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9 benefits of stretching in the morning
A few decades ago, I had frequent back pain and visited my chiropractor often. That was before I discovered stretching.
There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with my back – my problem was I sat at a desk all day, then was very physically active evenings and weekends without stretching properly before and after walking, running, hiking, cycling, etc.
During one visit, my chiropractor handed me a sheet depicting a morning stretching routine and told me to do it every day.
This post contains links to some good morning stretching routines.
Hopefully in thirty years you can say you’ve done them every day and your body is pain free!
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Why we need the salt of the earth
Salt has a bad reputation, through no fault of its own. It’s come about because most people use commercial table salt, an unhealthy concoction which we shouldn’t be ingesting in the first place.
Not all salt is created equal. Natural salt from the earth is what we should be using, and the results can contribute greatly to good health. Commercial table salt does just the opposite.
To the ancients, salt was as valuable as gold.
When you understand its benefits, you may just forget the commercial table salt and “go natural” once again.
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7 steps to powerful affirmations
Most of us have heard about using affirmations as a way to bring about change in our lives. In fact, many coaches, counselors and motivational teachers recommend using them.
Unfortunately, affirmations are often taught incorrectly or misunderstood.
In this post I’ll teach you the 7 steps to using affirmations to evoke powerful changes in your life.
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The superpower you may not know you have
Did you know you have a superpower? One that can change your life in remarkable ways?
It’s your subconscious mind, which you can communicate with and use to your advantage in many ways.
THE SUPERPOWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
Have you ever experienced driving down the road and realizing you have no recollection of the past 10 miles? And it makes you wonder how you didn’t have an accident?
You didn’t have an accident because your subconscious mind was doing the driving for you.
My subconscious mind is the reason I can daydream while I mow the lawn with my electric mower and not run over the cord.
Those things we do on automatic are often done by our subconscious mind, so why not learn to use it to our advantage?
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Who’s your cheerleader?
Who’s your cheerleader?
And by cheerleader, I mean someone who has believed in you when no one else did.
Someone who encouraged you to act in spite of your being surrounded by obstacles.
The person who saw your potential, the diamond in the lump of coal.
The person who told you, “Yes, you can” when you weren’t so sure you could.
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The Wind Is My Mother book trailer
“Bear Heart has a wisdom in his words that I use daily to further my spiritual growth. My copy of The Wind Is My Mother lives right there on my nightstand and gets referred to on a regular basis. I have bought about three dozen copies of this book to share with friends and family trying to get their spiritual lives in balance.”
The above is a review on Amazon.com from a reader of The Wind Is My Mother; The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman, which I had the privilege of co-authoring with my spiritual teacher, Bear Heart.
There are dozens more reviews like it, such as “Any time that I’m feeling depressed, I reread this book,” and “This book changed my life forever.”
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Bear Heart, humility, and praying for snow
In 1988, Colorado was experiencing a snow drought.
I know that seems hard to imagine after the winter we just went through, but that was the case back then.
The Copper Mountain Ski Resort was in danger of having to lay off staff and close, so the owner, a friend of Bear Heart’s, flew him to Colorado to pray for snow.
Before Bear Heart finished his ceremony, a heavy snow storm came in; one that the meteorologists had not predicted.
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Fed up yet? Watch this…
FED UP is a new documentary the U.S. food industry doesn’t want you to see. But I think everyone simply must watch it.
If you follow my blog, you know my passion is human potential. Yet how can we reach our potential if our health is poor?
If you’re eating the Standard American Diet, your health is on the way to poor, if it isn’t already.
To Native Americans, the food provided by Mother Earth was sacred. Yet it’s becoming harder and harder to find food in the way Mother Earth intended.
So it’s of utmost importance that we educate ourselves. Knowledge is power.
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What is your intention?
When I work with clients in my healing practice, I ask them to set an intention as to what they want to get out of the session.
They don’t even have to tell me what it is. But an important part of healing is to take an active role and let the universe know what you want.
Intention can be expressed as simply stating, “I am ____________.”
The “I am” is a statement of how you want to live your life, what you’re here for.
Steve Jobs was once quoted as saying, “Everyone has a cell phone, but no one likes their cell phone. I want to create a cell phone everyone loves.”
Where would we be if he came up with that thought and then said, “naa, no one can make that” and gave up?
Steve Jobs stated a goal, “I want to make a cell phone that everyone loves.”
But his intention was to improve our lives through technology. That was his reason for being.
What’s yours?
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Are you thriving? Or merely surviving?
Are you thriving? Or merely surviving?
The first is not as hard to achieve as you might think.
LESSONS FROM A CACTUS GARDEN
In 1999 I bought my first house – in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California.
Earth lover that I am, I was excited about landscaping and, since the San Fernando Valley is a bit of a desert, that meant using native plants that would grow with the rainfall and sun usual for that area. Or so I thought.
My friends Bob and Laura were professional landscapers and offered to give me a landscaping consultation as a housewarming gift.
When I told them I wanted drought-tolerant plants and a cactus garden, the last thing I was expecting was the suggestion to put in a sprinkler system. But that’s exactly what they recommended.
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Why is the world’s largest garbage patch in the ocean?
Did you know the world’s largest garbage patch is in the ocean?
And that it consists of what was once hailed as a great future?
In the 1967 film, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, the new college graduate is cornered by a friend of the family with advice for his future:
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
[Note: the bolded line is ranked #42 in the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.]
Little did we know that the great future of plastics could turn out to be The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – and a persistent tragedy on our planet.
