Life and Style

Our focus creates our reality. If we are focused on what is wrong in our lives and our worlds, what are we going to see? What’s wrong. But if we are focused on the things we love, the things that inspire us and fill us with joy, we start to see the beauty we were so blind to before. You can transform your experience of life in an instant, just by choosing to focus inwards. Just by bringing your attention deep into yourself, instead of getting caught up in the dramas and worries of the world around, you can break lifelong patterns of discontent and preoccupation.
So if it’s so simple, why don’t we do it? I know why: because we don’t want to. We don’t want to be happy: we’d prefer to fight for what we think should be fixed. We don’t want to surrender: we want to win. We don’t want to embrace our reality: we want to chase our ideas of how things should be, instead of accepting them as they are. Why? because we are convinced we know best how our lives should be. The truth is, our idea of the perfect world has been forged by the opinions of so many, by the fears and insecurities caused by so many life experiences, that it is not really our idea at all.
Children don’t do this. They embrace what they have without question. When I lived on the Colombian coast, the local boys would play football barefoot with coconuts. They weren’t moping around thinking, If only I had some Nike runners! then I could play much better. If only we had a real ball instead of this coconut! They don’t think like that: they are having so much fun as it is, enjoying what they have.
I am not denying the importance of working towards a better world. I admire any activity that helps unite humanity and improve the quality of life on this planet. But if we are focused on what’s wrong, even with the intention of making it right, we are perpetuating discontent and inconformity. Let’s focus on what we have achieved, on the wonderful, incredible world we live in and the passionate and inspired individuals who are giving their best to humanity every day. Let’s focus on what we can give: on the ways we can lead more joyful, fulfilling lives. Let’s focus on being fully present, on knowing ourselves, accepting ourselves, embracing ourselves. Then naturally we will share that love with those around us.
What are you focused on right now? On the frustrations of the past, or the worries of the future? Why don’t you try, just for today, to focus on enjoying each moment? On giving the best you can in each situation that is presented to you?
Give it a try. Discover the power of focus, and in doing so, take responsibility for your own happiness.
Isha Judd will be touring Europe in April 2010, presenting her latest book and movie, Why Walk When You Can Fly? which explain her system for self-love and the expansion of consciousness. Learn more at www.whywalkwhenyoucanfly.com. You can also join her new group on care2 here

EMOTIONS, CONSCIOUSNESS, THE MOON AND YOU
By Michele Slabbert of Green Energy Herbals

As we weave our way through life we face each passing day with a variety of emotions and a sense of constant change.  This can be challenging or upsetting, depending on the mood we find ourselves in on any particular day. As we start looking at the bigger picture and place ourselves within the law of the universe, a subtle change descends upon us and before we know it, the necessary change within ourselves has occurred. This is a remarkable fact of life. When we remove the personal identity emotion from whatever it is we are facing and look at the broader scheme of things, we diminish the problem and increase the well being.

Yet it is our emotions that carry us, that ensure compassion, harmony and love. To deny our emotions is in a way denying self.  To get carried away with our emotions is draining and self destructive. It is to make our emotions consciousness that is the issue and vital for our continued good health. When we watch a sunrise or sunset and feel the warm glow within, this is the emotion we need to retain and remember when life throws hurdles at us.

The moon affects us in a variety of ways and when we are able to understand how linked we are to this feminine cycle, a whole new arena of understanding blossoms forth creating an endless abundance of uplifting emotions.  It’s like linking your nervous system into the cosmic eco system. We are fortunate in having a variety of daily planners that give us the phases of the moon and indeed the particular moon sign dominant for a roughly 2 ½ day period. 

To absorb and utilise these energies in the most beneficial way here is a guide to the moon signs and how they influence our lives. By understanding this, you will be able to more fully utilise many of the emotions within you, and learn how to use these energies to achieve your goal and influence those around you by your calmness and glowing personality.

ARIES raises basic identity questions where you can find yourself stripped, knowing yourself as you truly are. This is the time for taking the initiative, activity and enterprise. We tend to be highly driven and assertive, which can lead to muscle spasms and inflammation, so although many new beginnings are now possible, it would be best to explore all the opportunities ahead before seeding that inner garden. This is the time of transformation, of knowing when to act and when to be still. Place bunches of Rosemary in the lounge and drops of oil of Basil should be in the burner.
Aries rules the head and the face. Herbs to use are - basil, catmint, rocket, chives, nettle, wormwood, geranium, cayenne and garlic.
TAURUS brings calm and stability, a time of fertility encouraging strong, slow growth.  Take note of your material possessions; this is a good time to discard old baggage and start noticing the endurance of the earth. Bring rocks and wood into the home for grounding experiences. A time for determination and practicality where creativity flows and where we realize our relationships with others and create balance. Hormone imbalance and kidneys should be monitored through this moon phase. Place a bouquet of daisies, thyme, yarrow and rose in the kitchen and rose or geranium oils should be used in your burner. The laws of attraction are forceful in this phase. Taurus rules the neck and throat. Herbs to use are- elder, mint, thyme, elderberry, violet, marshmallow, catnip, rose, violet, vervain, wormwood and yarrow.
GEMINI stimulates our curiosity and interesting ideas abound and is an excellent time for making connections. Explore yourself but don’t plant too many ideas as energies are flowing around like a spinning top. Go with the flow as your nervous system and breathing can be all awhirl. Explore your own versatility, how you express yourself and listen to what you are saying. Prune that which is within you to make way for new growth. Lavender should be spread around the house and oils of lavender and peppermint do well in your burner. Gemini rules the arms, hands, nerves, and thinking power.  Herbs to use are - parsley, dill, mint, anise, lavender, marjoram, fennel, oregano, liquorice, valerian and horehound.

CANCER brings to the surface memories and all the emotions that come with this. This is a fertile time when we find it easy to cry, which in turn nourishes the roots of our personal tree of life. A highly creative period, when we become sensitive and tenacious at the same time. The stomach, muscles and over reaction to fertility confronts us during this phase. It is the surfacing of unconscious and unbidden thoughts that can overwhelm us now. Watch your mood; it tends to be that little voice called intuition that is actually whispering to you. White roses should be in the bedroom and oil of chamomile in your burner. Cancer rules the stomach and breasts. Herbs to use are - sage, parsley, chamomile, aloe, evening primrose, lemon balm, bay leaves and agrimony.
LEO is when the inner child seeks attention. On the other side remember that the clown and the prima donna could also be seeking this attention. It is a good time to channel this disruptive energy into creative power. In your inner garden, cultivate and admire, but don’t plant new ideas. Our vitality, authority and power are in the forefront so use this time for conscious movement. Watch your heart and immune system as the vital energies abound all around. Bright cheery marigolds should be around the house and oils of neroli or bergamot do well in the burner. Leo rules the heart and circulation. Herbs to use are - eyebright, St. John's Wort, mistletoe, lemon balm, tarragon, chamomile, sandalwood, frankincense, rosemary, camphor and sunflower.
VIRGO is when we become quite methodical, discriminating and able to offer service to others. We are able to communicate, expressing ourselves with eloquence. We become aware of being able to live a simple and useful life; a time when we can focus on our own healing powers to mend body and soul. This is the time to arrange, shape and tend the growing inner garden. Watch your breathing and your mental state and learn to speak from the heart. In the southern hemisphere it is the time of spring, when those inner seeds can be sown to flourish and nourish. Honeysuckle in the bathroom and marjoram or fennel oil is the best for your burner. Virgo rules the intestines and solar plexus. Herbs to use are – angelica, fennel, dill, licorice caraway, dill, mint, horehound, lavender and marjoram.

