The Steps of Self-Empowerment

Empowerment: Lincolnian (Brian)

Author: Pamela Wells

When life is going smoothly, it is easy to go into automatic pilot. You are fully and gainfully employed, all your bills are paid on time, you can even take vacations, all your primary relationships are happy and you are otherwise enjoying life.

What happens when there is an unexpected loss or inevitable setback? What do you rely on as a source of your strength to sustain you?

We are constantly fed messages that we need something outside of us in these challenging situations. We become accustomed to hearing that we are lacking something and whatever “it” is can be bought or sourced externally.

It is during these times of transition that there could be an opportunity for growth and insight into the source of what empowers you. The invitation is to change your vantage point and see that all the resources for you to navigate your challenges are sourced by plugging into a Universal presence inside of you.

Here are the steps of self-empowerment:

When faced with a challenge, start by honoring yourself. Take the time to pause and just breathe. There is no need to do any deep breathing. Instead, take a comfortable seat or even lay down with one hand on your belly and another on your heart and simply enjoy your breath. Let yourself feel anchored into the chair or into the earth if laying down. By merely bringing consciousness to your breath, you initiate a process of awareness to the presence that supports you. You can enhance this process by gradually softening the layers of resistance, stress, tightness and hardness manifested in your face, jaw, throat, chest, stomach and other areas of your body. By beginning to let go of physical clinging, you further the process of yielding to an inner support. Breath by breath you drop deeper into your every expanding source of that which sustains you.

You reinforce a process of reclaiming the source of your power by reflecting and determining one quality of heart or mind that could enable you to effectively handle the situation you are facing. Take the time as you continue to breathe to reflect on what quality of heart or mind would make a meaningful difference in your life. Perhaps you could cultivate more courage, sensitivity, clarity, more patience or whatever you deem to be appropriate. You then set this seed of intention in your heart and mind and then infuse it with your breath so that there is a unity in your body, mind and heart. You literally call all aspects of yourself into attention as you tap into this wellspring of energy inside of you in service of your intention.

Interestingly, in this process of reflection and then engagement, you will experience inevitable internal shifts. As you draw closer to your heart and what is meaningful, then what you say and do will be aligned with your own wellspring of energy and resources.

If you begin to feel like you are forcing yourself in this process, check to see if are holding your breath or you have been breathing in a shallow way. There are patterns that are both conscious and unconscious that we follow that resist this process. Such patterns may not always be life affirming and may appear as chronic tension in our body and tightness even in our minds. All of this manifests in the breath and blocks us from accessing our source of sustenance.

You may need the assistance of a wise guide to facilitate in accessing your inner resources and optimizing the way you use them. However, ultimately, what enables you to effectively deal with what you are facing is inside of you.

You are completely free to either reinforce old patterns of thought and action or choose to awaken to the realization that the ultimate source of your fulfillment is as close to you as your breath. It is a process of remembering the source of that which sustains you and then taking action to align with it so that you can continue to shift and grow in ways that bring more beauty and love to our shared planet.

About the Author:

Pamela Wells authored and illustrated a Collectors Edition guidebook and card set for women called Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess – Spiritual Guidebook & 22 Wisdom Cards for Contemplation and Prayer. This boxed set is available now at http://www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Steps of Self-Empowerment

Review – The Viking Serpent by Harald S. Boehlke (DVD)

The Viking Serpent takes the viewer into the heart of Norway, where Harald S. Boehlke, son of a Norwegian diplomat, presents his case for a radical reinterpretation of the traditional Biblical symbols for evil.

Longstanding tensions between orthodox and Gnostic Christianity are highlighted with Boehlke favoring the Gnostic position.

Boehlke’s unusual and unique pro-Gnostic argument is backed up with on-site evidence, cartographic analysis and historical data.

At the very least, this DVD is thought-provoking and should serve as a launch pad for those interested in following up on Boehlke’s extraordinary and far-reaching claims.

The DVD also contains some truly beautiful footage, with director and host Philip Gardiner facilitating as a kind of guide to Boehlke’s challenging exposition.

