This is fun!
Did you know cats and hamsters have something in common?
By Krista Dunlop
Jacques Cousteau, underwater explorer, inventor, photographer, environmentalist and great story teller was my hero growing up as a child, and he had a huge influence with me becoming a PADI professional scuba diver.
His television documentaries always left me in awe while eating my bowl of ice cream and dreaming of one day when I would be able to swim with dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, coral reefs and to simply be “present” with such beauty and encounter so many marine animal friendships during my time on this beautiful blue planet of ours.
Well, my childhood dream came true. I became a scuba diver in 1994 and have had the privilege to see first-hand, all that the underwater world has given us- human survival, beauty and marine animal friendships.
However, with my childhood dream, came reality “mankind’s selfish human nature- the taking of such beauty and resources for granted”. I have seen a dolphin calf’s tail that has fallen off, because it had gotten so tightly wrapped up in a crab trap line, and I have seen what was once a beautiful coloured coral reef now bleached white and yes I have cried buckets of tears in my scuba mask while being nudged by the green sea turtle, who’s face had been mutilated by a boat propeller who’s only interest was to simply get to know me, become friends, and give unconditional love.
As a scuba diver, I believe it is my personal responsibility to be a guardian of our blue planet and to remind children and adults of all that the underwater world has given us-human survival, beauty and marine animal friendships.
Become a “Blue Planet Legacy Hero” and allow the childhood dreams Jacques Cousteau left for our generation to continue for your children and generations to come.
5 Simple Steps to Developing Your Intuitive Abilities by Learning to Listen to Your Gut By Val Heart
Jul 102011
A client asked: “I’ve been a Christian for all my life, but recently realized that my beliefs are changing about the divinity of the universe, earth energies, reincarnation, Wicca, and other beliefs and philosophies. But I’m confused about what the real Truth is because there are so many opinions out there. I don’t want opinions. I want knowledge because I want to get the most out of what life I have left in this life time. How do you fit all of this together and know what the Truth actually is?”
Answer: In the words of Obi Wan Kenobi (Jedi master), “Truth is Relative.” What is true for one person at one period in their life may in fact change over time, as they explore and come to know a deeper Absolute Truth and as they evolve. And what is true for one person may not be true for another.
Spiritual seekers must sort through a lot of information, experience, and beliefs in order to discover what is True. I believe this process continues throughout our whole life, and that we are called to discover Truths similar to a lifelong treasure hunt. The joy is in the journey of discovery of these Truths, and we call that life.
You want to know the Truth? Be sure you’re willing to handle the Truth when it comes. Because when the student is ready, the teacher appears. And the answers are not always easy, nor do they conform to what we thought we knew, what we were expecting, nor do they conform to what we’ve been taught or what we had accepted before or told was true.
Animals have a wisdom all their own that often surpasses human intelligence. I call these amazing beings angels, teachers and Wise Ones disguised as animals. Often they know what is true and what is not so they can help guide you on your spiritual journey towards enlightenment, but only when you know how to access their wisdom, hear their thoughts and invite them to share their heart.
Key Truths can be found in every belief, philosophy, or teaching, and even from other species.
They come to us through experience, through seemingly chance encounters, through religious documents, through epiphany’s and breakthroughs of understanding. They are to be found in movies, in stories, in myths and in books (fiction and non-fiction).
Teachers, gurus, ascended masters and our animals are here to help us connect with and understand Truth. Our interactions with each other teach us about ourselves and who we truly are, and ultimately guide us to the Truth.
Truths are literally all around you all the time, but they must be tested to discover whether in fact they are only true to a point or in certain situations, or if they are Absolutely True all the way through to the heart of the matter.
No one has all the Truths. But you do have a way to access and find them for yourself by seeking them diligently and with an open heart and mind, trusting your own intuitive ‘knowing’ and practice testing what you get. When you learn to trust your own intuition, you will have an internal GPS system that can guide you through what is true, what is True-er, what is Absolute Truth, and what is simply untrue.
