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The Life Of Bees

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The Life Of Bees

I love bees. How about you? Most of them are so cute and remarkable diligent, it would be difficult not to love them.

Bees are the hardest workers on the planet. To eek out a teaspoon of honey, they kill themselves – literally.

Humans have been fascinated by the magic and movements of bees for centuries. These little insects have an incredibly complex social structure in which each individual has a job and works for the good of the whole. Imagine if humanity did this?

From making the delicious honey we so enjoy to caring for the young up-n-coming bees’ lives, these lovely creatures are busy from their first day of life until their last.

What does the life of bees look like on a day-to-day basis?

Read on to learn more about the life cycle of bees, as well as what each member of a colony spends their days doing throughout the year.

All Hail The Queen

The Queen Bee’s life is fairly straightforward – her job is to mate and lay all the eggs that will keep the hive growing and thriving. When she is a larva, she is fed royal jelly by her loyal buzzing servants, which transforms her into a Queen. She is not the only queen growing, however, and whichever Queen hatches first kills all the rest, which solidifies her position on the “Throne.”

Once the Queen is fully mature, she flies away from the hive to mate with drones from other colonies. After a few days of mating mid-air, she returns to her hive and begins laying eggs. She’ll lay as many as 2,000 eggs per day for the rest of her life, never leaving the hive again.

Drones

Drones are the only male bees in the colony, and their entire purpose in life is to mate. High-flying sex is the only thing on their minds. Drones are the male escorts of the bee world.

In most cases, drones do not mate with the Queen of their own hive. Instead, they fly up to an altitude of 200 or 300 feet, a mile or so away from the hive, and they mate with Queens from other colonies. This perform all of their sexy duties mid-air! The reason they do this is to maintain the diversity of the global genetic pools of bees.

Once drones have mated, they return to the hive to be fed by the worker bees. Kinda like gladiators when they return home from a day of battles at the local forum.

Drones do not do any work for the colony beyond mating. The lifespan of a drone bee tends to be somewhere around fifty-five days. As the weather gets colder, drone bees get pushed out of the colony and left to freeze, their life’s purpose accomplished.

Some bees in warmer climates will find ways to survive beyond their usual fifty-five days.

Workers

Worker bees have the most active lives of any in the hive. They perform all of the hive’s non-mating functions, including gathering food, caring for young, defending the hive, and building and repairing the nest. Worker bees’ daily activities vary as they continue through their month-long life cycle.

Worker bees tend to be the smallest of all the bees in the colony, coming in at just under half an inch in size. Drones are a little more than half an inch long, and Queen bees can be just under a full inch in length.

Young Workers

On her first day, a worker bee hatches from her cell, and begins to clean up everything around her. Unused pods need to be cleaned out in order to keep the hive healthy and in good order. She begins cleaning out her cell and then moves onto other cells that may have gathered dirt or other debris throughout the hive.

After that first day or two, a worker becomes a nurse bee, caring for all the developing eggs that the Queen has laid. She produces jelly and feeds the larvae as many as 1,300 meals each day.

As they develop, young worker bees feeds all of the growing eggs her bee bread, made from a mixture of pollen and nectar. On the fifth day of their development, she seals up their cells so they can finish their development.

Middle Aged Workers

After the first week of their lives, worker bees are already considered middle-aged, and they move into a new set of duties. During this next week or two, worker bees may take on a variety of roles within the hive. Oftentimes, they start out as processing workers, taking nectar from foragers and passing it to other worker bees who store it away to become honey.

Middle-aged bees also usually take on the role of hive architects, expanding the hive and repairing any cracks.

These tough old bee-folk make wax and build new cells for honey storage or for larvae to grow in.

These boomer bees may also create the bee bread that feeds young larvae.

Older Workers

Only when workers reach the end stage of their bee life cycle do they begin to leave the hive more regularly. As bees enter their third and fourth weeks of life, they become foragers, flying out from the hive to gather nectar and pollen. As foragers find good spots with plenty of pollen, they alert the other bees in their colony to this spot so they can focus their efforts there.

This is similar to New Yorkers who retire to Miami. Instead of gathering pollen, Florida retirees visit the area malls on little scooters and buy local newspapers and Entenmann’s crumb cake.

As they age, worker bees also help process nectar into honey. They run the warehouse and store the nectar, and they beat their wings to evaporate water from the developing honey. Some older worker bees also help to guard the hive and make sure no bees from other hives sneak in and steal their liquid goals.

The Life of Bees in Spring and Summer

Much like us, bees’ daily activities change with the weather and the turning of the seasons. Spring and summer are the bees’ busiest seasons. This is when they collect bundles of pollen and nectar from blooming flowers. The warmer months are also the safest to move around inside and outside the hive.

During the Spring and Summer, worker bees busily harvest pollen as much as twelve hours a day, as well as store nectar, make honey, repair the hive, and tend larvae. Drones fly out to mate with Queens from other hives, and the impregnated Queen of the hive spends all her time laying eggs.

The Life of Bees in Fall

Once the weather begins to cool down and the autumnal equinox comes around, bees prepare the hive for the long, harsh trek through the freezing months of Winter. Oftentimes, this means ejecting the drones from the hive and leaving them to die. The drones have performed their purpose by this time, and they’ll just consume hive resources during the leaner months, which would prevent the safety of the Queen.

As the weather cools off, the Queen’s egg-laying pace slows down a bit. The hive will need every bit of its honey to keep the current population of bees alive until the flowers bloom again. They don’t have resources to devote to caring for new bees, and moving around the hive can be dangerous in freezing weather. 

The Life of Bees in Winter

Once Winter sets in, all the worker bees return to the hive and settle in to make it through the Winter months. They form one large huddle in the center of the hive, with the Queen in the middle of the huddle.

Bees take turns buzzing their wings to warm up the hive, their Queen, and the other worker bees around them.

Bees rely on their honey stores to make it through the lean Winter months. A hive that hasn’t stored enough honey (or that has had too much honey harvested from them) may starve to death during this time. For the most part, the bees do not leave the hive until the weather warms up and flowers bloom again.

Learn More About the Life of Bees

From the moment their lives begin, bees have a dedicated role within their hive. Queens and drones spend their lives focused on mating, but worker bees handle every other aspect of hive life. From cleaning out cells and caring for larvae to harvesting nectar and pollen and turning it into honey, their daily lives are dedicated to keeping their hive healthy and running smoothly.

There are many lessons to draw from the lovely, beautiful lives of Bees. They are naturally and deeply committed to each other and their roles in the functioning of their hives. They roll with the punches so they can fulfill their life missions – and they protect their leaders at all costs.

Most importantly, Bees feed the planet. They are the singular species that is always required for life on Earth. Without Bees, the world would eventually perish.

If you see a Bee, pray for her. Love him.

Don’t be afraid of them. While they might seek to protect their hives, if you keep a distance, they’ll have no reason to attack.

The Life Of Bees is a noble one. THANK YOU, BEES!

I am here to help you awaken and bravely create an inspired life. Make the world a lovelier place! Learn more about our services today and start changing your life in the most positive way.

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

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WHAT IS BREATHARIANISM? OH MY!

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WHAT IS BREATHARIANISM? OH MY!

When we list the things humans need to survive, most of us come down to three basic requirements: food, water, and shelter. But there’s a movement that claims two of those three things are holding us back.

Some of the most extreme Breatharians claim to survive off of the life energy of the universe alone, no food or water involved. Others who believe themselves to be One With The Breath appear to drink water and snack once in a while – and somehow remain healthy. 

One might wonder which of these Breath devotees are telling the truth – and which ones are projecting an image that no human could ever embody.

Is it possible to go months or years without eating or drinking?

Do Breatharians really exist?

If so, how have they managed to defy the basic scientific principles we thought we understood?

Read on to learn more about this practice and whether it actually allows people to subsist on something loftier than mere food.

What Is Breatharianism?

Breatharianism is the practice of going without food, water, or both and, instead, living from the life energy of the Universe. As the name suggests, Breatharianism uses the breath to harness this energy and nourish the body. Breatharians claim to exist only on air and sunlight, foregoing food (and sometimes water) altogether, sometimes for years at a time.

While Breatharianism is a reboot of the ancient Yogic practice, today’s New-Age Breatharianism birthed in the mid-90s, thanks in part to the work of a woman born Ellen Greve, who has since changed her name to Jasmuheen.

Our friend Jasmuheen wrote a book called Living on Light: The Source of Nourishment for the New Millennium. This book describes a twenty-one-day process that will supposedly help your body adjust to surviving only on air.

While the new-age scene has bastardized this practice, which was established by serious-ass Yogis thousands of years ago, it takes a truly Divine Master or Enlightened Being to be a totes-for-reals Breatharian.

Even Masters like Amma, who eat very little, tend to stay away from using phrases like Breatharian because it’s a dangerous practice – and it’s only meant for people who arrive at some version of Breatharianism naturally – ya know, like because of deep spiritual practices which can result in liberation – a state that is very rare.

How Does Breatharianism Work?