The Viking Serpent is recommended for those wanting to learn more about Gnosticism and the Celtic Church while enjoying some breathtaking scenes of the natural and architectural marvels of Norway, surely one of the most aesthetically pleasing countries in the world today.

–MC

Make It A Masterpiece

Statue: bluemoose / Ian

By Rhoberta Shaler, PhD

Developing an authentic lifestyle–one that truly reflects what is important to you in all areas of life–is a work of art. It is your personal statement to the world. Are you creating your masterpiece with both the intention and attention a great artist gives her creation?
Reflecting on the ideas and manipulating the materials over time, the artist begins to clarify the vision and, as the piece emerges, watches, refining her ideas, adding this, discarding that, reworking, until the materials begin to match the vision. Once the realization of the dream is glimpsed, work accelerates, and joy and passion carry the piece to completion. Isn’t that much like our lives?

Few artists receive their inspiration from attempting to fulfill someone else’s idea of what the clay, paint, rock, notes, words, fabric or wood might become. Imitation in art is only the tool of the student as the techniques are learned. The truly authentic work of art must come from within the artist, through the techniques and media, into reality.

Similarly, you cannot live the dreams of your parents, the desires of your friends or the visions of another with passion and integrity.

Great artists understand that their art is their personal expression, and is, therefore, unique. The artist values the medium for its potential to express the idea. The artist works diligently with it– keeping the vision in view, making small adjustments, learning new techniques, experimenting–until the vision emerges in concrete form and becomes an extension of the artist. It is visible then to all who care to look. The piece bears the artist’s name and influences all who view it.

Sometimes, pieces do not please the artist and they are reworked, painted over, melted down, unraveled. These pieces have great inherent value. The artist’s vision is clarified, the materials better understood. This contributes much to the next project, the next work of art.

Sometimes, pieces become a legacy and influence many by their existence. These are the authentic works, the true expressions of the artist. These are the quality pieces, as Willa A. Foster, says, “Quality is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

You want your life to be of quality, filled with wise choices. Therefore, approach it with high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution.

When creating a work of art, you must be present with it, fully engaged each moment, totally absorbed by the possibility you are actualizing and the potential you are exploring. This intense focus is required if you are not to be distracted by the myriad of seductive, and easy to justify diversions. It is a powerful process uplifting, inspiring, sometimes frustrating, satisfying, and, most of all, creative. When you are making a success of something, it s not work. It‘s a way of life.

Now, if by chance, you are thinking that viewing your life as a work of art, or a lofty contribution to the world, is impractical compared to a factual time-management, goal-oriented, bottom-line approach, please consider this. Every successful business, organization and corporation has two types of leaders, visionaries and administrators. Both are required. You need to be both visionary and administrator in your own life, to live a life of integrity, of wholeness.

After all, would you prefer your life to be a fleeting statistic, or a memorable piece of performance art?

By Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ – Free Articles Directory

About the Author

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, has helped thousands to see life differently. Dr. Shaler connects people with their authentic selves, their purpose and values, and provides insights and inspiration to overcome the challenges of personal, family and business life. To learn more, visit: www.Rhoberta.com. and join www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com It’s free.

Remote viewing and more in documentary film ‘Something Unknown’

psychic reader: vistavision

By Steve Hammons

The new movie The Men Who Stare at Goats is bringing expanded awareness to the general public about unconventional and anomalous topics involving human consciousness and the nature of “reality.”

Another film, this one a documentary, is doing the same.

Dutch filmmaker Renée Scheltema’s film Something Unknown is Doing Something We Don’t Know What, like the “Goats” movie, looks at discoveries in modern physics and psychology, remote viewing, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, unconventional healing, therapeutic touch, psychic detective work and related subjects.

Scheltema has a background in Dutch TV and has created other documentaries. After her bachelor’s degree in law, she also earned advanced degrees in journalism and criminology.

INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH

In the film, various scientists and researchers give their views about the possibility or probability that unconventional and unusual forces are at work in the Universe and Nature – or at least they seem unusual to many of us.

