence.

Two hearts beating a little too fast. Two lives being lived—one with acceptance, the other with rejection. Both equal.

Category:

People

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Clarification about the previous post: Unreleased energy leads to laziness

03 24 14

Post 110 clarification about 109-unreleased energy

A friend of mine read the previous post and took issue with how judgmental the tone was about people who are “lazy”.

My friend is one of the least lazy people I know, but sometimes she doesn’t have the energy to train for a 10k run that she thinks she should do. The reasons she doesn’t have the energy to train are far from laziness. She doesn’t train for three reasons: 1) Her life is so full with work, family, volunteering in her community, and volunteering outside her immediate community that she isn’t as focused on the run as she would like to be. 2) Her expectations of herself are too unrealistic. 3) She has more compassion for others than she does for herself.

The last post wasn’t about laziness; it was about unreleased energy. Laziness is a byproduct of unreleased energy. People need to release energy. Not releasing energy leads to many negative and unbalancing effects: physical pains, emotional turmoil, depression, turning inward, turning away from others, frustration, laziness, and self-dislike. Taking breaks from work and physical activity is normal rejuvenative activity. It is not laziness.

Releasing energy is an important way for achieving balance of body, mind, and spirit. Releasing energy is good for each individual and is good for society.

Releasing energy through physical, intellectual, and social pursuits is nourishing, balancing, and necessary.

Energize!

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Well-being

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Unreleased energy leads to laziness

03 22 14

Post 109-unreleased energy For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know that Spiritual Presence has been pushing us all to spend more time in nature. Being in nature connects us to elements in life that balance and elevate us at the spiritual level. Being in nature stimulates our intellect, restores our emotional well-being, and strengthens our physical and concentration abilities. Being in nature also provides an opportunity to breathe more deeply, breathe less restrictively (letting go of restraining emotions like the need to control our life), and breathe with wonder. Spiritual Presence has also been pushing us to be more physically active –sounds like the advice that most good doctors give. People are meant to move A LOT, and not releasing our energetic and frenetic selves leads to all sorts of problems. One of which is laziness. Laziness is much more negative than it seems. A definition of laziness is “inactivity resulting from a dislike of work” (from TheFreeDictionary). People are meant to work so disliking it is very unbalancing.  Another definition is “apathy and inactivity”. These very negative states cause imbalance to the emotional and spiritual components of health and weakening of the physical component of health. Laziness is different from resting after a substantial output of energy. Taking breaks from work and physical activity is normal rejuvenative activity. Laziness simply wastes gifted talents and possible achievements. Releasing energy through physical, intellectual, and social pursuits is nourishing, balancing, and necessary. Energize!

Category:

Well-being

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Entertainment

03 20 14

Post 107-entertainment

Music, art, slapstick, drama, literature, dance, and other forms of entertainment.  All are created by people for people. Experiencing entertainment is soul-fulfilling. Creating entertainment is soul exercise because the soul requires the stretch of the imagination and the melody of the breeze. Any form of entertainment that is awakening for the soul is soul exercise.

Music naturally fills the body and reaches the soul, especially for the people who are generating the music. Listening to others play music is enriching; actually playing the music is enriching at a deeper level. The act of making music is the catalyst for melody-absorption. The music does not need to be at a professional level; the music—however it is played—is like a key in the door to the soul. Listening, singing, strumming, blowing, drumming, bowing, snapping, clapping, whistling, or any other music-generating activity is absorbed into the intangible part of us.

Dance, like music, reaches the soul, especially when the dance is true to the person dancing.  Dancing from the heart, dancing from the gut, dancing from the sound of the music, dancing from the rhythm of the beat, dancing with abandon, dancing in one’s room or dancing in a group, dancing intently, dancing internally, dancing when dancing isn’t allowed, and dancing soulfully! Dance performed for others is soul-moving, especially for the dancers but also for the observers if the dance is authentically performed. Dancing in a group performing choreographed routines is exercise for the body, but not necessarily exercise for the soul; however, when a dance performance is choreographed from the heart, then the heartfelt movements can transfer to the performers and even to the observers.

Art is soulful exercise when the inspiration for the artistic expression is soul-awakening. Especially for the artist, but also for the viewer.

Entertainment is naturally built-in. People are drawn to others’ antics. People are drawn to others’ doings. The soul wants entertainment, and the best way to get it is to be entertaining. To oneself and to others!

