Mercury Madness

Have you ever heard the expression "mad as a hatter"? In the past, mercury was used in curing felt, which in turn was used in making hats. The hat maker's exposure to mercury caused a variety of nasty symptoms, including confused speech, distorted vision, and premature death. Mercury has been known to be toxic since antiquity, but only recently has evidence accumulated to implicate mercury in a variety of health problems, even at relatively small concentrations. Today, some of the greatest mercury hazards in our environment are very close to home for many people - in the form of amalgam fillings and vaccines. Why this kind of mercury exposure is allowed for millions of people is a modern mistake of monumental proportions. And sadly, this unnecessary exposure continues today.

What Is Mercury ?

Elemental mercury is a shiny silverish liquid metal at room temperature and is considered one of the most toxic of chemicals. The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATDSR) ranks mercury as the third most toxic substance, behind arsenic and lead. Metallic mercury emits gaseous mercury vapor that can be inhaled and absorbed by the lungs. About 80% of inhaled gaseous mercury is absorbed into the body and most of it quickly enters the the bloodstream via the lungs. It is also readily absorbed by the skin on contact. Metallic mercury is used in fluorescent light bulbs, in some thermometers, and in some electrical switches. Elemental mercury is also a major component of amalgam fillings and typically constitutes about 50 percent by weight. Mercury often combines with other chemicals such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen, to form inorganic mercury compounds or salts, which are usually powders or crystals. Mercury salts are used in antiseptic creams and ointments and as preservatives. Mercury also can combine with carbon to form organic compounds, including methylmercury and ethylmercury. Methylmercury is produced mainly by microscopic organisms in contaminated water and soil and accumulates in fish, shellfish, and animals that eat fish. The highest concentrations are in large fish highest on the food chain, such as tuna and swordfish. Smaller fish generally have much lower concentrations. Ethylmercury is a metabolite of the mercury compound thimerosal, which is still used as a preservative in some vaccines.

Exposure

The most common exposure to mercury is from contaminated fish or shellfish (methylmercury), from amalgam fillings (elemental mercury), and some vaccines (ethylmercury). It can also occur from breakage and cleanup of fluorescent light bulbs or mercury thermometers (elemental mercury). Less common exposure can occur in the workplace - in dental offices, or health services or industries that use mercury.

Health Effects

From ToxFAQS: "The nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury. Methylmercury and metallic mercury vapors are more harmful than other forms, because more mercury in these forms reaches the brain. Exposure to high levels of metallic, inorganic, or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. Effects on brain functioning may result in irritability, shyness, tremors, changes in vision or hearing, and memory problems."

The primary health effect of methylmercury on fetuses, infants, and children is impaired neurological development that can result in impaired cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills. The mother's consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can expose the fetus and any nursing children.

Hazardous Limits

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a limit for mercury of 2 parts per billion (ppb) in drinking water. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a maximum permissible level for methylmercury in seafood at 1 part per million (ppm). The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) set limits of 0.1 milligram of organic mercury per cubic meter of workplace air (0.1 mg/m3) and 0.05 mg/m3 of metallic mercury vapor for 8-hour shifts and 40-hour work weeks.

What Can We Do to Limit Our Exposure?

Don't get amalgam fillings! There are plenty of alternatives that have minimal effects. If you already have amalgam fillings, consider removing them. The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) has developed recommendations for safe removal of amalgam fillings. If you take vaccines, insist on vaccines that do not have thimerosal. Most influenza vaccines and DTwP and tetanus vaccines still have thimerosal. Vaccines have many other potential problems, so be sure to research any vaccine you are considering for yourself or your family. If you accidentally break a fluorescent light bulb or mercury thermometer, follow the recommended cleanup and disposal procedures to minimize your exposure to mercury. Limit your intake of large fish like tuna, king mackeral, and swordfish. If you eat tuna, get the "light tuna", which is usually from smaller varieties that have less methylmercury. Pregnant women should especially be careful about mercury exposure, because mercury is much more harmful to the fetus than to the mother.

And most of all - avoid mercury madness :)

Picking Categories and Pictures for the Rituals

Do you have thoughts or ideas about the categories that label each ritual? Any other categories that should be included? Have you seen a photo that would be great for illustrating one of the rituals shared here? I've found the practice of reading, posting, picking labels, and finding a picture for each of these rituals to be an interesting practice. If you've got ideas, let me know what other labels or pictures you think would be a good fit.

