Meditation and "Drugs" It's a not-so-dirty little secret that most of today's leading meditation teachers were interested in drugs. By "drugs," of course, I don't mean alcohol or Oxycontin, but rather that subset of chemicals which our society has deemed unfit for human consumption, including cannabis, psilocybin, MDMA, and others. Many of today's leading Buddhist teachers, for example, credit their first taste of altered mind states not to samadhi but to LSD or mushrooms, and almost every spiritual teacher I know (and I know a bunch) smoked pot. Some still do. So what's the connection? Why do people who like drugs (I'll stop scarequoting the word, even though I shouldn't) like meditation? 1. The first and simplest answer is that both drugs and meditation are pleasurable -- and a specific kind of pleasure, namely pleasures of the mind. I remember, when I had just started meditating, it was like I had received the answer key to a hundred spiritual questions. The type of pleasure is similar as well. 2. 3.
12 months to a fitter you Gabriella Boston E-mail the writer The holiday parties are over, and now many Americans are setting fitness goals for the new year. For many of us, the simple goal of “fitness” might seem a long way off — the average American is 20 to 25 pounds overweight and isn’t physically active, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — but it’s far from unattainable. We asked four local fitness experts how to make incremental changes throughout 2014 with the year-end goal of losing those extra 20 to 25 pounds and becoming stronger physically and mentally with the help of exercise, meditation and nutrition changes. This is our “couch-to-fit” calendar for 2014, with guidance from Faith Hunter, a yoga teacher and owner of Embrace yoga studio in Adams Morgan; Mansur Mendizabal, a D.C. For additional information and instruction, turn to your doctor or personal trainer; results aren’t guaranteed. (Illustration by Rachel Harris) January February March April May June ●Nutrition: Get grilling!
Need Some Motivation Right Now? Read This IMMEDIATELY — Think Traffic If you’re in desperate need of some motivation, we’re going to fix that problem, right here, right now. Prepare yourself. WARNING: I’m going to swear and yell a little in this post. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You said you needed motivation. If this isn’t the kind of motivation you need, leave now. Alright. Here goes. Do you want some motherfucking motivation right now? I SAID, do you want some MOTHERFUCKING MOTIVATION RIGHT NOW? Do you want to get some seriously useful shit done today? Do you want to get off your ass and start producing instead of wallowing in despair, depression, self pity, fear, doubt or whatever is holding you back? Are you sick of not getting anything done? Let’s DO THIS. The point of this exercise is to give you motivation to do something right now. Follow the steps below carefully. 1. The world doesn’t care. And if you’re feeling depressed or down, stop feeling sorry for yourself while you’re at it. We all face obstacles. Did you catch that? Period. 2. 3. 4.
How to Be a Man What does it mean to be a man today? How can men consciously express their masculinity without becoming cold or closed-hearted on the one hand… or wimpy and emasculated on the other? What’s the most loving way for a conscious man to express himself? Here are 10 ways to live more consciously as a man: 1. A man understands and respects the power of choice. When a man makes a decision, he opens the door he wants and closes the doors he doesn’t want. A man doesn’t require the approval of others. 2. A man who claims his #1 commitment in life is his relationship partner (or his family) is either too dishonest or too weak to be trusted. A man knows he must commit to something greater than satisfying the needs of a few people. Life will test the man to see if he’s willing to put loyalty to others ahead of loyalty to his principles. 3. A man is willing to make mistakes. A man’s self-trust is one of his greatest assets. A man grows more from failure than he does from success. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Want to know the truth? Verifiable information on banking, health, energy, media, war, elections, 9/11, more The Primacy of Consciousness The Primacy of Consciousness The fundamental nature of reality is actually consciousness. In his documentary Peter Russell explores the reasons why consciousness may be the fundamental essence of the Universe. Many have made such claims from metaphysical perspectives, but the possibility has always been ignored by the scientific community. In this talk, he discusses the problems the materialist scientific world view has with consciousness and proposes an alternative world view which, rather than contradicting science, makes new sense of much of modern physics. He presents a reasoned argument that shows how they are pointing towards the one thing science has always avoided considering – the primary nature of consciousness. This documentary basically seeks answers for these questions: What is consciousness? Report: The Primacy of Consciousness Processing your request, Please wait.... Share: The Primacy of Consciousness Related Documentaries From The Web
DIY Shibori Today marks HonestlyWTF’s four year anniversary. Four years! To celebrate, we’re revisiting the very first tutorial we ever featured on the site: shibori tie dye. You’ll need:an indigo dye kitnatural fiber clothing or fabric2 5 gallon bucketsrubber glovessmall wood squaresrubber bandstwinea PVC pipea long wooden sticka drop clothrubber glovesscissors When choosing fabric or clothing, it’s important that made of natural fibers. Itajime shibori is known as the shape-resist technique. Fold it again in the other direction – again, like an accordion. Arashi is the Japanese term for “storm” and it’s also known as the pole-wrapping technique. Wrap the twine around the fabric. Continue wrapping, scrunching and tightening until all the fabric is compacted. Kumo shibori is known as the pleat and bind technique. Do the same with the opposite side, in staggered sections. Keep binding until you can’t go any further. To set up the indigo dye vat, follow the accompanying dye kit instructions.
60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them consistently, for a period of 100 days. Below you’ll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days. Home 1. Day 1: Declutter MagazinesDay 2: Declutter DVD’sDay 3: Declutter booksDay 4: Declutter kitchen appliances 2. If you take it out, put it back.If you open it, close it.If you throw it down, pick it up.If you take it off, hang it up. 3. A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out. Happiness 4. 5. 6. How many times do you beat yourself up during the day? 7. Learning/Personal Development 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy Luminita Saviuc, Purpose FairyWaking Times Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. 1. 2. “By letting it go it all gets done. 3. 4. “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. 5. “A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind.” 6. 7. 8. 9. “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” 10. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” 11. “The only fear we have to fear, is fear itself.” 12. 13. 14. 15. About the Author Luminita is the author of the fantastic blog, Purpose Fairy, where this article was originally featured.
sleepyti.me bedtime calculator Embedded Commands (NLP) Packing Tape Image Transfers | Lil Blue Boo I love image transfers. It’s something I’m always using in my journals but there are so many other fun uses for them. All you need to make a transfer is a photocopy of an image or words and packing tape. First, take a strip of packing tape and place it over the images you want to transfer: Then use the back of your scissors or the side of your fingernail to make sure the tape is adhered firmly: Next, dip the tape and paper into a bowl of water to wet the back: Using your fingers, start to rub off the paper from the back of the tape: Like magic….your image is left behind on the tape! I like to use the transfers to wrap special letters before I mail them. It’s like having custom tape: Another idea is to take a small canvas and use the images for artwork: I used a paint brush to add craft paint to bubble wrap to use it as a stamp: I just used my hand to press it down: An easy printed pattern! More stamping with bubble wrap in this fun video: Then I added my packing tape transfers: ….and a Sharpie:
12 Tough Truths that Help You Grow As you look back on your life, you will often realize that many of the times you thought you were being rejected from something good, you were in fact being redirected to something better. You can’t control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen. Because sometimes the truths you can’t change, end up changing you and helping you grow. Here are twelve such truths… Everything is as it should be. Photo by: Martin Gommel Related 10 Mistakes Unhappy People Make Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. May 28, 2012 In "Hacks" 50 Quotes to Help You Let Go and Live “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. November 20, 2013 In "Happiness" 9 Good Reminders that Will Change the Way You Think “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking.