News and Inspiration for a Holistic Life and a Heart-Centered Community
Welcome to the first edition of The Creating Calm Network Magazine - News and Inspiration to uplift your day and brighten your world. Each week we will feature articles from our amazing and inspiring hosts on topics from stress relief, to sensational medicine, to heart-centered relationships, healthy eating and more. Take a break from traditional media's doom and gloom - uplift and energize with the hosts of the Creating Calm Network - let's be the change we want to see in the world!
THE POWER OF THE PAUSE
by Ann White Stress Less, Love More There is a powerful moment in time that gifts us frequently throughout our day. I call this moment "the pause." It is an opportunity - actually, THE opportunity - to create the life we choose to live. It is an opportunity to teach and uplift others, to raise energetic vibrations and heal this tattered world in which we live. All of this goodness bursting forth from this one tiny moment in time. The moment, the pause, is like a seed with incredible strength and power ready to burst forth with life affirming energy when given the "go" from us. What is this incredible gift we carry within us? This powerful moment in time? This rich and affirming pause? It is the moment between what happens to us………….the pause…………..and how we respond. Read this sentence again: it is the moment between what happens to us………..the pause………...and how we respond. Click to read more Check out one of our great sponsors!
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Vision Recovery - Eyes on Diversity
by Kimberly Burnham, PhD Parkinson's Alternatives "Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." Einstein (1938) What is the value of diversity, of many different things instead of everything or everyone being the same? This is what recent scientific journal articles had to say about the value of diversity, of choices, of being able to choose what you perceive as beautiful, wholesome and good. Psychologist, Lisa Feldman Barrett notes, "Psychological states such as thoughts and feelings are real. Brain states are real. The problem is that the two are not real in the same way, creating the mind-brain correspondence problem." Barrett, L. F. (2009). "The Future of Psychology: Connecting Mind to Brain." Perspect Psychol Sci 4(4): 326-339. Just the fact that you are conscious creates a kind of diversity. There is no one-to-one correspondence between a thought and a particular neuron in your brain. An individual neuron in the brain can support many different thoughts and perceptions. A healthy brain is designed to recognize the patterns but also be able to move from one thought to another, from one brain state to another. Your brain is designed to be able to enjoy change and diversity and be bored by sameness. Click to read more |
Do You Hear Me? By Uma Girish
The Grammar of Grief
“We’ve said our goodbyes to each other,” Janet choked the words out.
I turned to look at her 59-year-old husband Ted who was deeply sedated, but more at peace than he’d been a couple of days ago. Ted was in our hospice facility, dying from intestinal cancer.
Janet and I were sitting in their room, a box of Kleenex between us. She, sobbing through their life story; me, listening.
Ted had mere days to live in hospice care. Their thirty-two-year-old marriage was on the brink of death.
Janet had imagined a different life, but this is the one she got. As she shared the intimate details of their life with me, a total stranger, I offered the only thing I could: my sincere, undivided attention. I listened. I received. I observed.
It’s difficult, this art of listening. It doesn’t come easily. It has to be learned, mastered, a muscle that must be exercised regularly.
Click to read more
The Grammar of Grief
“We’ve said our goodbyes to each other,” Janet choked the words out.
I turned to look at her 59-year-old husband Ted who was deeply sedated, but more at peace than he’d been a couple of days ago. Ted was in our hospice facility, dying from intestinal cancer.
Janet and I were sitting in their room, a box of Kleenex between us. She, sobbing through their life story; me, listening.
Ted had mere days to live in hospice care. Their thirty-two-year-old marriage was on the brink of death.
Janet had imagined a different life, but this is the one she got. As she shared the intimate details of their life with me, a total stranger, I offered the only thing I could: my sincere, undivided attention. I listened. I received. I observed.
It’s difficult, this art of listening. It doesn’t come easily. It has to be learned, mastered, a muscle that must be exercised regularly.
Click to read more
How Social Activism Informs a Healing Journey
by Frances Micklem Healing From Harmony Hall New Directions When asked to contribute an article for the new Creating Calm Network Magazine my first thought was 'what do people need to know right now?' Some people will listen to a show on how to release negativity or how people or animals are being treated in a particular context. It depends on what topic is of interest. However, there is a sense in which we are all being revved up and driven at high speed by remote control. This is important for everyone as these heated concerns we call our own are actually being triggered intentionally, I will argue, to keep us small or, maybe worse, indifferent and hardened. First, the use of nano technology. A friend (who I will credit here if requested) said she first saw nano technology demonstrated on Tomorrow's World, a TV series where new inventions were looked at. A psychiatrist injected the microscopic robot into her blood stream and it found its way to the seat of the patient's emotions in the brain. Using a dial, the doctor was able to turn up her mood until there was a feeling of hyper or exhilaration and then tone it down to where the patient felt depressed or despondent. We might have hoped this would never catch on but actually nano technology is everywhere now. Most notably in crop sprays. It might be partially to monitor the changes in soil over prolonged chemical spraying but it is also information gathering…of the people that breathe them in and ingest them. Click to read more Gloria Piantek
Food for Body, Mind and Spirit |
5 Ways for Authors to Engage their Target Audience on Social Media
by Dorit Sasson Giving Voice to Your Story Dear Reader… Here’s a message from me, the author to you… Recently, I had to unfriend someone on Facebook who goes way way back to childhood because she was attacking Israel for firing on Gaza, saying that all the deaths Israel has causes will haunt her and she will burn in hell. This freaked me out. I couldn’t for the life of me, understand why would my friend go to such great lengths to create this negative space on my Facebook wall? After a lengthy debate, I decided to unfriend this Facebook friend because of her political diatribe. I’ve come to the conclusion that people who are only interested in spreading their political diatribes and views on someone else’s wall, only want to spread their own opinions. There was nothing in my Facebook friend’s post on interacting with what I had posted about Israel; it simply triggered her own thoughts and views. Little did she realize that her Facebook friend would soon cut her off… You might be wondering well, what the heck does this have to do with being an author and spreading your message on social media? The opposite of attack in the social media world is ENGAGE. So the answer is quite simple. Just like you can’t attack people and always expect them to listen, as an author, you can’t just plaster on your wall, “buy my books!” Click to read more |
