It's amazing the transformation a few minutes of quiet time can have in kids...

Interesting article about how meditation is transforming some of the roughest schools in San Francisco.

Have I mentioned in here how meditation and prayer show the same brainwave pattern? :)

New guided imagery MP3s & 10 tips to help you keep those New Year's resolutions

Before we get to the tips, here's the plug for my new MP3s that are available on Amazon to help you lose weight, stop smoking, reduce your stress levels, and just the meditation music without any voice so you can ride the wave alone if you want. :)

At this time of the year, if you're like most folks you've made a few New Year's Resolutions whether or not you've let anyone else know about them. The most common ones are losing weight, stopping smoking (especially if you're a closet smoker), reducing stress, and meditating more. So we thought we'd give you 10 ways to help you keep those resolutions, starting off the New Year right. 

Guided imagery is a big tool to help you keep all those resolutions --- and using MP3s can help you with your guided imagery, stress reduction, and self hypnosis program. (If hypnosis is new to you, you're probably wondering why folks see a hypnotist. The "big three" are to stop smoking, lose weight, and reduce their stress levels --- why I made those MP3s. ;>) What most people don't realize about the sub/unconscious is that it's very child-like and much like a child it likes having boundaries set and being told what to do. The catch is that you have to tell it what do it in just the right way otherwise it won't listen to you! 

So, buzz on over to Amazon to download one or all of the MP3s (they're very cheap!) then keep in mind the following 10 tips to help you keep you on track. 

1. Listen to the MP3s daily for at least 21 to 30 days.
   There are many ways to ensure access to the subconscious, but one of the simplest is repetition, repetition, repetition. That repetition ensures the suggestions make it into the sub/unconscious. If you use the ones in the link, they have some technological techniques embedded to ensure that you reach the trance state while listening. For best results, use headphones but you can also use speakers (lay in between them, lol :D). While working on these recordings, the sound engineer reached the point where he had to leave the room when I was listening to the playbacks because they simply made him too spacey! (Just because common sense isn't as common as we think, do not listen to these MP3s while driving!)


2. Start a routine and keep at it for at least 21 to 30 days.
   This applies to whatever your resolution is, but especially for any new habit you're trying to establish or for any old habit you're trying to break. See #1 above about repetition and why the 21 to 30 days is important.


3. Replace an old "bad" habit with a new good habit.
   The easiest way to break an old bad habit is to replace it with a new good habit. For example, take smoking. I smoked for years and quit more times than I care to count. I tried everything, including cold turkey, regular gum, nicotine gum, and "happy" pills that made me fuzzy headed, so I quit taking them after a week. What finally made it stick was using self hypnosis and an MP3 --- that was 8 years ago exactly one week before Christmas, and I don't even have a craving to smoke now. Replace the smoke with a glass of water, carrot, or some other thing that's good for you and that goes in your mouth, then keep at it for at least 21 to 30 days (see #2 above).


4. Baby steps count.
   Depending on how big of a change you're trying to make, baby steps do indeed count. The bigger the change you're trying to make the more important those baby steps are. Celebrate each baby step forward, and not with food or a smoke! Remember, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. "


5. If you're having trouble doing something every day (like working out), start out doing it every other day, Monday through Friday.
   Then after 21 to 30 days once that becomes a habit, add another day each week for the next 21 to 30 days, then another until you're doing it every day 5 days a week if that's your ultimate goal. This is a practical way of doing the baby steps in #4.


6. Share with your friends but address any sabotaging behavior.
   This is important for moral support especially if there's another person living in your house besides you. The best intentions can go to hell if your roommate, spouse, or significant other is still bringing home sugar, cakes, brownies, smokes, or whatever it is that you're trying to stop and replace with something better. Sabotage can be sub/unconscious on their part and if you notice it, you really need to discuss it with them. They are probably not aware they're doing it.
   
   Women, if you notice sabotaging behavior in your lover / spouse it is probably their sub/unconscious trying to keep you the way you are because it's afraid that once you're all slim and sexy again you might just trade them in for a new model! Studies have been done that verify when a woman is getting ready to dump her current live-in lover or spouse, she also drops some weight before doing it, so their subconscious is not all out in left field here. A major sit down discussion is needed along with some major re-assurance that you're just trying to get healthy for YOU and not because you're looking to dump them sometime soon.