If breatharians aren’t getting their nourishment from food and/or water, where does it come from? Breatharians claim to fuel their body with prana, a kind of life-energy emitted by the Universe itself.

Prana is the Sanskrit word for breath. It points to the substratum and eternal substance that permeates reality throughout every level and realm, including inanimate objects. In other words, Prana is the source of all life built into all aspects of living and non-living realities.

Breatharians claim to be able to harness this energy through intense breathing exercises that connect them with this life-energy. Pranic breathing is an empowering and cleansing practice found in most yoga classes and other spiritual disciplines. 

Pranic breathing is usually performed by sitting in the lotus position, breathing into your stomach and exhaling, all through the mouth or all through the nose – and sometimes only one nostril. The pace of this style of breathing is often very fast with truncated exhales. Pranic breathing can certainly feed you for a time. It can also clear emotions and help you feel more alive and rejuvenated at a core level.

There are centuries of evidence showing the benefits of breathing exercises and meditation. Meditation and breathing can allow us to connect better with our own inner life force, the Universe, other people, and our own bodies.

The challenge with Breatharianism is that proponents claim that these practices can replace food and water. While this might be true for advanced souls, chances are pretty high that Bunny McStretchypants, who teaches beer yoga at the local gym, and Trendy Taj McKrishna, who drinks his own urine at parties, are probably not real Breatharians.

Folks like these are most often hopped-up on new-age narcissism while pretending to be the real deal, when in reality, they can barely manifest enough money to pay their electric bills. 

What is the Breatharianism Diet

On its face, the Breatharian diet seems simple: don’t eat food or drink water, ever. But when you dive into the practice, you’ll discover it’s much more complicated.

There are two basic steps to the breatharian diet: the initiation and the long-term plan. And there are two styles of Breatharians: crazy people who think they can do it forever and reasonable people who know they probably can’t do it for very long. Both types tend to eat once in a while – and most Breatharians drink water regularly.

Many of today’s Breatharian programs recommend starting with an initiation period of fasting. Fasting  gets your body jump-started into surviving off of nourishment other than food. In some protocols, this initial fasting period, during which you drink either only some or no water and eat no or very little food, lasts seven to ten days. Other programs only require you to go three days without any nourishment.

After the initial fasting period, Breatharians recommend that you move to a liquid diet. This consists mostly of fruit and vegetable juices and broths. Some wanna-bees will drink lemon water with cayenne pepper to slowly shut down their digestive systems.

Many Breatharians say they eat every now and then, either in social situations or because they want to enjoy the sensation of eating food. However, a handful of Breatharian leaders claim to go for months or years without eating anything at all. 

While this may or may not be true, it’s certainly fascinating! I have to mention here – um, please do not try this at home!

Breatharianism Doesn’t Work

Now that we know about Breatharianism and its principles, let’s get right down to the facts – it doesn’t work for 99.9999% of those who claim it as a lifestyle.

The simple truth is that the overwhelming majority of humans, aliens, and wandering spirits need food to live. More importantly, you can’t go more than a few days at a time without drinking water before your body begins to shut down. 

There’s no denying that our culture often tends to overindulge in food, and many people have unhealthy relationships with food. As we’ll discuss more later, there are some potential benefits to using breathing exercises and meditation as a way to improve your relationship with food. But the basic tenet of Breatharianism – that humans can live without food and water – has no basis in fact or science, except the occasional Enlightened Master who probably doesn’t need to promote their adherence to this practice. 

And any Enlightened Master worth their salt will probably want a cookie now and again, because cookies were made by God to make our inner-children smile. So there.

Breatharian Deaths

One of the problems with Breatharianism as a practice is that it can be very dangerous. So far, there have been five known deaths connected with Breatharian practices. The most recent death was in 2012, but the best-known was an incident in 1999 in which a woman died of dehydration and hypothermia after practicing the program described in Living on Light.

In most cases, people don’t die of starvation as a result of Breatharianism, but rather as a result of dehydration. Doctors estimate that you can only go for less than a week without water before you die of dehydration. After that point, your organs begin shutting down, your blood gets thicker, toxins build up in your body, and eventually you die. Good times!

Breatharian Leaders Eat

When you start looking closely at Breatharian leaders and the programs they claim to follow, one fact emerges: Breatharian leaders eat. They may make sweeping statements about going months or years without consuming any food. But when you start asking for details, a number of inconsistencies tend to show up.

Some Breatharian leaders admit to regularly drinking vegetable broth or fruit juice, as well as eating in social situations. Although these amounts of food may be much less than what most people consume, it’s definitely a source of nutrition other than sunlight and prana. A few Breatharian leaders have even been caught ordering in-flight meals or with whole refrigerators full of food. 

The Cost of Breatharian Retreats

In addition to being physically dangerous, some might say that Breatharianism classes and retreats are outright scams. Breatharian leaders tell their followers to go long periods of time without eating or drinking, all the while they are regularly eating food. Meanwhile, they’re raking in thousands of dollars in profits from retreats and coaching fees.

Why are they making so much money? Because New-Agers are knuckleheads. They believe trends will save them from themselves. Yeah, it doesn’t work that way.

They way it works is this: chant, pray, eat healthy, forgive, accept, release – and repeat. It’s not complicated.

Many Breatharian retreats, which are designed to get you started on the fasting program, cost more than $1,000. One-on-one coaching sessions can cost $75 an hour or more, depending on who you see. The simple fact is that too many New-Age trendsetter phonies make an insanely lucrative living off of selling dangerous lies.

Using Breath for Food Control

Although the Breatharian fasting program is dangerous, there are some helpful ideas we can take from it. Many people in our society have unhealthy relationships with food, including overeating and, in many ways, being addicted to food. We have to eat food to live, but there are definite benefits to being more conscious of what we eat and how we consume it.

Mindful eating is a helpful practice that uses meditative practices to help control food intake. You may find that using breathing exercises can be a great way to curb food cravings in times when you’re trying to cut back.

Breathing can be a great way to build a healthier relationship with food, but you have to be sure you’re managing your diet in a safe, healthy way. 

Do Breatharians Exist?

It would be easy to say that Breatharians do not exist. I’ve personally met a few Enlightened Masters who I never saw eat. And if you’re a real Breatharian or spiritual master, you’re probably not running around with a trendy book telling everybody to try it. Why? Because elevating ourselves through the most intense spiritual practices is f*cking painful – and not for everybody. 

While most of us cannot survive on life-energy alone, breathing and meditation can build healthier relationships with food and our inner Beings.

Breathing, sunlight, food, water, movement, and forgiveness can all work together to help you to build a life that’s healthy for your body, mind, and spirit.

I am here to help you awaken and bravely create an inspired life. Learn more about my services today and start changing your life in the most positive way.

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

 

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Energy Vampires! How to Spot, Repel, & Avoid Them

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Energy Vampires! How to Spot, Repel, & Avoid Them

We’ve all met these types of people. They are either sad, broken, emotionally dramatic, or simply narcissistic. Somehow they refuse to own their stuff and seek to improve themselves. While these people deserve our love and compassion, they do not necessarily deserve our attention or time.

Are you feeling continuously drained at work, home, or social events? Do you often feel stressed so you cannot enjoy the things you once loved? Are you feeling unmotivated and unable to engage in life?

These symptoms may be surfacing for several reasons:

An introverted personality strained by constant social interaction

Depression born from repressed emotions

Confusion due to various life stressors and changes

Or

Being the victim of an Energy Vampire!

Are you ready to take back your life and cast out all that bad energy?

It’s time to learn which people in your life are sucking the happiness right out of you and preventing you from enjoying the activities you once enjoyed!

What is an Energy Vampire?

At first, the term “Energy Vampire” seems fantastical, but it’s becoming a common term used to label several types of personalities. Simply put, Energy Vampires are people who feed on your energy and who selfishly use that energy solely for themselves, kind of like new-age narcissists. 

That definition makes it seem like these people are dark, twisted villains who are looking for vulnerable people to prey upon, but that’s not often the case. Most of the time, Energy Vampires don’t realize how challenging they are or how their toxic personality traits affect the people around them. 

Certain personalities lend themselves to evolving into Energy Vampires due to learned behavior. It’s possible that Mom or Dad was an Energy Vampire and nurtured their child into an equally dramatic and needy personality. Or maybe the Vamp in your life had a difficult childhood and now craves attention from anyone that will lend an ear.  Unable to give to others reciprocally, they become accustomed to unstable and imbalanced relationships.

Like many other behaviors, Energy-Vampirism is often representative of an unconscious lifestyle that can go undetected by the person exhibiting it for a lifetime.

The Energy Vampire Spectrum

Spotting an Energy Vampire might be difficult, especially if these folks are close to you. It can be hard to see relatives, friends, and coworkers with an objective point of view. Further, Energy Vampires can emerge within a broad spectrum of a variety of personalities and behaviors.

At the very least, Energy Vampires are often narcissistic. They assume that the world revolves around them and that everyone exists to serve them in some way. Emotionally or psychologically entrenched in their desires and problems, they cannot consider other peoples’ needs and feelings. Every time you encounter them, you might be unable to get a word in to express your thoughts and feelings.