Fundamentally, the answers you seek are already inside you. They dwell within what is called the God Mind, sometimes called the superconscious mind. To access them, you need only develop your Intuitive Intelligence Quotient (IIQ).
Animals have a wisdom all their own that often surpasses human intelligence. I call these amazing beings angels, teachers and Wise Ones disguised as animals. Often they know what is true and what is not so they can help guide you on your spiritual journey towards enlightenment, but only when you know how to access their wisdom, hear their thoughts and invite them to share their heart.
Learning to decipher and discern the information you are given every day from the world around you requires a bit of training. The more training you get the more confidence you will have in your ability to make sound decisions from your intuition, by listening to your gut.
What is intuition? And what does listening to our ‘gut’ have to do with truth?
Dictionary.com’s definition of intuition is “A direct perception of the truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension or comprehension.”
I believe that the innate gift of our intuition acts like a super computer that is always gathering information much faster than our conscious mind can on its own. Think of it like this: Information is energy, and energy can transfer at the speed of light.
Your superconscious and unconscious minds analyze and process more than 90% of all information energetically and almost instantaneously. Contrast this to the fact that your conscious mind receives only 10% (at best) of the incoming sensory stimuli, and the processing speed of the conscious mind is extremely slow.
An apt analogy here would be to compare a super computer with the highest speed internet possible (your fully functioning innate Intuition) with a 1990’s edition personal computer with dial up (your conscious mind).
It is fascinating to realize that your conscious mind actually recognizes, reevaluates and reinterprets “life” after it has already happened based on prior conceptions, attitudes, expectations and beliefs. And if the ego mind is given data that doesn’t conform or fit with what it thinks it already knows, then it will either discard it or rewrite it to fit prior expectations and conceptions. Tricky, eh?
That’s why it’s not such a good idea to base decisions on the conscious mind alone without consulting your innate intuitive intelligence as well.
Since your subconscious mind takes in millions of bits of information in mere nanoseconds, it processes this information and gives your conscious mind the filtered data. If you don’t listen to your intuitive knowing, then you can’t make decisions from a quantum leap perspective. It happens so quickly that you have a sense of simply “knowing” the right from the wrong, the positive from the negative, the True from the untrue.
For example, have you ever gone somewhere and immediately felt it wasn’t safe? Your subconscious mind processed something that you didn’t see, hear, smell, touch or taste with your conscious mind, but recognized it as potentially dangerous and sent the signal in a way that your conscious mind could interpret correctly, if you’re paying attention.
Someone recently shared with me how they “feel” a knowingness in their body. When something is wrong she gets a strong tingly feeling in her chest. When she needs to make a decision about something she will quiet her mind and ask a question. If the answer is yes she gets a strong feeling of calmness all over. She has learned the art of discernment.
5 Simple Steps To Developing Your Intuition
1. Center yourself and get quiet. Follow your breath, in and out, and relax more with every breath cycle. To do this well, it is helpful to stand tall and balanced, but if you prefer to sit, that’s ok. It just may be a little harder at first until you get the hang of it. Close your eyes and feel the ground beneath your feet, the energies of the earth, and be fully present, right here, right now, nothing added. Let everything else go.
2. Connect with your heart (superconscious mind). Imagine that your heart has a direct connection with the Truth, and trust that this is so.
3. Connect with your gut (unconscious mind). Did you know that your gut possesses neural cells and is in fact your first brain? Neural cells originated in the gut first when your body was being formed in the womb, then a portion of these cells split off and began to form your spinal cord, then they formed your heart which is also lined with neural cells, then eventually became your head brain.
4. Connect with the idea, concept, or object that you are curious about and ask your question. Then, invite your body to either Lean In (meaning: yes I want more of that or I’m drawn to that, it’s okay to go there, it feels true) or Pulling Back (meaning: no that’s not good for me or I don’t want that, don’t go there, something is wrong or untrue).
