Community Blogging
By Sharon Miranda | August 21, 2009
This blogging system is offered to our members to post messages to the whole viewing community. Once we have a few of you familiarized with how to do this, we will display your blogs in our resource pages.
We will set up and train any who are interested. Very soon, we will send out our invitation to get started.
The WebSpirit Team
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Sustainable Village and Education Center
By Tracie Sage | April 6, 2009
Through decades of societal emphasis on individual image and material success, our culture has lost sight of one of the most basic human needs: real connection. Increasing with each generation, we have forgotten how to have fulfilling relationships with ourselves and others. Marriages and families are suffering. Many people feel isolated even in the midst of other human beings.
As our world changes, and we move into a time where we are called to revive and sustain a socially cooperative network of family and community, we need to learn effective ways to work through interpersonal issues and conflicts. These ways will support us in renewing village-based security and comfort and meet our needs to feel connected, co-create together and share resources in an efficient and economical way.
At a time when peoples lives have become increasingly isolated, fragmented and disconnected from the rhythms of the earth, fulfilling relationships and supportive community, many are reconsidering and re-evaluating the choices we make as individuals and as a society. As the needs for sustainable choices, connection, cooperation and equanimity become ever more apparent, working models and experiential training programs play an increasingly important role in reviving and sustaining the social fiber of our families and communities
Tracie Sage is building a sustainable village and education center in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon. The emphasis of this village and center will be to live and model social sustainability, which will be integrated into all of the educational programs. The village will call in those who are interested in living and/or collaborating with other inspired, passionate people who choose to be present and honest, and want to participate in regular practices to deepen our connections with ourselves and each other. These principles and practices have been shown in other communities to create a strong foundation or “community glue” to weather the seasons of community living.
Are you interested in supporting this Social Sustainability Project? You can help take this project to the next level by giving it a home from which to reach and teach more people the skills and practices needed to be truly unified and socially sustainable in our families, our communities, our countries and our world.
Tracie has found land with a great location & qualities at a good price in the Applegate Valley to give a home to the actual Sustainable Village and Education Center. It is a beautiful piece of land with creek frontage, three tax lots, a large house, barn, and out buildings and she is interviewing potential companions.
She has some experienced advisers, though the process of buying land is new to her so she welcomes logistical, financial and energetic support. She is courageously and enthusiastically moving forward each step closer to manifesting this dream. She is seeking investors/companions/philanthropists/financers who want to join her in this project and/or buy and donate this land to a land trust for the project. The time is now.
If this sounds interesting, or if you want to participate in some way, please call her at 479-5128.
For further information, please go to the sustainability links on her website. http://yogaforjoy.net
Tracie Sage,
Life & Relationship Coach,
Working with communities, nonprofits, couples and individuals,
teaching Co-creative Solutions Process and practices for Sustainable Living.
541-479-5128
May our relationships embrace us through our challenges and changes!
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Category: Education, Research & Community Services, Groups & Networking Endeavors, Sustaining Community | 1 Comment (click to read) | Permalink
N.A.E.T. -Powerful, Natural Allergy and Sensitivity Relief
By Matt Sheehan | April 3, 2009
A patient of mine came in yesterday for an allergy checkup. I originally helped him with multiple sensitivities probably 10 years ago, and he comes in occasionally for tuneups or to eliminate new sensitivities which have sprung up. He gave me the idea to write this article, to let folks know about the great technique I’ve been using for probably 15 years now with great success. I thank our incredible acupuncturist and healer Lori Paiken for teaching me the technique so I could help her with her allergies. That success led me to help many others over the following years.
It’s called N.A.E.T. – Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique. What a mouthful! Sorry. It’s named after Devi Nambudripad, an acupuncturist and chiropractor in L.A. who discovered an acupuncture/acupressure technique that effectively eliminates “electromagnetic incompatibilities” (my term), which seems to be a more accurate descriptor for what we think of as “allergies”. Devi accidentally eliminated a sensitivity of hers by treating herself with acupuncture while holding on to the thing she was sensitive to. She was so amazed by the result that she began researching the idea over a number of years, and developed quite an effective system.