I Deliberately Slow Down My Movements

As soon as I get up each morning I do 10 minutes of whole body stretching flat on my back on the floor to get back into my physical being - if I don't I feel at odds with the world all day, so I almost never miss (unless I'm on a plane, when I still do some limited stretching!)

After that I deliberately slow down my movements by at least half, even or especially if I'm late and in a hurry. That way I gradually tune into the world around me, eg the birds in the trees, the clouds, the plants growing all around me, rather than just into my preoccupations.

I always try to each lunch alone, as I work with people - the solitude is an oasis of soothing peace in the middle of the day - and if I see someone passing who I know I take care to hide my face, knowing I can spend time with THEM later!

Finally, I walk my dog Steve in the evening in the leafy lanes and fields - again I slow down and just allow whatever wants to come to my attention to do so. Steve seems to do the same, and we make good company for each other.....

David Duffy

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Kinds of Martial Arts

Kinds of Martial Arts
One of the trendiest sports today is kickboxing, which is featured in film, TV shows, and live events worldwide. Some of the most distinguished names in the business of kickboxing, such as Chuck Norris, were superstar kick boxers and these individuals managed to increase interest in the game dramatically

Many of the participants who enter the sport have skills in kickboxing London and were often included with the best participants in their chosen activity. Many expert boxers also get into the sport of kickboxing London, after a trainer has taught them how to kick.

Kickboxing started in Europe and America as an alternative to traditional kickboxing and is often allied with mixed kickboxing. Although not technically considered one of the kickboxing.

Unlike a kickboxing tournament, the participants in a kickboxing match will typically wear some defensive gear, such as mouth guards, boxing gloves, and a groin shield. This is to take care that the participants in the match do not experience lasting injury from their experience in the ring.

There are a lot of different kinds types of kickboxing that may be featured in a match and a number of the differences in style are region specific in nature. Several countries, including France, India, and Cambodia, have invented their own techniques
Kinds of Martial Arts
By: FinlayMacintosh
Article source: http://www.articlehero.com

Casual, Relaxed, Familiar and Energizing - As Rituals Should Be!

I have few rituals but this is one of my favorites. My girlfriend and I have a mutual friend who lives in another country. Every time she comes to Copenhagen we have a ritual. We go to the same restaurant, always eat the same thing, always have the same dessert (banana splits) and just enjoy each other's company. It's casual, relaxed, familiar and energizing - as rituals should be.


~Anonymous

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I Am Nothing If Not A Person fo Ritual

I am nothing if not a person of rituals. Some of them include morning walks with my dog (now dogs) followed by lots of stretching, enjoying my coffee almost like a religion, praying to God when I go to sleep (for some reason I always remember to do this when I'm traveling but not always at home), try to go to church regularly on Sundays, eating a big breakfast in my room when I'm traveling (always the same thing, too). But you get my drift. I need fewer rituals in my life, not more!

~Becky

Wow!! I Do Take Care of Myself With My Rituals

For me… I do a meditation/clearing/intention time each morning consisting of energetically clearing out my house, my office space, and my boyfriend’s house, then putting in white light of the highest vibration into each of these spaces where I spend the most time. Then I call in all helpers/angels etc to assist me for the day (in general and in specific if I am working on something), and then I do the same for my daughter. Sometimes I do it at my altar, other times in bed before I get up.

Currently for the next 2 weeks I am cleaning out my energy field 2x/day after a shaman session I had recently.

I work out 3-4x/week…hike, swim, cardio, weights…

Before I go to sleep I go through the day and get into a space of gratitude for all the things that I enjoyed throughout the day. Occasionally I’ll get to write in my journal.

I have a spiritual book club that I attend 2x/month. I belong to a women’s prosperity circle that we talk 1x/week and do emails during the week to keep our vibration high!

I get Acupuncture (1-2x/month), Massage, Anat Baniel, Chiropractic etc as needed.

WOW!! I do take good care of myself with my rituals!

