Tag Archive for religion

Notes to Begin The Week: July 15, 2013

Well, if you were watching on Thursday you saw NO interview with Zen author Brad Warner. I wasn’t able to reach him, but I’ve asked his publicist to re-schedule us for another time.

Meanwhile, the Karuna Cayton interview on Buddhist Psychology is subbing for Brad Warner this week. I think of Karuna as my Buddhist ‘pinch-hitter’. Listen to that show here:


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Picture of Tony Burroughs

Tony Burroughs

 

We’re scheduled to hear from Tony Burroughs on July 25th. Tony is the author of Get What You Want:The Art of Making and Manifesting Your Intentions.

 

 

 

…and I’m expecting a definite August date for our interview with Cynthia Gill.

Picture of Cynthia Gill

Cynthia Gill

 

She and Pam Withers are the co-authors of Jump-Starting Boys: Help Your Reluctant Learner Find Success in School and Life. She talk about findings that boys are quickly falling behind girls in school, starting as early as the second grade.

 

 

 

Article

Today a look at finding peace..big job but somebody’s got to do it. That somebody can be you says guest blogger Connie Sears:

Some Tips About How To Find Peace

 

by Connie Sears

When one is not at peace with oneself, one will not be able to live life to the fullest. Consider what happens when you cannot concentrate on what you are doing or if you are always unhappy. This can have a profound effect on the quality of your life. It will be helpful to learn tips about how to find peace.

One of the simplest things you can do to promote such a feeling is to get rid of clutter. This can be pretty hard to do given the many tasks that have to be accomplished in a day. You must remember however that your home is your refuge from the outside world. Going to a clean and clutter free house will be a relief after a long day at work.

The surest way to achieve happiness and tranquility would be to figure out what you love and do it. Do not be afraid to go out there and explore. Be open to new experiences as this can give you valuable insights about yourself, other people, and the world. Hopefully, you can discover what you can do for the rest of your life.

One should be true to oneself. If you live to please all the people around you, then you will just be making yourself unhappy. Choose your own path but at the same time show some concern for social norms. Find that balance between making your own decisions and maintaining a healthy relationship with your friends and family.

The right attitude toward life in general is also a factor. When you think about it, you will have good and bad experiences. A lot of people take it very hard when something bad happens to them. It is important to remember that these things can happen. Accepting the duality of life will help you move forward.

It helps to look for ways to improve oneself. One way of doing so would be to identify your bad habits and to be willing enough to do something about it. You do not have to instantly change something. Take little steps. If you want to be more fit for example, start by taking a walk in the neighborhood instead of engaging yourself in an intense full body workout immediately.

Life can be very stressful so it is important to take breaks along the way. If you are at work, set aside some time for sipping on your beverage and relaxing. Time away from the computer should help refresh your mind. You can practice meditation or take up a new sport during your leisure time.

One must also remember to have positive thoughts. It is very easy to get stuck on the criticisms you have heard but mulling over this is useless. These will only serve to prolong the agony. When you find yourself remembering such experiences, start thinking about things that have made you happy.

The question of how to find peace is a question that has plagued many individuals. It is difficult to achieve a goal or feel happiness when you do not feel good about yourself. If you want tranquility, then you have to take steps to improve yourself and address all your needs.

About the Author:

 

 

JohnK  7/15/2013


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What’s Going On Here? Manifesting, Law of Attraction, and Other Fun Stuff

Before we get into today’s heart of today’s matters I want to give you a link to last week’s re-airing of the E. Dee Conrad 2010 interview. E. Dee talked with us from her home in Dubai..say what?? Dubai? That’s right. She folded up her successful life in the U.S. and moved to the United Arab Emirates to go in a completely different direction. I love stories of folks who leave everything they’ve known and set out on a new (risky?) life adventure. Did the same myself a few years ago..Listen to the show here:

 

                                             Listen to internet radio with GioHost on BlogTalkRadio

Picture of Tony BurroughsSpeaking of the show, our scheduled Chi For Yourself guest on July 25th will be Tony Burroughs, author of Get What You Want: The Art of Making and Manifesting Your Intentions. He’ll talk about manifesting and he’ll share an interesting personal story of the kind I like to feature on CFY. I plan to put it on the CFY home page as a Google+ Hangout On air.