In the middle of the spectrum, these narcissistic Vamps become manipulative. They actively use you to get what they want, whether it’s constant attention, validation, an exalted ego, or worse. These people demonstrate little concern for how their ongoing needs affect you. Whether they’re conscious of it or not, they take advantage of everyone around them. 

On the extreme end, these types of vampires are psychopathic. Their social behavior is often exaggerated or intense due to innate aggression or ongoing mood instability. This type of person is draining because you’re either constantly giving to them, tensely on guard, or nervously uncertain about what they’ll do next. In many ways, you might be bracing yourself for the eventual and likely consequences of their behavior.

Sound familiar? You might have at least one person in your life that exhibits this type of behavior. If you’re not sure, then ask yourself if there’s a particular person that leaves you feeling exhausted and stressed after every encounter.

Who Are The Typical Victims of Energy Vampires?

Because these human black holes drain energy from those around them, they thrive in social situations when more vulnerable, passive people are available to them. The ideal victim of an Energy Vampire is someone who always sees the good in others, listens to those who need to vent, and doesn’t stand up for themselves when they feel offended or manipulated.

While we’re never truly a victim, only an experiencer of aspects of reality, one cannot help but feel lessened and burdened by ongoing exchanges with Energy Vampires.

If you are a compassionate and open-hearted person, good for you! You should never choose to feel bad about your glowing and positive personality. For healthy people, you are a life-saving support system. For Energy Vamps, you’re dessert.

Energy vampires don’t only prey on compassionate and passive people. They negatively affect everyone around them, including other Energy Vampires! 

How to Know If You’re An Energy Vampire’s Prey

Not sure if the source of your problems is an Energy Vampire? There are some telltale signs that your energy is being drained without you being conscious of it. Even though you have a busy and fulfilling life, you might feel lonely, lost, confused, exhausted or unloved. You might feel as though nobody truly knows you, hears you, or “gets” you. When we are loving a narcissist, it’s easy to lose site of our needs that have long-gone unmet.

Energy vampires manifest in many different forms. Maybe a parent or close relative constantly commands your attention while also provoking your guilt for taking any time for yourself.

Perhaps a coworker is a considerable presence at your workplace and doesn’t care who they hurt amid their climb to the top. Maybe you have a friend who constantly involves you in their personal drama without considering your personal space and wellbeing.

At the end of the day, energy vampires can be anyone. To figure out the source of this stress, focus on these points while you meditate:

Do you feel drained after conversations?

Do you feel like your life is engulfed in someone else’s problems?

When you try to express your thoughts or feelings to someone else, are you made to feel guilty or crazy?

Most of all: do you fail to see yourself as the center of your own life?

Protect Yourself from Energy Vampires

Once you’ve identified the source, you can begin to take measures to protect yourself. It’s not always as easy as cutting the Energy Vampire out of your life, but if that’s possible, it’s time to do it. If it isn’t possible, it’s time to start guarding yourself against their energy-draining effects.

First, become an expert at spotting these Vamps. While it’s not healthy to always look for the negative aspects in people or situations, it is essential to be wary of people’s motivations and repeated actions.

Employ tactics that repel these people from your inner sphere. If it’s possible to block or avoid them, such as declining social events they’ll be attending, then it’s best to protect yourself by staying away.

If you can’t stay away, learn to respect yourself and set proper boundaries. Be clear about what behavior is acceptable in your relationships and stick by those rules. 

Second, lower your expectations for your relationship with that person. Often, we can be our own worst enemy when we get our hopes up for a healthy relationship with someone incapable of empathy.

Third, do not expend any energy on them. Do not overreact, do not accept their advances, and don’t give them the responses they want. Eventually, they’ll realize you’re no longer an easy target.

Fourth, surround yourself with people who can be your reality check. Talk to friends and family who can look at the situation from an outside perspective. They can be your support system for when you need to guard yourself.

Finally, begin to heal. Being the victim of an energy vampire for any period can be damaging to our senses of Self, our hearts, and our minds. Accepting that a person has been manipulating you and stopping the energy drain is the first step. Then, incorporate self-love practices like daily meditation, deep breathing, and reflection through a diary or my personality cards!

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

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Transform Your Life with Intentions and Vibrations

Intentions and Vibrations Create, Transform You, Your Relationships, and Reality

When a loved one is hurting or in need, many of us will send a message saying something like, ‘I am praying for you,’ or ‘Sending good vibes your way,” or ‘Thoughts And Prayers!’ Earnestly and lovingly, we recognize that on some level, thinking good thoughts for a person improves their lives. Little did we know we were operating on a level of intentions and vibrations!

THIS IS TRUE! THINK GOOD THOUGHTS & THEY TRAVEL, IMBUING LIGHT & BLISS INTO EVERY FACTION THEY TOUCH!

Did you know that setting positive intentions for yourself and others can change your world for the better – and improve the vibrations and lives found throughout the Universe? This is also true.

Knowing how to set intentions can help you to improve the positive energy around you and make your world a better, happier place to be.

Read on to learn more about intentions and vibrational energy and how they impact not only your life today, and your life in the future, but the lives of everyone around you for all time.

Goals vs. Intentions

Before we dive into how vibrational energy and intentions can change your life, let’s talk some about what intentions are. Many people think of intentions as something similar to daily goals – today I’ll eat healthier or today I’ll make better financial decisions. But goals and intentions are quite different.

Goals tend to focus on what we don’t have and need to get, and oftentimes, goal-setting can lead to a sense of failure if we don’t meet those goals. Goals are desires built upon contrived pursuits. They are born from the mind and they don’t necessarily uplift us.

Intentions are built upon feelings, hope, and faith. Intentions don’t have a fail safe; there’s no way to fail to meet an intention. It lives within the fabrics of our Beings.

Intentions are soul-prayers pointing to  how we are approaching the world and our life in any given moment.

How Vibrations Interact with Intentions

If intentions can change your life, why are we talking about the energy of vibrations? Because science tells us that everything around us is moving, humming with vibrational energy.

The Entire Universe Is Made Of Light & Sound!

 

Electrons zing around in their orbits, protons and neutrons jumble together in our cell nuclei, and the water in our bodies hums with the power of the Universe around us.

OMMMMMM is the sound of the Earth giving birth to itself.

AUM, AUM, AUM: The mantra of Yogis for eons.

Scientific experiments have shown that our thoughts can have a physical influence on the world around us. The observed will change when other forces are witnessing them.

As we set positive intentions for ourselves, we not only awaken and improve the vibrations in our own lives and bodies, but also in the world around us.

In simplest terms, our intentions can create good vibrations that make our world better.

This is why Sanskrit mantras are so powerful – they are born from the purest intentions. Chanting in Sanskrit can vibrate our souls into healing and great transformations.

Intentions Center & Focus Your Power

One of the best things about setting intentions each day is that it helps to center and focus our power.

Oftentimes, we may say “I wish” about various things in our lives. The problem with this terminology is that it places the power with something outside of us; we have to wait for God or the Universe or people around us to grant that wish.

When you set an intention, you use the language “I will.”

“I WILL!” – This simple phrase returns your power to where it belongs – within your control. You can come to believe and understand that you have the power to change your life, and that your daily intentions can be powerful tools for doing so.

Improve Your Outlook & Attitude

For many of us, if we take the time to listen to what we say each day, we’d find that it’s often overwhelmingly negative. We complain about our jobs, our kids, our looks, our challenges, and our bills.

All of this leads us to view our lives, at least in the moment, as being full of hardship, strife, and injustice.

While life can be challenging, setting intentions for your day can help you to improve your outlook and attitudes on the world around you.

You may start to notice those intentions manifesting in your life, which, over time, can raise your positive energy and overall magnetic vibration. With the best and most uplifting intentions, you’ll begin to see all the beautiful things around you. You’ll focus on your positive hopes and faith, rather than the negative and unseen space surrounding unmet goals.

Overcome Limitations

You may have heard before that the biggest thing holding you back from the life you want is YOU! In many ways, that may be true. Oftentimes, we’re told that we’re not good enough, that we can’t achieve our dreams, or that we’re not worthy of love. Over time, we come to believe this, and we act more timidly, afraid of what might happen if we dare to live boldly.

We project our fears and early childhood experiences onto our daily realities, forgetting that we can change everything with one intention and one small shift in attitude.

As Abraham says, the law of attraction is what drives the Universe and all Creation. Embody and speak that which is an embodiment of your highest vibration and you will naturally see your world improve.

Setting positive intentions and harnessing the positive energy from divinely inspired vibrations can empower us to live a life free of limitations.

With a little effort, we can begin to see how our thoughts can shape the world. Truly, we are built to believe we can do amazing things.

Throw off the false barriers that have been placed upon you, and become free!

Life your life as a full, loving, powerful, and radiant BEING!

Selflessly Serve Others

Although intentions can have a powerful impact on our lives, the benefits don’t stop there. Raising your positive energy can improve the lives of everyone around you – even of the whole world.

Vibrational experts understand that the Universe, heck, the entire eternal, ever-expanding Cosmos, is connected by these vibrations. By improving your inner world, your outer world will improve and expand.