Some of the people featured in the film include former Apollo astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, former Project STAR GATE researcher Dr. Harold (Hal) Puthoff, University of Arizona professor of psychology Dr. Gary Schwartz, University of California professor emeritus of psychology Charles Tart, parapsychologist Dr. Dean Radin and several other prominent scientists and investigators.

Something Unknown explores reports of phenomena and aspects of human consciousness that seem to defy logic and our general understanding of ourselves and our environments.

Yet, much research into topics like near-death experiences, remote viewing, ESP and other subjects seems to indicate that something truly is going on that should be thoroughly investigated. In addition to any understanding of these phenomena that can be attained, the film serves as a vehicle to communicate to and educate us about these discoveries.

As the title of the film seems to indicate, there is “something” in the Universe and Nature, or perhaps many “somethings,” that are behaving in ways that are unique, puzzling and at times, amazing.

Physicists, psychologists, biologists and other investigators are changing their views of how things work around us and within us – and the interesting connections between the two.

Are these unconventional phenomena really “paranormal” or simply normal and natural?

GETTING UP TO SPEED

Different human cultures certainly approach human consciousness, dreams, visions, the afterlife, Nature and other common experiences in different ways. The modern scientific approaches of Western civilization have often created and reflected a different view of how things work and how Nature operates.

In addition, the divide between “science” and “spirituality” seems, at times, to define a separation that may not really be present at all.

The trends and trajectory of our understanding about human consciousness, biological systems, quantum physics and a wide swath of other studies seem to be moving toward a new way of looking at things – at the “something” and what it is doing.

The general public is now being exposed to more kinds of films, TV programs, books and other information that are getting all of us up to speed on the discoveries and developments in these fields that affects each and every one of us.

These communications efforts, like Something Unknown, seem to be part of the process to inform us, deepen our understanding, enhance our consciousness and … well, “we don’t know what.”

Something Unknown will be shown at the Santa Fe Film Festival on Dec. 3 and 5. The film is also available on DVD. For more information and to view the movie trailer, go to SomethingUnknown.com.

Steve Hammons writes on many topics. For more information, visit these websites: Joint Recon Study Group, Transcendent TV & Media and American Chronicle.

In the news

• CBC News – World – Guantanamo won’t close by January: Obama: http://bit.ly/26sQPU via @addthis
• Robots Perform Shakespeare – wired.com – http://www.wired.com/cars/c…
• Religion and science coexist in evolutionary theory on CollegiateTimes.com – http://shar.es/azUW1
• Iran Restricts Broadband Speeds to Save Islamic Culture http://tr.im/Fhbv
• American Chronicle | Remote viewing and more in documentary film ‘Something Unknown’: http://bit.ly/2AzeYM via @addthis
• How Google can guess what you are thinking http://www.guardian.co.uk/t…
• Chinese officials indicted in Spain for genocide and torture of Falun Gong practitioners http://www.theepochtimes.co…
• Cuba rights abuses continue, report says — latimes.com – http://shar.es/azUHl
• Cab Calloway: The Original Hip-Hop MC http://allhiphop.com/storie…
• Hate Studies http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/…

These news links (and commentaries) are also at twitter.com/earthpages, hand picked from nearly 200 RSS feeds. We also tweet about everything new at Earthpages.org and Earthpages.ca.

Get our latest Tweets: http://twitter.com/earthpages

Earthpages is not affiliated with these stories, their authors nor the websites they appear on

Caring for the world ecology

Let's Get Green! by ecstaticist / Evan Leeson

Author: goyal.ishaa

BOTH THE developed and the developing countries are between the devil and the deep sea. The developed countries do not wish to cut green house gas emissions as it would slow down their progress and enable competing countries to take over. The developing countries including China, a surprise entrant, take the plea that they have to reach the level of the developed countries and for that cutting the green house-gas emissions would be like committing Harakiri.