 

 

 

Picture of Brad WarnerAnd..this just in- as radio news folks sometimes say- I found out just minutes ago that  Brad Warner will be a guest on Chi For Yourself on July 11th.  Brad is a Zen priest, filmmaker, blogger and the author of There Is No God and He’s Always With You. No, it’s not a typo. That’s the name of the book and he explains the title in that cool head-scratching way that only the “Zens” can.

 

 

 

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Now, time to take yet another look at The Law of Attraction. For some reason today must be LOA day because I’m hearing or reading about it at every turn. I was listening to the radio today and I heard a guy make reference to LOA as part of that “New Age Stuff”…his answer to manifesting is good old fashioned hard work and sweat.

A few minutes later, again on the radio, I heard an interview host say that ‘if you don’t  change your thoughts and keep on doing what you’re doing you’ll keep getting what your getting.’ Sounds like Law of Attraction to me!

Here are a couple of more views…see what you think. This is from The Self Help Hipster:

 
The Law of Attraction: An Analysis.
 
My preaching of the Law of Attraction and manifesting has always been accompagnied by disclaimers and a message of common sense/reality. At least, I hope so. I know I run a total positivity-for-president website, but still. I hope you noticed.
In case you hadn’t, let’s take a trip down memory lane..Continue reading..

 
….and, this from examiner.com:
 
Getting what you want through the law of attraction
 
We’ve all heard about the Law of Attraction and how it can help us get the love we desire, job we want and that new car. But, how many people have you ever talked to that put it into use? Not many people seem to actually put it to use. Continue reading..
 
Hmmm. I may do a poll about the effectiveness of the Law of Attraction. More on that later.

Be well..

JohnK 7-1-2013
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Notes to Start The Week June 24th, 2013

I’m planning to bring back an encore episode of Chi For Yourself this week, possibly the interview of several years ago with E Dee Conrad. The older shows tend to be shorter than the more recent programs. If you’ve followed CFY since the early days you know that interview lengths were sometimes as short as 7 minutes!

 

A new, Southern California-based start-up magazine on health and healing has approached Chi For Yourself about possibly doing print versions of the interviews heard on our show. I like the idea a lot and I’m going to do all I can to make this happen..

 

…been reading a new book on manifesting by Tony Burroughs. I’m going to see about getting Tony on the show. His approach to bringing abundance into our lives is worth hearing, as is his personal story.

Chi For Yourself is a big proponent of meditation…no secret to be sure. We’ve had  the great pleasure hearing from some of today’s best voices on the practice on our show. My questioning to our guests often includes how much meditation time is enough time. This article from the White Hindu gives you one approach to a ‘compact contemplation’:

Meditation in Minutes: Does One Minute of Meditation Make a Difference?
Patheos (blog)
Last week I did my own meditation challenge. For me, I know I want to be meditating, but there’s always something else to be doing. Taking twenty to thirty minutes once or twice a day seems like such a small commitment, yet in practice it feels …

 

We’ll wrap up this post with a word about Yoga…actually about 450 words. Guest blogger Larry Cewtly has    some thoughts on Yoga’s body/mind benefits. And don’t forget to check out the Chi For Yourself Yoga page. You’ll find a video you can use for your own workout and some notes from the Yoga community..

 

Yoga Can Help Heal Your Body And Mind

 

by Larry Cewtly

Picture of yoga on beachIf you would like your body to be calm, you must consider yoga. This type of workout does not only exercise your body, but also relaxes your mind and soul. If you’d like to try this exercise, begin by looking for a local facility. Opt for a teacher with considerable experience so that you can execute the workout correctly and keep away from injuries.

You could find several types of yoga. It could take some time for you to identify which type is most suitable for you. Beginners are advised to participate in a few classes for different types of yoga. It can help you identify the type of yoga that’s ideal for you.