7. Drink more water.
   I don't care what habits you're breaking and replacing, most of us should be drinking more water instead of soda, caffeinated, or diet drinks. Cut out the diet sodas, regular sodas, and even the crystal light crap and drink cool, clear, clean, refreshing water. Stressed out and counting to 10 before you explode? Grab a glass of water instead of a smoke or a doughnut or [insert carb-of-choice-here] while you cool down some before hitting the "send" button on that flaming e-mail.
   
   There have been several studies now that show diet drinks don't fool the body and they actually just make it gain weight because the body is looking for the calories that should be in those drinks but isn't. So when it doesn't find them it just makes you hungrier and you end up eating more than you would have before the diet drink!
   
   Don't like the taste of plain, cool, clear, clean, refreshing water? Herbal teas without caffeine can also count as water, or how about infused water? To make infused water simply cut up one (1) lemon or one (1) lime or one (1) orange / tangerine in two (2) quarts of water and let it infuse the water with flavor. You can experiment with your own flavors now that you know how to make it.  :)


8. Imagine yourself at your goal.
   Since I'm a hypnotist, I know that not everyone can "see" or visualize things in their imagination. Some of us "hear," some "smell," some "feel," so whatever is the best way for you imagine (we all get how to imagine things in our mind) yourself at your goal, whatever that goal is, just do it. The best time to do this imagining is right before you fall asleep at night because while you're in that half-awake half-asleep state where you're really just too lazy to open your eyes, you're in a trance state and self suggestions are best received then. This imagining is a self suggestion, and one of the best things about the sub/unconscious is that it cannot tell the difference between reality and imagination so it accepts both as completely truthful (even though your conscious mind has a problem with it!). So imagine you as the you, you want to be and your sub/unconscious will help you make it happen.
   


9. Do use positive affirmations.
   There are a lot of technical reasons (hypnotic technique) for not using negatives with your subconscious, but let's just say that using positive affirmations works. Remember to use them for at least 21 to 30 days to make sure they stick in your sub/unconscious. You might even want to pick several that ring true for you and cycle through them regularly. You don't even have to work on creating affirmations for this --- grab a Louise Hay daily calendar (less than $10) for some excellent positive affirmations and just tape the ones that resonate with you to your bathroom mirror and whisper them to yourself every morning and evening, while brushing your teeth. There is something about actually saying them out loud, even it it is only a whisper to yourself, that has a bigger impact on your sub/unconscious than just reading them to yourself. Speaking them gives them more energy so they penetrate deeper into your mind.


10. Stop the overly critical self-talk; Be gentle and kind to yourself; Love yourself! (It's not a sin. Really.) 
    It's very easy in this society to be hyper-critical of yourself. Don't. Think of how you would train a puppy or a child in some new behaviors: you'd do it with love and gentleness of course and you should "train" yourself in the same way. This is one of the best ways to encourage yourself to stick to these resolutions and one of the best ways to break old habits and establish new ones. There are several reasons for this and one of the biggest is to allow the new suggestions and new habits to take root in your sub/unconscious without your sub/unconscious spitting them right back out like an angry teenager. Another reason is that the body as well as the sub/unconscious remembers things and makes things happen for you, whether you want it or not.
    
    A note here: loving yourself is not a sin. Draw a distinction between the behaviors you don't like and the essence of your being --- the spark of Light / God / Goddess inside you --- and love that part if this is an issue for you. If you can't love yourself, how can you expect anyone else to love you? You deserve the best that you have been giving to everyone else. Treat yourself with equal respect and love to what you lavish on others. 
    
    

So grab some inexpensive MP3s (like mine), follow the tips above, and be well, happy, and healthy in this year and all the ones that follow. 

Reed Diffusers can distribute more than just scent in your home --- use the clearing essential oil mix in a reed diffuser for those areas you're having trouble keeping clear

Having trouble clearing out everyone else's energies from your home after the holidays? Sometimes folks (especially family) leave behind more bits and pieces of themselves than you'd like. Old patterns of behavior and old relationships usually find new energy when all the players are together again, so if you need some help clearing your space of all that energy that you'd rather not have around (since everyone has now returned to their own homes) here's something to help. Just set up a couple of these before you start the rest of the cleaning and picking up so they can work on the energies while you work on the rest of it. :)

This idea is something I've been using around my own home the last couple of months because I was getting tired of spritzing and spraying and burning incense every time I turned around and it seems to be working well.

The new dogs are quite sensitive to the energies in the house (even more than me), so keeping it all clear so they won't growl and bark at nothing and freak me out ;>) has been a chore, so I decided to try using the mix of essential oils I've been putting in a spritzer but instead put them in a carrier oil (4 oz) with reeds for dispersal. I have two of these set up --- one uses coconut oil (unscented, liquid) and the other olive oil (the quality you would use for making salves, creams, and lotions) and they've been working great!

