I've been doing the year long free course on soul retrieval that the Ligmincha Institute has been offering in 2015 https://www.ligminchalearning.com/.
The early parts were about getting to know the elements and how they relate to us and the world around us. I'd found that connecting with the elements within the spaciousness, silence and stillness that the practice teaches to be very powerful. One thing I had particularly noticed was an enhanced sense of smell. I looked on the web to see if the senses had any elemental correspondences. Going by http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_elements/tables_of_correspondences/the_elements_and_their_correspondences.asp the sense of smell seems to be connected with the element of water. In the tibetan tradition taught by the Ligmincha Institute the element of water is equated with home and comfort. A place to rest and feel safe. Since I have always sought out water, either for a swim or a bath, when stressed this came as no surprise.
This month, July, the course is dealing with relationship - to self and others and expanding the practice to include an awareness of the suffering and striving of those we have particularly challenging relationships with. That awareness grows compassion and becomes a powerful way to heal. I had been feeling particularly at odds with myself due to the ill health of a significant other. Yes I know I shouldn't but I had been blaming myself. Surely I could have done more to prevent it, cared more, loved more, prevented more. I guess I'd been peeved at my own helplessness in the situation and that had made me angry with myself. Doing the practice that went with this month's teaching I chose to focus on my relationship with myself as my first relationship to repair. I first used the prescribed breathing and visualization to center myself. Becoming clearer and more open. From there I went into the awareness of stillness, silence and spaciousness and rested in it. I let myself become aware of all I'd been feeling (my relationship with my self), without judging or engaging with it. A warmth washed through me, a releasing of sorts that left me at peace with myself. I had done my best, as we all do our best, within the day to day conditions and context we live in. If I want to support greater healing in those I love then I need a whole and healthy relationship with myself AND them. Knowing we are all doing the best that we can. Letting that understanding and the compassion that flows from it send healing energy towards them and the world that is the context for their own dis-ease.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
Its never too late to learn music using apps and online resources
Last year was a bit life changing. I reached that critical threshold point where I felt I could no longer thrive in my paid part-time job. I guess the public service worldwide is facing the same pressures: diminishing budgets, over-regulation, micro-management, politicians in crisis mode meddling in the day to day running of departments and constant restructures that dis-empower anyone who actually provides real services to the public. So it was time to leap into a new life, one as a full time housekeeper, edible landscape gardener and indie writer. But what to do for R&R. Running got knobbled when my right knee packed it in, complaining that I was never designed to be an athelete. Knitting complex cable jumpers is fun but I only need so many. Gardening is nice but then there are the long days over winter where it struggles to get to 10 degrees Celsius outside. Writing is my passion but sometimes you need a break to let ideas percolate. Cleaning up our old house to sell I found my old tin whistle, one my dad had bought me when I was a teenager. Never had a clue how to play it so I would just go up the bush and make sound, enjoying myself but rather unproductively. The thing is, despite the interest, I didn't seem to have inherited any nature musical ability, I couldn't tune a guitar to save myself and the choir teacher at school prefered, well, that I didn't sing.
I had one last attempt to learn music in my early twenties, taking singing lessons and buying myself a keyboard but really I had no clue if I was on key or not. In never learned anything more than the right hand melodies. I certainly didn't seem to have a feel for rhythm or timing or any of the other skills a musician is supposed to have. So I sold the keyboard and put the tin whistle into my glory box.
Then apps happened. Having finally learned enough Spanish using Duolingo that I can actively use the language I wondered what else apps might help me do. Could I learn to hear when a note was in tune? If I could do that then maybe I could look at getting a musical instrument and trying again to learn some music, at least for my own pleasure. After a bit of a look at potential apps I settled on the Functional Ear Trainer. It promised that ear training could be taught. I doubted that very much but thought that it might be a good brain game. So ten minutes a day I started with it. I was appalling at first I must say but surprisingly I quickly started making some progress. Okay this was good. It was obviously possible to learn to hear relative pitch at least. Maybe I wasn't a total lost cause.
While working with the ear training I started looking for apps and resources that would teach me some actual music theory. Here are my favorites:
A visit to my local library got me a copy of "Idiots Guide to Music Theory" which pulled all the bits together for me.