5. Then, simply wait for your intuition (your gut) to signal you with its answer. Be patient. Receiving your answer can take as long as a second or a minute or two, depending on your ability to be fully present and clear in your request, and how much practice you have.
Leaning in means there’s something there to learn or to know that will lead you to a truth.
Pulling Back means there’s something there that is repellant to your bodymind and intuitive knowing, an untruth, a lie or it’s simply not right for you at this time.
Standing in balance without leaning in or pushing away means your bodymind is neutral on the subject, it’s neither good or bad, positive or negative, true or untrue. It can also mean you have asked a question that is unclear or the answer isn’t a simple yes, no or neutral.
Everyone has their own unique and innate way of accessing, analyzing and interpreting information. Learning how to develop your intuition will significantly help you in learning to communicate with and understand animals and the world around you too.
This is why it’s so important to make a decision based on your intuition and not merely on your so called rational logical ego mind. Your gut knows more than your mind does about what you really need, what is good for you, and what isn’t.
It is definitely worth the investment of time and resources to learn to develop your intuition. It will help you make the best decisions for yourself, to access higher knowledge and extrasensory information, and can even help save your life.
Bio: Val Heart – Internationally known as the Real Dr Doolittle™ and an Expert Animal Whisperer, Val uses her intuitive skills to resolve behavior, training, performance, and health problems, and assist with euthanasia decisions. She resolves problems in minutes, not years! She’s also the creator of the world’s first complete Animal Communication Made Easy System™. Get started with her Free AnimalTalk QuickStart Course (value $79) or apply for a Complimentary Happy Animal Assessment Session (210) 863-7928, contactval@valheart.com http://www.valheart.com
© Copyright Val Heart & Friends LLC. All Rights Reserved. Reprint rights by request only.
Jun 292011
By Beverly Meyer, http://tinyurl.com/3blfxuh
I was listening recently to a radio show on skin cancer. The speakers were completely focused on blocking the sun’s rays as THE cause of and protection from skin cancer.
They never discussed the disturbing studies on the toxicity of sunscreens, and they never discussed the link between hydrogenated oils (trans fats) in the diet, and chemicals in skin care products and in our food and water as additional known causes of skin cancer.
Hydrogenated oils are chemically altered fats, not found in nature, and are ubiquitous in our fast foods, baked goods, chips, salad dressings, cereals, margarine, fried foods, restaurant foods, and more. In addition to collecting in the liver and other organs, they poison the skin cells that use our natural cholesterol to react with the sun to form Vitamin D.
These vegetable oils are entirely non-native to Humans as we never ate vegetable oils until very recently in our history. (It takes a lot of factory know-how to extract the oil from genetically modified corn and safflower seeds).They are toxic to us, and accumulate in our livers, helping to cause fatty liver disease, weight gain and high triglycerides. The next newsletter will contain an article on hydrogenated oils for you….
Let’s talk about sunscreens a bit.
First of all, our modern obsession with skin cancer and skin aging is/was unknown to traditional farmers, ranchers and hunters who spent their lives outside (before hydrogenated oils and toxic skin care products and environmental chemicals became ubiquitous).
Humans turn brown in the sun by producing melanin to protect the skin. Humans evolving in equatorial climates developed dark skin. Those who then migrated to cooler climates with less direct sun developed light skin. So, our skin understands sunlight and knows how to handle it.
But if you have light skin, and want to be outside in the sun, what do you do?
The FIRST line of defense is shade, hats, and clothing. And limiting the length of sun exposure so you do not burn.
And, as the Environmental Working Group says at www.ewg.org, choose “mineral” sunscreens over “chemical” sunscreens. The “mineral” sunscreens will usually use that term right on the label. More on this in a minute…
Here are some facts about sunscreens.
1). Sunscreens prevent sunburn, but beyond that, surprisingly little is known about their safety or efficacy. They do NOT protect against radiation damage.
2). There is NO consensus on whether sunscreens prevent skin cancer. The FDA said in 2007 that “The FDA is not aware of data demonstrating that sunscreen use alone helps to prevent skin cancer”.
