What Type are You?

Will you transition from Type 0 to Type 1 in your lifetime?

Cars Within 10 years

The Art of Attention

Dr. Bartlett is both a chiropractor and a naturopath who graduated from Bastyr University of Naturopathic Medicine in 1996. Dr. Bartlett is the author of the award-winning book Matrix Energetics: The Science and Art of Personal Transformation. 


Dr. Bartlett’s Matrix Energetics is a form of “consciousness technology” that involves your right brain and the field of your heart. Your right brain is capable of processing 11 billion bits of information per second, while your conscious left brain processes about 15 bytes of information per second.

Your right brain can actually access information that is normally blocked by your conscious attention, if you allow that information to come through and pay attention to it. So, as Dr. Bartlett is fond of saying, “notice what you notice,” without any rules or preconceived notions about what it might mean.

This concept is alluded to in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!? There’s a segment when a Native American tribe is unable to see the first ships approaching the land because it isn’t something that has ever been in their experience before.

~Dr. Mercola 

U.S. is sorely behind the Soviet countries in areas of telekinesis, where not only has it been proven by government supported physicists, but is regularly used in defense programs. Trying to keep up, the US has spent millions of dollars covertly investigating this and many eastern european countries do still use psi and psychic phenomena in their military.   You can learn more through reading Michio Kaku's books.  He is the best physicist around and explains how its possible.

Healing

I was diagnosed with degenerative spondylosis while living in L.A. and after 4 months of intensive chiropractic treatment at a sports rehab center, I left feeling broke spiritually & financially.  I lived with continuous pain for the next 4 years, still frequenting various chiropractors and massage therapists to manage the pain, all the while cursing my previous years of living in high heels and exercising at the gym 6 days a week while experimenting with various diets that were not sound or balanced; all of which I believe helped to destroy my spine.  I searched for various ways to free myself from the pain and one night, stumbled upon this site and put in a prayer request.  I asked for a complete healing on my cervical vertebrae, believing that my request would be lost in a virtual mailbox filled with a million other prayer requests. 

That night, as I was ready to fall asleep, I found myself suddenly very alert, with a warm, almost burning sensation in my throat area.  It didn't hurt but felt unusually soothing and it stirred me up quite a bit as it continued for a while and then I eventually fell asleep.   The next morning I rushed to my computer and found this email from ''Micheal'' in New Zealand.

Dear Aiko,

Greetings and it is my pleasure to be of Service to you!   Thank you for your request for Spiritual Healing and I extend my heartfelt compassion to you over the challenges you are experiencing with your health at the present time.

Briefly, the process of Spiritual Healing works through my creating a threefold energetic connection with you as the recipient, myself as a facilitator and conduit, and the Absolute Godhead, who carries out healing for the highest good according to Divine Will.   It has been indicated that you are to receive healing on a daily basis over the next 12 weeks which commenced on 11/10 continuing to 03/01/04 and I trust you will soon feel some improvement in your situation.   On completion of this cycle, let me know how you are doing.

It is good that you are taking responsibility for your own process of self-healing, for healing takes place to the degree that you are ready and willing to be healed.   Stay anchored in the truth of your Divine Being knowing that you are A PERFECT ETERNAL EXPRESSION OF THE SOURCE IN EACH NOW MOMENT.   Stay positive and embrace all fears and anxieties through the Love vibration of the Heart so they may be transmuted back to Light and Healed.

I will send you some further information, tools and affirmations to assist you with your process of self-healing and transformation.

NAMASTE and blessings of Love and Peace,

                                                       Alhedron
                                                    13 Oct. 2003 

So that was what was going on in bed last night!  I kept this email for 6 years, remembering the extraordinary event that had happened to me starting the night before the above date.  I read the email over a few more times and then sat down on the sofa facing a huge window and watched the sunlight streaming in.  I felt vibrant and whole, really at peace and everything seemed to sparkle around me.  I literally felt 20 years younger and felt joy in my entire body. I felt like I had a new skeleton! 

I also noticed something in the sunlight that I never noticed before.  There were sparkling rainbow hues flickering in the sunlight streaming near me.  I sat on the floor to get closer and the energies around me made me feel like I was at a joyous celebration.  I was literally surrounded by a pure and vibrant light.

At this time of my life I did not know what reiki was and believed anything like this was just another new age fad or movement leading people astray from the Light.  Looking back I now know that what I had received was a distant reiki healing from a very powerful healer who was doing some charity work through the website.

This renewed feeling stayed with me for about 9 months.  I was physically active again and pain free but I did not grasp the meaning of  ''Stay anchored in the truth of your Divine Being knowing that you are A PERFECT ETERNAL EXPRESSION OF THE SOURCE IN EACH NOW MOMENT''  until today.  My mind couldn't digest it at all even after years of reading various books on enlightenment or the notes and exercises he emailed me the following day.  I let myself get distracted with the surge of this new found energy and the demands of adapting to a new country that was radically different from where I came from. 

