Strengthening the Heart Chakra

Astronomical Updates:
The Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak on December 13 at 18:00 UT. The bright moon will interfere with viewing.

This Full Moon will be one of the brightest of the year, since it coincides with the annual perigee (the Moon's closest point to Earth for the year) on December 12.

I would like to include a "Yoga Pose of the Day" on this site, but I'm still learning the ins and outs of the most basic poses so I think I need to practice and learn more before I can add this info. :)

Rediscovering John Muir's Botanical Legacy - In Nature's Beloved Son John Muir's botanic samples are brought to life with compelling historical accounts and expert photography. This link includes a slideshow of images of restored botanical samples.

Links to a few interesting kinds of tea I was previously unaware of: Yiwu Green Beencha Pu-erh Tea and Matcha Tea. -thanks Marcus

Wine wands by Philip Stein. I'm not sure about the validity of these but I thought it was an interesting concept to possibly look into further. The wine wand claims to give more flavor to red wine by using natural energy to aerate the wine in minutes rather than hours. I came across this because I am considering getting a Philip Stein watch because the watches use frequency-based technologies which claim to "restore and improve the natural flow of evergy in our bodies which is disrupted by many of the pressures, stresses and disturbances present in our modern society and environment. By including technologies in the watches that replicate the Earth's natural frequency, as well as other natural beneficial frequencies, many wearers report positive benefits and an overall improvement in their well-being." I am curious about the actual effects of wearing the watch.

I love documentaries, and I am interested in seeing this one: Flow: For the Love of Water, which was recommended to me by Maya. The documentary investigates the world water crisis. Also, I came across this link which I thought was great, a "Geoscientists Without Borders" project by Clemson students working to solve the water crisis in rural India.


Quote of the day (to put all the other quotes in perspective) from "Real Advice Hurts":

A tip is like…what? A little scrap of a map. Not only is it not the actual destination, but the part you can hold in your hand will only make sense when you understand its place in a much bigger picture.

So, sure, you might get a kick out of gazing at the pretty colors and reading the funny names to your cat, and, heck, once you’ve collected enough little maps, you may even start fancying yourself a gifted cartographer.

But, never for a minute start fantasizing that being a map collector means you’ve visited all the locations on those pieces of paper. If you ever decided to attempt them, your actual travels would very much benefit from a competent (and whole) map of where you’re heading, but it necessarily requires movement, change, and enduring potentially long stretches in which you’ll have to find your own bearings in three tip-free dimensions.

At their best, “tips” are a fine way to incrementally improve a process that you’re already dedicated to practicing on a regular basis. And, in that context, tips work.

Photo: The Pleiades Star Cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters and M45.