The basic premise behind NAET is that our body’s electromagnetic fields can react positively or negatively to exposure to the fields of other people or substances, either natural or synthetic. A “negative” reaction in terms of acupuncture meridians and chi would result in a change in the flow of chi through certain meridians, resulting in certain changes in how our bodies function, causing certain symptoms and health challenges. The goal of NAET is to diagnose these negative energetic reactions to substances and correct them by stimulating certain acupuncture points, primarily along the spine, in the presence of the offending substance.
An overly-simplified understanding of an “allergy” is that our bodies react to the presence of a foreign body or substance by our white blood cells releasing histamine, a highly inflammatory chemical which very effectively destroys the offending object, but also causes local inflammation and mucus membrane irritation, especially during allergy season, which we’re heading right into now. We also notice reactions in our bodies to certain foods, chemicals, fabrics, heck, even people. The only problem with this chemical definition is that many folks who know they’re reacting to something often fall through the cracks of conventional skin testing in a dermatologist’s office, which only shows positive if the skin reacts in a short period of time. If the person reacts in a delayed fashion, as in a day or two after exposure, the skin test doesn’t show it, and the patient may leave frustrated, knowing they react to something, but it’s just not showing up on this conventional test. Blood tests often seem to be more helpful, but sometimes even they miss some things people are energetically sensitive to because they’re just not included in the panel being tested, and many of the sensitivities don’t seem to involve these exact chemical pathways tested for in the blood or skin tests. NAET can pick up some of those “sensitivities” (not classical allergies because they don’t seem to involve this chemical reaction) well, and can often eliminate them effectively and without medications, shots, or prolonged avoidance.
The testing part of the technique involves “applied kinesiology” muscle testing, with temporary observable changes in the patient’s muscle strength when exposed to a sample of a sensitivity. We first test a list of 12 “Basics”, which are vials of substances the patient may be sensitive to and which must be treated and eliminated before treatment of other substances can take place.
The treatment aspect of NAET can vary from office to office depending on the training of the practitioner. Acupuncturists will often treat the acupuncture points involved with needles or with an activator gun, and I use manual pressure to stimulate the specific acupuncture points along the spine and extremities, followed by a short period of avoidance of the sensitivity, usually 24 hours or less. The muscle testing is repeated after the treatment to see if there is an observable change in the muscle strength. If the strength of the muscle tested has returned, the treatment is complete for the day. After several days the patient returns and the treated substance is rechecked with the muscle testing, and if the strength is maintained during re-exposure to the substance, the sensitivity is assumed to be eliminated. The next substance in the basic list that the patient tested sensitive to would then be treated, avoided, and rechecked several days later.
What Dr. Nambudripad discovered in her research and what my experience has also shown to be true is that observed sensitivities to foods and airborn substances are often secondary to sensitivities to other things, such as vitamins and minerals, many of which are in the list of “basics” discussed above. These items would then have to be treated before any other treatments can be done. Often by the time we eliminate sensitivities to these more primary things, the symptoms the patient presented with have disappeared. I had a patient a few years ago who was extremely sensitive to cats. She had a friend who had over 30, count em, 30, cats, and whenever this patient was unfortunate enough to enter her friend’s front door, she quickly felt like her head was going to explode. She tested very sensitive to cat dander, but we only had to treat 3 or 4 more primary substances before her symptoms abated completely. We never actually had to treat the cat dander itself. The next time she walked into her friend’s house, she noticed no reaction.
The technique is often effective for sensitivities to certain forms of electricity, such as observed reactions to fluorescent lights or electric blankets or computers, as well as sensitivities to fabrics, smoke, many things otherwise untreatable with conventional allopathic therapies. (As an aside here, I want to mention that acupuncture, herbology, clinical nutrition and chiropractic all have very effective track records also with allergy and sensitivity relief and are worth looking into as powerful methods of bringing our bodies back into balance and harmony.)
N.A.E.T. isn’t 100 % effective, but it’s been effective in my experience probably 75% of the time I would say, although I haven’t tried to keep accurate tabs on it. On checking back with patients 6 months and a year or more after treatment, I’ve only found several who found that their symptoms returned over time. Some return on a yearly basis to get rechecked for sensitivities, even in the absence of symptoms, with some noting more energy overall after additional treatments. Usually the patients who experience a return of symptoms over time find relief again with retreating the sensitivity.