There are several other things that you need to look into when choosing a yoga teacher. They should not just have plenty of experience, but should also be trained properly so that they can do the same thing to you. A properly trained instructor keeps you far from injuries and prioritizes your safety before everything else. Yoga is something that will enhance your strength, flexibility and enable you to grow spiritually. Then again, it won’t happen when you’ve got injuries.

Locating the best yoga facility near you is easy, and you simply have to look at the years that it has been operating along with reviews that it has received. There’s a likelihood that you will have to take a look at a number of studios before you finally come to a decision. So make sure you spend time in checking out the studios in your area. You’ll be happy you spent the time to find the best yoga studio.

What is important about yoga is ensuring you do each and every stretch and exercise appropriately to avoid injury. You could harm your body if you do not hold poses and stretch properly. This is one of the main factors we suggest that you start with a trained yoga instructor, to allow them to explain to you the easiest method to do each and every stretch.

The most effective ways to get a yoga teacher near you is to go online and browse in Google. You’ll also see the various yoga studios in your area as well as studios that grant special discounts to new members. You don’t have to get stuck with a single studio. You can try several studios until you locate the one which is best for you.

As you check out different studios, be sure to identify which amongst these facilities make you feel comfy and provides the type of yoga that you like. As there are various types of yoga you will need to find the one is perfect for you.

About the Author:

 

 


 

Image for overheard

Overheard

 

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”

                                                                                                      ~B.K.S. Iyengar
 

 

JohnK 6/24/2013

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Brushes, Beads, and Blessings: Making Mindfulness by Hand

Wanted to remind you that we’ll be hearing from Maggie Oman Shannon on the next Chi For Yourself. She  joins us on Thursday June 13th at 1pm Pacific time. We plan to stream the interview on chiforyourself.com at that time. Maggie’s message goes beyond merely making things. She reminds us that we all have the ability to create, and in doing so we can bring serenity to our lives at a time when serenity is a scarce commodity.

Here’s a look at our guest:

Picture of Maggie Oman ShannonRev. Maggie Oman Shannon is at the forefront of a peaceful revolution: choosing to live a handmade life, and slow down and disconnect. In her book, Crafting Calm, Maggie offers clarity, calm, and insight to a path of peace of mind by “making mindfulness.”

It’s no secret that stopping to smell the roses is good for us; today, millions of people are finding physical and mental health benefits in handwork, framing it as a spiritual practice. Maggie Oman Shannon tells us that we can literally “craft the crazy away” through beading and crocheting, candle-making, and collaging. In Crafting Calm, Shannon explores crafts and creativity as a spiritual practice that provides enormous benefits. By knitting love and hope into every stitch, handicrafts help form new friendships and communities. From making a desktop shrine or mini-Zen garden, to stringing intention beads and painting personal prayer flags, her intention is to help us to make mindfulness.

See you here..

JohnK  6/12/2013

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Notes to Start the Week March 10, 2013

Well, lots of folks turned the clocks ahead one hour over the weekend. Time becomes a news story in the Western media when this part of the year rolls around.

Most of us have said, “If only I had more time,” as a way of explaining why we aren’t leading our most fulfilling lives. In her 2012 Chi For Yourself interview Marney Makridakis turned the concept of time management upside down when she brought us some new tools for viewing and experiencing time.

Listen to the show here:

 


Marney Makridakis is the author of “Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life.”

 

Meditation is on the menu this week. Our scheduled guest on Chi For Yourself is Ajayan Borys, author of Effortless Mind: Meditate With Ease. The interview is scheduled for 1pm Pacific on Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday. The Google+  streams seem to be working well, so I’m planning to stream our talk on chiforyourself.com.

Speaking of meditation, there’s a global meditation planned for later this month. Get the details here at TheMasterShift.com.

