New Beginnings - poem

New Beginnings

by Gertrude B. McClain

It's only the beginning now ...a pathway yet unknown At times the sound of other steps ...sometimes we walk alone The best beginnings of our lives May sometimes end in sorrow But even on our darkest days The sun will shine tomorrow. So we must do our very best Whatever life may bring And look beyond the winter chill To smell the breath of spring. Into each life will always come A time to start anew A new beginning for each heart As fresh as morning dew. Although the cares of life are great And hands are bowed so low The storms of life will leave behind The wonder of a rainbow. The years will never take away Our chance to start anew It's only the beginning now So dreams can still come true.

Let's Meditate

Let us breath together as one being on this day to herald a new awakening not conceptually or intellectually but as one spiritual entity.

21 Dec 2012 is the end of Mayan Calendar but a new beginning for all those magnificent beings who are on the path of spiritual mastery.

Here is a request for each one of you who are practising the science and art of going within...please meditate on each day... but together with 10 million people on 21 Dec 2012 between 5:30am to 6:30am CST, wherever you are in the world.

For the Global Peace & Harmony...a critical mass of only 10 million people who are conscious are enough to raise the whole consciousness of the mankind to take it to next level. We will be meditating enmass exactly on this hour at the 1st World Parliament on Spirituality on 21 Dec 2012 at Hyderabad INDIA.( for more details, please visit http://www.facebook.com/events/251273511600754/ or www.wpsconnect.org ). Those who cannot come to this event, please meditate wherever you are in the world.

Please join hands
Global Peace starts with you and me

For time zones of different countries http://wpsconnect.org/meditate.php

December 21st is a day that has the potential to be something great. At the very least, it can bring a lot of people together, in community and love. Perhaps with a little luck as well, it has the potential to truly create a global shift of some sort. What it looks like is up to everyone, should we choose to take the day to love, be at peace, breathe, and meditate.

Science has now documented that through synchronized group meditations, we can actually create peace on this planet simply by intending and wil

ling it so. This has been demonstrated by following the violent crime rate in relationship to when these groups were meditating, which went down drastically when it happened.

Here is a great video regarding this, and the Earth Changes we are experiencing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiMGdcVtrO8

By going into a conscious state of alignment with ones-self and the planet, we can truly begin to shift ourselves in a way that seemed unimaginable until now.

I invite you to step into your heart, and into a new way of being. You can check out this video to learn more about that as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c3AVj66ahg

Last year, a man created a stir in America proclaiming that on May 21st, the rapture would happen. Of course, everyone talked about it - and quite a few believed it, and even Twitter went ablaze with tweets about the #Rapture. When may 21st came and went, people seemed to think nothing happened... but on the other side of the world, over 500 innocent men and women were killed in Syria, and a Massive Volcano blew up in Iceland.

These events corresponded to each other, for everything is connected. The intention and intuition of America focusing on terrible earth changes and lots of deaths insisted that it happen in the world, so it did.

And now we have the opportunity to create something new, by Meditating for peace, for love, and for connection between families and friends in a new way than we ever have before.

Let us join the thousands of individuals who are traveling to the Pyramids, to the Mayan Temples, to Mt. Shasta and Sedona to spend a day in Unity with the All.

Find your local Spirit Friends and Families and plan an event. Get everyone together to just rest and relax, to meditate and to talk. Create healthy food to share as well. Bring Books and Crystals to share with each other, You can bring paints and canvases to be creative and let your intuition flow, and play music that resonates to the soul.

Some Examples for Music could be +Elijah- and the Band of Light, Enya, Adiemus, Jon Hopkins, Kan'nal, Michael Jackson, Rising Appalachia, The Beatles, the list goes on and i'm sure you'll have no problem finding music you really resonate to.

HOW TO MEDITATE:
http://thespiritscience.net/spirit/meditation/

Most importantly, have fun! Be Love, and Be Kind.

I am sure we will see a December 22nd, and i hope that the connections that are created on the 21st are ones that are lasting, loving, and full of potential.

I love you!

What's your skin telling you?

By Claudia Colombo 
The face is like a mirror of the body and mind. Issues showing up on your face can be indicative of much deeper issues. As the seasons change, you may notice dry or red patches, blotchiness, or breakouts on your skin.

Blemishes on your face don't pop up randomly, they can reveal a disharmony in the body that gives you clues to what is going on internally. 

Particular areas of the face relate to certain organs, and each organ carries carries a connection to one of the body systems. Whether it's acne, rosacea, eczema, or hypersensitivity, most skin disorders have one thing in common: inflammation. 