Feeling empowered I installed a piano app (there are many to choose from) on my tablet so I could start practicing reading some sheet music and playing some actual music. I also unearthed my tin whistle and started considering what music instruments were out there and what might suit me best.
Keyboards are pretty much the go for music beginners but seemed pricey until I found out about the Casio LK120 which, on special, sells for under $100 Australian dollars. The keyboard is specially designed for beginners as it has a memory bank of 100 tunes, has a three step learning process and allows you to practise the left and right hand separately. In the first step you hear the tune at the pace it is meant to be played, keys light up showing you which keys to press but if you make a mistake it still plays the correct one. In the second stage you play the notes as best you can at your own pace but you will hear mistakes. In the third step you perform the piece at the pace it is meant to be played. Correct fingering is also taught through and on screen display and a voice guide which is annoying so I switched it off right away.
But keyboards, while good in the home, aren't something you can readily carry around with you. That led me back to considering a second instrument I have with me most of the time. Actually I settled on two: the tablet keyboard and the tin whistle.
Pianist HD learn Piano, like the Casio keyboard has a memory bank of a hundred songs (the usual copyright free kids tunes, carols and classical pieces) and access to others you can download. It is actually a very similar teaching approach but getting the timing right is more intuitive as the length you need to hold each note is shown visually. I think it is a good way to learn note measures. As I'm not into carols and the kids tunes quickly became boring I drifted into playing with the classical pieces and found I loved it. I didn't realize I was already familiar with so many. We must hear them all the time in advertisements and tv shows. A lot of classical doesn't do it for me, frankly I never got the whole scene, but I do enjoy these popular pieces. The thing is now I am learning their names, their composers and the magic in how they are pieced together and played. Another app called Piano sheet music has quite a few more classical pieces and shows how the notes relate to the sheet music but unfortunately it gives no way to play along.
Back to the tin whistle. I quickly discovered my Bflat tin whistle wasn't in the standard key for tin whistle music. Fortunately that doesn't really matter as you can play standard tin whistle fingering in any key, just cover the holes as indicated. Much of the music around for it is they copyright free stuff which initially limits you to the ubiquitous nursery rhymes and carols but fortunately also a large amount of traditional Irish and Scottish music. Not knowing most of these tunes it pays to look them up on Youtube and listen to a performance first before trying to learn them. I've since bought a Feadog Pro D tin whistle in the key of D. It is higher pitched and therefore more of a challenge to hit the high notes without causing what my partner nicely calls a cat squeal but otherwise it does have a nice tone. Since most tin whistle pieces are written for the key of D. It is possible with some practice to create semitones which allow you to play a greater range of sheet music. Your main limitation is the lowest note in whatever piece you are playing can't be lower than the lowest note on the whistle so if you want to adapt a piece of sheet music to the whistle you must transpose it to the key of your whistle. Fortunately their are apps to help you do this too. The other limitation is that a musical piece must cover no more than two octaves. Those restraints aside the whistle is something you can carry with you anywhere and I believe there are also two piece ones that fit in your handbag for transport.
My next job is to learn some of the tin whistle ornamentation such as tonguing, tapping and rolls. Tonguing allows you to cut the air flow when you want a clear transition between two wide apart notes. Tapping is as it sounds, a quite double tap on the desired note which is useful for giving a held note a beat whereas otherwise you would just get a long drawn out note. Rolls are short musical pieces, a series of quickly played notes that, well to be honest I'm not sure where you'd use them yet but I'm guessing they are useful for adding interest to an otherwise boring patch of music. If you do opt for a tin whistle check out the collections of tin whistle music on Pininterest. like my favorite pieces such as "Country Road" and "Ode to Joy." And for the more traditional Irish stuff check out http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/sheet-music-and-tin-whistle-notes.html. The book of sheet music he has is a good collection for beginners but you will find many more on his website including modern popular pieces http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/pop-songs-for-tin-whistle.html
One day I'd like to try a Dobro or slide guitar. Being sometimes a massage therapist I don't fancy what the average guitar does to your finger tips but the slide guitar and its variations look possible. Something for later on though. At the moment cost is a deterrent. If a second hand flute turned up cheap at a garage sale I might try that too but I hear they need specially shaped mouth for you to play them well and I have no idea if I qualify. Refer Embouchure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embouchure This is not an issue with the tin whistle or oriental and native American Indian end blown flutes.