3). There is some evidence that sunscreen use may actually INCREASE the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Why? Perhaps because we stay in the sun’s radiation longer, or the free radicals released in sunscreen chemicals break down in sunlight, playing a role in “poisoning” the skin.
4). There is no proof whatsoever that SPF’s over 50 are of increased value. Indeed, SPF 15 is all we really need and can utilize. The rest is just marketing.
5). Sun screens block Vitamin D, one of the most important of all vitamins.
6). Topical Vitamin A reacts to sunlight and forms compounds that may increase development of skin cancer. 40% of all sunscreens have retinyl palmitate in them and should NOT be used. (It’s OK if your skin lotions and night moisturizers have Vitamin A – just don’t sit in the sun with them).
7). Both UV radiation and many common sunscreen ingredients generate free radicals that damage DNA and skin cells, accelerate aging, and CAUSE skin cancer. If you use too little screen, or apply it too infrequently, it can cause MORE free radical damage than UV rays on the bare skin. Tanning beds are prime offenders as they use focused ionizing radiation.
8). So we have 3 choices. First, take your sun when the sun is not directly overhead. Add a hat, light clothing, shoes, and some shade. If you are to get direct sun, cover what you can, and choose your sunscreen carefully.
Secondly, the best screens use Zinc or Titanium as mineral blockers to prevent the sun entering your skin.
They are stable in the sun (which “chemical” sunscreens are not), they don’t penetrate the skin and move toxic substances into the body, and they offer UVA protection (which “chemical” screens do not).
The best brands, according to the Environmental Working Group, include Aubrey, Badger, California Baby, Jason, Kabana, Loving Naturals, and Soleo Organics. I would try Whole Foods, SunHarvest, or the Internet or other Health Stores for these.
Thirdly, chemical screens can be extremely dangerous and I do not recommend them to anyone. Your body absorbs these man-made chemicals and, as said above, they may actually do harm to the skin. I know they do harm to your liver!
That being said, the best chemical brand is Coppertone, especially these particular products: Ultra Guard Sunscreen Lotion SPF 15; Oil-Free Lotion SPF 15; and Sport Sunblock SPF 15.
9). Last but not least. Change ALL your skin care products to organic, natural, chemical- free goods with no parabens, no SLS, no colors, fragrances, or five syllable words! Anything you put on your skin goes into your body. Check out our line of skin care products at www.dreamous.com. And remember…..
If it’s not good enough to eat with a fork, don’t put it on your skin…
By Carly Gillis, http://tinyurl.com/4yd8s83
Surfing may be a challenging sport for any human, but these pups conquered “ruff” seas with ease — and all for a good cause.
The sixth annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition took place this past weekend in Imperial Beach, Calif. More than 50 dogs participated in the competition.
Proceeds from the event were garnered by Loews Hotels’ Good Neighbor Policy, the hotel chain’s outreach program, which chose to support San Diego area schools through DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that garners funds for classroom projects in need of funding.
Aileen Babayan, associate director of convention services at Loews Hotels, told HuffPost about the company’s motives for giving back.
“You know, it’s all about supporting public school teachers,” she says. “What with the recent budget cuts, they need all the help they can get, and DonorsChoose is really a wonderful charity. They make an impact directly by giving the funds right to the kids for their projects.”
Babayan went on to explain that the event kicked off a partnership between Loews Hotels and DonorsChoose.org, where all hotels in the national chain will be promoting awareness for the charity through advertising and community events.
The first competition sponsored by Loews Coronado Bay Resort took place in 2006, which also marked the first surfing dog competition in the world. She says they’ve always supported local or pet-friendly charities. Last year, funds garnered at the competition went to support the San Diego Police Department’s canine unit.
Babayan says the goal of this year’s dog surfing competition was to raise $10,000 for DonorsChoose.org. Although the funds are still being counted, she says she’s “very confident” that they will meet the organization’s target amount.
At this year’s competition, each pooch was given 10 minutes to strut his or her stuff on the waves, and then a panel of judges decided on winners.