Today, after recovering from the two pregnancies, I feel my skeleton has readjusted back to where it was suppose to be  and I feel whole and vibrant again.

Casa das Flores

After the morning snack at Petipan Café we walked to Casa das Flores to pick up some organic goods.  Usually this flower shop is filled with various bouquets but in the fall and winter it is mostly stocked with home grown fruits and vegetables. 

 

The prices were incredibly low compared to what I was used to paying in the south which was almost €3 for 4 organic apples.  Today I bought this whole basket for only €1.70!  

2 Little Sparrows, Then and Now

Today we went to a Petipan Cáfe that just opened across from Santa Barbara's Garden.  The glass walls were pristine clean and my little one ran full speed ahead and banged his head against it, before falling on his back.  Then as we were leaving, my oldest did the same and I couldn't help but try to control my laughter while the waitresses were scurrying about, tending to my son with ice wrapped in a towel.  This scene brought me back 18 years to a time when I was living in Marin County.

I had a home on a little hill surrounded by nature and the living room/dining area was surrounded with glass walls.  Little birds would fly into the glass walls once in a while and fall frozen on their backs on the veranda for up to an hour before flying away.  I use to worry about how to dispose of them if they didn't wake up but that never happened.

One time I heard a loud thump in the dining area and I ran towards it to see what kind of bird had crashed into the window.  I carefully glanced through the tree branches and found a little sparrow clutching a branch, upside down!  I had never seen such a scene and smiled, knowing that the bird was going to be alright.  I sat on a dining chair and watched it to see how long it would take for it to ''wake up.''  I sat there and stared at it for almost an hour but I had to go pee and when I returned it was gone.

The Ultra Modern Drop House

This is it!  I found it!! The winner of the Algeco design contest.  I got very excited because it was the closest thing to what I was dreaming about.

''The houses are made with one central space that serves like a satellite from which the other components are extended like drawers. These “drawers” are actually small units with varying volumes that serve as other rooms, and include the kitchen, entryway, bathroom and two others. The nice thing about the drop house is that while these extensions can be added to the original assembly, the house can also be closed up into one contained unit. This makes it easy to lock it up when you’re away for extended periods of time and easy to transport it while staying within the limits of the road gauge!'' --3Darchitectes

Now I just need this design infused with the environmentally friendly Ecopod and I'm set!

Ecopods or Port-a-Bachs?

Do you want to live in a home with low environmental footprint, minimal operating cost and  high quality of living at an affordable price?  Then this shipping container is for you.
 

Ecopods is currently building their fourth generation incorporating the best use of recycled and new environmentally friendly materials available today.  They operate with an 80 watt solar panel and with minimal electrical needs so there is no need to run power lines or trench power cables to the unit.  It’s ready to use minutes after setup!  All you have to do is buy some land where ever you desire, and order!

''Maintenance on the unit requires very little effort. The original steel walls and frame are made from a product called corten steel. Corten steel has a rust inhibitor that stops rust at the surface. The interior and exterior floor surfaces are covered with a product that looks and feels very similar to cork flooring but is made from recycled car tires. This product has excellent interior and exterior performance qualities and is impervious to water and easy to keep clean. The entire wall and ceiling cavities have been spray foamed insulated with the latest environmental friendly soya insulation available on the market today. It is a ridged closed cell insulation, closed cell meaning there is no moisture transfer.  The front sliding glass doors and front glass side panels are double glazed thermal pane units that allow you to enjoy four season weather conditions.''

Their pre-delivery square foot building costs between $100 / $150 Canadian dollars and if this superior green building competes with conventional building costs here, then this is going on my TO BUY list. 


Then I found Atelier in New Zealand that makes Port a Bachs.

''Appointed with large internal storage cupboards and shelves / stainless steel kitchen and fittings /bathroom with open shower, sink, composting toilet. Interior fabric screen system gives the versatility of creating rooms within the large open living space : includes bunk beds, double bed room, dressing room, kitchen and bathroom.  Exterior canvas screen system allows to shelter the deck area for comfortable indoor/outdoor flow and living. 6 concrete footings form a stable, non-invasive 'foundation', allowing you to situate the unit on a wide range of ground conditions.''

 

Decisions decisions..which one would you choose?  I think I would go with Ecopod and have a local builder build me huge bathrooms & kitchens for it.

Illusion or Evolution?

A Huna Tradition of Hawaii

 
In the Huna tradition of Hawaii, there are a myriad of secrets and shortcuts to making desires and dreams come to life.  The Huna clearly understood the really critical role that our subconscious plays in making manifest our goals.  They also understood the need to transform limiting thoughts and negative beliefs that can impact and influence each and every one of us each and every moment of the day. 