Another interesting benefit to NAET which Dr. Nambudripad discovered over the years is it’s effect on alcoholism. She observed that approximately one third of her patients who were alcoholic were found to be sensitive to three critical categories – alcohol itself, as well as B vitamins and sugars. On desensitizing them to these things, she noticed they consistently experienced a decrease or elimination of their craving for alcohol. This obviously only deals with the alcohol part of the equation and doesn’t touch the emotional/social and other aspects of the alcoholic’s situation we know to be vital to address, but it’s perhaps a vital missing piece worth investigating further. I’ve only worked with one alcoholic with NAET over the years, with positive results, namely an elimination of any craving for alcohol, and an ability to drink socially with no need to continue drinking. She regained control of her life. I heard from her every six months for a year or so after treatment, and she had maintained her sobriety.
My apologies to our esteemed local acupuncturists for my meager description of the acupuncture aspect of NAET. It was meant as a brief overview only, and the details of Chinese medicine can of course be better explained by them.
Feel free to check out our new website at www.sheehanchiropractic.net, and I love feedback on articles!
Yours in health,
Matt Sheehan, D.C.
Offices in Ashland and Medford
773-1321
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Transform your money relationship and let natural abundance spring forth!
By Tracie Sage | April 2, 2009
Money is the #1 excuse for people not living their dreams. It’s an area of pain, anxiety and shame. If you don’t like your finances, something needs to change. Even a small change in your relationship with money can have a huge impact in your material life.
How can you improve your relationship with money? Well, a couple of years ago, when my coach suggested that I treat my money as I treat my lover, I thought it was brilliant. It created a profound shift for me, because I understand what is needed to cultivate beautiful, fulfilling relationships with people. So now that I’m applying my relationship skills to my money relationship, I find it so much easier to do my part in creating the relationship I want. And when I’m not happy with how the relationship is flowing, it is so much clearer to me how I got there and what I can do to turn it around. The surprise in my new approach was that my income tripled. It worked so well for me that I began sharing it with my clients and now I’m sharing it with you, too.
Let me tell you about how this works. For many of us, money can seem a bit abstract, often just numbers on paper with which we don’t feel really connected. On the other hand, if we think of our money as a relationship, it can bring it closer to home. An example might be that when I don’t balance my check book, I can now see that I am out of touch with my money, unaware of what’s really going on with it. If I do that with my lover, what happens? We become disconnected and the relationship becomes less satisfying and if we don’t do something to remedy the connection, our relationship will probably fall apart. Hmmm. Well, how many times have you heard or experienced a similar break down when there is a lost connection with how the money in the bank is doing?
The interesting thing about all this is that when I coach people on their money relationship, it often has a beneficial effect on the other relationships in their lives as they develop more awareness and skills to stay connected there too.
So now, let me give you a few relationship tips that you can apply.
1) Stay connected with yourself and be clear about what you want & specific in your requests.
2) Stay connected with your money and listen carefully to what your money needs or wants from you. Then follow through on your commitments.
3) Check in daily and express your gratitude and appreciation often.
4) Make time for having some fun activities or celebrations together.
And if you want more support with this process, you can participate in individual coaching with Tracie Sage (http://moneyrelationshipcoach.com) or group coaching in her workshop this month:
Transform your Relationship with Money
A guided group process with a (Full Moon) ritual format.
Let Tracie guide you in a process to transform your relationship with money in a fun, easy and effective way – clearing out the old & unwanted Money (Meanie) relationship and then calling in the new Money (Love) relationship that you truly desire!
Thursday ~ April 9th
7 – 8:30 PM, Ashland, Oregon. Limited to 12.
Cost: $20 when you register by April 6th, $30 thereafter
Tracie Sage
Passionate Life & Relationship Coach, Therapeutic Yoga Practitioner
Living, learning and teaching practices for Sustainable Living
541-479-5128
http://moneyrelationshipcoach.com
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Category: Business and Computer Support, Economic Change, Personal Change, Sustaining Community | No Comments (click to leave one) | Permalink
A Blog for the Inspired
By ericgrace | March 24, 2009
Dear Friends,
I have created a new blog for the purpose of inspiring and encouraging humanity to Thrive. There are some great videos, links, and articles. At the bottom I have made a Local Seeds section where I am compiling some great Ashland projects.