You may ask why I haven't gone to someone to learn music. Well the fact is I live in a remote wilderness area with a dearth of music teachers. That aside I've never enjoyed the whole being taught experience. I prefer the direct nonjudgmental feedback of apps and my own ears. My approach wouldn't work for everyone but as a brain game and a personally pleasurable experience its enough. In the meantime I'm having lots of fun.
I had one last attempt to learn music in my early twenties, taking singing lessons and buying myself a keyboard but really I had no clue if I was on key or not. In never learned anything more than the right hand melodies. I certainly didn't seem to have a feel for rhythm or timing or any of the other skills a musician is supposed to have. So I sold the keyboard and put the tin whistle into my glory box.
Then apps happened. Having finally learned enough Spanish using Duolingo that I can actively use the language I wondered what else apps might help me do. Could I learn to hear when a note was in tune? If I could do that then maybe I could look at getting a musical instrument and trying again to learn some music, at least for my own pleasure. After a bit of a look at potential apps I settled on the Functional Ear Trainer. It promised that ear training could be taught. I doubted that very much but thought that it might be a good brain game. So ten minutes a day I started with it. I was appalling at first I must say but surprisingly I quickly started making some progress. Okay this was good. It was obviously possible to learn to hear relative pitch at least. Maybe I wasn't a total lost cause.
While working with the ear training I started looking for apps and resources that would teach me some actual music theory. Here are my favorites:
- Lypur's Youtube music theory videos - clear straight forward small chunks of learning. Mostly related to learning the piano but the theory can be applied more broadly.
- Music theory helper app which has some exercises that help with discerning intervals
- Piano scales and chords free - necessary practice if you ever want to play left hand accompaniments, transpose music or do all that other fun stuff real musos do.
- Perfect Ear 2 - a great swag of learning tools
- Voice Training Learn to Sing - for learning to sing in key
- Rhythm Sheep - for learning to hear beats and timing
A visit to my local library got me a copy of "Idiots Guide to Music Theory" which pulled all the bits together for me.
Feeling empowered I installed a piano app (there are many to choose from) on my tablet so I could start practicing reading some sheet music and playing some actual music. I also unearthed my tin whistle and started considering what music instruments were out there and what might suit me best.
Keyboards are pretty much the go for music beginners but seemed pricey until I found out about the Casio LK120 which, on special, sells for under $100 Australian dollars. The keyboard is specially designed for beginners as it has a memory bank of 100 tunes, has a three step learning process and allows you to practise the left and right hand separately. In the first step you hear the tune at the pace it is meant to be played, keys light up showing you which keys to press but if you make a mistake it still plays the correct one. In the second stage you play the notes as best you can at your own pace but you will hear mistakes. In the third step you perform the piece at the pace it is meant to be played. Correct fingering is also taught through and on screen display and a voice guide which is annoying so I switched it off right away.
But keyboards, while good in the home, aren't something you can readily carry around with you. That led me back to considering a second instrument I have with me most of the time. Actually I settled on two: the tablet keyboard and the tin whistle.
Pianist HD learn Piano, like the Casio keyboard has a memory bank of a hundred songs (the usual copyright free kids tunes, carols and classical pieces) and access to others you can download. It is actually a very similar teaching approach but getting the timing right is more intuitive as the length you need to hold each note is shown visually. I think it is a good way to learn note measures. As I'm not into carols and the kids tunes quickly became boring I drifted into playing with the classical pieces and found I loved it. I didn't realize I was already familiar with so many. We must hear them all the time in advertisements and tv shows. A lot of classical doesn't do it for me, frankly I never got the whole scene, but I do enjoy these popular pieces. The thing is now I am learning their names, their composers and the magic in how they are pieced together and played. Another app called Piano sheet music has quite a few more classical pieces and shows how the notes relate to the sheet music but unfortunately it gives no way to play along.