The next time you are working on any project that you need to get off the ground or even move to the next level, try a reliable Huna technique of constantly telling that project how much you love it. If you are writing something, as you write keep saying 'I love you' to the content, if you are building something, say it, designing something, tell it, sewing something ... well, you get it.  Just keep telling whatever it is you are working on that you love it. The Huna believed that loving energies when pointed in a specific direction and accompanied by thoughts of faith, belief and love could absolutely move mountains.  Even the ones that stand between ourselves and our success!

~~Ellen Hurst

(P.S.: You can also try this technique on some one who has hurt or hindered your own growth in some way. Just keep silently telling them that you love them and then watch as miracles of health and healing unfold!)

Children Deserve

1. Children deserve parents who make sure that they find the support and nurture that they need so they can wholeheartedly love them.

2. Children deserve parents who love one another and treat each other with kindness and respect even if the marriage doesn't last.

3. Children deserve parents who like themselves and who have creative work that they enjoy in addition to their employment.

4. Children deserve parents who like their work and want their children to know about it and why it's important.

5. Children deserve parents who remember that when children spill the milk that they used to spill it too.

6. Children deserve parents who will rock them to sleep with a lullaby and tuck them into bed with a story and kiss.

7. Children deserve parents who will take them for a walk through the fall leaves rather than buying them another toy.

8. Children deserve parents who take them to the library regularly and come home with arm loads of books about people who dream great dreams and overcome immense difficulties.

9. Children deserve parents who are willing to slow down from the rat race long enough to enter into the wonder of discovery with them.
10. Children deserve parents who allow them to work alongside, at their own pace, and with appropriate jobs so that each can feel a sense of accomplishment on completion.

11. Children deserve parents who are very selective about television watching, who study the program guide to know what quality programs exist and who will spend time reading or playing games instead of lazily flicking on the switch.

12. Children deserve parents who have an extended family network of support and back-up nurture.

~Sara Wenger Shenk

Only 2% of Our Mental Potential

According to Stanford University, the average person functions with only about 2% of his or her mental potential.  The remainder just sits there in reserve, being saved for some later time.  This would be exactly if your parents had left you a trust fund of 1 million euros but all you ever took out to spend was 100K euros.  The other 900K euros simply sat in the account, unused throughout your lifetime.

How's that for inspiration?

Time and Quantum Physics

Time

Time does not exist. Albert Einstein proved to us that time is an illusion, no matter how persistent it is. You can and actually do expand and shrink it all the time, again by your thought and consciousness. The only 'time' that exists is an eternal moment of Now. You can only Be Here, Now. You have never been anywhere else. Your mind tricks you that you were somewhere yesterday and will be somewhere tomorrow. But if you look carefully, you will see you cannot Be anywhere else other than here, now. Be-ing is of this moment only. You don't believe it? well, try to be tomorrow! Even 'tomorrow' must come to you Here, Now. So what is time? Well, imagine the picture of the Mona Lisa. You can see it all at one go, right? Well, imagine that your eyes were only capable of seeing it a slice at a time. It would then take you 'time' to go through the whole picture. Your mind would trick you into thinking that you are experiencing some of the Mona Lisa painting today, some yesterday, some tomorrow. Yet the whole Mona Lisa exists all at one go. In the same way, time is your limited consciousness experiencing slices of infinity and eternity - all possibilities of existence. You choose which slices to experience by your thoughts, states of being, and beliefs.  

I read somewhere that time is a man made contrivance to organize human activity, nothing more. The past and future do not exist except in our imaginations and Einstein's theory of relativity had to do with proving this.  Isn't this great?  For a really good explanation of relativity, try to find an old book called The Universe and Dr. Einstein.  It's concise and easy to understand even for those with no background in physics.

Quantum Physics

Knowing what you and the world are made of is the first key to knowing how to make it your way. Quantum Physics begins to explain how everything in your world comes to be. You are in direct manipulation of your entire physical world, but you may not be aware of this fact. And your lack of awareness of this fact, how the physical matter comes about and your role in it, makes your life appear to you as an occurrence that is out of your control. 

Quantum physics is the study of the building blocks of the universe. For example, your body is made up of cells. These cells are in turn made up of molecules, which are made up of atoms, which are in turn made up of sub-atomic particles such as electrons. Everything is made up of 'large groups' of sub- atomic particles, also called energy.

Your body, a tree, thoughts, a vehicle, a planet, light, and everything else are 'concentrations' of energy. All of them are large collections of pretty much the same types of sub-atomic particles. The only difference is in the way these particles are grouped together into ever-larger building blocks. To speak correctly, a sub- atomic particle is not really a particle in the way that a grain of sand is a particle. They are 'probabilities of existence' and at the same time 'multiple existences'. They are also wave-like and particle-like at the same time.

Everything in this universe is made up of energy, and these energy packets behave in the most amazing way! They are at our command! The reason they would arrange themselves into a luxury boat, for example, is our individual and collective thoughts. Up until this point, you may have been designing your world haphazardly and unconsciously. Your very thinking, each thought, shifts the universe to an extent.