Usually, distress in one organ or area of the body triggers inflammation somewhere else in the body but becomes most apparent in the skin. For example, congestion in your face (such as white-spots, or hard, granular-like bumps under the skin) or blotchy areas can be an indication of too much dairy or sugar in the diet. Redness could be a sign of stomach acidity caused by not enough digestive enzymes and an inappropriate diet.

The degree of acidity significantly affects the body's own ability to prevent illness, disease, and premature aging. A delicate balancing act occurs in our bodies at all times, known as our PH balance. 

If our PH balance gets too acidic, we are more prone to illness. The acidity prompts the immune system to respond negatively, creating more of a workload for our body to protect itself. Highly acidic food, smoking, hormonal imbalance, and a high-glycemic diet are the biggest offenders. These stressors cause a free radical cascade fueling inflammation internally and depleting our mineral reserves to neutralize the acid. 

In addition, glycation (a metabolic process where sugar molecules bond to proteins and DNA causing premature and wrinkles) becomes apparent from too much sugar or high glycemic foods. Inflammation and glycation are two related reactions that impact the body's natural state of balance and appearance of the skin. 

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If you want, smooth and radiant skin, here are some tips to follow: 

1. Combine food strategically. 

Smart strategies can cool down the excessive fire and inflammation in the skin and body. For example eat fruit on its own, and avoid protein with starch. Acid present in protein, which is made up of amino acids, blocks the action of an important salivary enzyme necessary for proper starch digestion and can result in gas and bloating. 

Because vegetables contain water and fiber (important for optimal digestion), combining either animal protein or grains, if you choose to eat them, with vegetables is best.

2. Eliminate refined sugar and wheat. 

These increase inflammation and an acidic environment in the body. Cutting back on sugar and wheat will support the organs of elimination and in turn will increase your energy and skin clarity. 

If you've already cut out all refined sugar, continue to monitor your body when you eat even a minimal amount of natural sugar. Sometimes even fruit sugar will generate acne, because it feeds inflammation. 

3. Incorporate fermented foods into your diet. 

These foods are full of beneficial bacteria and probiotics that help support the body beyond digestion, reduce inflammation and keep yeast overgrowth and pathogenic microbes in check that can trigger breakouts. They are very potent detoxifiers, capable of drawing out a wide range of toxins and heavy metals. If you have poor digestion, it's' important to start incorporating these foods into the diet slowly to ensure the gut has proper time to heal and cleanse the body and the skin. 

I recommend eating about a quarter to a half a cup of fermented vegetables, or cultured food such as raw yoghurt, per day. Kombucha, a fermented drink, is another great addition. The greater the variety of fermented and cultured foods you include in your diet, the better, as each food will inoculate your gut with a variety of different microorganisms.

4. Eat good fats. 

Increasing your Omega-3 fatty acids (EFAs) helps the body produce prostaglandins, hormones that reduce inflammation. EFAs are responsible for skin repair, moisture content, and overall flexibility, but because the body cannot produce its own EFAs, they must be obtained through the diet. 

The best places to find omega-3 fats include cold-water fish, organic coconut oil, krill oil, walnuts, Brazil nuts, chia seeds, flaxseed and sea vegetables. 

5. Manage your stress. 

When we experience stress the body activates the “fight or flight” response, which triggers stress hormones thereby slowing the digestive process and compromising your digestion. Most of us are in a “fight or flight” mode all day, which starts the minute our alarm goes off, starting the days rushing around to get ready for work, check email, get the kids off to school, etc.. and most likely skipping breakfast in the process. This rushed behavior is stressful and shuts down our digestion increasing acidity and more inflammation in the body.

To effectively combat stress, we need to activate the body's natural relaxation response and bring the nervous system back into balance. Fitting in and finding the relaxation technique that's best for you can help. 

Activities like yoga, meditation and more exercise reduce everyday stress and boost your energy and mood. I recommend natural therapies like Acupuncture or Kinesiology to identify and correct imbalances. Kinesiology addresses the communication and connection between all systems and enables you to clear the blocks or barriers so you can accomplish your goals, tap into your inner resources and feel your best while providing tangible results for your health.

6) Repair with antioxidants.

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and quench minor inflammation by sacrificing their own life as a replacement for missing electrons around the cells. Antioxidants also stop the cascade of destructive damage, since free radicals are inescapable, we must have a constant supply of antioxidant nutrients to keep our skin cells healthy. 