Within your immediate circles, your positive intentions and the benefits they have for you will improve the lives of your partner, your children, and your friends. This can create a ripple effect, raising the positive energy of your community as your circle moves out into the world, happier and more empowered.

Your intentions help to improve the vibrations of one small area of the Universe, and that improvement shifts the balance to the good.

From an energetic standpoint, your energy permeates all realities. So be careful what you project!

How to Set Intentions

So how do you go about setting intentions and reaping all these positive rewards? It’s best to begin your intention-setting practice with meditation.

Meditating helps to center us, removing all of the extraneous distractions and expectations of the world around us. With meditation and a focus on our inner silence and Being, we allow our nature to expand – and we find peace.

After meditation, take some time to focus your thoughts toward what you want and need in your life and from the world around you.

Allow these desires to condense into one specific phrase that begins with an “I Will” – an action statement about how you’ll make this request a reality in your world.

An example:

I WILL EMBODY PEACE AND LOVE AND ATTRACT GOODNESS TO MY LIFE AND TO THOSE I LOVE.

 

Repeat your phrase a few times, allowing the weight of your focus to settle on it, before you set it down and move on into your day. 

You might also pray for others. When we pray for others, the Universe prays for us. 

How to Improve Your Vibrational Energy

In addition to setting intentions, there are also several other ways you can improve your vibrational energy.

Once more, meditation and breathing exercises play a large role in making these changes. Deep breathing can calm you and help you to expel any negative energy you may be carrying.

Pranic breathing is when we breath deeply into our bellies then rapidly exhale through either our noses, one nostril, or our mouths. Pranic breathing can help us accept ourselves, accept reality for what it is, expand, and find peace.

Practicing Kundalini Yoga is a wonderful way to work on your mind-body connection and improve your positive energy at the same time. You may even want to consider taking your yoga mat outdoors when the weather is nice.

Spending time in nature can be another great way to raise your vibrational energy. 

Practicing GRATITUDE might be the best way to embody positive energy.

Each day, make a list of things in your life for which you’re grateful. You may even want to incorporate these into your meditation practice to keep your positive vibrations growing.

Learn How to Set Intentions

The intentions we set each day can have a huge impact both on us and on the world around us. By creating these positive thoughts, we change the energy of vibrations around us and put more positive energy into the world. You can reclaim your amazing inner power, overcome your limitations, and improve the world around you just with your thoughts.

Your mind is nothing but a tool that can help you live in a physical reality, like here on Earth! Your mind is also something that sustains itself. We never have to be in our minds. Even if we extinguish our connection to our minds, we’ll still know how to drive and cook. These things are instinctual.

Releasing our minds and egos, we become free.

I am here to help you awaken and bravely create an inspired life. Learn more about my loving services today and start changing your life in the most positive way.

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

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Starseeds: Did We Come from the Stars?

Starseed

Starseed Infusion – A Shutterstock Licensed Image

Starseeds: Did We Come from the Stars?

For as long as history remembers, humans have always asked that unanswerable question: Why are we here? We gaze up to the stars and wonder just how far the sky reaches and how we came to exist on this planet. Does our consciousness extend beyond our limited understanding, and what is the truth about the human soul?

We all crave a more profound sense of calling, of purpose, and it very well may be that we have one! There is a trend among many seekers who believe that we may not be from this planet, but reincarnated souls that originate from far away places.

Starseeds, or alien souls in human bodies, may be walking among us without our knowledge. Who knows, you might be a Starseed yourself!

The Legend of the Starseeds

There are many different interpretations of the Starseed legend. Still, the most common concept of the Starseed derives from those who closely study the Akashic Records, which originate from the Sanskrit phrase “that which holds all.” Seekers can access the Akashic Records by elevating into the 8th dimension as we reach our higher self. For humans in the third dimension, Akashic Records are like an expansive database of information consisting of all the choices we’ve made and events we’ve experienced throughout our existence.

Each individual’s Akashic Records can help them see themselves as if in a mirror, reflecting their soul’s journey. Seers who have accessed their higher selves and viewed their Akashic Records have found trends in their soul’s journey, including the choice to reincarnate to a new planet — Earth.

Overall, the consensus on Starseeds is that they are advanced individuals who have abnormally high intelligence and the ability to empathize with others deeply. Many Starseed souls also report the ability to predict the future or sense when things will occur.

Why Would Starseeds Choose Earth?

For most seers who have accessed their higher self and discovered their Akashic Records, their choice to reincarnate on Earth involved benevolent intentions. Others believe that there are Starseeds among us with selfish motivations, looking to use our resources to benefit their home planets.

While physical human bodies only last a century if they’re lucky, Starseed souls have aged hundreds of thousands of years. As a result, they hold the knowledge and experience of which mortal humans can only dream. Our young planet has not yet had the opportunity to learn and grow even a fraction of the amount that other planets in other universes have.

Many say that Starseeds chose Earth so that they could bring their advanced resources to our planet, which lags behind other universes’ innovations and development. Others say they’re here to guide our race towards our ultimate purpose and help us elevate to our higher selves.

Types of Starseeds

The knowledge we’ve received from seers and channelers of the higher self has given us the ability to make out different types of Starseeds. There are a few commonly known types of Starseeds, each descending from distant galaxies and accredited with varying contributions to Earth.

There are 14 different types of Starseeds popularly accepted: Sirian, Pleiadian, Arcturian, Andromedan, Indigo, Crystal, Rainbow, Lightworker, Orion, Feline, Maldek, Lemurian, Atlantean, and Reptilian. 

Sirian Starseeds get their name from their origination from Sirius A and B stars, visible from our planet! These Starseeds are accredited for bringing masters like Jesus and Mary to our planet and being from the home of human beings’ ancestors.

On the other hand, Pleiadians come from the Taurus constellation and are known as historians of Earth’s existence. These Starseeds are matriarchal, family-centered, and operate with high levels of creativity, love, and spirituality. 

Arcturians are the most advanced of all the Starseeds and originate from an angelic realm, acting as the gateway between physicality and spirituality. Andromedans are telepathic beings from the Andromeda Galaxy and exist to achieve complete love and peace for their beloved enslaved cousin races, like the humans. Reptilians are the slave masters, shapeshifters who attempt to manipulate the human race through political power.

Taking the time to meditate on your being and access your soul, in combination with researching types of Starseeds, will allow you to learn more about your soul’s journey and identify yourself.

How To Know If You’re A Starseed

Before I get into the traditional answer to this question, I must say this:

It does not matter if you are a Starseed or not. And it might be absolutely impossible to know whether or not you hail from another planet or galaxy. In most cases, especially within the new-age community, people are looking to escape their realities rather than face them.

The reality is that you are HERE NOW.

HERE NOW means you are a spirit in a human body. There is nothing more important than this idea.

If you’re interested in the knowledge or wisdom from another galaxy, remember that all spiritual knowledge is accessible through meditation. And all scientific knowledge must be proven in this physical world. 

That said, here’s more of the Starseed candy you’ve come to love:

According to those in the know, Starseeds are likely laying dormant in their human bodies and are unaware of their core wisdom. When Starseeds reincarnate into human bodies, they experience total amnesia. Their experiences, thoughts, emotions, and choices that make up their journey as a soul are locked into their core, waiting to be accessed. It is the Starseed’s mission to access that core by flipping the switch on their higher self.

If you’re reading this, it’s already more likely that you are a Starseed! It means you have an inner calling to something more and an inherent discomfort in your current state. While everyone should access their higher selves, Starseeds depend on it to unlock their true identity and purpose.

Do you have a longing for home that never goes away, even when you are home? Do you feel like you belong somewhere else, far away? Do you feel lonely and no one’s company can satisfy this ache?

While some Starseeds experience more subtle loneliness and longing for home, others have more urgent feelings that they don’t belong. Many Starseeds thrust themselves into learning about the higher self, reincarnation, and other mystic concepts. They look fervently for answers to their discomfort in their human bodies on the three-dimensional plane. 

These are all huge indicators of being a Starseed, especially if these feelings are combined with a fascination for space, an inability to understand the confusing and irrational ways of other humans, and the excitement that you might not be a human after all!

To know for sure if you’re a Starseed, though, you’ll need to have an awakening. Some Starseeds can have subtle and sudden realizations while others can experience more dramatic and stunning awakenings. 

Accessing Your Core Starseed Wisdom

If you’re serious about achieving awakening, especially if you feel that your soul comes from another place, you’ll need to follow the path of the masters. The great news is that you don’t have to travel anywhere or do anything drastic to achieve enlightenment. As long as you learn the practices, you can awaken your core self in your own home!

An excellent way to start your journey is to find a spiritual guide, someone who has already walked the path and is eager to take your hand and guide you towards your own awakening. There are so many options for directing your mind towards your higher self, and you might need to experiment to land on the perfect practice. Set goals for yourself and be clear about precisely what you wish to achieve before you begin setting practices for yourself, such as prayer and meditation routines. 