My Ego Blocked the Flow

Well I choked it alright; the flow that I was in for such a long time.  I almost went ''blind with disbelief'' when I saw the land that I wanted.  It was perfect despite its state of ruins and it had even more than what I had been asking for.  I wanted it so bad, in my timing, MY way, rather than letting the Universe deliver it to me.

So as of today, I am back to square one.  But it isn't over yet.  I just have to get back ''in the flow'' again.

The Pioneer Woman

Sometimes I like to visit another persons reality.  The Pioneer Woman's reality to be exact.  ''Plowing through life in the country, one calf nut at a time.''  I have never heard of anything like this in my life!  Ree left L.A. for a life in the parallel universe full of the unknown, only to discover the simpler pleasures of life and started raising a beautiful family away from the hustle and bustle of a cosmopolitan city.  Her wild tale of romance and cow manure is a cross between a Harlequin Romance and Green Acres!

She cooks and photographs food in such an alluring way that I am always left feeling full and satisfied, ready for a nap.  Maybe because the shots are so detailed and up close, my senses are satiated by the time I get to the last shot where the dish is finalized, like in real life.  Maybe I'm eating via osmosis through the wireless technology but because of her, I eat vicariously without putting on any weight!

I identify with many of her yearnings in the earlier years too.  How can I not after moving away from all the conveniences I had at my fingertips?  Now I don't miss a thing.  Well, maybe Trader Joes, the Stash brand chai in the red box, the sesame/honey cashew nuts & maple syrup that used to grace my cupboard for as long as I can remember.  Now I make chai from scratch and have replaced maple syrup with raw honey.  As for the nuts, I am perfectly happy with the cashews, sesame seeds, and honey not touching each other and being raw.


Thank you Ree for all the hard work in your kitchen. 

Here's to you and all your endeavors!!

The Little Things in Life

Often times we forget to appreciate the little things in life that are constantly overshadowed by the bigger things.  The rain kept us indoors for the most part and I found myself staring outside the window until my focus zoomed in on this little plant.  It was tiny, naive, and knew that it too had its own unique beauty to offer besides the towering plants.

 Then in another pot I discovered purple clovers.  I think that is what they are.  I have never seen or noticed them before.

 

And these are the little chestnuts that were ready to go into the oven.  I was the only one who liked them raw and my father in law put cuts into each one before putting them in the oven so they don't explode.  Although that could have been fun for my munchkins to experience.  I'll have to try that on Monday when the maid is here.

My first time cracking open a pine nut, wasn't easy. Yup, ex city girl learns how to eat them freshly shelled.  Behind each leaf pulled back exposed 2 hard shells.  I had to use a hammer to crack one open and oh how tender and fresh the pine nut was, and the scent of cedar on my fingers!  It was a new experience eating them.  Anastasia is lucky to have an army of squirrels crack them open for her all the time!  I have a new found respect for squirrels now.

And thank you Isaura for bringing me this fresh pine cone today!

Become a Quantum Activist!

Conciousness and Quantum Physics

by Amit Goswami, PhD

There was a revolution in physics at the beginning of the last century, consisting of the discovery of quantum physics.  The message of quantum physics is this: the world is not made of matter neither is it determined entirely by material causation that we sometimes call upward causation because it rises upward from the building blocks of matter–the elementary particles .  There is a source of downward causation in the world.  You can call this source consciousness if you like and think of it as the ground of all being.

 

To be sure, the mathematics of quantum physics is deterministic and based on the upward causation model above, but it predicts objects and their movements not as determined events (as in Newtonian physics) but as possibilities  (for which the probabilities can be calculated enabling us to develop a very successful predictive science for large number of objects and/or events).  And yet when we look at a quantum object, we don’t experience it as a bundle of possibilities, but as actual localized event much like a Newtonian particle.  Moreover, quantum mathematics does not allow us to connect the upward causation-based deterministic theory with experimental data.  How do the possibilities of the theory become actualities of experience simply by our looking at them?  This is the mysterious “observer effect.”

In quantum language, the materialists’ upward causation model translates like this.  Possible movements of elementary particle make up possible movements of atoms, make up possible movements of molecules, make up possible movements of cells, make up possible brain states, make up consciousness.  Consciousness itself then is a conglomerate of possibilities, called a wave of possibility. How can a wave of possibility collapse another wave of possibility by looking or interacting with it?  If you couple possibility with possibility, all you get is a bigger possibility, not actuality. 

Suppose you imagine possible influx of money in your bank account.  Couple that with all the possible cars that you can imagine. Will this exercise ever actualize a car in your garage?  Face it.  For the materialist epiphenomenal model of consciousness, how our looking can change possibility into actuality is a logical paradox. 

          

It stays a paradox until you recognize first, that quantum possibilities are possibilities of consciousness itself which is the ground of all being.  And second, that our looking is tantamount to choosing from among the quantum possibilities the one unique facet that becomes our experienced actuality.