In addition, antioxidants may actually encourage our cells’ “fix-it” enzymes to repair damage. Our cells have a wonderful ability to heal themselves, but this mechanism works less efficiently as we get older. They also provide histamine regulation. Consider ingesting and using the following antioxidants topically adding a volume of antioxidant support.

• L-Ascorbic Acid – (Vitamin C). The most effective form is in pure crystals. It increases new collagen and increases the skin’s ability to heal.
• L-Superoxide Dismutase- One of four major skin antioxidants, crucial for disarming the most dangerous free-radical and superoxide radical.
• Coenzyme Q-10 (found naturally in our cells but decreases after age 20)
• Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA; found in plant and animal sources)
• Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE; found in fish)
• Carotenoids (phytonutrients found in the red, yellow and orange flesh of plant leaves, flowers and fruit)

7. Supplement With Adaptogens. 

They are effective herbal tonics that can help handle stress by restoring the body’s homeostasis when undergoing stress, which means they have the ability to balance and stabilize the body’s systems (cardiovascular system, nervous system, endocrine system, musculature, lymphatic system, etc.) 

They also possesses analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. Some of the most widely regarded adaptogens you should consider are: Ashwagandha, Asian ginseng, Cordyceps, Guduchi Holy Basil, Licorice, Reishi, Rhodiola, and Schisandra.

Healing Eczema

10 Eczema Healing Principals to Follow

1. Avocado and aloe vera can be uses topically on a break out to help moisturize and heal the skin. Mix one or both together into a paste and apply to your skin for 20 minutes and gently wash off with warm water.

2. Swap out pasteurized dairy products for dairy free kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented foods. Pasteurized dairy can be overly acidic and the other potential hormones, chemicals can lower the immune system and aggravate skin conditions like eczema and acne.

3. Replace acid producing foods like beef, pork and chicken for dark leafy green vegetables, whole fruits and sprouted nuts or seeds.

4. Swap out your oils for a cold pressed, organic, extra virgin coconut oil.

5. Eat more living foods – fresh juices, fruit & green smoothies, salads, and lightly steamed vegetables.

6. Drink green vegetable juices with ingredients like celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, cilantro and ginger.

7. Take a dairy free probiotic to support and re-build healthy gut bacteria. You can also have cultured foods like sauerkraut, coconut kefir and miso.

8. Avoid caffeine as it can aggravate eczema. Drink water instead, hydration is important.

9. Remove Gluten from the diet that may be hiding in packaged foods, breads, cereals and replace it with sprouted, whole grains or fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and seaweeds. You can find wonderful seaweed blends from HarmonicArts.ca

10. Eat foods rich in Omega 3′s like chia, hemp seed, and walnuts, (salmon if you eat fish). You can also find an oil like Udo’s oil or hemp at your local health food store. Spirulina is another great food for skin conditions, it’s rich in fatty acids and protein.

11. Bonus Tip. Reduce your stress by doing the things you love and following your bliss. If there are areas of your life that need healing, do what it takes to clear past wounds and embark on a new chapter in your life. There are some great meditations out there like the Ho’oponopono track, and wonderful books by authors like Harville Hendrix, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Nathaniel Branden and NLP practitioners Richard Bandler. These authors have written amazing books on self-healing and self-growth.

Following these healing principles does not mean you will experience results overnight, but over time when you adopt these principles as part of your lifestyle your skin will follow suit. It took about 2 months for my hands to heal completely, so like anything – you need to give it time. Talk to your N.D or R.H.N about implementing these practices into your daily routine.

Himalayan Salt

Why Himalayan Salt is the perfect storable barter item for preparedness and survival

Most people vastly underestimate the amount of salt they will need in a survival scenario. This happens because all our food is pre-salted right now by food manufacturers. So we don't think we need extra salt. But in the absence of processed, pre-salted food, an individual's need for real salt is surprisingly high.

Salt is essential for life. That's why every land animal seeks out salt and craves it. It's why ocean creatures live in waters made out of salt. It's why human blood is fundamentally made with salt. Your body cannot retain water without salt, and when a hospital drips an IV solution into your bloodstream to keep you alive, it's a salt (saline) solution!

Your body was engineered to like the taste of salt because your body absolutely needs salt's minerals in order to survive.

Hundreds of uses for salt

Full-spectrum salt has a multitude of uses, including:

• Adding trace minerals to sprouts and gardens
• Making salted meats and fish for long-term storage
• Day-to-day cooking and meal preparation
• Animal licks for raising healthy livestock
• Finalizing fermented foods such as sauerkraut
• Making butter and cheese
• Bath salts, for soaking up trace minerals in bath water

Why Himalayan Salt is the perfect preparedness and barter item

• Himalayan Salt stores forever. There is no expiration date. Pack it away today and it will still be there a thousand years later. This salt, of course, has been sitting underneath the Himalayan mountains for eons.