For some, awakening comes easily and quickly. For others, it is a long and challenging path. It’s important to remember that every soul’s journey is unique and that you should never be hard on yourself. Spiritual enlightenment and self-discovery should be exciting and fulfilling!

You might get swept up in the legends, myths, and other ideas that float around among seekers, but don’t lose yourself in the process. Remember to accept YOU as YOU. Don’t force labels on yourself, and don’t be discouraged when a label you want doesn’t exactly fit you. Maybe you aren’t a Starseed, but who YOU truly are is so much more important and beautiful!

Summary

While it might be interesting and exciting to imagine that Starseeds are more evolved than Earth’s human beings, the truth is that any of us can expand at any moment. A Starseed might have the ancestry that points to expansion, but they may or may not have the intention to pursue their highest self.

It’s easy to become distracted by the latest spiritual systems or the most charismatic spiritual media stars. It’s even easier to want to leave our lives and bodies so that we can transcend the Universe and become Everything.

To truly transcend, we don’t have to go anywhere. We can do it from our living rooms.

We’re built to enjoy our minds and all the fantasies they conjure. We are constructed in such ways that one thought can lead us into heaven, while another leads us into hell. When it comes right down to it, as a species, we’re not very stable.

Whether you’re Starseed, Muslim, Lutheran, Japanese, Iranian, brown, red, tall, fat, wonderful, itchy, angry, or hilarious, your current “you” is a temporary construct that you continually co-created with your pre-birth guides, and the parents and cultures you chose for this life. None of these things are concrete. [link text=”

They are temporary sets of constructs and conditions.

Your “you” is a layer atop a beautiful, powerful, vibrant soul, and you have unlimited potential in any direction. Your soul is not small letters; it’s an all-cap YOU, all the time. When we’re too distracted by our small yous, we can miss out on our fulfilling a purpose and embodying the Universe.

Always be careful with the labels you place on yourself. Every label is temporary, only partly true, and only at this moment. Each of these temporary self-identities has limitations and consequences. Try not to hold onto them so tightly.

We are in this life because we were called to this life. Live it as if you are here, in the now. Looking to the stars can be fun, but looking within is where you’ll find the gold. “Within” is your forever home.

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ASMR: The Wild Wonderful World Of Living Sound

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asmr-healing-benefits

Shutterstock licensed image.

 

ASMR: The Wild Wonderful World Of Living Sound

If you love to feel intimately connected with yourself and nourish the parts of you that need some love and attention, you might LOVE ASMR!

Do you remember the feeling of having someone you loved brush your hair when you were a child and how relaxing that was? Do you love the sound of cellophane crinkling for some reason you can’t explain? Do you enjoy going to the doctor because of the one-on-one attention you get while you’re there?

If any of this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone – millions of people around the world are seeking out the relaxing experiences that can trigger ASMR. Read on to learn more about ASMR and what some of the most common triggers are. 

ASMR is alike an auditory hug or an intimate exchange with a lover. 

What Is ASMR?

ASMR stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response” and is a specific sensation people sometimes get in response to certain stimuli. Most people describe ASMR as a tingly feeling in the back of their head, although it can be more complex than that. In general, ASMR describes a feeling of deep, almost primal pleasure and relaxation.

There isn’t yet a lot of scientific study of ASMR and what causes it. The term was first coined in 2010 by a woman named Jennifer Allen, who launched a Facebook group to find out more about the phenomenon. Since then, millions of people have become fascinated by ASMR and have devoted themselves to finding new ways to experience this sensation. 

How Does ASMR Work?

The first thing to note about ASMR is that not everyone experiences it, and it’s different for everyone. In general, people have certain “triggers” that cause them to experience those sensations associated with ASMR. These triggers can include sounds, sensations, or even certain types of interaction.

There are millions of ASMR videos available on the internet with a wide variety of different triggers. Some of the most common triggers include having one’s hair brushed, listening to crinkling or brushing sounds, or getting devoted attention from some variety of caregiver. Some people may have a lot of ASMR triggers, while others may only have one or two. 

What Does ASMR Feel Like?

Many people describe ASMR as being a little like an orgasm for your mind. Although the experience isn’t necessarily sexual, it carries the same sort of relaxation and intense pleasure as an orgasm does. People who experience ASMR describe feeling almost as if they’ve gone into a trance, lulled into relaxation by their triggers.

For most people, ASMR takes the form of tingles beginning at the top of their scalp and making their way down the neck and back. You may experience a deep, primal sort of pleasure and a powerful sense of relaxation, almost floating. Some people find ASMR so relaxing that they go to sleep to ASMR videos or use them as a form of meditation. 

Brushing Sounds

Brushing sounds are one of the most common forms of ASMR triggers. For many people, their first experience with ASMR may be having a loved one brush their hair or brushing a childhood pet. These gentle sounds can still trigger those powerful feelings of safety, relaxation, and nostalgia.

You can find millions of videos geared towards brushing sound triggers for ASMR. Content creators film themselves brushing wigs, someone’s hair, pets, or even squares of carpet. These videos are filmed with binaural sound, which creates a more realistic 3D experience that can make you feel like you’re actually in the room with the person. 

Crisp Sounds

Crisp sounds are another common auditory ASMR trigger. This sound may remind us of paper rustling in books we read as a child, leaves crunching underfoot, or your parents reading the newspaper. 

As with brushing sound videos, content creators use binaural audio to record ASMR videos with crisp sounds. They may crumple up and then flatten out sheets of paper or tear that paper into small pieces. You can find videos of people crinkling cellophane and foil, combing their fingers through gemstones, or turning the pages of a book. 

Hair Brushing

For many people, physical touch is an important part of triggering an ASMR experience. As social creatures, we crave touch and physical affection from the people we love. In some cases, that physical touch can cause the sort of deep relaxation and platonic pleasure associated with ASMR.

You may find that you’re extraordinarily relaxed by the simple act of someone brushing your hair. If you don’t have anyone in your life who will do this for you, you can find videos of people brushing wigs or even other people’s hair. While these videos don’t recreate the full experience, they can simulate some of the relaxing sensation.

Ear Touching

You might be surprised to learn that many people find their ASMR trigger is in their ears. You have tens of thousands of nerve endings in your earlobes and in the shells of your ears. Some of these nerve endings even connect to other areas of your body, including your internal organs.

Many people find it relaxing – and in some cases, even erogenous – to have their ears touched and stroked. There are dozens of ASMR videos in which someone brushes their ear with a makeup brush. The soft head of the brush and the sound of the bristles moving over the ear can simulate the experience of someone stroking your own ear. 

Personal Attention

It’s no secret that many of us crave close personal attention. We love feeling like we’re the center of someone’s attention and that we’re really being listened to. In some cases, this pleasure may be so deep that it causes that ASMR reaction associated with deepest relaxation.

Some ASMR content creators film videos of themselves looking directly into the camera and speaking as though to you. They use positive, reassuring tones and put their hands near the camera to simulate touching your face. Even this simulation of close personal attention can give people that ASMR sensation.

Role Playing

Role playing is another popular form of personal attention for people who experience ASMR. You may have found that you enjoyed going to the doctor’s office or to get your hair done because of the one-on-one attention you got during those appointments. These situations also allow you to follow the direction of the caretaker, which can be relaxing for people with anxiety.

Some ASMR videos simulate an appointment with a doctor or similar caretaker. The creator may don a white coat, speak in a welcoming tone, and talk you through the steps of the appointment. They may give you small pieces of praise throughout the video and thank you at the end for being such a good patient. 

Color Matching

If you’ve seen color matching videos go by on social media, you know how engaging this content can be. Watching someone blend different shades of paint to achieve the perfect match is enormously satisfying. For some people, it can cause those tingles that go along with ASMR.

People who do color matching videos may focus on a couple of different ASMR triggers. They might create different color swatches that go well together or try to mix a paint that blends perfectly with another surface. Just watching someone mix paint can be extraordinarily relaxing in and of itself.

Learn More About ASMR

ASMR is a relatively new concept, but it has taken the internet by storm in the last few years. As of this writing, there are more than five million ASMR videos on YouTube, and that number is rising by the hour. If you’ve never experienced those tingles for yourself, try some of the triggers we discussed and see what is the most relaxing for you.

If you’d like to learn more about ASMR, check out the rest of my site at PaulWagner.com. I am here to help you awaken and bravely create an inspired life. Learn more about my services today and start changing your life in the most positive way.

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

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The 26 Most Inspiring Divine Masters Throughout Time

The 26 Most Inspiring Divine Masters Throughout Time

Guru. Master. Teacher. Sage. There are endless synonyms and titles for the bigger-than-life souls who have graced our planet with their births. Whether they walked among us to lead by word, example, or both, they are beings we must look to for guidance in our journeys.

It is said that when we have a Guru, not just a humble teacher, but a true Enlightened Master, our paths are expedited and we can reach liberation in a much shorter period of time. Since we all have the spark of Love & Light that fills every Divine Being, our fires are already ignited. All we need to do is choose a path and dive into it with all of our hearts. Vulnerability, prayer, mantra, chanting, forgiveness, and rituals are some of the tools.