See for yourself at:
May you be inspired to Thrive,
Eric Grace
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where can we voice our opinions when we need to be heard
By alchen | March 22, 2009
Hello Community family and Friends,
In the next coming week or so a major decision will be made in government which will greatly affect our abilities to decide how much control we have in our own environment in relationship to healthy foods grown from nature without the aide of foreign un-natural products.
I would like some imput as to where an individual may find direct links to local and state government agencies which will serve the people in voicing their desires for a heathier lifestyle. Our constitutional rights to choice for ourselves, within our own bodies, the quality of health we wish to sustain is possibly at risk.
Please WE NOW HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A REAL DIFFENCE.
Let us know where you have been most effective in voicing your opinions, working in a colaborative effort with our government[s] to bring ALL, the quality of life that we deserve.
WHERE CAN WE PEACEFULLY MAKE IT COUNT IN THIS LIFETIME…………………
Thank you all for caring, al chen
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Great Nutrition Book! : The China Study
By Matt Sheehan | March 19, 2009
I was given this book by two dear vegan friends recently on my birthday (did any of you remember?). I had heard them quote from it several times in the last year or so, but hadn’t thought to pick it up or inquire about it, so I was overjoyed to recieve it as a present.
It’s about a multi-decade nutritional study in China, as well as a variety of other studies carried out in the Phillipines and elsewhere by Ph.D. T. Colin Campbell and his staff. The China study is touted as being “the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted”, and essentially proves that eating a lower -than- average-American amount of protein in one’s diet can result in a decreased risk of certain forms of cancer, and a lower incidence of a variety of common 1st- world diseases, including diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and obesity.
The study shows that the diet that is most effective for preventing, and in some cases reversing these common health conditions is primarily a plant-based diet. Cow protein over a certain amount in the diet was largely found to be the culprit in the study.
Very interesting reading for anyone interested in advances in nutrition research, longevity, disease prevention, and wellness.
The results of these studies couldn’t be more timely, arriving when we see an ever more urgent need for global carbon footprint reduction, and some estimates are that the contribution to the collective U.S. domestic carbon footprint from agriculture in total is about 20%, with a substantial portion of that being from livestock greenhouse gas production, mostly cattle. To put that in perspective, that’s about the equivalent contribution to driving a car. So if we wish to significantly reduce our individual carbon footprint, we could have the same approximate impact if we cease eating cow’s meat as if we cease driving our car.
The book is now in paperback, and retails for $16.95. Cheaper copies can be found at the Book Wagon in Ashland, which gives a significant discount off retail price on all new books, and they have a decent used book selection as well.
Let us know what you think!
Check out our new website at www.sheehanchiropractic.net for more articles on disease prevention, health and wellness.
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“Nation” by Terry Pratchett: A Bookreview
By Ulla Mentzel | March 13, 2009
Ulla Mentzel
If there is one book, that deeply soothes and relaxes my mind in these challenging times, it is Terry Pratchett’s novel Nation. Written for young adults, and the first non Diskworld book in 20 years, it spoke to me on a very deep level about how to deal with changes bigger than we would normally like to deal with.
The central theme of the book is one of coming to terms with radical changes, as the subtitle says:
When much is taken, something is returned.
Nation is set in an alternate history of our world in the 1870s and tells the story a young man, Mau, and a young woman, Daphne, whose lives are changed forever by a tsunami. Coming from two completely different cultures and upbringings, one tropical island, one British upper class, the tsunami throws them together as the only survivors, which requires the protagonists to blend and mix their two worlds with surprising results. For more details on the plot, click on wikipedia.
What makes this novel so rich, is a deep river of coming to terms with catastrophic changes. How do you make your peace with a situation that takes so much from you? Daphne ends up asking Mau towards the end of the book, if he would have preferred living a life without the tsunami and they both agree that the new opportunities were well worth the loss, pain and suffering brought on by the huge wave.
Pratchett’s gift for story telling is at its best and invites us masterfully to accompany his young protagonists on their journey into acceptance of lives dramatically disrupted and even celebration of lives forever changed. Here is a quote:
“They didn’t know why these things were funny. Sometimes you laugh because you’ve got no more room for crying. Sometimes you laugh because table manners on a beach are funny. And sometimes you laugh because you’re alive, when you really shouldn’t be.”
I felt deeply touched on several occasions during the reading of the book, and some had less to do with the details of the story and more with its author: last year Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with early signs of Alzheimer’s, and I could not help but wonder how much this book is reflecting Pratchett’s attempt of coming to terms with the prospect of such radical changes as that particular disease can bring.