LIBRA brings beauty to life; a time for tenderness and romance, when we are aware of our inner connectiveness and the time to tune into the cosmic rhythms. Creativity is running high; it is a time for listening to that inner voice and heeding the guidance that your intuition is now clearly communicating to you. If there is something that you need to let go of, now is the time to act as you are focused enough to make the right choices.  Watch the reproductive system – for those who wish for fertility, excess angst could have the opposite effect. Mint, thyme and sage spread around the house bring renewal, while ylang-ylang in the burner adds to that romantic feeling. Libra rules the kidneys. Herbs to use are - burdock, pennyroyal, feverfew, violet, catnip, elderberry, thyme, St John’s wort and lemon balm.
SCORPIO brings intense feelings and desires to the forefront. We tend to delve into our deepest selves with all its shadows, but it is also the time when we can draw on this inner power. For our internal garden we can plant anything and watch it bloom to full strength and glory.  We regenerate, become highly resourceful and is the time when we can hold onto secrets. Sexual desire runs high, together with aggressiveness, so watch out for unfulfilled emotions and lustful desires. Chrysanthemums placed in the living area and kitchen brings coherence, while oil of Basil tames the obsessiveness that is sometimes associated with this phase. Scorpio rules the reproductive organs. Herbs to use are - horehound, basil, sage, catnip, coriander, nettle, wormwood or wilde als, elder and garlic.
SAGITTARIUS is all about exploration, aspirations and the understanding of freedom. We are able to rationalise our self belief system and understand our inner ability to grow. Wide range feelings surface so taking a long stroll is very beneficial. Start a new hobby or sport as your readiness to research new ideas is strengthening through this phase. Yet at the same time there is an inner restlessness so watch your eating as the liver can become sluggish and the circulatory system starts to slow down. Balance this out with bunches of carnations at the entrance to your home and add a few drops of jasmine or juniper to your burner to remind you that this is the time also of forgiveness, especially to self. Sagittarius rules the thighs and hips. Herbs to use are - red clover, feverfew, dandelion, sage, basil and borage.
CAPRICORN awakens the strength of the inner wise woman. She shows you how to take old fears and sorrows and turn them into resolve, ambition and discipline. Anything that you plant within your inner garden now will have strong roots that will sustain you as you venture along this growing path. Things in your life that were disorganised can now be conscientiously organised, turning your fears and insecurities into structure and well being. Watch your joints, hair and skin through this phase as soul searching can be a draining and relentless undertaking. Pansies or violets in little growing pots placed in corners and high places together with oils of either camphor or cypress remind us of how much we still need to water the growing inner garden. Capricorn rules the knees, bones, and teeth, hair, skin, joints and body structure. Herbs to use are: Slippery Elm, borage, comfrey, horsetail, mullein, heartsease and wintergreen.
AQUARIUS enables us to detach from old emotional patterns and we begin to see those around us as individuals. This period brings greater understanding of our place and role in the world. Our humanitarian, independent and originality abilities flower through this phase. We tune into the rhythmic pulsation and co-ordination of the universe with ease so don’t sow new ideas, rather allow those that are waiting to flower to bloom. Watch yourself that you don’t get too carried away as you could find it hard to drop back into reality. Roses and varieties of lilies are good all over the home and cedarwood oil in the burner brings some earth grounding to your flights of fancies. Aquarius rules the legs, ankles and blood stream. Herbs to use are - comfrey, rosemary, sage, mint, fennel, wormwood or wilde als, southernwood, thyme, violets and valerian.
PISCES is when distinctions blur and barriers dissolve; a time when your intuition comes to the fore. This is a very fertile period when our ability to grow is unhampered by our inner doubt and when we can believe fully in ourselves and the path we have chosen. It is a phase where forgiveness, selfless love and fulfilment ripen within and gently bend the boundaries of self towards true spirituality. Watch for too much reason; rather allow the pineal gland to open the gates of the imagination. Clivias or roses around the house together with oils of jasmine, hyssop or juniper combine to allow our sensitivity to shine with loving endurance. Pisces rules the feet, fat metabolism and growth hormones. Herbs to use are – lemon balm, mint, basil, hyssop, dandelion, nutmeg, sage, borage and clove.

