Cascades

summer,2006

Elusive Jellyfish Nebula

via the Astronomy picture of the day

Let things come to you

What I Learned from the Master Cleanse:

"It seems to me we should start all over again from the beginning: start eating things as they are in limited amounts to allow the body to digest and assimilate just the amount it can handle with no excesses."

The organs of the body have open channels in the early morning hours between 5AM and 7AM. This is the best time to drink salt water (for the salt water flush) and a common time in most spiritual practices to perform a morning ritual.

Daily Facial Exercises:

Also, help prevent wrinkles around the mouth with daily facial exercises. Pull exaggerated “O” and “E” (as if you were saying “Eeeee…”) shapes with your mouth for 30 seconds. Purse lips right, center, and left and hold each movement for 30 seconds. Repeat. Stick your tongue out as far as you can while keeping your eyes wide.

Tension in the face and jaw can make us look older and “mean.” These exercises relax and restore facial integrity.

I think these exercises are especially important for those of us sitting in front of a computer screen in an office all day!

Word of the day:

coruscate \KOR-uh-skayt\, verb:

1. To give off or reflect bright beams or flashes of light; to sparkle.
2. To exhibit brilliant, sparkling technique or style.

Listening to

Dubstep: thanks Dave J

Lung

Decklyn

Virginia Bluebells

I searched out these images of Bluebells after seeing some during my lunchtime walk in the African American Heritage Park, behind our office building :) It's a beautiful day!

A peace meditation I just read, by Kathy Freston

Also just finished reading my monthly email from The Sun Magazine.

Quote of the day: "Knowing the truth isn't enough. You must also do something concrete to integrate what you learn with how you live your life."

Global Giving: donate to grassroots projects

Wiki of the day: Religion

18 Cool sites that teach you about space

Tongue Diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine I was searching around some sites about the tongue diagnosis when Lia mentioned to me that she was looking at this last night. Since I'm doing the master cleanse I was interested in seeing how my tongue would be diagnosed!

The trailer for "Why Walk When You Can Fly?", a movie based on the book by Isha. She shares the secrets of her "Isha System", the path she followed to awakening.

Tokyo, Beyond

Quotes May 4, 2009

If you sweep the patio in November after leaves have fallen, you wouldn’t expect it to stay clean forever. The patio is like the mind. Mindfulness meditation practice can feel like sweeping the mind and clearing away the thoughts strewn about making a big mess. -Arnie Kozak

Metta practice is the cultivation of our capacity for lovingkindness. It does not involve either positive thinking or the imposition of an artificial positive attitude. There is no need to feel loving or kind during metta practice. Rather, we meditate on our good intentions, however weak or strong they may be, and water the seeds of these intentions. - Gil Fronsdal

"But don't worry if you haven't kept up with your ambitious objectives. Just establish your long-term goals and the daily work will eventually fall into place."

Our notions about happiness entrap us. We forget that they are just ideas. Our idea of happiness can prevent us from actually being happy. We fail to see the opportunity for joy that is right in front of us when we are caught in a belief that happiness should take a particular form. –Thich Nhat Hanh, from Teachings on Love (Parallax Press)

A warrior must cultivate the feeling that he has everything needed for the extravagant journey that is his life. What counts for a warrior is being alive. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Therefore, one may say without being presumptuous that the experience of experiences is being alive. -Castaneda

A fire reflected in a lake cannot burn the water. Neither can emotions disturb the mind when you don’t get involved in them. Don’t identify an emotion as your self. The fear or anger is not you, only and impersonal phenomenon. Mentally pull back from the emotion and turn your awareness around to observe it. When in the grip of negative emotion we tend to believe it will never end. But emotions are no more permanent than thoughts. With continued practice you’ll find that you only have to wait and any emotion, whether pleasant or unpleasant, is bound to change. –Cynthia Thatcher, from Just Seeing: Insight Mediation and Sense-Perception (Buddhist Publication Society)

"Always surround yourself with good people."