Back to the tin whistle. I quickly discovered my Bflat tin whistle wasn't in the standard key for tin whistle music. Fortunately that doesn't really matter as you can play standard tin whistle fingering in any key, just cover the holes as indicated. Much of the music around for it is they copyright free stuff which initially limits you to the ubiquitous nursery rhymes and carols but fortunately also a large amount of traditional Irish and Scottish music. Not knowing most of these tunes it pays to look them up on Youtube and listen to a performance first before trying to learn them. I've since bought a Feadog Pro D tin whistle in the key of D. It is higher pitched and therefore more of a challenge to hit the high notes without causing what my partner nicely calls a cat squeal but otherwise it does have a nice tone. Since most tin whistle pieces are written for the key of D. It is possible with some practice to create semitones which allow you to play a greater range of sheet music. Your main limitation is the lowest note in whatever piece you are playing can't be lower than the lowest note on the whistle so if you want to adapt a piece of sheet music to the whistle you must transpose it to the key of your whistle. Fortunately their are apps to help you do this too. The other limitation is that a musical piece must cover no more than two octaves. Those restraints aside the whistle is something you can carry with you anywhere and I believe there are also two piece ones that fit in your handbag for transport.
My next job is to learn some of the tin whistle ornamentation such as tonguing, tapping and rolls. Tonguing allows you to cut the air flow when you want a clear transition between two wide apart notes. Tapping is as it sounds, a quite double tap on the desired note which is useful for giving a held note a beat whereas otherwise you would just get a long drawn out note. Rolls are short musical pieces, a series of quickly played notes that, well to be honest I'm not sure where you'd use them yet but I'm guessing they are useful for adding interest to an otherwise boring patch of music. If you do opt for a tin whistle check out the collections of tin whistle music on Pininterest. like my favorite pieces such as "Country Road" and "Ode to Joy." And for the more traditional Irish stuff check out http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/sheet-music-and-tin-whistle-notes.html. The book of sheet music he has is a good collection for beginners but you will find many more on his website including modern popular pieces http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/pop-songs-for-tin-whistle.html
One day I'd like to try a Dobro or slide guitar. Being sometimes a massage therapist I don't fancy what the average guitar does to your finger tips but the slide guitar and its variations look possible. Something for later on though. At the moment cost is a deterrent. If a second hand flute turned up cheap at a garage sale I might try that too but I hear they need specially shaped mouth for you to play them well and I have no idea if I qualify. Refer Embouchure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embouchure This is not an issue with the tin whistle or oriental and native American Indian end blown flutes.
You may ask why I haven't gone to someone to learn music. Well the fact is I live in a remote wilderness area with a dearth of music teachers. That aside I've never enjoyed the whole being taught experience. I prefer the direct nonjudgmental feedback of apps and my own ears. My approach wouldn't work for everyone but as a brain game and a personally pleasurable experience its enough. In the meantime I'm having lots of fun.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Sacred Space: The Practice of Inner Stillness Album
It would come as no great surprise to readers of this blog that I am a great fan of Tenzin Wangyal's books and other material. Yet I would not see myself as a Buddhist or indeed a Bon practitioner. I prefer to take my wisdom where I find it and feel no obligation to filter it to just one "brand", pagan, secular, religious or otherwise. I do however entwine many of Tenzin Wangyal's meditations, philosophy and body yoga with my own practices. Previously he has produced meditative CDs attached to books such as "Tibetan Sound Healing" and "Awakening The Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy" but this is the first issued as a stand alone. It builds nicely on his earlier work and I think it is even an improvement in certain aspects. The hemi-sync binaural background is deeply relaxing. He leaves ample space/intervals in the meditation for you to sink deeply into what he is asking you to do. It is also a version you can recommend to your staunchly secular friends as it is jargon free and the dedication at the end is only in English. Personally I enjoy hearing the Tibetan language used in prayer and chant. It has a power and resonance that is awesome. I often listen to Tibetan Bon chanting even if I do not understand a word of it. But some may find the use of a language they don't understand alienating so I think the English dedication at the end in this one will broaden this CD's appeal.
The essence of the meditation is still that same freeing connection with inner space, stillness and silence that you will find in his other works. I would recommend them all as they overlap in their wisdom.
Given the prohibitive postal charges between the US and Australia I obtained my copy as a digital download direct from the Hemi-Sync online shop. http://shop.hemi-sync.com/products/1424-Sacred-Space-The-Practice-of-Inner-Stillness-Album/#.VP_Ppo5L7EY
The essence of the meditation is still that same freeing connection with inner space, stillness and silence that you will find in his other works. I would recommend them all as they overlap in their wisdom.