Take a few minutes each day to establish a you time routine. The New Moon is the time for new beginnings so this is when you should start on the path to becoming a new you. At 1st quarter, the morning before you begin your daily routine, is the beneficial time to reflect; by Full Moon your sense of personal achievement rises to greet you; and at 3rd quarter embrace the evenings in all her glory and become one with yourself.

Whether you are faced with that which is good or dark within you, please remember that everything ultimately moves towards the light. Enjoy every moment of the journey.
Green Energy Herbals,P O Box 37, 7304 Philadelphia, Rep. South Africa. Tel: 021 5723717 web pages: www.greenenergyherbals.co.za

Here is a great local recipe to keep you warm through the remaining winter months!
Green Bean and Potato Stew
500 g green beans, topped and tailed
1 potato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
5 ml salt
2 ml milled white pepper
100 ml water
2 ml freshly grated nutmeg
Slice the beans into a saucepan. Add the potato, salt and pepper. Add the water and simmer the mixture, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked. Sprinkle with the grated nutmeg and serve as an accompaniment to meat dishes.

Variation: Use 500 g grated cabbage instead of the beans and add 5 ml lemon juice or a grated tart green apple.
 

Spiritual Parenting: The Fine Art Of Wise Parenting 
By Swami Sukhabodhananda 

Children are very creative. However when faced with failure, they might become dispirited. Good parenting can enable children to accept facts of life and persuade them to proceed proactively in a creative mode.

The challenge of life is in accepting the fact that 'life is not fair'. Once you accept this fact, a certain understanding is generated. This will enable you to accept whatever life gives you.

Life is unfair. One child is born physically challenged while another is born healthy. Only when we begin to accept life can we understand it. You are born in a poor family. Accept it. Use whatever life gives you. You will find that acceptance leads to creativity.


Teach the child to use whatever life has given. Give examples of creative people who have faced challenges. Helen Keller was left sightless and with impaired hearing after an illness when she was barely six years old. Yet, she gained fame as a great social worker.

Poet John Milton had lost his eyesight before he wrote his masterpiece, Paradise Lost .

Every moment is the best; live life with this attitude. Be in the present where there is a hidden message, a mystery, and a possibility. Accept them and allow the magic to flow. Acceptance is not resigning to what is, but allowing what is, so as to gain empowerment and guidance.

But simply accepting without creativity is resignation. Life should be a balance between creativity and acceptance. Every parent should see whether the child's balance of Shiva and Shakti, or male and female energy - creativity and acceptance - is there. Once there is balance, the energy field helps the child live wisely. He will use whatever life gives him rather than being used by life. This is the insight every parent should gift to his or her children.
 

Parents should motivate children to identify a powerful goal; to learn to be a winner both in the inner and outer sphere. The outer winner achieves success. The inner winner gains satisfaction. A child should learn to be successful; he also has to learn to be satisfied. Striking a balance between success and satisfaction is important.
 

"Success is getting what I like; satisfaction is liking what I get." Success does not equal satisfaction. Our desires should be sacred, not sensuous. Our desires should be two-fold: one pointing outward and the other, pointing inward. The outward desire should be to contribute to the world. The inward desire should be to learn from any given situation and grow.
 

But desire has no end. You may be successful, but if your mind is filled with desire, you can never be happy. Children, teenagers, even parents, make the mistake of thinking: "Success is the only vision in life." Good parenting should involve guiding the child to not just learn to get what he likes but also learn to like what he gets.

 
Our scriptures talk about pleasure and pain. Sukha prapti is acquisition of happiness and dukha nivritti is putting an end to unhappiness. If sukha (pleasure) and dukha (pain) are perceived wisely, temptations to smoke and drink, for instance, will be treated as pain. But, the mind treats it as pleasure - hence you indulge yourself.