• Trace minerals. Himalayan Salt contains more than just sodium and chloride. It delivers 80+ other elements, including trace minerals that are needed for basic biology.

• Salt preserves foods. If you have salt, you can make salted meats, salted fish, butter and fermented foods like sauerkraut. Salt makes other foods turn into preparedness foods. In a survival scenario, you can never have enough salt. Much like gold, silver and ammo, salt retains its value year after year. It never loses value because humans will always need salt to survive.

• Salt prevents dehydration. Did you know that if your body lacks salt, it cannot hold water? Salt is the essential compound that allows your body to hold water and move water throughout your body's 100 trillion cells. Without salt, any person or animal will die of dehydration. That's why animals in the wild will travel sometimes hundreds of miles to reach salt licks.

• Processed white salt is bad for you. Stop using processed white salt. Just like white bread and white rice, it's overly processed and stripped of essential nutrients. Only full-spectrum salt such as Himalayan Salt or Celtic Sea Salt should ever be used by any health-conscious consumer.

• Completely free from modern-day pollution. This Himalayan Salt was formed by the Earth millions of years before modern humans polluted the oceans. Thus, it is completely free from pesticides, PCBs, and other synthetic chemicals of any kind.

Himalayan Salt available now from the Natural News store

We have four Himalayan Salt solutions available right now at the Natural News Store:

• 6.6 pounds of find-ground Himalayan Salt packed in #10 steel cans with an extra layer of non-BPA plastic protection inside, in a re-sealable storage bag.

• 16 oz. of Himalayan Salt packed in a stand-up pouch, with a clear front window so you can see the salt. Very beautiful crystals!

• 6.6 pounds coarse-ground Himalayan Salt packed in #10 steel cans, with the extra re-sealable storage bag inside.

• 16 oz. coarse-ground Himalayan Salt in a stand-up pouch. (This one looks particularly beautiful as we are now using clear "window" fronts for these bags. It makes a great gift.)

Why #10 steel cans?

• #10 steel cans have become incredibly popular as the perfect storage container for preparedness. The U.S. military almost exclusively uses #10 cans for all its can-based food supplies. #10 cans fit in a pantry and are easy to handle, even for people who are not especially strong.

• #10 steel cans are rodent-proof, moisture-proof and oxygen-proof. They are not bullet proof, however, so don't use 'em for target practice.

• #10 steel cans have uses even after you open them and remove the salt content. You can use them as storage containers, water buckets and more.

Find Himalayan Salt and many other preparedness items at the Natural News Store.

Gratitude

A daily dose of gratitude encourages health, happiness and vibrancy - researchers assert

With all the insanity in the world, it is easy to become bogged down with negativity. Destructive weather, economic meltdowns, a toxic environment, GMOs. The list could go on forever. It is natural to become disillusioned, depressed and hostile in light of such bad news. But researchers have discovered that even when the environment around us is cloaked in apparent darkness, we can still be happy, healthy, alert -- and make a positive impact. As we become more appreciative, vibrancy and energy returns, stress is reduced and we are able to connect with others in a beneficial way.

The science behind gratefulness

Doctors Blaire and Justice at the University of Texas Health Science Center believe that "gratitude is truly amazing in its physical and psychosocial benefits." A tall order for something as simple as feeling grateful, but research has found that an orientation of gratitude will:

- Encourage higher levels of alertness, vitality, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy

- Reduce physical symptoms like headaches, coughing, nausea or pain

- Boost immunity in both sick and healthy persons

- Lower stress response and blood pressure

- Curb depression and anxiety

- Cool anger and diminish resentment

- Cultivate compassion and empathy

- Increase positive social connections

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., from the University of California Davis, confirms these benefits. Emmons, along with his colleague Mike McCullough of the University of Miami, conducted an experiment where participants were given one of three tasks. A weekly journal was kept by each randomly assigned individual either recording grateful thoughts, hassles and frustrations or neutral circumstances that were neither positive nor negative. After 10 weeks, those in the gratitude group were 25 percent happier about their lives than the group that documented frustrations. They also had fewer health complaints and exercised longer by 1.5 hours.

Another study found that individuals with congenital and adult-onset neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) also benefited from gratitude journaling. For those who kept a gratitude journal, quality of sleep was enhanced with longer hours and a more refreshed feeling upon waking. They also felt increased optimism about the upcoming week, more satisfaction with their lives and a greater connection to others compared with the non-journaling participants in the study.