We Create Our Own Reality, But . . .

It was in the nineteen seventies that the physicist Fred Alan Wolf created the evocative phrase “we create our own reality.”  The images the phrase evoked led, however, to many disappointments.  Some people tried to manifest personal automobiles, others vegetable gardens in desert environments, and still others at least a parking space for their cars in busy downtown areas.  Everybody was inspired by the theory of quantum creation, no doubt, but the results of their efforts were a mixed bag because they were unaware some subtleties.

We create our own reality, but there is a subtlety in consciousness.  We do not create reality in our ordinary state of consciousness, but in a non-ordinary state of consciousness.  This becomes clear when you ponder the paradox of Wigner’s friend.  Eugene Wigner was the Nobel laureate physicist who first thought of the paradox.

Imagine that Wigner is approaching a quantum traffic light with two possibilities, red and green; at the same time his friend is approaching the same light  from the perpendicular road.  Being busy Americans, they both choose green.  Unfortunately, their choices are contradictory; if both choices materialize at the same time, there would be pandemonium.  Obviously, only one of their choices counts, but whose?

After many decades, three physicists at different places and times (Ludwig Bass in Australia, myself at Oregon, and Casey Blood at Rutgers, New Jersey), independently discovered the solution of the paradox: consciousness is one, non local and cosmic, behind the two people’s local individuality.  They both choose but from this non ordinary state of one consciousness (which I call the quantum self) where there is no local individuality or selfishness so contradiction can be avoided.  This allows the common sense result that in many such crossings, Wigner and his friend each would get green fifty percent of the time; yet for any individual crossing, a creative opportunity for getting green is left open for each.

A key point is that quantum downward causation of choice is discontinuously exerted (if it were continuous, a mathematical model could be constructed for it and the choice would be predictable and not free), but our ordinary state of consciousness smooths out the discontinuity.  To be aware that we choose is to wake up to the non-ordinary oneness taking a discontinuous leap, call it a quantum leap.  In this way, the dictum of the new physics: I choose, therefore I am (my cosmic quantum self).

So the new paradigm of reality based on the rediscovery of consciousness within science is not only giving us back our free will, but also is identifying the source of that free will as the spirit within us, the oneness that spiritual and healing traditions have always propounded.   The new paradigm is showing us great promise for integrating science and spirit.  It is also promising a breakthrough integral approach to medicine that integrates conventional and alternative medicine.  Read my book,  The Quantum Doctor, for the latest development on this.

Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut

This used to be me before having kids.

I used to enjoy coffee with cream and honey for breakfast until I got pregnant.  Then I just didn't enjoy it anymore.  Not even the Brazilian blend that came in the red, white and brown packaging that had a robust full body, almost like a very good cabernet sauvignon.  I was done with it for good.

 

my favorite grapes in the world are used to make cabernets..

Now I will drink Mokambo on days when I feel like shaking things up a bit, or when I'm out of greens for the morning smoothies.  Mokambo is 80% roasted barley and 20% coffee and it tastes like a really good coffee.  Again, it's not that I miss coffee but sometimes, ''sometimes I feel like a nut...sometimes I don't'' kind of thing.

About Cacao and Chocolate

A Few Interesting Facts About Cacao and Chocolate

The word 'Chocolate' comes from the Aztec word, 'cacahuatl' or 'xocolatl'. This means 'bitter water'.

Raw Cacao was regarded as an aphrodisiac by Aztecs.

In 1624 Johan Franciscus Rauch an Austrian professor, tried to ban chocolate from monasteries and urged monks not to drink chocolate as he said it "inflamed passions".

Cacao contains antioxidants which may help prevent cancer and heart disease.

Cacao brings instant comfort and acts as a mild anti-depressant by increasing our serotonin and endorphin levels.

Cacao contains theobromine, which is a mild relative of caffeine and magnesium. This chemical is found in some tranquilizers. Because coffee also contains caffeine, it both picks you up and calms you down.

Cacao beans were so valuable in ancient Mexico that the Maya and subsequent Aztec and Toltec civilizations used them as a means of currency to pay for commodities and taxes.

The French Leader Napoleon insisted that wine, from the Burgundy vineyard called Chambertin, as well as chocolate be available during military campaigns.

During the Second World War, the U.S. Government commissioned Milton Hershey to create a candy bar to be included in soldier's rations. The candy bar chosen was the famous Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar.

Every Russian and American space voyage has included chocolate bars.

Source:  Various sites on the internet

Gnosis Chocolate

I recently discovered Raw Chocolate Girl Vanessa who is the creator of Gnosis Chocolate.  She says, ''Our chocolate is made fresh daily by hand with love. It does not touch a single machine but is made by loving oompa loompas who care not only about flavor, but for your health! When we ship, it comes directly from our kitchen and is never warehoused for freshness!''