The purple one has the olive oil carrier while the blue one has the coconut oil carrier.

Olive oil carrier oil & clearing mix of essential oils

Notice the nice golden color the olive oil presents.

Coconut oil carrier & clearing mix of essential oils

The coconut oil carrier oil is from the second pressing of the coconut, so not only is it liquid it doesn't add the coconut scent to the mix. It's also much lighter in color than the olive oil, so I expect it will evaporate more quickly as well. 

For those who don't know the clearing mix, here it is again. Just replace the 4 oz of water with 4 oz of carrier oil instead and place them around the house. Replace as needed. 

If you're being troubled while you sleep (nightmares, can't stay asleep, hearing things (you think), be sure to put one in the bedroom. We are most vulnerable and open to being approached by other realms while we sleep. That half asleep - half awake state is actually a trance state and our brainwaves are usually in at least an alpha brainwave pattern if not theta waves. 

Here's the clearing mixture for a 4 oz batch, with the oils listed most to least amounts: 

• Rosewood (10-20 drops)
• Frankincense (6-7 drops)
• Helichrysum (2-4 drops) --- very strong scent
• Orange (4-5 drops)
• Juniper Berry (2-4 drops) --- very strong scent
• Myrrh (1-3 drops)

Start with the oils used in the smallest amounts and work your way up. Add them to a base of 4 oz of carrier oil in a reed diffuser bottle large enough to hold it. You can infuse with Reiki/Healing Energy separately or as the finished mixture. Experiment with the proportions and use what your intuition (and nose) tells you. 

If the space is *really* hard to keep clear, use dragon's blood essential oil with the carrier oil instead, and make it strong enough for you to smell. 

Add 6 to 8 reed diffusers and enjoy not clearing your space every time you turn around!  :) 

"Teaching" emotions

This is a follow on to the updated entry I made about us apparently not teaching our little ones & younger ones how to handle their "negative" emotions, as well as my little rant about emotions being what make us human. :)

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that dampening down our emotions is bad for us. Dolores Cannon said this about them:

The emotions that have the most to teach us are anger, hate, fear, jealousy, disgust, impatience, shame, pride, pity, indignation, envy, worry and guilt. Many refer to these as negative, but I think that makes them less constructive, so I will call them the Teaching Emotions. They teach us so much about ourselves if we will only look.....

Emotions are what make us different from every other being in the cosmos, and these emotions are only available on this plane. We can’t get this kind of intense training anyplace else.

Dolores is a world-class hypnotist/hypnotherapist. You can read her full blog about the teaching emotions and how emotions are the language of the body here:  http://www.blog.dolorescannon.com/emotions-language-body/

What she's talking about is well known to hypnotists/hypnotherapists (and even energy healing workers and massage therapists): cellular memory. Even when we do not consciously remember a thing, whether that's from this life or a past / other life, often our body remembers as well as our subconscious. Birth marks on the body where we suffered a mortal injury in a past / other live. Rashes that appear for no reason but the root cause found in hypnosis was being burned alive in another lifetime. Weight management issues whose root cause is starvation in another life time. And even cancer because at some point we were told we shouldn't be here in some way, shape, or form. The list goes on and on and on. 

That list of "teaching emotions" is the list of the strongest emotions known to human beings. And of all of those emotions, there is only one that is stronger:  love.

Remember that where you focus your energy and your attention is what you draw into your life. Let's all try and focus on the love & peace vibe a little more this holiday season. 
love & peace blessing to us all,
melodie

Update to soul contracts, evolving ascension & crazy shootings posted

http://lunawellnesscenter.blogspot.com/2012/07/soul-contracts-evolving-ascension-crazy.html

St. Francis & rescue dogs: strange creatures called Afghan Hounds

A lot has happened since my last post here: I changed my day job (yes, the one where I'd been for the last 9+ years as a contractor in a US government agency) for one in IT security in the healthcare industry that allowed me to telecommute about 4 days a week. It's been very good for me --- my stress levels have gone waaayyyy down, I've lost about 30 lbs w/o even trying (not eating on the run and walking the new doggies at lunch time), and St. Francis also saw fit to send a couple of rescue Afghan Hounds my way after both of my elderly furry doggie companions passed --- first Shannon, an Australian Shepherd mix who I rescued from the Denver Dumb Friends League in 2003 to keep Barely (or Bearly or Bear Lee of the southern Lees ;>), an Afghan Hound and Chow mix who found me in when he was 8 weeks old in 1999, company while I was at work, and then Bearly. Shannon passed in June and Bearly in August.  Needless to say, I was quite depressed and weepy for most of the summer.