Category:

Music, Sustaining activities

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Resistance to major change

03 17 14

Post 30 luck

Oh if life were so easy
I would be the person I was meant to be
I would take on challenges and handle them with ease
I would be open and funny and clever
I would look fabulous and sing on key
I would not be cranky or defensive
And I would not get upset over silly things.

But life isn’t easy
So I let myself off the hook
And often don’t try
And blame others
And wallow in misery
And even give up
Sometimes.

Perhaps there is a place where
I can find respite from my too-difficult me
Where my mind shuts up
And my gut finally stills
Where I let myself accept
And I let myself free
The person that I am truly meant to be.

Post 7-bracelet

Too many people let themselves sink too low. Rather than rejoice in their living, they choose their misery. Sometimes the cause is nutritional, sometimes the cause is hormonal, and sometimes the cause is just habit. When the reason is laziness or lack of appreciation, the way out is through communal service. When the reason is nutritional or hormonal, the way out is through intervention by a nutritionist, naturopath, doctor, or other healing specialist.

There are other causes as well for the spiral downwards, and often spiritual connection can aid the situation. Energy Guidance Complete is spiritual healing focused on balance and elevated living. Making changes in one’s focus can lead to changes in one’s self-centeredness. Finding guidance that is larger than oneself can loosen self-absorption.  Accepting that the difficulties are just difficulties that can be handled releases self-indulgence.

Resistance to major change? Not worthy of true living. Life flows and the less we fight the flow, the more we can heal.

Category:

Focused living, Poetry

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Personal resistance: resisting manipulation through personal choices

03 14 14

Post 60-finding ones way2I am currently visiting in the States. I am happy to be here and I am viewing all with a sense of newness and interest. There may be too many cars, but I focus on the trees. There may be too many sales, but I focus on the interesting designs of buildings and clever business presentations. I have been in several large supermarkets and department stores with food sections, and in them, I have lost my vitality. (Where I live, I shop in supermarkets and stores that aren’t so overwhelming.)

Too much to take in, too much to choose from.

As I walked down aisle after aisle of prepared foods and other products, I felt a rush of sadness for the bombardment on people by too many products, too many packages to read, too many eye-catching colors and names, too many decisions to be made. Too much time to be spent on relatively routine purchases. Too much pull to buy unnecessary things. Too much effort spent on trying to resist the call of the quick, the cheap, the treat, and the packaging. Manipulation through promises of happiness through tastiness, assuredness of nutritional needs met through ease of preparation.

The thing is—our bodies don’t want the easy stuff. They want the wholesome stuff. They want the foods that nourish, and if these foods are tasty, all the better. Wholesome, nutritious foods are so delicious when we savor them and let them weave their subtle magic on our palates.

Post 106 personal resistance

The assignment: aim to exercise personal resistance by refusing to be swayed by the call of the pretty packages. Choose more fresh fruits and veggies. Try not to be drawn to the quick, cut-up fruits and veggies—buy the whole ones and wash and peel and cut them yourself. Take the extra few minutes needed to touch the whole fruits and veggies before you eat them. You might not have picked them, but at least you can prepare them for their good work nourishing your body. Aim to use whole products in a soup that you make or a casserole or a main dish.  Making from scratch does not take much time if you don’t use too many ingredients and fancy techniques.

Personal resistance is not as small as it may seem. As it says in The Gift of Intuitive, Dedicated Comfort:

“It may seem that individual people have little effect on a large society, and many people believe that their actions are inconsequential. They are mistaken. Each act of kindness, each measure of understanding for one’s fellow, each occupational task performed with enthusiasm, each show of warmth, and each display of affection influences and continues the positive actions of others. The importance of the chain of connectedness must be realized. One link in the chain can create infinite effects. People must always remember that their actions matter.”

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Focused living

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Try limits—when eating or drinking nutritionally bereft foods

03 14 14

Post 105-foods 2

Food is meant to be a pleasure and not a battle. We are meant to eat so that we can live. We are meant to eat nutritious foods so that we can live healthily.

We are meant to desire nourishing foods, and we can, if we reject processed and non-nutritious foods that suppress the desire for proper foods.

Moving beyond survival, the eating experience can be sad and disappointing or can be full of joy and laughter. Much depends on our attitude and on our desire to be well.

Post 105-junkfoods

There are nutritionally bereft foods that people should not eat or drink. They include carbonated beverages, sugar, white flour, and hydrogenated oils. These foods should be limited to never, but unfortunately, they permeate the processed food industry. They should be limited as much as possible, and people who are addicted to them should try to cut back and realize that they are hurting their bodies.