W.W
Source for Wellbeing


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Sharing New Things Each of Us Learned

Give thanks before every meal, joining hands with all gathered around the table

Bless the car and everyone in it as I begin driving

Bless our daughter, Adonia, each night, cuddle and give thanks for the day and look back at what went well and what could work better another day

Share with each other at supper time what new things each of us learned during that day

Pray/meditate each night before going to sleep, even if just for a short while

Touch in with my husband each evening to get a sense of the next day's flow and how we will weave each of our schedules and rhythms together in mutual support and awareness

Do a cleanse in the spring time -- which includes a yearly wildcrafting of nettles

That's a start for now... wanted to write some down right away before your email scoots too far up in my inbox (another "ritual" I am trying to enact more and more ;-))

~anonymous

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Paying Attention to Relationships and Cats

A full account of my own rituals and their history could be a tome in themselves and it's a little daunting to try to share just enough to fit into an email. I'll limit myself to the present and near present, skip a lot of detail and going into why's and wherefore's. You'll see that for me healthy living includes paying attention to relationships.

This morning the clock radio went off at 5:30 p.m. tuned to the CBC radio station with some pleasant classical music. As she does every morning, L said sleepily "Hit the button?" Sometimes it's "Eight minutes?" During this time I slowly come to a sense of the day, the temperature, my urge to cozy down or to get up, what it's like outside, where the cats are - which is usually somewhere on the bed on my feet or in the crook of my knee or between us.

A while later in the kitchen I drink as much water as is comfortable and go into the living room, lay on my back and do some core muscle exercises while stretching my hands over my head. My big cat, Socks Bear, who we have taken to calling Kung Fu Panda, has his own rituals that he performs in a dance with L and me in turn. Cats are very addicted to rituals. Since my hands are out there he butts them and I absent mindedly, since I am concentrating on pulling my stomach in or lifting a leg in the air, grab a front paw or a back paw and tug. He loves it and purrs and pulls until I let go, and there is more of that.

I then move to the cushion for some half lotus Zen sitting. This is the one element that has almost always been present for over three decades. At this point my other cat Diva, who we have called ninja kitty for some time, as well as various babyish names, comes over for her turn. Little Bear heads off to some ritual with L that I haven't inquired into. Diva used to be able to climb into my hands and curl up completely inside them. Now she climbs in, pushes them apart and settles with chin hanging over my forearm and a slight purr. I wonder briefly about attachment to the pleasure of this trust as I concentrate on counting my breaths from one to ten, eyes open. The world of sound/sight /touch fills my senses, stray thoughts come for an instant or longer and pass by as I return to my breathing. I am amazed at the fullness of life. L comes in for her own meditation and then goes in the other room to turn on the TV for the news. I switch to chakra scanning which shuts out the announcer. As I finish - and Diva knows how long it usually is and will be unbearably cute if I meditate too much longer, doing things like standing up, looking me in the eyes and putting a soft paw on my mouth - I lift her to my shoulders and begin to stand. Socks comes over with a mew, and I pick him up in my arms then proceed to do a Zen one step per breath walk into the kitchen with the two of them. He jumps down to see if L will put her breakfast plate down for him and Diva stays on my shoulders fascinated by things I do in the kitchen. Finally I cut up a few green beans I keep in the fridge and bend down so she can jump off then give them to her as a pre-breakfast snack.

L usually leaves 10 or 15 minutes before me and I have insisted on a ritual good-bye kiss so she calls and I come to the door. We exchange a few sentences, often about logistics. Today it's about the rain and how wet it is.

The meditation awareness comes back to me during the day and often I tune to my breathing and notice the widening of awareness and relaxation it brings.

~anonymous

1st cat photo source
2nd cat photo source

Fluoride - Friend or Foe ?

Most of us were taught that fluoride is our friend and helps to prevent cavities and strengthen bones. But toxicologists rate fluoride as more poisonous than lead and almost as poisonous as arsenic. So how can it be our friend?

The supporting argument is that fluoride in small amounts is beneficial and only in large amounts is it harmful. Well, this is true of many beneficial minerals, but what does science show us about the benefits and toxicity of fluoride? The evidence suggests that fluoride has little if any beneficial effects and even at relatively low concentrations has a variety of serious harmful effects. Yes, topical application of fluoride at high concentration will kill bacteria in your mouth and that may possibly confer some benefit against tooth decay. But at what cost to your health?