Given the prohibitive postal charges between the US and Australia I obtained my copy as a digital download direct from the Hemi-Sync online shop. http://shop.hemi-sync.com/products/1424-Sacred-Space-The-Practice-of-Inner-Stillness-Album/#.VP_Ppo5L7EY
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
The four approaches to problems: fight, flight, accept or suffer
The theory of radical acceptance (RA) states that there are basically four approaches to any problem (physical, emotional, global, systemic whatever...):
Flight (which includes all forms of avoidance, distraction or altering your perception) requires you to take the safer path where the scary monster doesn't reside. Instead of riding the bicycle past the vicious uncontrolled Alsatian you can choose to take the longer safer path home. Wearing earplugs to block out unpleasant sounds is necessary for sleep at times. Distracting yourself with an activity you can immerse yourself in or focus on can get you out of thinking about the problem or the pain for a while - can give welcome relief and is good if it gets you out of rut but ineffective in the longer term if the problem is still going to be there when you finish distracting yourself. Before using this approach you should evaluate the consequences. Will it cost more, take longer, remove opportunities from your path, isolate you or become an habitual or addictive response.
Accept (pain is pain). Acknowledge the pain, it's there, don't try to change it, don't embrace it, fight it or run away from it - it's just there. Life will go on. You will survive this. This option works well with things you can't change or influence: traffic jams, global economic change, terminal illnesses, loss of a pet, friend or partner. If you can practice it on the traffic jams and other little things outside your control then the response will be may be more easily accessible to you when faced with life's bigger problems.
Suffer (suffering or misery is defined in RA as pain plus non acceptance).
All of us are faced with issues on a daily basis, from the big global ones like us and our planet being enslaved and milked for all we are worth by the half dozen individuals who run the planet, down to the limitations of life in general: death, disease, loss. In between we have the more ordinary problems like crumbling infrastructures that are too expensive to maintain (come across any councils ripping up the bitumen lately because its cheaper to maintain dirt roads), services that are no longer affordable and the increasing workload that exceeds the available resources, job losses due to cut backs and automation, rising costs and a stranglehold of red tape and regulation. A wise spiritual warrior needs to become skillful in knowing what to fight, flee or accept without ever opting for the fourth option of being beaten by the big and little realities of life.
- fight
- flight
- acceptance
- continued suffering
Flight (which includes all forms of avoidance, distraction or altering your perception) requires you to take the safer path where the scary monster doesn't reside. Instead of riding the bicycle past the vicious uncontrolled Alsatian you can choose to take the longer safer path home. Wearing earplugs to block out unpleasant sounds is necessary for sleep at times. Distracting yourself with an activity you can immerse yourself in or focus on can get you out of thinking about the problem or the pain for a while - can give welcome relief and is good if it gets you out of rut but ineffective in the longer term if the problem is still going to be there when you finish distracting yourself. Before using this approach you should evaluate the consequences. Will it cost more, take longer, remove opportunities from your path, isolate you or become an habitual or addictive response.
Accept (pain is pain). Acknowledge the pain, it's there, don't try to change it, don't embrace it, fight it or run away from it - it's just there. Life will go on. You will survive this. This option works well with things you can't change or influence: traffic jams, global economic change, terminal illnesses, loss of a pet, friend or partner. If you can practice it on the traffic jams and other little things outside your control then the response will be may be more easily accessible to you when faced with life's bigger problems.
Suffer (suffering or misery is defined in RA as pain plus non acceptance).
All of us are faced with issues on a daily basis, from the big global ones like us and our planet being enslaved and milked for all we are worth by the half dozen individuals who run the planet, down to the limitations of life in general: death, disease, loss. In between we have the more ordinary problems like crumbling infrastructures that are too expensive to maintain (come across any councils ripping up the bitumen lately because its cheaper to maintain dirt roads), services that are no longer affordable and the increasing workload that exceeds the available resources, job losses due to cut backs and automation, rising costs and a stranglehold of red tape and regulation. A wise spiritual warrior needs to become skillful in knowing what to fight, flee or accept without ever opting for the fourth option of being beaten by the big and little realities of life.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Musings on making a gluten-free, raw food, vegan, ayurvedic pizza slice.