Divine masters encompass an amazing dualism of both lessons for our physical and spiritual lives. They help us align our bodies with our minds and find the right path for our souls while taking care of our physical health. No matter your concerns and troubles in life, you are sure to find solace and assistance in the lives and lessons of divine masters.

If you are looking for a new role model for your physical and spiritual journey or need consolation in your current life situation, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, I’ve put together the 25 most inspiring divine masters who have ever existed. Within this list, you can learn about their journeys on Earth and the shoes they have left for us to fill.

While the full list of saints and wonderful souls could be endless, this list comprises some of the most popular. Reflect on these figures as you turn inward and apply the lessons of these gurus to your journey. 

Amma the Hugging Saint

Mata Amritanandamayi, better known as Amma, is a revered spiritual leader in India with a mission to comfort the entire world. She is known as the “Hugging Saint” for Her tours in which she lovingly embraces every person who comes to see Her. Amma’s mission is to extend the true love she holds in her heart outward with physical actions that benefit humanity. She has hugged over 40 millions times as of this writing.

Amma has the broadest, most remarkable mission in human history. She has reached more people and blessed them – than any other human figure.

Amma tours, holds retreats, and even has an Ashram in her name. People from all over are welcome to follow her, meet her, and emulate her love for the world.

Mother Meera

To many, Mother Meera is the physical embodiment of the Divine Feminine. She was born in Southern India in 1960 and now resides in the German countryside. She is best known for sharing the blessing of Darshan, which is to be in the presence of the Divine, by offering her time in complete silence to humanity and bestowing light upon the souls who seek it.

If you’re looking for a teacher in the traditional sense, Mother Meera is not the figure for you. She does not offer verbal guidance – instead, she is the presence of the Divine itself from which you can draw peace and enlightenment. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

If a silent presence like Mother Meera isn’t what you’re looking for, then maybe a poet-activist is exactly what you need. Thich Nhat Hanh is famous for his peace, ethics, and mindfulness teachings. Most of all, he preaches that we must live what we teach – and that he does!

At 16 years old, Thich Nhat Hanh became a Buddhist monk in Vietnam. He believed that he could forge a new path for Buddhism in which the religion could respond to the world’s needs in its current political climate. He has since become a published author and influenced many world leaders, calling for peace and reform in many industries.

Jesus the Nazarene: Well-Known Divine Master

Jesus is followed by over a third of the world’s population, standing at the center of Christianity. Jesus was both a historical man and a divine master, devoting his life to the suffering of humanity and lifting them from the depths of temptation and death. He marked the end of the Old Testament understanding of the Jewish God and began both a religious and political movement that would forever change the world. 

Jesus is believed to have performed many miracles on Earth, becoming the champion of the poor, sick, and oppressed. During his lifetime, he preached forgiveness, mercy, and unconditional love for all people. He also stayed close to his mother, Mary, who we also hail as Divine Mother and can invoke through the Hail Mary prayer.

The Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama, widely known as the Buddha, was a revolutionary born near the Indian border in Nepal. At first, Siddhārtha made contributions to philosophical thought in his local area, but his teachings spread long after his death to form the foundations of Buddhism.

Spiritually, the Buddha teaches rebirth and of the enlightened state of self, called Nirvana. Physically, he leads the life of the “middle way” and exercises moderation and critical thinking. Overall, following the Buddha means letting go of the Ego, finding balance, and achieving peace.

Mohammad ibn Abdullah

Jesus founded Christianity, Siddhārtha founded Buddhism, and Mohammad founded Islam. In Islam, Mohammad was a prophet who received the Quran from God as a final revelation before the world’s end. Suffering persecution early on, Mohammad had few followers and sent many away from his home region to protect them. 

Mohammad preached monotheism despite threats against him from the widely polytheistic society. While Mohammad’s teachings were rebellious to the religious and political leaders of his time, he was a uniting force for many people, converting almost the entire Arabian peninsula to Islam by the time of his death.

Kuan Yin

Kuan-shi Yin, which means “observing the world’s cries,” is recognized across Asia as the Buddhist goddess of compassion and mercy. As a Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin has earned her place as a Buddha but has chosen to dedicate her life to saving humanity instead of enjoying Nirvana. She is often depicted with a thousand arms, representing her vow never to rest until all beings are freed from the cycle of reincarnation and suffering of the world.

Krishna

In Hinduism, Krishna is credited as the creator of the universe and the eighth incarnation of another Hindu god, Vishnu. This hero’s journey is accounted for in sacred Hindu texts, in which at a young age, he fought off many enemies and forces of evil with his advanced weaponry expertise. To save him from those who feared him, his mother disguised him as a commoner in a village. There, he dazzled many with his charm and talent. Now, Krishna is revered as both the bringer of enlightenment and a punisher for bad deeds.

Anandamayi Ma

Sri Ma Anandamayi is a divine presence of self-sufficiency and joy. Born in 1896, she grew into a mysteriously aloof yet warm personality that struck the hearts of all who encountered her. No matter where she traveled, she was met with great reverence, and many came from faraway places just to see her. 

Sri Anandamayi Ma’s teachings are numerous but include achieving a life full of simplicity, love, and good works.

Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna was born near Kolkata in 1836 and grew up utterly uninterested in worldly affairs. Instead, he loved the arts and philosophy. He listened to men in philosophical discourse, singing, and painting. He was known for entering states of ecstasy in which he experienced visions and had a devotion to Mother Kali. 

However, perhaps the most revolutionary thing about Ramakrishna was his ability to achieve the highest levels of revelation in several different religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. He preached that all faiths are just different paths to see God.

Babaji

Babaji, reigning from the foothills of the Himalayas, claimed to be a manifestation of God. He did not need to be born into humanity through a woman. When people encountered him, they all saw him as a different person, whether that was young or old, shaved or bearded. One day, he is said to have climbed a mountain and sat in a yogic fashion for 45 days to meditate. Then, he began preaching his message: humanity was in trouble and needed to rebuild society as a humanitarian refuge with their eyes towards God.

Rumi

Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī is now known as one of the most famous poets to have ever graced the world with his verses. Born in the 13th century, Rumi was a scholar, theologian, and poet. His influence now transcends time and language, spreading his message of infusing love throughout the world with its basis in Islam.

The First Sikh Guru: Nanak

Guru Nanak was the original Sikh, the founder of the religion. Born in Talwandi in 1469, Guru Nanak was born to Hindu parents under Muslim authority. Growing up, Guru Nanak refused to take on the faith handed down by his parents. Instead, he meditated and spoke with holy men in Hindu and Muslim traditions. After an eventful revelation, Guru Nanak realized a new religion and began traveling to spread the good news and turn upside down many of the strict laws of established religions.

The Last Sikh Guru: Gobind Singh

Gobind Singh is the last physical Sikh guru, dying in 1708. He was a philosopher, poet, and warrior and is attributed to starting the Sikh warriors called Khalsa. During his lifetime, Gobind Singh installed the 5 K’s, the articles of faith that the warriors wear, and wrote the Dasam Granth, sacred texts consisting of hymns and stories. Many look to the Sikh Gurus for strength and inner stillness to remain steadfast during storms of change.

Zhang Ying

Master Zhang Ying realized her psychic abilities from an early age. While she was raised within the Buddhist faith, her powers and practices extend beyond the traditional understandings of Buddhism and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Throughout her life, she has been able to heal others through her ability to move chi, diagnose physical and spiritual concerns in her patients, and connect with the spirit realm. 

El Morya, Ranbir Singh

Ranbir Singh was the son of the ruler of the Kashmirs in the 1840s who protected his land against British invasion. When Ranbir took his father’s place, he continued to improve his society by instituting fair civil and criminal laws and uniting divided factions. After his death, he was written into literature as an ascended master called El Morya with ties to Buddhist divine masters and is now channeled for assistance in defense against harm and decision-making.

Master Koot Humi

Koot Humi, also known as K.H. or Kuthumi, is said to have been the inspiration for starting the Theosophical Society in 1875. During his lifetime, he engaged in letters with other theosophists in India and was revered for being strong-willed but logical and calm. He has reincarnated several times, born as figures such as Egyptian Pharaohs, ancient thinkers, Catholic saints, and Indian princes. Students of his life and teachings as a divine master are encouraged to open their hearts, express unconditional love, and seek higher knowledge.

Moses the Prophet

Moses was seen as one of the fathers of the Jewish and Christian faiths, a prophet spoken to by God to bring freedom to the enslaved Jewish people. God also tasked him to provide commandments by which to live. Through faith and determination, Moses did as God asked and thereby performed miracles that allowed him to bring the Jewish people to their promised land. We can look to Moses for leadership skills and steadfastness in the face of adversity.

Merlin: Pop-Culture Divine Master

Myrddin Wyllt, better known as Merlin, was a court magician, bard, and King Arthur’s protector in the 5th century. His legacy involves a dark history of demonic dealings because of his relationship with magic. However, he was a known shapeshifter and prophet who helped King Arthur defeat his enemies and protect his kingdom while still only a teenager. Many people look to him for guidance in decision-making, persevering through troublesome times, and foresight.