Because of it's poisonous effects, fluoride is a common ingredient in many pesticides. That should tell us something. Too much fluoride can cause obvious bad symptoms, the most common of which is dental fluorosis. The rates of dental fluorosis have increased dramatically in the U.S. over the last several decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control, dental fluorosis now impacts 32% of American children, whereas in the 1940s, dental fluorosis rates in fluoridated areas averaged 10%. But that's not the only potential problem caused by too much fluoride. Fluoride apparently interferes with proper thyroid function and iodine metabolism in the body. It may be a factor in the recent epidemic of hypothyroidism, since low thyroid function is related to problems with iodine metabolism. Also, studies of fluoride levels in drinking water show a clear inverse relationship with intelligence in children. Apparently, higher levels of fluoride reduce the intelligence of children by negatively affecting brain development.

So many people were sold on the idea that fluoride is beneficial in preventing tooth decay that it has been added to public water supplies in much of the U.S.A. for many years, typically at concentrations of around one part per million (ppm). But is this really beneficial? In Europe, fluoride has been banned from water supplies in most areas, and yet levels of tooth decay are not higher as a result. There is little evidence to show that adding fluoride to drinking water prevents tooth decay. Unfortunately, adding fluoride to drinking water increases our exposure not only directly by drinking the water, but indirectly by consuming food and beverages that were processed with fluoridated water. Considering that we also get fluoride from pesticides in our food, from toothpaste, from non-stick cookware, household pesticide sprays, and from some pharmaceutical drugs, that can add up to quite a bit of fluoride intake. This increased fluoride exposure may be enough to explain the large increase in dental fluorosis and to raise suspicion in the large increase in hypothyroidism.



We were also taught that fluoride helps to strengthen our bones. This may possibly be true in very small amounts, but even this possibility is controversial. Animal studies show either no effect or a negative effect of fluoride on bone strength. But at the typical exposures today, fluoride may contribute significantly to bone brittleness and easier bone breakage.

If you drink fluoridated water, it typically has about one ppm or one milligram per liter (mg/l) of fluoride. That means if you drink two liters per day (about two quarts per day) you get two milligrams (mg) of fluoride per day just from your water alone.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, has set the Adequate Intake (AI) per day for fluoride at 4 mg for men and 3 mg for women (ages 14 and over). They list the "Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL)" at 10 mg per day. Unfortunately, it appears that this recommendation was heavily influenced by pro-fluoridation proponents and is much too high. The UL should probably be more like 2 to 4 mg per day and ideally we should try to keep total fluoride intake to less than one mg per day to minimize risk of harmful effects.

There are a few foods that have higher amounts of fluoride and should be consumed in modest amounts, including tea, wine, and raisins. Natural ground water can also be high in fluoride in some areas and may need to be tested before use as a drinking water supply.

Here's what the USDA reports for the concentration of fluoride (ppm):
1.15 Tea, green, brewed (23 samples)
2.72 Tea, green, decaffeinated, brewed (10 samples)
3.73 Tea, black, brewed, regular, all (63 samples)
1.05 Wine, red (14 samples)
2.02 Wine, white (17 samples)
2.13 Grape juice, white (12 samples)
2.34 Raisins (1 sample)

Note that 1 ppm = 1 mg/l = 0.24 mg per 8 ounce cup

The Linus Pauling Institute reports the following measurements of fluoride in brewed tea (ppm):
0.6-1.0 Oolong
1.2-1.7 Green
1.0-1.9 Black
2.2-7.3 Brick tea

The amount of fluoride varies by the age of the tea leaf. The newest buds have the least and the oldest leaves have the most. That means white teas made from the buds have the lowest fluoride and high quality teas made from younger leaves will have less than low quality teas and brick teas made from older leaves.

Organic teas may also tend to have less fluoride. The Weston A Price Foundation reported the following concentrations of fluoride (ppm):
0.86 Tap water
0.62 Filtered water
0.94 Organic black tea (made with filtered water)
0.90 Kombucha (made with organic black tea)

Regarding prevention of tooth decay, Weston Price found that people eating healthy native diets had little tooth decay. But when these same people began eating refined flour and sugar, tooth decay became rampant. The moral is that proper diet and hygiene will prevent tooth decay. Added fluoride is just another poison that we don't need in our water and diet.