Eating for the sake of keeping the body alive is not a part of life for most people living in modern society. Eating for the sake of the enjoyment of the food is modern society’s take on food. The enjoyment, not the life-giving aspect, is the focus. Food is for nourishment and for enjoyment and we should attempt to remember that, and not worship nor despise the thing that gives us life.

Post 105-foods

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Food & drink

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Vegetable support: the foods that sustain

03 13 14

Post 104-veggies.jpg

Many foods nourish us, but vegetables nourish, ground, and calm us. They provide the nutrients that enable us to move forward.

The importance of vegetables cannot be overstated. Our bodies need them and function less well without them. They are sources of happiness, creativity, expressiveness, achievement, satisfaction, and vitality. Eating vegetables doesn’t guarantee that a person will be satisfied with his or her life, but eating vegetables enables being capable of being satisfied. The more vegetables we eat, the more our bodies can handle.

Vegetables are usually viewed as members of one entire food group or are grouped by type of plant part eaten (leaves, roots, etc.) or by color. Actually, vegetables belong in three groups that are determined by the amounts that should be eaten. Here are the groups:

  1. Beets, broccoli, cabbage (all types), cauliflower, purple bell peppers, romaine lettuce and other leafy greens, spinach, zucchini.
  2. Butternut squash, carrots, pumpkin, watercress, yams, yellow summer squash.
  3. Asparagus, bell peppers, brussel sprouts, celery, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, green beans, kohlrabi, mushrooms, okra, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, tomatoes, turnips, water chestnuts.

In this post, the amounts to be eaten are not being presented. Just know that the more, the merrier!

Category:

Food & drink

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Liquid relief

03 10 14

Post 103-liquids

According to my post “How important is water?” (see January archive): “Water is the most important life-sustaining substance that we put in our bodies.” That post gives information about the timing of water drinking.

There are other liquids that nourish us, and we should drink them too. They are soup (thin soups that can be drunk), tea (green, red, black, oolong, white, jasmine, chai, and cardamom), beer (in non-addictive amounts), and drinks made from soybeans and brown rice. These liquids add nutrients and they add sensations that are different from water and different from solid food. These liquids do not replace water; they are in addition to.

These liquids, together with the influence from listening to music that is uplifting, are elements that nourish the body and the soul.

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Food & drink

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Inventive body stuffers—processed foods

03 08 14

Post 102 Processed foods

Processed foods challenge body processes (not all processed foods are challenging to the body, but the ones that are good for the body are in the minority). The foods being discussed here are the ones that contain the ingredients that are known to be harmful, but people eat them anyway.

These foods should be limited to never. Really!

Food is not the only damaging thing to people; emotional damage can be more harmful than eating toaster pastries. Nonetheless, the better the food we put into our bodies, the more chance of physical and emotional balance.

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Food & drink

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Eating Common and Less Common Creatures

03 07 14

Post 101-pan

Post 101-pot

People eat a variety of fish and animals. What is accepted to eat depends on religious, regional, and appetite influences. A common fish that is eaten is halibut. A less common animal is rabbit. Both are eaten, but one is more accepted than the other.

The guideline for eating these two creatures is the same. They can be eaten once every three weeks. Both have nutritional value and both have responsibilities. Nutritional value for all who eat them (not just people) and responsibilities in nature.

We need to remember that life on earth is not just for our enjoyment and for our sustenance. All creatures have a place, and one small place is nourishing humans.

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Food & drink

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To eat farmed salmon or not?

03 06 14

Post 100-salmon

Recently an article was posted about eating farmed salmon vs. eating wild salmon. The author gave numerous reasons why not to eat the farmed salmon, but gave no reasons why not to eat the wild salmon.

I’m not going to cite all the reasons for eating this one vs. that one. What I am going to post is the wisdom from Spiritual Presence about eating salmon.

Salmon—to eat or not to eat

Salmon is a nutritious food and can be eaten no more than once a week. There is no difference between eating the wild salmon or the farmed salmon. The impact on nature from eating salmon more than once a week is too great. Remember—no more than once a week.

Food issues

Post 100-foods

There are so many things to know about foods. From this point on, I’ll be writing information about foods and beverages.

If there is a particular food or beverage you have questions about, add a comment to this post or send me an email through the Contact page.

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Food & drink

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