 
You can train your mind and say it is pain. 'Not smoking' is pleasure. 'Why?' 'By not smoking' you will be healthy; you can live better and longer. The moment you represent it as prati paksha bhavana, you are reversing the whole thing, and then you will find that you have the skill to handle any temptation in life. Therefore, parents should teach children to use the techniques of pleasure and pain in an intelligent way.

What is Shamanism?
Throughout human history, various forms of Shamanism have been present in every culture, with each form having their own definition and understanding of it.  At its fundamental core, Shamanism is Awareness.  It takes ever increasing levels of awareness, both of self and the environment to change and grow.  The physical body is a patterned assembly of molecules and energy which houses the soul.  In its hunger, the soul yearns to learn from all levels of experience in physical reality in order to evolve on a sacred journey to the light.  It takes awareness to learn to identify how little attention is given to the present and how much attention is given to the past.  A shaman is aware that there is more power in the present and that experiencing new and challenging things, is what leads to the growth of the soul.  The 3 key elements to heightening and expanding one’s awareness are forgiveness, presence and self trust.

Before embarking on a path of Shamanism, I felt like my life was a constant reliving of the pains and sorrows of my past with no hope of resolution or change in sight.  The demons of regret, insecurity, doubt, depression and fear were constant companions.  I felt victimized by life and a prisoner to my own life situation.  The future was dim and obscured with the belief that I was destined to continue repeating my failures and reliving my shortcomings.  As a young teenager I thought to myself that there had to be more to life than this, but had no clue how to change any part of it.  It was through Shamanism that change began to happen.  It taught me that for any change to occur, I had to look for the cause of what was keeping things the same or stuck in a repeating pattern.  Therefore the task was to navigate beyond my perspective and understanding of the story and see it from other angles.  First, was to find the courage to acknowledge other points of view and second was to let go of blaming others.  I had to learn to forgive myself and accept responsibility for my role in the story.  This brought a clearer understanding of the story without the need for blaming and grieving.  The gain from doing this was wisdom.

The second element of presence can be seen as both a by-product and ingredient to the process of forgiveness.  For any forgiving to even happen I had to be present with what I was feeling and experiencing in any given moment, especially when I felt like a victim and was despairing about life.  I had to stay present with whatever emotions I was feeling.  If I wanted to change, I couldn’t run away from or numb out any uncomfortable feelings.  I had to let the feelings run their course and move through me and then dissolve.  As a by product, it becomes easier and more attractive to stay present in any given circumstance.  Being triggered, losing perspective and going into emotional reaction weren’t showing up as much when life got challenging or didn’t go as expected.  In fact, staying present made it easier to learn from the experience without repeating old mistakes or habits.  This made each day begin to feel fuller and more gratifying instead of a day of drudgery, boredom and repetitiveness.

Similarly, self trust has two components.  It took self trust to even begin the process of healing and releasing the past.  I had to start listening to and acting upon that faint and often unheard voice inside that knew the truth.  There needed to be a change in the old habit of ignoring and distrusting the guidance and wisdom of this voice.  I had to begin to trust that this voice was capable of guiding me in making good choices and decisions.  This resulted in there being less need to be right, to prove myself to the world and to seek approval from others.  I gained more comfort in knowing that I could trust the choices and decisions I was making with less concern about the opinions of others.  I discovered that it was more fun and desirable to be in the driver’s seat than being the passenger in my own car.