So a pizza with no cheese, onions, preserved olives of artichokes, hot peppers or a flour based crust. Tough ask - yes! But a worthwhile challenge to take on I think as my tastebuds will thank me if I get it right.
Did my research, looking at raw food, vegan and gluten-free info on the web. My problem is most sites only deal with one thing. Gluten-free vegan is becoming more common but even there people design recipes with things like mushrooms (big allergen for me), hot peppers that inflame and preserves that are liable to have molds, fungis and yeast (which my body treats like mushrooms and snarls at me). The Veggieboards forum has a lot of good ideas but no one solution. Breaking down the problem into its three component parts we have a need for:
You can buy gluten-free pizza bases but they may contain salt, sugar, spices, yeast and a type of flour you can't digest. I've opted to make my own. I have a dehydrater, a wood stove and a convection oven that will do low temperatures so dehydrating is easy enough. Tip: on a cool night do your dehydrating in the evening to warm the room, they choof out a fair bit of warm air. My first attempt at a base used quinoa sprouts which I blended with linseed and chia (my usual egg-replacement glue). I poured this into a flan base and dehydrated it. I'd have to say the taste was strong on the palate but not unpleasant. I have two other ideas to try: an almond and herb base and a zucchini, walnut and linseed base. I'm tempted to try sunflowers as well. You can add asafoetida to the base mix if you want a slightly garlicy flavor. If you want salt use himalayan or sea salt or a dash of tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) or dulse flakes.
The toppings
This is the easy bit. There is actually quite a bit you can use. Raid your garden for what's in season. I made a bed of spinach, beetroot leaves and mizuna. Arranged some bell peppers, fresh pineapple (okay, not out of my garden but the rest was), Vietnamese mint, oregano and thyme on top. I've yet to try nasturtium flowers but I think they might add a bite. Calendula petals would add colour. Water chestnuts might add a crunch factor.
The cheese-less melt
For my first attempt I used my tried and tested cashew, basil pesto. Just add Cashews, fresh basil, pine nuts, a dash of asafoetida to a blender then pour over your pizza. Dehydrate for a while to draw out the flavors of the veggies underneath.One alternative I'd like to try to this is the idea of thing slices of avocado added to the top of warmed pizza. Sounded nice.
Slice and enjoy.
I'll add to this post as I refine things.
Did my research, looking at raw food, vegan and gluten-free info on the web. My problem is most sites only deal with one thing. Gluten-free vegan is becoming more common but even there people design recipes with things like mushrooms (big allergen for me), hot peppers that inflame and preserves that are liable to have molds, fungis and yeast (which my body treats like mushrooms and snarls at me). The Veggieboards forum has a lot of good ideas but no one solution. Breaking down the problem into its three component parts we have a need for:
- a flourless base
- pizza toppings
- a cheese-less melt.
You can buy gluten-free pizza bases but they may contain salt, sugar, spices, yeast and a type of flour you can't digest. I've opted to make my own. I have a dehydrater, a wood stove and a convection oven that will do low temperatures so dehydrating is easy enough. Tip: on a cool night do your dehydrating in the evening to warm the room, they choof out a fair bit of warm air. My first attempt at a base used quinoa sprouts which I blended with linseed and chia (my usual egg-replacement glue). I poured this into a flan base and dehydrated it. I'd have to say the taste was strong on the palate but not unpleasant. I have two other ideas to try: an almond and herb base and a zucchini, walnut and linseed base. I'm tempted to try sunflowers as well. You can add asafoetida to the base mix if you want a slightly garlicy flavor. If you want salt use himalayan or sea salt or a dash of tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) or dulse flakes.
The toppings
This is the easy bit. There is actually quite a bit you can use. Raid your garden for what's in season. I made a bed of spinach, beetroot leaves and mizuna. Arranged some bell peppers, fresh pineapple (okay, not out of my garden but the rest was), Vietnamese mint, oregano and thyme on top. I've yet to try nasturtium flowers but I think they might add a bite. Calendula petals would add colour. Water chestnuts might add a crunch factor.
The cheese-less melt
For my first attempt I used my tried and tested cashew, basil pesto. Just add Cashews, fresh basil, pine nuts, a dash of asafoetida to a blender then pour over your pizza. Dehydrate for a while to draw out the flavors of the veggies underneath.One alternative I'd like to try to this is the idea of thing slices of avocado added to the top of warmed pizza. Sounded nice.
