28 April 2011

Cayenne Pepper May Burn Calories, Curb Appetite

Cayenne Pepper May Burn Calories, Curb Appetite: " crushed red pepper

Red cayenne pepper may help burn calories and curb appetite, especially in people who aren’t used to eating it, a study shows.

Broccoli Officially Renamed

Broccoli Officially Renamed: "

Adults are rediscovering the appeal of broccoli, but it seems kids are still resistant. In an effort to make the spears more appealing to the toddler set, the Broccoli Marketing Board is going to piggy-back on the dinosaur craze and officially change the vegetable's name to Brontospears, a play on the dinosaur formerly known as the brontosaurus. The brontosaurus was a confirmed vegetarian and quite possibly a shade of broccoli green, so it seems a fitting tribute.

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Reworking Strawberry Beds Is it Worth It?

Reworking Strawberry Beds Is it Worth It?: "

I've been getting some interesting emails lately. A recent letter from Sarah really got me thinking. Sarah said her strawberry patch had been neglected for a season and the runners had turned it into a strawberry plant carpet. She wanted to know if she could dig it up now and reform the rows.

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Featured Plant: Lilacs (Syringa)

Featured Plant: Lilacs (Syringa): "

Daffodils announce that winter is over, but I don't really know it's spring until I can smell the lilacs. You can just start to get a whiff of fragrance as the flowers start to color up. For the full blast of scent, you have to be patient and let them fully open. It's always a gamble, whether they'll finish opening before the rains knock them down, so I grab a few to bring indoors and scent the whole house.

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Tulip Time in the Netherlands

Tulip Time in the Netherlands: "

There's an email going around with the most breathtaking photos of bulb fields in the Netherlands. I don't know whether to wish I had planted more tulips last fall or whether I should just give up. If you are still enjoying fall, let these photos convince you to buy and plant a few more bulbs throughout your yard. The rest of us can get a vicarious thrill soaking up the rich, vibrant colors the Dutch grow out every year, so we can have cut tulips in spring and even more bulbs to plant next fall. Enjoy!

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An Invitation to Love: Angel Meditation

A meditation with your angels can provide a new gentleness into your normal meditation routine.

Though your host of spirit guides encompasses many diverse beings, all of which willingly watch over you, meditating with angels can be a uniquely insightful experience. The angels stationed at your side are both powerful and knowledgeable—they possess a limitless understanding of your needs and desires, your strengths and weaknesses, and your purpose. However, angels take an active part in our lives only when invited to do so. Meditation allows you to make contact with your angels and lovingly request that they participate actively in your day-to-day life.

To begin, retreat to a solitary place where you won’t be distracted by concerns. Incense and candlelight may aid you in achieving a meditative state but are not necessary. However, laying an image of an angel, angel statue, or item symbolizing your angels before you can focus your thoughts. Sit comfortably, breathe deeply, and let yourself relax. When you feel peaceful, invite your angels from the highest of light to sit with you as you meditate. Mentally repeat your request and reiterate that this time together is important to you. Then, in your mind’s eye, visualize a bright-white light floating above you. As you breathe, draw this light first into the crown of your head and then into the whole of your physical self. Allow this light to spread through your arms and hands, your core, and your lower body. Repeat this integration of illumination with a violet light.

Once again, ask your angels to be with you. Let the stillness surrounding you enter your soul, and open your heart to your angel guides. If they wish to communicate a message, they will do so now. Allow them to wrap their wings around you and infuse you with their bountiful love. Breathe them in as you did the light. As the meditation draws to a close, you may feel a presence, fluttering wings, or billowing fabric, or you may see an angel in your mind’s eye. Thank them for providing you with love and light, and being with you as you meditated. If you don’t sense or feel anything, there is no cause for worry—you can be certain your angels are with you. Don’t be surprised if you start to see signs throughout the day that your angels are near, perhaps a feather at your doorstep. As you practice this meditation, you will become increasingly adept at recognizing when your angels are near and sensing their presence.

28 March 2011

Examine your weaknesses

Don’t be afraid to examine your weaknesses.
In them you’ll find some of your greatest potential.