And just when I decided I wasn't going to have fuzzy children for a while (all of my children are fuzzy, furry, or feathered) for some reason I got in my head I have to have Afghan Hounds. Pure. I talked to a local breeder about buying an older girl, but it just didn't feel right. Then some of the rescue folks I'd been talking to pointed me to about 8 of them that had come from a breeder in Ohio. And silly me makes a phone call to the Humane Society where they were then books a flight (non refundable, one way because the timing just happened to work out such that my partner had been visiting family in Atlanta and New York and was driving back cross country to Colorado the week I booked the flight to pick up the dogs.  Hmmmm..... serendipity? You betcha!) before finding out the "Afghan Hound social workers" needed to visit my home before blessing the adoption because the Afghan Hound Rescue folks were also involved. Of course they passed me and with the new flexible job I had I was able to make up the work hours before and after the trip.  

St. Francis is the one responsible for my craziness...and for making sure that the furry ones who needs us (and who we need) connect with us. I knew for certain once I saw them that I had done the right thing, because I heard loudly in my mind "mom!" from Phoenix the first time he saw me as he jumped up and place his paws on the chain link fence. (Phoenix is very tall when he stands on his back legs --- as tall as me and I'm 5'6".  If you remember, I also heard Shannon say "mom, I'm OK now" shortly after her passing. Bearly didn't talk before or after, but I did see him after standing in the back yard looking into the green space with the wind in his hair, and he was quite happy and well again.)

The new family members are Phoenix (as in the fire bird rising from the ashes) who is about 16 months old and is still very much puppy inside (down to chewing all things in sight! lol) and Flutter who is about 5 years. The Humane Society folks in Ohio renamed her this because of a fluttering sound she makes when happy (along w/ showing her teeth in the widest grin I've ever seen on a dog!) which sounds amazingly like a small horse! LOL. Flutter is also Phoenix's grandmother. Pics are below for the other critter lovers out there. :)

Phoenix

Phoenix

Phoenix

Flutter

Flutter

Flutter

Phoenix in foreground; Flutter farther back

Afghan Hounds are really the misunderstood breed in the dog world. They are extremely smart and catch on very fast. They just don't always feel the need to do what *you* want them to do. :D  They are also very sensitive creatures and need a light hand when training. So you can see why the "Afghan Hound Social workers" for the rescue folks are quite careful about placement. If you have not been around Affies they can seem very un-dog like and very cat like (they are). My partner calls them "fuzzy people who are quite strange creatures." <laughing> They are thieves and steal from each other and their people constantly. Theft is a favorite game and how they survived for generations upon generations. They are also athletes and built for running in sharp mountain areas --- top speed is 40 mph --- so they have very big fuzzy feet. The only dogs faster are greyhounds, who's top speed is 45 mph. Yes, I've already chased Phoenix around the neighborhood in my fleece jammies & slippers. I now no longer use my front door but go out through the garage for packages and such because it's like an air lock for doggies. ;>
Of the two, Phoenix is quite a bit smarter than Flutter (he "gets" new things after only being shown a couple of times (much like my Bearly dog did) while Flutter needs more time and more treats to "get" new things ---- like how to use the dog door. Even now several months later, occasionally she'll get in a mood and think the humans should open the door to the yard for Queen Flutter instead of making her use the dog door. (ROFL!) She barks for a human to open the door when in this mood.... "Human slave, open the big door for Queen Flutter..."

Phoenix on the other had is like the class clown. He's silly and goofy and seems to like to make his humans laugh. And he has brought a lot of joy (they both have really) at a time when I really needed it.

Both of them were having nightmares when I brought them home, although the Affie Rescue folks I talked to said they were neglected and not abused. They were in a kennel with about 20 other dogs. Flutter, god bless her, still wants to guard the food some ---- I have the distinct impression that in her 5 years she had to fight / intimidate the other dogs to get her share of things, and I expect she's had at least a couple of litters. She is indeed an alpha bitch Queen. ;)  And little Phoenix (even though he is bigger) lets her have whatever she wants.

Phoenix, besides the goofiness and humour, is a momma's boy. He hides behind me after stealing things from Flutter and whines and carries on and is quite vocal and opinionated about things. I've often said if he were a cat, he'd be Siamese.