Slice and enjoy.
I'll add to this post as I refine things.
Monday, March 17, 2014
The power of "One Mind" to create
The positive thinking movement tells us that we have the power to create and change our reality. Choosing to be positive is within our individual power to do. By changing how we react to people events and life in general, changing the language we use to speak and thing about ourselves and others and simply choosing to be happy anyway can bring profound changes into our individual lives. There's a catch though. Its relative power is often limited or derailed by our subconscious insecurities, aversions and desires/attachements.
clearing our subconscious of its dross AND practicing a positive outlook takes us further. Techniques like relaxation, breathing techniques, yogic chakra releases, visualisation, acts of faith and forgiveness can all help with the letting go.
But the above will still only fix you. How do we fix the wider problems of the world. The violence, sickness, greed and misery that simply shouldn't have to be. We feel helpless in our individual capacity to bring about change. Prayers or focused intent can be directed at our external environment but again the affect is limited. The fact is you are one individual against the global consensus reality waiting for a tipping point number of people to believe the same as you before the global healing you wish for can spread like a benevolent virus embracing the world. So what to do?
We need to go beyond the individual. All of the above is worthwhile but something more is required for a truly global fix.
Gnostic traditions, those traditions based on direct experience, state that we live in an illusion that is largely of our own collective making. What we experience is governed by the limits of our biological capabilities and our programmed responses. We see and feel what we expect to see and feel. We see a world where we are separate from other individuals, other beings and the very earth beneath our feet. Conceptually at least we know this isn't true. Quantum science is no longer new. It's been telling us for some time now that the structure of the universe is not what we perceive. Take just one atom of one cell of your being. It's mostly just a lot of space with a few particles moving within it around a central core but the exact location of any particle can only be given in terms of probability. Everything else is space. We perceive a hard touchable surface to our skin. It keeps rain, leaves blown on the gusts of wind and anything else from passing into our body, viruses aside. But the surface is mostly space.
Space is the one boundless thing that truly exists in our dimension in our universe. Is it any wonder then that Tibetan's spend time staring at clear blue skies our finding their own inner skies inside. Space is a metaphor for all that is infinite, beyond naming or controlling.
Using the metaphor of space we can using our imagination to connect with our idea of it. You can enhance this practice with visualization, sound and breathing. Imagine the space that exists in the deep cavities of your body: your mind, your throat, your heart and abdomen. Imagine and rest in that space. Just sit with it without judging it. Explore within it. Explore the mind that is looking at it. Feeling the boundless nothing. And yet as we deepen the practice we do indeed find something there: a lightness, stillness, a vast silence. Going outside of ourselves we can imagine a connection to the space around us, space that is the glue that connects us with everything. We realise there is no difference between the inner and the outer space. We realise that each individual thing is within that space. As we connect with the space more and more we realise that the things are creations existing within the space. Our focus has shifted from the individual ego to the whole, to what Larry Dossey calls the 'One Mind'.
Connection with one-mindedness has profound consequences for how we see ourselves and act within the world. We come to see the individual bits of the relative world as temporary constructions. That is not to devalue those constructions but it does mean we start to see them as less concrete. We realise the relative is as it is. It in itself doesn't need fixing. What needs fixing is our connection with the one-mind. And it is from this perspective that everything resolves itself. For there is only one being. The only thing that is need to 'fix the world' is to reawaken to the one-mind and realise that there is only boundness light, love and joy and that what your individual ego in the relative world sought to fix was only its own creation.
clearing our subconscious of its dross AND practicing a positive outlook takes us further. Techniques like relaxation, breathing techniques, yogic chakra releases, visualisation, acts of faith and forgiveness can all help with the letting go.
But the above will still only fix you. How do we fix the wider problems of the world. The violence, sickness, greed and misery that simply shouldn't have to be. We feel helpless in our individual capacity to bring about change. Prayers or focused intent can be directed at our external environment but again the affect is limited. The fact is you are one individual against the global consensus reality waiting for a tipping point number of people to believe the same as you before the global healing you wish for can spread like a benevolent virus embracing the world. So what to do?
We need to go beyond the individual. All of the above is worthwhile but something more is required for a truly global fix.