 I looked up the term Gnosis in Wikipedia and found this:

Gnosis (from one of the Greek words for knowledge, γνῶσις) is the spiritual knowledge of a saint^[1] or mystically enlightened human being. In the cultures of the term (Byzantine and Hellenic) gnosis was a special knowledge or insight into the infinite, divine and uncreated in all and above all,^[2] rather than knowledge strictly into the finite, natural or material world which is called Epistemological knowledge.^[3] Gnosis is a transcendential as well as mature understanding.^[4] It indicates direct spiritual experiential knowledge^[5] and intuitive knowledge, mystic rather than that from rational or reasoned thinking. Gnosis itself is obtained through understanding at which one can arrive via inner experience or contemplation such as an internal epiphany of intuition and external epiphany such as the Theophany.

I was intrigued and tickled pink at the same time, ready to place my order, only to discover that Germany had the closest shop near me.  With shipping and tax on top of the premium prices, I quickly let go of ever tasting this indulgence and I never believed that I could make anything like this.


Days and weeks passed by as I sampled various dark chocolates from different countries only to be left with a stronger desire for Gnosis chocolates, the most nutritious chocolate in this world.  My imagination went off on a tangent as the most extraordinary images and ideas unraveled in my head (in one of them I was swimming in Gnosis chocolate) and then *poof*!   It came to me.  Why not try to create my own version of this mystically enlightened chocolate?!?  I had access to all the ingredients and the desire to do so!


I scoured the internet and after cross referencing a bunch of raw chocolate recipes, I came up with this formulation:

.5 cup organic powdered cocoa
1 cup cacao butter, melted
1 tspn. maca powder


.5 cup organic raw cashews
sweetener to taste: raw honey with bee pollen
1 vanilla bean
a sprinkle of blue green algae
cacao nibs



Warm the cacao butter and combine the first 3 ingredients and a sweetener with a spoon and pour into a silicon mold tray of your choice while still warm.  Sprinkle in goji berries, nuts, dried cherries or whatever you like on top or below the chocolate and set in the freezer for a few minutes.   

And thank you Vanessa for the inspiration!

Another Reason Why We Need to Move

Photo: Javhlan

Me:  ''Hi Victor!  David said that he no longer needs his tricycle and that we should save it for his cousin Adi because Kenzo is getting too big for it.  Isn't that sweet?  He thought of this all on his own!''

Victor:  ''So sweet..tell him Adi says thank you and that uncle Vicor sends a big hug and kiss.  Do you want me to send you anything?''

Me:  ''Oh thanks, but no thanks, we don't need anything.''  (I lied because I didn't want my brother to pay a fortune on shipping and I another fortune on import tax. )

David:  (in deep in thought before saying)  ''Tell uncle Victor I want a Porsche and a red Mercedes.''

Victor & I:  ...silence...

Are You Leading a Double Life?

Photo Courtesy: Per Olsson

Becoming a Mother

Becoming a mother is one of the most hardest and the most rewarding thing I have ever experienced.  Despite lacking sleep for over 4 years now, I somehow manage to juggle so much more than when I was without them.  I learned to pull rabbits out of my crevices and my powers of manifestation is good on most days.


It's a huge stepping stone for me to be able to write things that have been swirling in my head for so many years,  and not just memoirs for my children.  And oh how much I love them and value their contributions to my life!  For example, a simple meal just doesn't taste the same without them I realized when I was working out of town recently.  And the hollow emptiness that pierced deep into my body in the still of the night, without their little breathing and fidgeting, it was like being in a time warp with seconds passing as hours.


Yes, becoming a mother is the most hardest and the most rewarding thing I have ever experienced.

It's All About Me...and Halya!

It feels kind of awkward yet liberating to write, keeping myself in mind.  Even though I spent most of my life stateside, I never adopted the American mentality where it was all about me, me and Me.  I just couldn't be bothered with Ego and was more interested in figuring out what was going on behind the scenes.

I spent 3 years reading about other people's lives while journaling on a blog for my children but I eventually suffered writer's block soon after getting caught up in the flurry of their daily activities.  I learned how to cook and I socialized with other mothers within the international community, only to realize that I couldn't bear losing any more time cooking and socializing with no end in sight.  It's not that I don't enjoy introducing new foods and events to my children; I am just a control freak.  And I found out that so were the other mothers, and even my meticulous help Halya. 

Before meeting Halya, I remember making notes about what kind of a person I was looking for to help me at home.  It was highly improbable, laughable even, that I would ask for so much qualification from a person who would only be cleaning my home.  This town was filled with Brazilian, African, and Russian immigrants with hardly any education or degrees up the ying yang, serving the rich and I wasn't going to accept any of that into my life.  Well, Halya was a technical engineer in Ukraine but came here with her family so that she and her husband could earned five times as much doing domestic and construction work.  She cleans meticulously with such detail and speed, anticipating our every needs that I wouldn't be surprised if she possessed the spirit of one of the squirrels that served Anastasia's ancestors in the Siberian glades.  I don't let her make our dinner and now I don't even let her in the kitchen because I rarely cook myself and focus on raw foods instead.