Melchizedek

Melchizedek was both a King and Priest, though the only Caananite recognized as a figure of authority in the Bible. Abraham paid tithe to him, and he is revered as a solid father-like figure, although he is never mentioned in the very detailed account of lineage in Genesis. Therefore, Melchizedek’s existence and importance in the Bible and history remains somewhat mysterious. Many channel him for righteousness and oneness with creation.

Maharshi Ramana

Ramana Maharshi, born Dec. 30, 1879, is an ascended master, avatar, liberated Being, and Hindu sage. He died on Apr 14, 1950 as Venkataraman Iyer. To his devotees, he is Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. As a boy, He would visit a sacred hill known as Arunahala where he embodied the source of The Universe and the complete current (sound, light, energy, electricity) of all reality. He spoke of this embodiment as the true Self, the personal God, or Shiva (Ishwara). His devotees came from all over the world and an ashram emerged around him. He would sit silently and allow for questions, noting that the most advantageous path to liberation is self-inquiry. Remove ignorance and be devoted to The Divine. This will help you surrender fully to the Eternal Self, which is within you.

Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda is the father of western Yoga, focusing on self-realization and finding God using the path within. He has built a following for his teachings on spiritual living and meditation using Yoga as a centering practice. He has also traced Yoga back through history and shown how other divine masters, such as Jesus and his disciples, used the same approach in their spiritual lives.

John of God

St. John of God, also known as father to the poor, was a Portuguese soldier in the 1500s who lost his faith and lived a life of temptation and darkness. Later, he realized the error of his ways and turned to a life of work in health care. He tended to the sick, both in body and mind, and was later canonized with a considerable following. He is now channeled for assistance with mental illness, poverty, death, and strength for health care workers. 

Zhang Daoling

During his meditations on Daoism, Zhang Daoling had a revelation claiming that Laozi, the great sage, appeared to him. Laozi told him of the “coming peace” called Taiping. This revelation drove him to begin preaching a new Daoism, keeping the tenet of physical immortality but stressing the need for religious organization. As a result, he founded the Way of the Celestial Masters, also known as the Five Pecks of Rice. He taught that illness resulted from sin-mindfulness and that Daoism offered spiritual healing that many tap into today.

Zoroaster

Zoroaster was an ancient prophet in Persia who started the first historically acknowledged world religion between the 18th and 16th centuries BCE. He wrote the sacred book Zend Avesta in which he recounts a vision he had about the cosmic war being waged between the God of Light and the principle of evil. This concept of choosing between good and evil was the first push towards monotheism in the Middle East and guided Persian civilization. This religion now serves as the basis of the Parsi faith in India. Many draw on Zoroaster for guidance in choosing good over evil.

Confucius

Kong Zi, known in Latin as Confucius, profoundly influenced philosophy and religion throughout Asia by teaching about morality and justice. He tapped into the very truth of the universe and humanity’s existence to draw out guidance for people to live by in their daily lives. He was the first to historically teach the concept of the Golden Rule, which is to only do unto others what you would want to be done to you. Many look to him for balance and guidance in ethics without being tied to organized religion.

Begin a New Path to Self-Realization and Love by Following Divine Masters

With such an expansive list of divine masters, we still have only touched on just a few. You’re sure to find in this list some inspiration, whether you choose to devote your meditation and prayer practices to one, a few, or all of the above-listed gurus and divine personalities. The deeper you dive into your research and relationship with these divine masters, the more inspiration you will find in your journey to self-development and spiritual alignment in your life.

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others, and the Universe prays for us. 

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H.I.I.T. Exercise (HIIT): Short Spurts To Improve Your Heart, Mind, And Body

Fit woman completing a H.I.I.T Exercise
Fit woman completing a H.I.I.T Exercise
Working out every day with HIIT. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

H.I.I.T. Exercise (HIIT): Short Spurts To Improve Your Heart, Mind, And Body

Exercise is one of the best ways to love your body. When we love our bodies, we improve our vibrations and we make better decisions. With a healthy and loved body (from head to toe), we have fewer health issues, better emotional and psychological health, and improved energy, resilience, immunity, and productivity.  

Are you ready to take care of your body and LOVE your body?

Be honest: What is your main excuse for not getting your daily exercise? For many people, it’s that they don’t have time. With a HIIT exercise routine, you’ll no longer have that excuse! HIIT can help you feel peaceful, less stressed, more empowered – and it can help you take control of your self-development and wellness.

With HIIT, or “high-intensity interval training,” exercise can be invigorating and productive without being time-consuming or tedious.

As the new year begins, consider gifting yourself a new healthy resolution you can stick to beyond a few weeks: check out this guide to HIIT and how you can personalize it to your lifestyle and needs!

What Does a HIIT Workout Mean?

High-intensity interval training is a technique for exercise that combines short, intense sets of exercises with recovery periods. HIIT workouts take your cardio routines to the next level, turning up the heat on your body while still allowing it the time it needs to recover safely. Busy professionals or stressed parents love this technique because it delivers a powerful workout in a very short period so that it can fit it into even the tightest schedule. 

HIIT workout routines are very safe and effective, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach, either! HIIT can look however you need it to look, whether you’re a beginner or an expert. If you aren’t used to exercising regularly or doing cardio, you can start with very short periods of intense exercise with a low-impact technique like the elliptical. If you’re already at an advanced stage in your exercise routines, you can push your body to endure much longer bursts of intensity with higher-level techniques. 

No matter where you are currently on your exercise journey, HIIT is wonderful because it evolves with your needs at whatever pace makes you comfortable!

How Long Is A HIIT Workout?

Let’s get right into it. HIIT is a favorite technique for busy people because it can last as little as 20 minutes! If you like exercising in the morning before your shower, waking up just 20 minutes earlier to fit in your HIIT workout will start your day right. 

If you can’t wake up earlier, try ending your workday with a quick session or burning off those dinner calories at night! Only have time for it on your lunch break? Why not take 20 minutes out of your hour lunch to give yourself that much-needed second wind for the afternoon?

Most HIIT lovers will keep their workouts to 20-30 minutes long. Many experts say that if you feel like your workout needs to go beyond half an hour, you aren’t working hard enough during your high-intensity intervals.

How Long Should HIIT Intervals Be?

HIIT workouts are highly customizable, so setting up your workout is entirely up to you and your abilities! If you’re just starting to explore this workout routine, you can try to keep intervals at just 30 seconds long. As your body warms up to this technique, you can lengthen your intervals to 3 minutes long.

For example, if you’re just starting with HIIT, you might want to try doing only a few high-intensity intervals throughout your workout. You can choose to make your intervals equal in length to each other or make your recovery intervals longer than your high-intensity intervals. No matter what you do, the idea is to push your body a little harder every time to improve your performance slowly. 

Listen to your body! Do not cause yourself pain or any injury, as exercise should be a routine of slow improvement. Regardless of the exercise technique you choose, you’ll never see results right away. Exercise is a journey in which you check in with your body, pay close attention to your health, and build a relationship of respect and growth. By building a healthy relationship with your body and exercise, you’ll start seeing results without obsessing over achieving them.

Do I Need Equipment for HIIT?

No equipment is necessary! HIIT is about working with your body to build stamina and strength through interval training. You don’t need any fancy machines, a gym membership, or weights. Anything you choose to add to your workout is entirely up to you and your goals.

HIIT focuses on cardio, so it doesn’t necessarily help build muscle or improve flexibility. To focus on these goals, you’ll need to choose exercises for your high-intensity intervals that work on these areas.

For example, you can choose to add weights to your workout to build muscle. If you’re looking to improve your legs and glutes, you can choose to add cardio exercises that target those areas, such as stair-climbing. There are so many resources that will help you choose the right activities for your goals, but the main point is that almost anything can be achieved with your personalization of HIIT!

What are the Benefits of HIIT?

HIIT is high-intensity cardio training, so you can achieve the benefits of cardio workouts within a shorter time. Cardio exercises, especially HIIT, can help improve your oxygen consumption — your body’s ability to use oxygen.

Further, in many studies, HIIT has proven to help lower blood pressure and heart rate for overweight individuals. In addition, it can improve insulin resistance while lowering blood sugar. Including high-intensity intervals in your workout also boosts your overall metabolism and increases your metabolic rate for hours after your workout!

However, many people who begin working out in the New Year are most interested in how a workout can help them lose weight. Thankfully, HIIT can do just that! Along with the many health benefits above, HIIT has also proven to help people lose weight by reducing body fat and the waistline, even without any dietary changes.

Should I Do HIIT Every Day?

Ultimately, your workout routine depends on what feels right to you. HIIT is absolutely a routine you can institute daily, but it is also a routine that doesn’t demand daily commitment. If you haven’t previously followed a daily exercise routine, committing to HIIT every day might be too stressful. Start with a comfortable routine while still being consistent, such as three times a week.

For those who already exercise but are looking to improve their routine, doing HIIT every day can help boost your health and get results faster. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to listen to your body and only do what feels comfortable while still challenging!

Ring in the New Year with HIIT!