Centered, Grounded in Purpose and Possibility, Limber and Healthy

My morning ritual:

Before I'm awake enough to talk myself out of it, I do the 5 Tibetan rites. 20 minutes of mediation follow and then, as I take a shower, I say a multi-part affirmation that I began doing in 1986.

The affirmation was really my first experience of meaningful ritual. It grew out of a workshop called The Wall that was offered through Context Trainings, a cousin to Landmark's Forum. I have no idea what prompted me to begin saying my "definition of success" to myself every morning but I did. Through the years, I have added other elements, including a "stand" (I am Reflecting Pool: nurturing wholeness, creating space for limitless learning, nourishing through purpose) and a question (How am I a spark to grow love's capacity in myself, others and the whole? and its recent partner question: How can we call into being our collective soul so that our many storied world can find its way and each of us our roles in it?).

I added the meditation and Tibetan Rites in 2000 following attending Nine Gates Mystery School.

I believe the meditation centers me and the affirmations ground me in my sense of purpose and possibility. The Rites keep me limber and feeling physically healthy.

Anyway, it is a great way to start the day and I can feel it when I don't take the time in the morning.

Peggy Holman
Open Circle Company


Photo is #2 in the 5 Tibetan Rites

Family Rituals Creating a Physical and Emotional Glow

Funny you should ask. This has been a big new (or lots of little new) bit in my life. I have started to meditate 20 minutes every morning. I have dance 1x/week and yoga 1x/week plus I'm wearing a pedometer to help me raise my awareness of my activity level with a goal of 10,000 steps a day. This means at least one walk a day or a number of shorter ones. Good for spring weather.

To engage the whole family in better awareness and care of our bodies, I have used the game-generation approach and we have a Wii Fit board which engages with quite a bit of hilarity, a little competitiveness (I am the mother of two boys, remember, one of whom is a gamer who does not leave his chair.) For the last week every evening before dinner we play together. It has created both a physical and emotional glow.

ALl these things help me separate a bit from my work - so much less blogging and blog reading. It is interesting to see the teeter totter of our life's rhythms.

Nancy White
Photo by Nancy

Exercise or Diets – which is better?

Exercise or Diets – which is better?
Both those who dieted and those who exercised lost a significant amount of weight, according to the study on whether a calorie-restriction diet can extend lifespan. However, while exercisers maintained their strength and muscle mass and increased aerobic capacity, those who dieted lost muscle mass, strength and aerobic capacity.

Exercise-induced weight loss provides the additional benefit of improving physical performance capacity.

Those who dieted lost muscle mass while those who exercised did not. This is because exercisers routinely challenged their muscles, which prevented muscle tissue from degrading. Dieters didn't work their muscles as vigorously as those who exercised.

In addition, once a person loses weight, his or her muscles don't have to work as hard at everyday movements, such as rising from a chair, walking up steps or getting out of a car.

Because they're carrying a lighter load, less demand is placed on them.

The muscles dieters use to carry their bodies "detrain," in much the same way that a weight lifter using less weight in the gym doesn't develop as large of muscles as one who uses heavier weights.

It's important that dieting not be seen as a bad thing because it provides enormous benefits with respect to reducing the risk of disease and is effective for weight loss
In addition, those who exercise may be under the mistaken impression that they can eat more and still lose weight.

A critical requirement for exercise-induced weight loss is that food intake does not increase.
Exercise or Diets – which is better?

Sometimes Rituals Turn up. Sometimes They Vanish.

Rituals. Mmh. At certain times in my life, certain rituals turn up. Like meditation in the morning. Sometimes they vanish again. Partly because of a lack of discipline on my part. Partly because of completely mysterious reasons.

Right now, living the pretty scheduled life of a working father, my rituals are (randomly):

• Deep muscular core workout every Tuesday evening
• Anusara-Yoga at Sunday nights
• Singing a good night song to my son three times a week
• Talking my son to sleep. A little ritual I created when Finn couldn't find the gateway to the causal on his own. It's partly progressive muscle relaxation combined with a form of prayer. I always let him decide whether he wants to fall asleep alone or if I should guide him. Finn is 4.5 years old.
• Group meditation (1 hour) and energy work every Thursday night
• Trying hard to drink at least 2 liters of water every day and mostly succeeding
• A cup of strong black coffee in the morning
• Sensual love including oil-massage as regular as possible
• Sitting in a café drinking latte machiato and reading the paper on lonely Sunday mornings

That's it for now. My regular patterns. Rituals in the broad sense. Nonetheless..