She recently told me that in a few more years, her family will return back to Ukraine where she has a dacha.  A dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and Russian cities. In some cases, they are occupied for part of the year by their owners and rented out to urban residents as summer retreats. Going back to my story, this news saddened me but soon after I came to the realization that I would be moving too, to my own modern dacha that I am dreaming about.  I feel like I am finally preparing to go home; to a home and lifestyle that is foreign to me physically but my family will flourish there, this I know.  And when the time comes, I will certainly miss her because she became such an integral part of my sanity as I evolved into a hybrid mom.


All good things do come to an end, only to reveal something better and this I know for a fact now.  The blender as my right hand and the food processor, my left, I can't go wrong, really.  And everyone is happier and healthier for it, especially me!  Plus, I don't have writer's block anymore!

Life is such an amazing journey!

Hybrid Mom

Are you a hybrid mom?

Hybrid Mom (hy brid mom, n.):

A woman who is guided by an entrepreneurial yearning because she knows that being the type of mom she wants demands it. She has found a way to blend her personal aspirations, as an entrepreneur, consultant, business owner or volunteer, with motherhood in a way that does not compromise her family. A Hybrid mom knows that having it all means creating your dream and making it happen. She is known for her strength, flexibility, dedication, resourcefulness and sense of humor. She uses her skills to create a fusion of roles that satisfy her as an individual and as a mom.

She works. She plays. She lives. She decides.  

Thank you Shari!!!

Nanotechnology & The Siberian Glades

I am concerned about next years opening of the University of Nanotechnology MIT in this city.  There are already over 800 consumer products made with nanomaterials (those manufactured at the scale of atoms and molecules) and not even the world's leading nanoscientists knows what nanoparticles do inside the body or in the environment!

Here's an excerpt from the Organic Consumers Association:

'Nanotechnology, a fast-growing global industry, is essentially unregulated. Advocates and independent scientists agree that we need to get ahead of the risks before it's too late. Some call for a moratorium on the riskiest nanoproducts. Some say we just need more research, and more protection for workers in the meantime. All are worried about unleashing a powerful new technology that could have vast unintended consquences. Nanomaterials are in food, cosmetics, clothing, toys and scores of other everyday products. Yet when it comes to trying to get a handle on them, we can't answer the most basic questions. What companies are using nanomaterials, and where? What kinds, and in what amounts? How much of the potentially hazardous stuff is escaping into the air, water and soil? Into our food and drinks? Nobody knows.

"You're producing a personal cloud of exposure," Paul Lioy warned. "Every time you breathe. Every time you move. If the materials you're wearing have [nano]materials that can be released, they will be released. It's basically the Pig-Pen effect.


Great!

Information like this make me want to run deeper in the woods & never look back.  Maybe relocating to the Siberian glades is not a bad idea after all.

No More Nature?!? Then No More Cafés!!!

It's suppose to rain all week and my kids have had it, hanging out at various cafes while mother in law chit chats with her friends.  On the other hand, my in laws are nauseated with the idea of going into nature for the rest of this year!

Everyday, either I or my kids ask to go to what I call a squirrel's paradise which is only a 10 min. drive from their flat.  When I finally move into that certain piece of land, I will be jogging or hiking up to this place and spend some hours being at one with nature.  Then I might stop by the cafe outdoors or inside one of the hotels for a drink (other than the natural spring water that flows freely) and lose myself in a nice book.  Speaking of books,  The Ringing Cedars Series is a must for the entire population on this planet.  It's amazing how much of it I have retained and my mind is exploding with more ideas and plans for the near future.


I now think it's ideal to take the alpha train down south on the weekends to see up to 3 clients per weekend.  It will also be a perfect escape from my kids and their never ending demands and I will get to see some friends and let my mouth hemorrhage with the English language since I don't get to speak it anymore in the north except with my kids. 


I am blessed to have so many clients call upon me to do their family portraits.  Every time I do a shoot I get a chance to record a moment in their lives for them to share with their loved ones, and to pass on to future generations.  I have yet to update my little site though.  With so many beautiful templates out there I cannot choose just one.  But simple is best, so maybe I won't change a thing.

My Parents

This is a picture I received from my parents before my first son was born.  I only get to see them maybe once a year because they are always busy with their lives and plans in other continents.  My mother is finally somewhat of a ''stay at home wife'', and my father started a new career after retiring at age 65.  He is 71 now and still practices English horseback riding on the weekends and during the week I hear he wakes up at 4 to start the morning workout exercises before heading off to work.  He has been eating mostly raw as far as I can remember and I always admired his disciplined way of life even though we hardly spoke.  Our relationship was always formal and I grew up being afraid of him most of the time.  Now our infrequent conversations consist of topics like his republican stance, the current society, his beliefs, and brief moments back in time when I was a child.  By the way, does anyone have a father that got Botox to remove wrinkles on the forehead?  Anyone?!?!?  Besides me?!?!?  Didn't think so.