 

…and, in Lexington, Virginia they’re observing Spiritual Wellness Month at the VA hospital there. Good quote from the VA- “At Lexington VA, we recognize that the Veterans we care for are spiritual beings having a human experience rather than human beings having occasional spiritual feelings,” Read the whole story…

 

Be well

JohnK 3-11-2013

 

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A Barrel Full of Monkey Mind is No Fun- Meditation Can Quiet the Chatter

Meditation practitionerThere you are, fretting over the state of your relationship, or worrying about an upcoming meeting at the office. Those voices in your head are back. It’s the usual chatter that has no rhyme or reason and keeps you totally confused and without real answers. It’s called the monkey mind, and it leaves you feeling as though you’re spinning in circles.

A good way to counter the frontal lobe free-for-all is to practice meditation. This gives you the chance to counter the noise by moving beyond thought. You can become the noticer- aware of your thoughts rather than thinking them. It sounds like the same thing, but there is a difference. When you notice your thoughts you can allow them to move on by without taking you with them. That calms the feeling of being pulled in so many directions. Concentration is key here. It will let you slow down the thought process and keep your attention on observation of those thoughts.

One method of working your concentration “muscles” is by paying attention to your breath during meditation. When the monkey mind begins its cranial chorus observe your thoughts and then return your focus to your breath. Breathing meditations differ. Some have you focus and the inhale and exhale and the movement of the abdomen. Others have you concentrate on the sound of the breath. Then there’s focusing on a candle flame as a way of reigning in the mind. Soften your gaze as you notice the color, shape, and movement of the flame, all the while trying not to blink. You can vary this by closing your eyes though you want to keep watching the flame in your mind.

It seems counterproductive when you realize that quieting your mind for meditation actually provides fertile soil for the mind chatter to take hold. Just remember to be kind to yourself and don’t give up. Meditation is often called “practice”, and continued practice will help you keep monkey mind to a minimum.

JohnK 1-15-2013

 

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Do You Know The Secret’s Secret? Energy is The “Secret Sauce”

( This originally was written as a response to a blog post.)

Picture that reads top secretThe blowback from Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret” comes as no surprise. Many people interpret the idea behind the Law of Attraction as a way to hit the lottery or bring anything one asks for into one’s life.

The Law of Attraction is a law as is the law of gravity. Does anyone decide to “believe” in the law of gravity? Just try to disprove it by jumping off of a building! To say that we don’t believe in the Law of Attraction because of Rhonda Byrne is like saying we don’t believe in Christianity because of the antics of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. Or that we don’t believe in Catholicism because priests are molesting children.

The Law of Attraction is about energy. Manifesting is relative. If one applies energy in the direction of a new job then the loss of the current job may start the process. As for manifesting illness there is a growing feeling, even by some in the medical community, that cancer is an illness of resentment. More and more we’re seeing that there is no disease, but rather “dis-ease”. Cut out the tumor and chances are the cancer comes back. Learn how to deal with your issues (lower energies) and you stand a better chance against sickness. Conventional medicine and treatment is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. And how many of us have heard of someone saying that their cancer or blindness was the best thing that ever happened to them? We pity them for something (manifested?) that gave them a positive result they never would have realized in their healthy state.

There is no such thing as a victim in Universal Law. If cells are in tune with these laws of physics they are healthy cells. If they waver from this harmony then they run the risk of problems. The laws tell us that we manifest what we vibrate- the word “fault” really doesn’t come into play.

The Law of Attraction is NOT about positive thinking. A better explanation of this is where Rhonda Byrne could have done readers/viewers a service. There is no positive attraction without equal energy being generated. All the affirmations and happy talk in the world won’t get you where you want to go if the underlying energy is not there. Teachers of the LOA will tell you that if you “believe” in the Law of Attraction you’re right. If you don’t, you’re still right. In other words it works if you work it. As a result, many of Ms. Byrne’s readers are saying they merely read the book and nothing happened in their lives.To say that reading The Secret gives you a grasp of the Law of Attraction is akin to saying Chef Boyardee is an experience of a genuine Italian meal.

I don’t write these lines in order to evangelize. I’m merely pointing out the considerable misunderstanding surrounding Universal Law. Better to begin the understanding of these laws by exploring, say, an area such as Quantum Physics.

 

JohnK 11/12/2012