Along with the somewhat traditional methods of dog surfing, the competition also judged “tandem” boarding where multiple dogs would ride at the same time.
Watch the dogs perform their smooth moves in a video by The Telegraph on http://tinyurl.com/44xfoxz.
Article by Tim Link, http://tinyurl.com/6hxrlj4
Reiki (pronounced ray-key) energy healing is a gentle, painless, yet powerful modality that works on all living things – human and animal. Animals in particular are receptive to Reiki, because they have a higher energy frequency running through their bodies than humans do.
Reiki helps balance animals physically, mentally and emotionally. Reiki is based on two Japanese words – Rei meaning universal consciousness and Ki meaning life energy. Reiki is an ancient healing modality that was originally practiced by Tibetan Buddhists. Dr. Mikao Usui re-discovered Reiki and began to practice and teach this method of energy healing.
Reiki began being taught in the Western world and has grown into a popular and effective form of energy healing.Reiki can be used for distance as well as hands-on healing. Because Reiki consists of the same Universal Life Energy that makes every living thing alive, any living thing can be helped by Reiki energy. Throughout the body there are energy areas called chakras. Chakra is a Sanskrit word which means “wheel of light”.
Humans have seven main chakras. Animals have the same seven chakras plus one additional chakra known as the brachial chakra. The brachial chakra in an animal is the beginning point for clearing chakras in animals. Each of the other chakras also regulate a specific area of the body.
However, all of the chakras work together to keep the body’s energy aligned and flowing smoothly. When there is a physical or emotional issue within the body, the chakras will become blocked and energy will not flow properly through it. Which chakra(s) that are blocked will depend on the area of the body affected. Until the chakra is cleared of its blockage, the issue will remain.
Reiki works throughout the body and each chakra. Reiki will work on each chakra to create a positive energy flow and remove any energy blockages that may exist. Reiki works to alleviate the emotional and physical issues within animals and humans, bringing harmony and balance.
Sometimes, when I provide Reiki energy to an animal during a consultation, the animal will become very relaxed and sometimes will even fall asleep. Other times the animal will become invigorated and energized. Each animal will react in the way that the Reiki energy best suits them. The length of a Reiki energy session depends on how much healing the animal feels it needs.
Once the animal has absorbed all of the energy it feels it needs, it will slowly awaken and walk away. Often, in my experience, before walking away, the animal will give me a sign of affection as a way to say, “Thank you”. This has usually taken the form of a ‘nose nuzzle’, ‘love lick’ or ‘love nibble’.
Reiki energy can be given on a regular basis to your animals or as needed. Because it is a gentle and non-invasive energy modality, it can be used safely with all animals. Reiki energy works with all animals no matter the age, size or type. Reiki energy is not just for the sick or injured. Reiki energy can be used to maintain the general well being of an animal. Reiki energy can also be used as a preventative to any potential illness or ailment.
Please keep in mind that Reiki is typically used as a complimentary therapy and is not a substitute for veterinary care.
Tim Link, President and CEO of Link’s Wagging Tales, Inc., is an animal communicator and Reiki energy healer for animals. He is also past President of the Humane Society of Forsyth County (Georgia) and a member of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s AJC pets expert panel. For more information about Tim, visit http://www.wagging-tales.com/
Ingenuity…
It is amazing what humans can do when they put their creativity into action.
Click to watch this video here: http://tinyurl.com/66p3jju
Jun 132011
Song from “The Mission”
Deeply meaningful, his story gives hope, will also open your heart.. Check this video out!
Jun 032011
What truly amazing beings! They derive joy from the simplest things.
See for yourself! http://tinyurl.com/2e4za57
As Shared by Dr. Signe Dayhoff:
Occasionally, I need a reminder that most of the things about which I feel depressed, frustrated, or angry are really nothing but trivia. This video helps me get my head on straight, redefine and dismiss the small things as inconsequential, and be so grateful for what I have that works and really matters in my life.
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