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How does a traditional “medicine man” help people?
In 1988, reporter Mike Watkiss interviewed Muskogee Creek elder Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams for the television show A Current Affair.
This first segment is Bear Heart’s answer to the questions: What is it that you do? How do you help people?
Can We Save The Earth With Vinegar And Baking Soda?
Is there a way to save the earth from home? With vinegar and baking soda?
Taking action in saving the earth should be a priority of us all.
And sometimes big changes are the result of many people taking small steps.
Can one person change the earth with vinegar and baking soda? Perhaps not. But what if everyone stopped using toxic cleaning products? Read on.
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Why Native American Children Walk in Beauty
This excerpt from “The Wind Is My Mother” reveals how Native American mothers introduce their children to the natural world. It is also the key to their children growing up learning to respect Mother Earth, live balanced lives and walk in beauty.
Bear Heart speaks:
“When I was just three days old, my mother took me to a hill top near our home and introduced me to the elements.
“First she introduced me to the Four Directions — East, South, West and North. ‘I’m asking special blessings for this child. You surround our lives and keep us going. Please protect him and bring balance into his life.’
“Then she touched my tiny feet to this Mother Earth. ‘Dear Mother, Grandmother Earth, one day this child will walk, play and run on you. I will try to teach him to have respect for you as he grows up. Wherever he may go, please be there supporting and taking care of him.’
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How’s your hospitality?
Being a single, self-supporting woman for most of my adult life, I have mastered the art of taking good care of myself – whether at home or on the road. But an experience with European hospitality taught me I may have gone too far to the independent side.
Some years ago I went on a horseback tour of the Connemara region of western Ireland with Willie Leahy, master horse breeder and quintessential charming Irishman.
A week of riding fine Irish horses through bogs, up green hillsides, around lakes and back roads where cars couldn’t go was a great way to see my homeland for the first time.
There were 14 in our group: 7 Americans and 7 Europeans and we had a choice of staying in 4-star hotels or charming bed and breakfasts. I chose the bed and breakfast because I felt it was the best way to get a feel for the people of Ireland.
As it turns out, I was the only American who chose a B&B – all the others stayed in hotels! And only one European chose a hotel – all the others stayed in the B&Bs.
For dinner the entire group ate together in a local restaurant; lunch was a picnic in a field along the way and breakfast was at our respective lodging. So I had breakfast every morning with the European contingent.
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What can we learn from a Starling Murmation?
Starling murmationOne of the great miracles of nature is a starling murmation. Have you ever seen one?
A flock of starlings moving as one through the sky in a tight formation is called a murmation.
My first glimpse of a murmation was a small flock over the Santa Monica Mountains, seen from my office window years ago.
At the time, I likened it to “turning practice” — they’d fly in one direction and then turn in unison to fly in another direction. Over and over and over.
I didn’t get much else done that morning. I hadn’t yet heard of murmations. And didn’t see it again until I came upon this video captured by wildlife photographer Dylan Winter.
It turns out that murmations can range from a small group of a few hundred starlings, to millions of starlings blocking out the sun.
And there is much we can learn from them.
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Why the Spring Equinox is a tool for growth
This year the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere is Thursday March 20, at 16:57 UTC [coordinated universal time].
It’s a day of equal balance of the hours of light and dark before the sun continues its journey towards longer daylight hours and warming temperatures.
The equinox energy is strong for four days before and after March 20th, giving us time to bask in the opportunities and lessons it brings.
THE SPRING EQUINOX IS NOT JUST ANOTHER DAY
Ancient cultures throughout history have celebrated this time of rebirth of Mother Earth. But what does it mean for us?
The earth is comprised of 70% water and, on average, so is the human body. That alone is a giant clue as to how interconnected we are.
What happens to the earth’s energy also happens within us, therefore we can experience more harmony if we work with the earth’s cycles instead of ignoring them. It’s not just another day.
Here are some of the aspects of the Spring Equinox and how we can incorporate it into our own lives to help us better communicate with the spiritual forces of the earth.
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Do you keep your word? Or are you an “indian giver?”
Do you keep your word? Or are you an “Indian Giver?” Do you even know what that means?
When I was a child, the term “Indian giver” was thrown around as a derogatory term when someone gave something and then wanted it back.
At the time, I thought it meant that Native Americans used to do that: give gifts then take them back.
But I was wrong.
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What were you told as a child that isn’t true?
According to Norm Shealy, M.D., research shows that human beings are born with only two natural fears: loud noises and falling. All the rest are learned.
And very likely instilled in us by adults as we grow up.
As a result, we are allowing the fears we learned as little children to influence our decisions.
Or, in the words of Emotional Freedom Technique expert Brad Yates, our adult lives are being run by kindergartners.
It’s time to stop letting the kindergartner inside us run [and ruin] our lives.
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The problem with humility is that…
Bear Heart used to joke that, “It’s hard to have humility because you can’t brag about it – if you’re really humble.”
That’s true. But of course, the truly humble person wouldn’t even want to brag.
What’s the opposite of humility?
I have occasionally met people who loved to talk about their accomplishments to the point that a conversation with them is a conversation about them.
A simple, “How are you?” can lead to a 5 minute monologue on their recent achievements.
I can only assume that stems from a deep-seated lack of self-worth; why else would a person feel a need to work so hard to validate themselves in your eyes?
It shows that they don’t understand the simple tenet that people will judge you by your actions, not what you say about your actions.