Be that as it may, numerous conferences on promoting ecology and checking environmental pollution have turned out to be mere discussions in a debating club. Be it Kyoto, or Latin America or now Copenhagen in December 2009, the talking shops did not produce any positive results. Many hundred reams of paper, secretarial work, a lot of wining and dining and track two diplomacy failed to produce any positive results. Time and energy went down the drain.

Now some light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. On Sunday, November 15, 2009, at Singapore at the session of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, President Obama of the United States and other opinion makers and shapers arrived at an agreement ahead of the Copenhagen Summit on Ecology to tone down criticism of the advanced nations.

A deal was struck by agreeing to tone down the target and also to renew efforts to achieve positive results.The Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Lokke Rasmussen put forth the compromise formula and called it one agreement two steps that would be legally binding as a treaty by 2010.

Indeed, the developed nations may be happy but it is a compromise that would not reduce the global warming substantially. In another 11 years, China will account for 50 per cent of the global emissions. Maldives and parts of Mumbai and London may bid adieu to the earth and become a part of the surging waters of the sea.

Let us hope and pray that the Gangotri, source of our Ganges river does not melt as it would spell disaster for the plains of India. We must keep on convincing those who are not affected now by global warming and climate change to listen to the suffering humanity.

About the Author:

Hi, I am Ishaa Goyal from India, by profession i am a journalist. Recently i m covering news on Global Warming and China News.I have written number of climate related articles.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Caring for the world ecology

New look!

Time For Change: David Reece / David Daniels

This morning we implemented a new look. We’d like to play around with the graphics a bit more, try out different color schemes, but have to go out to do some business.

Chances are we won’t settle on the final appearance for at least 24 hours. But what you now see clearly is the shape of things to come.

As with any kind of change, we just discovered a few peculiarities with our new look that we’ll have to remedy. Most notably, private contact forms don’t seem to appear with this theme.

Please bear with us… we’ll figure it out!

–MC

A Forum To Restore The Earth

Green Weed Cove: brentbat / Brent Pearson

By: Adolphpaul

The Green Revolution is here! Many are concerned about saving the planet and restoring it to its pristine glory.

Is it a movement just for the elite?

The green movement is currently a lifestyle choice that people can embrace if money is available to buy organic food and hybrid cars. It is important that it should become main-stream if it is to have any real influence on all of us. The green solutions prescribed by pundits are expensive and many are not able to afford them. How many of us can afford to install solar- powered panels on the roofs of our homes? These are expensive consumer choices. However, it goes without saying that environmental concerns are the topmost priority.

What is a sustainable blog?

A sustainable blog brings out ideas from different sections of the society to lessen noxious emissions and suggest ways to use clean and green technology that is simple and accessible. For instance, instead of throwing away plastic bottles, why don’t you give them away to the factory to make polyester? Polyester garments are an eco-friendly option.

Its importance in the virtual world

• Global warming is not something that is going to happen ten or twenty years from now. It is already happening.
• Unfortunately, governments and industries have been slow in waking up to this fact.
• Blogs and online communications are an excellent way to keep the pressure on the state for concrete action and measures to minimize the effects of climate change.
• These are advocacy tools by means of which extensive and broad campaigns can be conducted by environmentalists and the civil society to save the planet from further destruction.
• Everybody has a stake here and a significant role to play.
• Eco-themed blogs from around the world discuss issues on the current eco crisis and the measures to tackle it by sustainable means.
• You would be able to know about clean technology in the UK, climate change concerns in Italy or green farming in Canada.

It is important that an economy has to evolve from green technology and provides a sustainable life to us. A sustainable community would suggest ways to minimize our negative impact upon the planet. There has been a growing awareness among environment and sustainable groups to ensure that the existing resources on the planet do not get wastefully depleted.

The future generations should not suffer for the negligent actions of the past and present communities. Sustainable living is not an option. It is a necessity.
Overpopulation and a fierce battle for resources have wrecked havoc on the fragile eco-system of our planet. It is imperative that you should be conscious of your actions in conserving the planet by eco-friendly methods and limit over-consumption.