We were estranged for so many years, mostly due to my being the ''black sheep'' of the family but after my first born, the reconciliation process started.  I talk to my mother through skype on most days and it took 3 years to be able to dig into deep conversation and build some form of a mother-daughter relationship.  She mainly focuses on chit chatting with my sons and going into deep thought by herself as if she is watching a documentary online.  I would guess that our web cam replaces one of her soap operas.  We are like oil and vinegar.  And when we laugh about something, I would say we are equivalent to the oil and vinegar that is well shaken followed by the separation soon after.

Even now she is still a bit of a stranger to me and I suffer in my heart because we missed out on so many aspects in each others lives but I am grateful that I have contact with her now.  Now is all we have anyways, right?

Feston Roses

The Feston rose plant is one of the top 10 purifying plants according to The New Ecologist.

The scent of fresh roses and freesias always take me back to my youth but the Feston rose plant always pull me into the time of my preschool years.  Warm sunny days and the gentle breeze delicately igniting the unique scent of these little flowers, my mouth always watered while images of orange and red creamsicles swirled in my head.  I guess it always sparked my creativity and pulled me into a moment of timelessness.

Then I recently realized that I grew up with a secret admiration and love for this often ignored plant as I find myself delighted whenever I see my children walking towards them or when they bring me a stem full of these scented buds.  It is true, that whatever you appreciate or love, Life keeps giving you more.

Empty Yourself

Empty yourself of everything you care about, every dream, every worry, every concern, every ambition, every purpose, every disappointment, every desire. Gently let it all go.

Then put back in only the things that have real meaning. And taste the sweet, glorious freedom of being able to bring those hallowed purposes fully to life.

Are you so intensely concerned with chasing success that you've made that success impossible? Let it go, and then you can truly know it.

Do you ache so fervently for love that you drive it away? Let it go, and it will fill you.

Cleanse your spirit of all the many layers of need to, have to, want to, and can't do without. Clear out some space to truly live.

Underneath all those empty artifacts you've been striving to hold on to, there is freedom and there is power. Cleanse yourself of the need to need, and free yourself to soar.

-- Ralph Marston

SLS

An excerpt below was taken from Organic Consumers which has a wealth of valuable information in various topics.

Do you enjoy a shampoo with a rich lather? A shaving cream that really foams? Relaxing in a tub full of bubbles?


These may seem like some of life's simple, innocent pleasures -- until you look at what is causing all that foam and lather. Once you find out, you may decide it's not so simple or pleasurable after all.


Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), and their cousins like Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Myreth Sulfate produce a lot of foam very inexpensively. But SLS is so strong that it's also used to scrub garage floors. And it has been proven to cause cancer in the long run.


SLS stays in the body up to five days. Other studies show it easily penetrates the skin and enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, liver, the lungs, and the brain. Yet SLS is found in most cleansing, foaming products -- and even in some toothpastes.

Go with Your Feelings..

Because all great discoveries are made by those whose feelings run ahead of their thinking.

The Beginning of the Rest of Our Lives

Photo: Shelly Sage Heart

I recently got a hold of The Ringing Cedars series and it swept my head clear of all the confusion that I allowed in my life.  It also confirmed a lot of things that I felt growing up and I remembered events from the past with a certain resolve.  And now for the future of my little ones I am eagerly making the necessary changes to transform our way of living.

I have a vision of a certain piece of land that has 2 natural springs on it and enough space for a permaculture food forest to sustain about 15 people I guess.  2 homes and a guest cottage so friends can fly in, 'graze' in my garden and soak in the nature, a swimming pool and a storage barn to the other side.  I also see on the land a chicken coup so that I can have organic eggs and 2 beehives on one corner of the land surrounded by wild flowers & clovers.

I sketched out various drafts all thanks to Anthony's example and enthusiasm about permaculture and a raw way of life.  If it wasn't for discovering his blog, I wouldn't have started this journey myself or gone back to raw foods like I was on when I was modeling in another lifetime.  (Having children was like having a free pass to birthday parties galore and I sort of indulged in almost every junk food out there, forgetting the raw way of eating.) Going back to my sketches, I will eventually concretize them with an architect and book the listed building company to build 2 modern homes with solar panels and a swimming pool.  The end result is 90% crystal clear in my mind and I am overjoyed with how everything is materializing one by one.

I even enlisted Isaura who has worked for my in laws for 20 years to live with us in a few years and manage my boys and the household help since I will be traveling a lot.  She is solid as a rock and not too far from a type of woman that Anastasia is.  My kids adore her and this is just one of the many blessing in my life. 

I am constantly humbled and in awe of Life and all it's gifts!