It is important to keep in mind that this is a lifelong process.  Nature teaches that it takes time and patience for the acorn to become a mature oak tree.  The acorn must first go into the darkness of the earth before it can re-emerge and grow towards the light.  Even as it grows, its roots stay firmly planted in that darkness.  The darkness of the past provides the support and wisdom to make the choices that lead to the light.  Regardless of its circumstance or given environmental situation, the oak tree focuses its awareness on its unrelenting growth to the light.  Questioning our existence and thinking there has to be more than this, is the souls voice, inspiring us to continue seeking until the answers are discovered.  We must be patient as we learn to breathe in life more fully and take more risks.  If a slip up happens and an old behaviour pops up, just bring it into awareness and reengage with the process of letting it go.  When the unknown, the new and the mysterious become the focus, the child within emerges and embraces the joy of life.  Life will begin to feel more effortless with greater synchronicity.  There is more passion for life with a stronger emphasis on how it is lived.  Life becomes a pleasure to live and there is a sense of feeling comfortable in one’s own skin.  The purpose to life may not be fully clear but there is a greater sense of purpose to what we are doing in our lives.  The path of the Shaman is to walk through life as the warrior and the healer, determined to become the sacred human.
By Chellie de Jager

Consciousbuzz.net - Your alternative / conscious / progressive / eco community idea, life and solution sharing space.

Cape Town. The Conscious Buzz Network is an open space for your participation in the conscious / alternative / progressive / sustainability community of Southern Africa.
With information and discussions on the solutions and ideas we as spirituality practitioners, activists, ecologically aware individuals and artists engage in as to enlighten the depth of ourselves and address the problems of our society with everyone's best interest at heart.
Registration and participation is free, and happens in the form of an online web forum. Regardless of what your goal is, be it self transcendence, public awareness and participation, sustainability in the public and private sectors, artistic creation, selling relevant products or finding practitioners of specific techniques, meeting people with similar interests or curios expansion of knowledge, this is a one stop free shop for you.
"Our idea was to create a space where the people could discuss and express the problems and solutions, the techniques, the tribulations, the values, and socialize around this conscious culture, thereby allowing projects and people to grow and bear fruit for all of society, and most directly, each other". - Jan Joubert, founding member.
The Forum is open to anything, topic or person, in this subculture, anything you would like to discuss from dreams to natural remedies, ecological issues, classic to contemporary art, the government to economics, the whole spectrum is open.
"It is my hope that people will find a space that sets them free, allows them more room to be who they are and finds a lot of other people who feel the same" - Jan Joubert.
Consciousbuzz.net is open to forming of sub-forums for groups, events or organizations.
Consciousbuzz.net is a public forum that Jan Joubert and Michael t' Sas Rolfes have put together, based on technology sponsored from the AfrikaBurn group. This is a not for profit group. Both Jan and Michael have been involved with community, sustainability and art projects for years, and met at AfrikaBurns in 2008.

Jan can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
and the forum is www.consciousbuzz.net

Dear Friends
This is a summary of what the pod of 55 whales conveyed to me after I connected with the group:

The majority of the whales were sick and dying… as a result of swimming in some sort of chemical effluent in the ocean, to the northwest of Cape waters. This invisible toxic stream affected them internally in such a way as to cause slow die-off. With that their immune systems also crashed, making them very susceptible to and ill from parasitic infections. A few of them were physically fine, having withstood this - but they weren’t going to leave their family members. So they swam ashore with the dying ones. One for all.

They beached because they wanted to die.

They chose the Cape beach so as not to have to navigate the stormy, rough seas around Cape Point in their weakened state, and because they want humans to witness (the) whales’ dying. On the bigger/planetary level too. They said “the Mother” (the ocean) is being poisoned, and so are they. It’s time humans woke up to this and witnessed the effects.

They predicted that there will be more strandings in the next moon cycle (which I found interesting given that the International Whaling Commission sits again in the last week of June apparently.)

The whales appreciate the compassion and care that people showed in trying to return them to the water, but would have wished to be given the choice, i.e. pointed out to sea/re-floated once, and then left to die in peace if and when they returned.

Humans holding vigil for them with understanding would have been far better than the forceful, violent means ultimately used.

Inbetween the above thought forms are the emotions and soulfulness of their consciousness that cannot be expressed in words by this mere human…

With honour and reverence for all whales,

Anna Breytenbach This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it