About the Author:

Commoncircle.net is a social networking site where you can post and share your reviews, information on sustainable blog.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – A Forum To Restore The Earth

Michael Jackson will be a “subject” at A.R. Rahman’s Music Conservatory

Michael Jackson: Cain and Todd Benson

Special to Earthpages.org

Entertainment icon Michael Jackson will be a subject at Oscar winner musician A.R. Rahman’s (Slumdog Millionaire) KM Music Conservatory, according to reports.

Rahman himself will reportedly give the inaugural lecture on Jackson. Rahman loved Jackson’s music and has said about Jackson in the past: “one of the greatest musicians of our time… pushed the milestone of Pop music to unbelievable levels… I am yet to find an artist with that energy, perfection and vision…”

During their meeting in Los Angeles (USA) earlier this year, when Jackson showed Rahman a five second example of his dance move, Rahman stated: “It was like a lightning strike”. Jackson even reportedly asked Rahman during this meeting to compose a unity anthem. Jackson collaborated with Rahman on Ekam Satyam track in 1999. Rahman is reportedly developing an album in memory of Jackson, which will include musicians from all over the world.

Founded by Rahman (who is also its Principal), KM Music Conservatory in Kodambakkam area of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state of India envisions expanding the horizon of musicians in India by offering education in both Indian and Western music besides music technology and its mission is to provide students with a strong artistic, intellectual, and technical foundation. T. Selvakumar is the Managing Director of this international school of music and music technology whose tagline is “Become the Future of Music”.

Conservatory offers Preparatory Program (2-5 years), Foundation Program (1-2 years), and Degree Program (three years) under affiliation of Middlesex University in United Kingdom (UK), and has proposed to offer Diploma Program (one year) for international students) and Masters Program (two years) with concentrations in music performance-composition-technology-education. Many faculty members have degrees from USA and UK. Sound editor Joe E. Rand (Titanic) has lectured here besides demonstration by Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

Indo-American leader Rajan Zed has applauded Rahman for creating a bridge between the music of east and west and for strengthening the worldwide market and stature of Indian music. Zed, who is the chairperson of Indo-American Leadership Confederation, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, urged Rahman to help nourish the next generation with the richness of Indian music, elements of whose theory were first found in ancient Hindu scripture Sama-Veda. Rajan Zed further said that Michael Jackson’s personal life might had been controversial, but he did provide “joy” to a large populace of the world through his music. One of the ancient Hindu scriptures “Taittiriya Upanishad” talking about “joy” says: From joy are born all creatures, by joy they grow, and to joy they return.

Rahman, who has reportedly recorded sales of over 300 million, was called “Mozart of Madras” by Time magazine. Rahman sees music “as a way to connect to spirituality and embrace it” and for “creating harmony in troubled times”.

Review – Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D. (DVD)

Reality Films

Title: Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D.
Author: John Jay Harper
Director: Philip Gardiner
Media: DVD
Producer: Reality Films
Total time: 62:25

Will humanity experience a quantum leap of consciousness around 2012 or will this be the year of our collective undoing?

Closely following his book Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21^st Century, Dr. John Jay Harper’s Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D. asks this and other compelling questions.

Science of Soul’s innovative graphics and hip soundtrack set the mood for an exploration into the mythic symbol of the axis mundi (world axis) and possible links among human DNA, psi and global transformation.

This DVD should sit well with those embracing the philosophy of natural pantheism, where the universe is taken to be God and therefore conscious.

By way of contrast, believers in theism (where God and creation are seen as ‘wholly other’) might find it challenging.

Regardless of one’s core beliefs, Science of Soul carries an ethical message that few would dispute: To love and live peacefully among ourselves.

It’s probably just a matter of time before Science of Soul’s integral approach is embraced by the equally opinionated gatekeepers of both science and religion.

But a comprehensive gelling of Big Science and Big Religion might take a little longer than most of us would like, given the deeply entrenched historical biases that continue to inform our 21^st century worldview.

We shouldn’t be discouraged, however.

As a catalyst for this much-needed dialogue, Science of Soul is a definite step in the right direction.

–MC