Flutter would wake growling until very recently --- again, I think it's from being in a kennel with so many other dogs and having to constantly be on her guard. I keep reassuring her that there will always be enough food and that she doesn't have to guard it. I've also been doing Reiki / energy healing on her quite regularly and she does enjoy that. She's even gotten to the point now where she will let me take things (including treats) away from her without growling and she'll let me love her after dark as well (she is definitely a morning dog. They both are.), so we are seeing some big improvements.

Phoenix also has nightmares and they are getting fewer. Of the two, Flutter, because of her age, has suffered more because of the neglect because she was exposed to it longer --- for 5 years --- so her behaviors show it more and she has been slower to trust. Phoenix shows the greatest separation anxiety and me being able to telecommute for most of the work week has been a huge blessing as far as helping to reassure him than when I leave I come back and for bonding with the two of them. They are my "assistants" while I work.

It will take some time, and I'm constantly asking St. Francis & Archangel Raphael to help me with the two of them, especially Flutter. I'm seeing more and more of her "happy face" these days (especially in the morning) and I'm hoping soon that the nightmares will be a thing of the past for both of them. My older doggies also had nightmares when they were younger and they became fewer and farther between as they got older, so I'm expecting the same will happen w/ the affies.

So, a few tips if there are some other new dog rescuers out there: 

• Take some Bach's Rescue Remedy with you when you pick them up. I used it on both for the first few weeks until they started ducking and running from it. The dogs will let you know when they've had enough.
• If you are a Reiki Master or Healing Energy practitioner, use it on the doggies. It helps calm them and also builds trust with you. The same rule of thumb applies: when they've had enough they'll let you know. If they're awake, they'll just get up and move away.
• Use a lot of praise and treats early on to help build the trust & love. Even after you've had to correct some not-so-good behavior, then find a reason to give them praise and encouragement. This also lets them know that you still love them even after they've been bad. For my Affies, them coming when I call gets a treat from me. :)
• Remember, they have the intelligence of about a 3-4 year old when full grown. So a lot of things you would do for children who have been neglected or mistreated you do for the doggies, too. Be consistent. Provide a safe, stable environment. Give lots of love and have lots of patience. Provide lots of praise.

Until next time, enjoy your furry babies as much as I do. :)

Was Jeshua a Lightworker? (Lord's Prayer transliteration from Aramaic directly to English)

I ran across this direct translation of the Lord's Prayer from Aramaic to English (instead of from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English) and just wanted to share it since one of my many projects lately has been going back to the example of Jeshua (Jesus' given name in Hebrew) and the life of love he led. Not the dogma. Not the religion the church made of him, but the example and the wisdom shared in the language they were shared in without any of the multiple translation errors that ended up in the King James version of the bible. 

As many of you may know, I (and many others like me --- old souls who have been burned more than once or killed, maimed, and tortured in past lives for speaking our truth) had a real problem with the teacher & ascended master of "Jesus" since I had a real problem with organized religion of any flavor. Making peace with Jeshua or Sananda was very difficult for me and a very big deal when my issues w/ this particular teacher surfaced during a series of meditation classes on Opening to the Divine. (See the Resources for Staying on Your Path section of my book for more information on those classes.) While working through those issues I learned that a lot of old souls or those whose beliefs tend more towards the unconventional, such as Wiccans, Pagans, and other "Earth Religion" folks have a similar problem with organized religion and this particular teacher specifically. There were a lot of heart issues involved there, and this particular teacher is about living in your heart so to work with the energy from this teacher, you've got to work it all through ---- and be able to get to forgiveness of the people (not the actions) on the other side. Anyway, I could say a lot more about just that aspect of my own growth work, and there have been a lot of books written about forgiveness and how it's necessary to your own healing. (See Louise Hay's books for starters.) 

What many seem to forget is that Jeshua was Jewish and his native tongue was Aramaic. Not Syrian Aramaic, but ancient Aramaic which is even older and even predates Hebrew. Yes, he probably spoke Latin and Greek as well as since most Rabbi's did (not to mention that Rabbi's are required to be married, but that's another bone). ;>  Anyway, here's the translation --- it's quite different and more in line with a much larger view of this teacher of love.

Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes, who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.

May your light be experienced in my utmost holiest. Your Heavenly Domain approaches.

Let your will come true - in the universe (all that vibrates) just as on earth (that is material and dense).

Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need, detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others.

Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations), but let us be freed from that what keeps us from our true purpose.

From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.

Sealed in trust, faith and truth. (I confirm with my entire being)

Quite a bit different, wouldn't you agree? From that translation, the teacher sounds much more like a "lightworker" than anything else. ;>