Practices for cultivating gratitude

This all sounds well and good, but how do we begin to instill more gratitude into our hectic days? A common theme among positive psychologists: start small and slow down. Here are a few suggestions to get the ball rolling:

- Keep a daily gratitude journal

- Appreciate nature, a good meal or an object of beauty

- Write a detailed thank you note

- Count blessings each day

- Spend a few moments in silent prayer with a focus on thankfulness

- Show appreciation for a coworker, mate or family member

Reality check

Still daunted by the idea of cultivating a grateful orientation day in and day out? Michigan positive psychologist Christopher Peterson offers a bit of insight:

"I'm not a Pollyanna. And obviously, someone who's unrelentingly cheerful can be a pain in the ass. ... There are no long-term quick fixes for happiness. So if you become a more grateful person and you add those exercises to your repertoire, you'll be different six months or a year from now. But if you say okay, I'm done with the story and I'm going back to the way I was, it'll just have been a six-week high. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not going to permanently change you."

Superfoods to heal your gut

The root of good and bad health resides in the gut. This is a centuries old maxim of both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and India's Ayurvedic medical practices.

Over the last few decades, renegade MD's, holistic practitioners, chiropractors, and alternative health nutritionists have realized this basic truth as well. This ancient health maxim has even been determined to affect mental health, where the gut is tagged as a second brain.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride has embraced this wisdom and developed the GAPS (gut and psychology syndrome) diet, which has a proven track record of returning autism spectrum children to normalcy. For starters, she experimented on her autistic son and cured him.

Dr. Campbell-McBride and others have determined that high fiber foods wind up feeding pathogenic bacteria if they greatly outnumber probiotic bacteria. This is the case with Candida overgrowth and other parasitic or pathogenic bacteria situations.

Once there is a serious intestinal flora imbalance, fibers feed the bad guys. Then, initially abstaining from plant fiber foods is recommended.

When the beneficial probiotic bacteria to pathogenic bacteria balance is restored to around 80/20, then a high fiber diet is a good idea again. If that's not an issue and you're doing okay using a diet with various fibrous plant foods, disregard abstaining from high fiber foods.

All this requires paying attention to your body's reaction to the foods you eat.

Five food suggestions for healing the gut

[1] If you think your gut bacteria ratios are heavily out of whack, eliminating high fiber beans and grains may be necessary for a while. One way to reduce fibers is to rely heavily on soups, good dairy, free range eggs, and meats from grass-fed livestock.

But you can stick with veggies by juicing often with a slow speed masticating juicer that separates the liquid from the pulp.

[2] At first, it may be necessary to use high quality probiotic supplements. But fermented foods and beverages should be added with gusto. Miso, Kimchi, live yogurts, kombucha, water kefir, and milk kefir are excellent sources of beneficial bacteria.

Amazingly, probiotic microbes also chelate heavy metals and eliminate them with the stool. Just make sure you use water that's been de-chlorinated and de-fluorinated for water-based beverages.

Though not required, raw milk is ideal for milk kefir and homemade live yogurts. Fermented foods and/or beverages are vital additions to anyone's diet. Read more here: (http://www.naturalnews.com/027554_kefir_water_grains.html) and/or here: (http://www.naturalnews.com/033675_fermented_foods_probiotics.html)

[3] Intestinal villi are tiny tubular protrusions on your gut's inner lining responsible for absorbing nutrients from food particles. Leaky gut syndrome and Celiac disease nullifies them. Here's an easy, tasty Ayurvedic remedy to recover your intestinal villi.

A couple hours after your last daily meal, take a tablespoon of organic raisins mixed with a tablespoon of organic raw sesame seeds. Chew the mixture well before swallowing on a daily basis. That's it.

[4] Coconut oil, preferably organic cold pressed, contains medium chain fatty acids that are easily converted into energy. It is also anti-microbial and anti-fungal, another remedy for getting rid of your gut's bad guys.

When it comes to fats, another source recommends trying for 1:1 omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid balance. Chia seeds form a soothing soluble fiber gel while providing omega-3, and of course krill and fish oils do also. Cold pressed virgin olive oil is a great source of omega-6.

[5] High quality marine phytoplankton in liquid form is probably the most nutrient packed green micro-algae superfood around, even outdoing chlorella and spirulina.

You'll get plenty of protein and more from any of those even while avoiding or restricting high fiber foods. But the right phytoplankton is the most super superfood according to Health Ranger Mike Adams. (http://www.naturalnews.com/023853_marine_phytoplankton_microalgae.html)