The gift of a good storyteller is that he or she can invite us to dare the ride on the wide and fast river of change even when it feels like there is no other option. We can actually imagine making it through the possibly treacherous rapids not only unscathed, but stronger for it.
Check out my Ullala Coaching Services!
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Birthday Honor for Tej: A Poem from Sharon Miranda
By Tej Steiner | March 13, 2009
The Responsibility of One Who Speaks
In Honor of Tej Steiner, who is dedicated to Heart Circle Village; to us, as a target for successful culture.
When winged creatures soar through the sky
The air swiftly carves a pathway like water for Moses
Curling off feathers towards sea and land below
Where human creatures wander about
Wondering where the wind came from
When human creatures open their lips to utter sounds
By emanating breath and engaging chords
Curls of air are pushed forward and out
And are felt by hearts and souls and curling air
From winged and wandering creatures everywhere
~Sharon Miranda
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The Heart Circle Definition of ‘Awakening’
By Tej Steiner | March 13, 2009
There is an ‘awakening’ process in life in which every thought we’ve ever had and everything we’ve ever done all lead to an incredible, personal change. It is a change that, on the one hand, we could never have possibly imagined, and yet on the other, always hoped and secretly knew that it would happen.
This transformational change is as dramatic as moving from darkness to light, from struggling up a hill to flowing down it. The capacity for this change exists in everyone equally; the only difference is when it occurs. The point of life itself is to ‘awaken’ into this change.
There are many ways to describe this process but the essence of it remains the same:
In some profound way we begin to see that everything is O.K.; that we can finally relax; that there is a grand ‘perfection’ in life where before we saw only a series of problems. Again, inexplicably, we surrender to being part of a greater whole. Our being alone in life ends quietly but with absolute finality. Our heart opens.
There is a death of sorts in this, but what dies is suffering itself. Along with this comes the end of self-doubt and worry. These darker aspects are replaced with contentment and passion, along with gratitude and clarity of purpose. We become more alive and more vital. We awaken to love and want most to participate in the awakening of others. And all of this is not something we have to ‘do’ but rather something we live into with joy.
This transformational process rarely occurs all of a sudden or all at once. Normally, it is preceded by a lifetime of intense struggle and searching while on what seems like an endless journey. We may have a thousand experiences of ‘it’ before we embody ‘it’, meaning where we have, in fact, landed on the other side of struggle and we simply don’t go back. Something old is ended and we are led in the direction of the new.
Nothing is served if we put a ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ label on this change. In fact, part of awakening is to let go of any mental concepts we have of what we imagine our awakening to be.
It’s also ineffective to think this change happens only to special, select people rather than to ‘regular’ people like us. Self-omission plucks no one from this transformational pool. We all must overcome the denial of our own worthiness in order to experience our unlimited value.
But there is one major difference between past times and present tense. In the past, relatively few individuals reached this
awakening point of change. Today, there are millions upon millions.
In fact, there may be enough people in the world going through this individual transformative process for us to reach a ‘collective tipping point’: one in which our entire species evolves into a higher functioning, open-hearted state.
Imagine the power of millions of us in these next twenty years coming out of isolation and struggle into connection and cooperation instead. Imagine us finding our own internal peace not because war has ended but because our peace cannot be disturbed by war.
Einstein said that we can’t solve problems at the same level of awareness from which they originated. We must go to a ‘higher state
of awareness’. This awakening process is that ‘higher state’.
There is a hand and glove relationship between the urgency of the global issues facing us and the millions of us who are approaching and crossing the threshold into an intentional partnership with love.
How do we know that millions of people are ‘awakening’? We don’t know for sure – logic won’t help us here. What will help is that we include ourselves in this personal and collective awakening process by remembering that this is why we are here today: to come alive in tumultuous times; to fully witness and then deliberately and joyfully participate in this transformation of ourselves and our planet both.
We’re being called out of isolation to become part of fully functioning families, businesses and communities. We’re being invited to become tide pools of peace able to serve those caught in tidal waves of change. It’s our time to relax and know absolutely that everything is fine. We are all here now and it is time to gather together in circle.
From ‘Heart Circle: Waking Up With Everyone Around Us’ by Tej Steiner available through www.heartcircle.com
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