Jan Koch
jankoch.email@gmail.com

Tea With My Son When He Gets Home

I have been so busy lately that I've dropped many of my healthy rituals. Not a good time for that!! I've even picked up some unhealthy ones recently (playing that colored lines game too often). It's incredible how tenuous our healthy habits sometimes are. A very good lesson for me, though. I try to "have it all together" all the time, and I need to allow myself to sometimes NOT!
I am also trying to show this part to others more regularly, rather than hide behind the "got it all together" and "doesn't get perturbed" masks.

But in this last week of school this quarter I have been turning back toward the healthy ones more. One that I have never dropped is praying before dinner. We go around the table and say what we are thankful for at that moment. It is a great way to slow down, and approach the meal with more presence, intention, and gratitude.

Another ritual is having oolong tea with my son when he gets home from school in the afternoon. It is a nice way to relax and be present together. We also read together most evenings before bed. This is probably one of my favorite rituals. We are currently reading the Chronicles of Narnia together. We both enjoy fantasy stories, and simply lying in bed together at the end of the day before going to sleep.

I have also been playing squash once a week with someone who is right at my level. We have a real good battle with each other!! I push myself very hard, and have a lot of fun in the process. This is my only regular exercise at the moment, but it's nice to have a regular time to meet with someone else to keep me engaged with it.

Rituals that I am currently interested in including more in my life are: coloring and drawing, recording and contemplating my night-time dreams, sitting meditation, playing piano, and creative visualization.

Michael Byrne
Creating Vitality



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What's Most Needed that I'm Most Ready to Do?

not sure i have any rituals anymore. i meditate on el trains and airplanes. i clear the email inbox once a month or so, if i'm lucky. i keep working on the house, picking my way along rather than pushing for a schedule. i do open space when people ask. i'm slowly reforming my late-night habits so that i get more cozy time with jill in the evenings. i've volunteered as the steward of a piece of riverside nature trail behind our house, so i am thinking about making trash pickup while walking that space a new sort of ritual, i guess. that will be weather dependent. that's sort of how more and more is happening around here, based on the weather, inside and outside. maybe it's ritual giving way to being in it all the time and just doing the thing that i can, whatever i can, os, email, community, carpentry, food, laundry or whatever that is most in need of doing and that i am most ready to do. it's either brilliant or i'm full of it. flip a coin!

Michael

A Beautiful, Gentle Place

I'm afraid I'm not very disciplined, so rituals in my life are driven mostly by challenging circumstances. There was a time some years ago, for example, when I was caught up in a great deal of emotional turbulence around departing relationships. After talking with a psychic, I learned every night before sleep to open myself entirely to the universe and RECEIVE. The energy would flow in and even on the darkest days supported me. I do walk labyrinths from time to time as a way of clearing away the mind debris, often when a decision needs to be made. I have one near my home. It's behind a church in a sheltered area next to a daycare center. The path is lined with shells and bits of colored glass. There is a fir tree growing up at one place in the path! A beautiful, gentle place.

Dan Oestreich
Unfolding Leadership

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Zen Meditation and Residing with Juicy Emotional States

As for me, one ritual (activity?) that I've been practicing pretty regularly for the past 1,5 years is at least 30 minutes of zen meditation (as taught at the Zen Center of San Diego) twice a day.

Even if I'm not mindful the whole rest of the day, this regular meditation helps me stay at least a wee bit more in touch with myself and be in touch with myself at least a wee bit more when irritation or anger comes on. Meditation has become a friend. How did I live without it all these years?! And I just love that the explicit invitation in the larger practice of zen is not to stuff the anger or other juicy emotional states but to just physically reside in them!

Anonymous

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Nourishment Cleanse and Practices of Now

There is one ritual that I have for spring and fall – a nourishment cleanse – around the book “If Buddha came to dinner” – it’s a month long attention to eating close to the earth.