Certainly you can always make improvements to what you already do well.
Yet at best, those will be incremental improvements.

Consider, though, what happens when you work on overcoming your weaknesses.
The results in your life can be revolutionary.

In fact, transforming a weakness into a strength can make all your other strengths more effective.
When the weakness is no longer holding you back, every part of your life will see the benefits.

Be thankful for your strengths.
And be honest about your weaknesses.

For when you are clear about what you cannot yet do well,
that’s the first step to improvement.
Any weakness can be transformed into strength when you simply have the courage to grow.

— Ralph Marston

Know your desires

If you could snap your fingers and make the life of your dreams instantly appear,
exactly what would that life look like?
While you’re working so diligently to move forward, do you have a clear and detailed
definition of where you intend to go?

An essential part of achieving what you desire is to know exactly what it is.
Unfortunately, the people and events in your world often discourage and dissuade you from seriously considering your own ideas for what life at its best can be.

If you’re not diligent about exploring and clarifying your own authentic desires,
the world will impose its pre-packaged, shallow and empty desires upon your life.
This can leave you frustrated, discouraged and unfulfilled as you strive to work toward
goals that have no real meaning for you.

On a regular basis, allow your desires to come bubbling to the surface,
so you can more fully understand them and connect with them.
Enjoy the fact that there are things for which you truly long,
and know that there is a path to every one of them.

Let your vision of what life can be pull you consistently toward its fulfillment.
When you are clear about what you seek and why,
you’ll gain access to the resources and the strategies that will enable you to achieve it.

Instead of suppressing your desires or placing judgments on them,
make yourself more and more familiar with their substance.
Put real meaning in your life by giving life and energy to the things that mean most to you.

— Ralph Marston

The Best Medicine

Who you can become

What you truly desire is indeed possible.
If it were not possible, you could not have the genuine desire for it.

Your true desire is not there to taunt you or to frustrate you.
Its purpose is to point your attention, your efforts, and your energy in a clear,
specific, worthwhile direction.

The desires that demand the most from you are the ones that end up being the most valuable.
For those desires compel you to discover and fulfill who you truly are.

It is not easy to transform a desire into reality.

And that is one reason you desire it, to encourage you to get it done.

It is not easy, yet it is possible.
And in pursuing your most desired possibilities,
you more fully become the unique and valuable person you are.

Listen to your highest desires, see them, feel them and bring them to life.
In those desires you’ll discover who you can become.

— Ralph Marston

11 February 2011

18 January 2011

The Heart of Humanity

The Heart of Humanity:

The Heart of Humanity - Sitting With Our Sadness

When we are dealing with sadness it is important to really sit with it and have the courage to do so.

The last thing most of us want to hear or think about when we are dealing with profound feelings of sadness is that deep learning can be found in this place. In the midst of our pain, we often feel picked on by life, or overwhelmed by the enormity of some loss, or simply too exhausted to try and examine the situation. We may feel far too disappointed and angry to look for anything resembling a bright side to our suffering. Still, somewhere in our hearts, we know that we will eventually emerge from the depths into the light of greater awareness. Remembering this truth, no matter how elusive it seems, can help.

The other thing we often would rather not hear when we are dealing with intense sadness is that the only way out of it is through it. Sitting with our sadness takes the courage to believe that we can bear the pain and the faith that we will come out the other side. With courage, we can allow ourselves to cycle through the grieving process with full inner permission to experience it. This is a powerful teaching that sadness has to offer us the ability to surrender and the acceptance of change go hand in hand.

Another teaching of sadness is compassion for others who are in pain, because it is only in feeling our own pain that we can really understand and allow for someone else's. Sadness is something we all go through, and we all learn from it and are deepened by its presence in our lives. While our own individual experiences of sadness carry with them unique lessons, the implications of what we learn are universal. The wisdom we gain from going through the process of feeling loss, heartbreak, or deep disappointment gives us access to the heart of humanity.

17 January 2011

Grow your own vegetables

Grow your own vegetables: "As more people discover the savings and satisfaction of growing their own produce, CHOICE finds out how you can set up your own edible garden. Online 08/2009"