Gnostic traditions, those traditions based on direct experience, state that we live in an illusion that is largely of our own collective making. What we experience is governed by the limits of our biological capabilities and our programmed responses. We see and feel what we expect to see and feel. We see a world where we are separate from other individuals, other beings and the very earth beneath our feet. Conceptually at least we know this isn't true. Quantum science is no longer new. It's been telling us for some time now that the structure of the universe is not what we perceive. Take just one atom of one cell of your being. It's mostly just a lot of space with a few particles moving within it around a central core but the exact location of any particle can only be given in terms of probability. Everything else is space. We perceive a hard touchable surface to our skin. It keeps rain, leaves blown on the gusts of wind and anything else from passing into our body, viruses aside. But the surface is mostly space.
Space is the one boundless thing that truly exists in our dimension in our universe. Is it any wonder then that Tibetan's spend time staring at clear blue skies our finding their own inner skies inside. Space is a metaphor for all that is infinite, beyond naming or controlling.
Using the metaphor of space we can using our imagination to connect with our idea of it. You can enhance this practice with visualization, sound and breathing. Imagine the space that exists in the deep cavities of your body: your mind, your throat, your heart and abdomen. Imagine and rest in that space. Just sit with it without judging it. Explore within it. Explore the mind that is looking at it. Feeling the boundless nothing. And yet as we deepen the practice we do indeed find something there: a lightness, stillness, a vast silence. Going outside of ourselves we can imagine a connection to the space around us, space that is the glue that connects us with everything. We realise there is no difference between the inner and the outer space. We realise that each individual thing is within that space. As we connect with the space more and more we realise that the things are creations existing within the space. Our focus has shifted from the individual ego to the whole, to what Larry Dossey calls the 'One Mind'.
Connection with one-mindedness has profound consequences for how we see ourselves and act within the world. We come to see the individual bits of the relative world as temporary constructions. That is not to devalue those constructions but it does mean we start to see them as less concrete. We realise the relative is as it is. It in itself doesn't need fixing. What needs fixing is our connection with the one-mind. And it is from this perspective that everything resolves itself. For there is only one being. The only thing that is need to 'fix the world' is to reawaken to the one-mind and realise that there is only boundness light, love and joy and that what your individual ego in the relative world sought to fix was only its own creation.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Breakfast Fuel: Chia Porridge with Cherry Concentrate, Maca, Protein Powder and Linseed
Trying to keep the post-menopausal weight gain down and supply myself with enough nutrients to keep me going for the morning I've come up with this as my current breakfast. The added bonus is that it is low-carb, high in omega 3 fatty acids. It has a few things that are good for my joints as well as providing fuel for my morning run.
Take one small-medium breakfast bowl and add 2-3 heaped tablespoons of chia seeds (black or white, doesn't matter). Add boiling water to 3/4 fill the bowl. Stir until the mixture thickens up. Add one scoop of rice protein powder (one that tastes nice - some are plain awful), a heaped desertspoon of linseeds or LSA (ground linseed, sunflower and almond mix) and then sweeten with Cherry concentrate. If you need to balance the hormones then add a teaspoonful of maca as well. Stir the mixture again and enjoy.
A breakfast cup of ginger tea or Teccino goes nicely with this. You don't need to do anything special to make ginger tea just get some ordinary dried ginger, put a pinch of it in a mug and add hot water. It's a great way to kick charge the digestion for the day. But if you hanker after a coffee flavor go for the Teccino.
Take one small-medium breakfast bowl and add 2-3 heaped tablespoons of chia seeds (black or white, doesn't matter). Add boiling water to 3/4 fill the bowl. Stir until the mixture thickens up. Add one scoop of rice protein powder (one that tastes nice - some are plain awful), a heaped desertspoon of linseeds or LSA (ground linseed, sunflower and almond mix) and then sweeten with Cherry concentrate. If you need to balance the hormones then add a teaspoonful of maca as well. Stir the mixture again and enjoy.
A breakfast cup of ginger tea or Teccino goes nicely with this. You don't need to do anything special to make ginger tea just get some ordinary dried ginger, put a pinch of it in a mug and add hot water. It's a great way to kick charge the digestion for the day. But if you hanker after a coffee flavor go for the Teccino.
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