Ready to commit to your development and wellbeing? HIIT can help you see results in a few weeks, helping you to keep the exercise habit throughout the year rather than dropping it by March! It is also highly customizable and a great routine for any experience level, all while only needing 30 minutes or less.

Further, HIIT can be an incredible addition to your self-development journey. As you reflect on your goals and set intentions for the next year, keep this option for exercise in mind. You might even choose to add it to your meditation routine, allowing the repetitive intervals of physical exertion to help you delve deeper into your thoughts and prayers. You might also choose to use your yoga practice as a cool-down period after your HIIT workout. This routine could help increase flexibility and prevent muscle injury while you reflect on how your body feels. Get in touch with yourself as you stretch, breathe, and pray.

The opportunities for your self-improvement journey are endless!

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

 

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Somatic Experiencing: The Wisdom Of Our Bodies

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Somatic Experiencing: Listening To The Wisdom Of Our Bodies

We have all been through hell and back. Life can be quite the challenge. While it’s helpful to soldier through it all and do our best to stay positive, it’s not too healthy to ignore what is stored within our bodies.

Emotions from life’s challenges and trauma can be stored in our organs for the entirety of our lives. These emotions connect with toxic memories. When we work to release it all, it can be even more painful – but in the long run, we clear ourselves for smooth and peaceful sailing ahead!

Working through past trauma can be one of the most horrible experiences you may face in your life. Living through that experience once was terrifying enough. Having to relive it in order to process what you felt during that time may be more than you can bear.

Somatic Experiencing uses the mind-body connection to help you stay calm during triggering events and to find your way back to a more peaceful way of being. It also helps you to release the excess energy that you may have trapped in your body – when the original trauma occurred.

Read on to learn more about Somatic Experiencing and how it could help you move forward into a happier life.

Impact of Trauma

Before we dive into the process of Somatic Experiencing therapy, let’s talk some about how trauma impacts us.

After a traumatic event, many people experience post-traumatic stress disorder. This is not a cute little thing. It can be the most difficult thing you’ve ever dealt with in your life. 

PTSD is a condition that produces a several physical symptoms. PTSD can range in severity from a mild inconvenience to an incapacitating disorder. In some cases, a PTSD patient may choose to be institutionalized for a time. This might help the person establish new boundaries and processes in her life.

Nightmares are one of the more common symptoms of PTSD, often in the form of panic attacks. These are usually flashbacks and re-imaginings of the original event, in which the person seems to relive the traumatic event and various related trajectories.

Panic attacks, anxiety, and insomnia also tend to go along with this disorder. In the most extreme and serious cases, a patient may lose the ability to differentiate from their flashbacks and nightmares and reality.

If you’re experiencing these things, you can choose to work with a Somatic Experiencing therapist, a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, a CBT or ACT therapist, and more. 

There are MANY options for healing if you are feeling completely freaked out & messed up by a horrible event in your life.

The Freeze Response

For many people, PTSD symptoms are born from the “freeze” response to danger. You may have heard that, when animals are exposed to danger, they have a fight or flight instinct in which they choose to fight for their lives or run away. However, there is also a lesser-known response to danger: the freeze response.

The freeze response causes you to stop in your tracks, unable to move or respond to the situation. Think of a deer in the headlights; even though the danger is barreling towards her, the lovely animal soul is wholly unable to move forward.

This response is central to prior and ongoing trauma, whereby we feel trapped in the moment of danger even after the threat has passed.

What Is Somatic Experiencing?

Somatic Experiencing is a therapy technique – much like others invented like neurofeedback and ACT – that aims to help people to process their traumas and find new ways to move forward. Peter Levine, who developed the theory, believed that our nervous systems might never move forward past where they were in the moment we were traumatized. Our emotions and memories get “stuck” there and have to be “reset” before we can feel empowered and clear enough to live our lives in the present moment.

Dr. Levine noticed that while people are often traumatized by the dangers we face, animals don’t deal with the same sorts of ongoing trauma. He believed this was because, at the time of the threat, their bodies let off enormous amounts of energy, even after they escaped the threat. 

Because we don’t expend this energy in the same way, that energy gets trapped in our bodies. Later, when we might least expect it, these energies can become expended. This might occur at inappropriate moments when an unrelated trigger takes us back to the original traumatic event.

If you’re experiencing any of this right now, it’s important to seek the help you need to open up your mind and heart so you can expand. If you’re feeling this right now, see if you can breathe through it and find some tears. If not, call a friend to be present with you in this moment.

When you’re feeling clear and open enough, formulate a plan to find the best modalities for your healing and recovery.

The Reasons For Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing is extremely useful as a treatment for PTSD and other trauma-based disorders. Even challenging one-off experiences can leave an imprint within us. You might consider using Somatic Experiencing to heal even the smallest fissures within your Being and body.

Oftentimes, people may feel guilt, shame, or anger after a traumatic event. Working through the mind-body connection can help to ease these painful feelings and get your body back into a healthy rhythm.

In some cases, Somatic Experiencing Therapy can help with physical symptoms related to previous traumas. This can include muscle tension, chronic pain, digestive problems, and even sleep issues.

Dealing with the physical symptoms of a trauma can give us more resources to handle the psychological aspects that are driving them.

Recognizing Bodily Sensations in Somatic Experiencing

One of the first steps of Somatic Experiencing is to start recognizing the bodily sensations you’re feeling in this moment. In many cases, people aren’t aware of the physical response they’re having to a situation or how badly it’s affecting them. They might not realize the a pain in a knee or a twitch in an arm is born from a prior trauma or their bodies reaction to a new event in the moment.

For instance, you may not realize how tense a muscle is until it relaxes and you feel what it’s like not to have that strain there.

Your Somatic Experiencing therapist might begin your therapy by helping you become more aware of the physical sensations you’re experiencing.

Your SE therapist may use mindfulness and other meditation techniques to help you discover any tension, pain, or discomfort you may be feeling.

The most wonderful Somatic Experiencing Therapists will help you note these sensations without judgement, fear, or the intent to fight them.

Just like in The Sedona Method, it’s all about witnessing what is there, embracing it, accepting it, and then releasing it.

Resourcing

Once you’ve become aware of what your body is holding and experiencing, your Somatic Experiencing therapist will help you start tapping into the inner pool of resources you have to deal with these challenges.

Resourcing can you seek the tools you need to handle that excess stored energy when it emerges. Soon enough, you’ll be able to draw on a deep inner pool of peace, strength, and resilience.

Your therapist will begin by asking you to remember a place, person, or thing that you love and that you associate with positive memories. When you start feeling that excess energy being triggered, you’ll learn to draw on this source of positivity in your life.

This can help you remain calm and present as the energy expends itself, making it easier to transition back into your most healthy and vibrant rhythms.

Titration

Once you firmly establish your resources and tools, your therapist will begin putting your new coping and healing mechanisms to the test. Armed with the tools to deal with it, you’ll begin wading back into your trauma, re-examining the event that threw your life into chaos. This will be a gradual process that allows you to slowly build your resourcing response until it’s strong enough to tackle the next challenge.

This process is known as titration. It stays focused around the physical sensations you experience as you relive that past trauma. 

You’ll step through the traumatic event in slow motion. Meanwhile, your therapist will watch your body language and physical responses. They may also ask you to report if you’re feeling hot or cold sensations, dizziness, numbness, or an overwhelming sense of weightiness. 

Your SE therapist might also ask about the emotions that are emerging and which ones feel overwhelming. They might help you walk through those emotions and eventually release them.

All of your healing is up to you. The more open and vulnerable you are with your SE therapist, the more you will heal.

Chanting mantras, sutras, and other types of prayers can help you improve your vibration. Doing so, your mind, heart, and body might naturally release many of the things your body has stored throughout years in this life – and from prior lives.

Pendulation

As you begin to experience these releases and physical effects, your SE therapist will guide you through the process of Pendulation. Somatic Experiencing therapists believe these symptoms are the way your body discharges that excess energy – the emotional energy that’s still trapped and connected to the original traumatic experience.

Faster breathing, pranic breathing, clenched hands, and allowing dizziness, shaking, anger, and crying are all considered a helpful part of this discharge.

As you work through these releases, your therapist will guide you through the come-down process. They’ll help you slowly transition back into a calmer, more peaceful state. You’ll be able to experience these discharges in a safe, judgement-free space. 

They may help you use certain breathing or relaxation techniques to ease back into a more relaxed state of energy. Doing so, you won’t be in danger of trapping that excess energy in your body – more so, you can eventually release all of it. The more you practice this pendulation, the more natural that response will become.

Learn More About Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing is an exciting technique that can help people process and release PTSD, old trauma, and the most challenging events.

Somatic Experiencing relies on the brain-body connection and inspires patients to walk through the physical and emotional symptoms of their traumas – all the while releasing all of the related imprisoned energy.

Although this technique is still considered “new,” it is helping millions of people walk through their body’s responses to traumatic experiences and become healthier and happier than ever before.

I am here to help you awaken and bravely create an inspired life. Learn more about my loving services today and start changing your life in the most positive way.

REMEMBER!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire. 

Pray for others and the Universe prays for us. 

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