I’m beginning another practice process later this month to help me come deeper into the now. It comes from Michael Brown and his book, “the presence process” – it’s an 11 week program which includes 2 -15 minute sessions of conscious breathing every day. I wonder what I will learn and what my practices of the now will be after going through… how will it be in my every day?

I also try every day to get out into nature in some way. The dogs always help with that too. And it feels more important than ever to get my kids there (for me and them).

Teresa Posakony

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Running and Loving

I run in the woods with my sweet dog Lucy. Usually at some point during the run I am so overwhelmed by love for her that I stop and hug and kiss her.



Kate Dugas
Change Everything

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Beauty Reminds Me To Be Grateful

My current “ritual” is a beginning practice of gratitude. For the last several weeks I’ve just been using beauty to remind myself to be grateful. Sometimes it is the light out the window, or a quick view of a mountain, or some sprouts coming up in the garden… but I’m taking a moment (when I remember – which has been easier than I imagined) to NOTICE the beauty and to NOTICE a feeling of gratitude. I start with being grateful for being able to appreciate beauty – and then move to something else if I can find it. I take a moment to pause, to appreciate and then “life” resumes again. One thing I notice is that these “moments” seem to be getting more frequent. Maybe it is spring coming … or maybe it is that my noticing has changed.

Anonymous

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A Beauty Walk Each Morning

I’ve been meeting once a week with a small group of friends as we are all wanting to find more balance in our lives and figure we can support each other in doing so. Each week we commit to one thing that will make a difference for us in the coming week.

Each week so far I have committed to the same thing, as I want to really embed it in my body and psyche as an unbreakable habit. Here’s what it is:

I commit to taking a beauty walk each morning, no matter how short, and most importantly I do NOT open ANY email, or even my computer, in the morning until I have at least stepped outside and taken several breaths of fresh air. That’s the bare minimum, but more usually it is a half hour to an hour and a half walk where I notice all the beauty around me and greet it with gratitude and awe.

Amy Lenzo
Beauty Dialogues
Photo by Amy

Wood Splitting

My ritual ... wood splitting. ;-)
Two or three times a week.
See the attached photos of me
performing my ritual.

Mark Brady
The Committed Parent

A 3 Second Ritual

A 3 sec. ritual...
I probably started this about 10 years ago, but the way time flies, swoops and bends it might have been more or less.
In my kitchen at home during the first sip of coffee or tea in the morning and often then the first sip sip of a cold beer in the PM I will “notice” what my eyes are resting on (or I will look at something intentionally) and bless/thank that object and all it’s touched.

Christian Swenson
Human Jazz

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Ritual as a General Way of Life

In the broadest sense, I see each day and each waking moment as a Ritual - an opportunity to ‘practice the presence’ (allowing spirit to bless each interaction - whether this be between humans or between trees, animals, rocks, angels or any other manifestation of the One Life).

For me, each day upon waking I attempt to remember who I am and where I am and what opportunity awaits me during the new day. I always begin with a cup of hot water and 30 minutes of meditation before heading out on an 8-mile neighborhood run (on weekends year-round I run the local Issaquah Alps or the Cascades in the summer months for 3-4 hours to commune with nature). I’m then ready to open emails and have client meetings or go volunteer my time. Whenever I can, I stop and give thanks during the day for the gifts of life and ask that I be shown where I can be of most service and where my next classroom for personal growth is happening.

Although ritual is a form that brings certain qualities and blessings into a focus, it is now more a general way of life. That’s all for now.


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Exercise Nourishes My Mind, Body and Soul

The ritual that comes to mind most quickly is exercise. I truly believe that regular vigorous exercise nourishes my mind, body and soul. Not only is it wonderful for my body, but it provides me with a mind space that is very hard to find in an otherwise very busy life. The time I spend in the gym is sacrosanct. I place a very high priority on it. It gives me time for myself. It gives me time to think and mull things over when my mind is not distracted by every day stresses. Every day when I leave the gym, I feel ready to deal with all those stresses much more effectively. Exercise also lets me set goals, challenge myself and see progress in a very distinct way. All in all, it's a very important part of my life and writing this down has made me even more aware of that fact. Thanks for making me think about it!

Charles

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