Satori: Enlighten Your Brain

 
Nirvana, Satori, Samadhi - the apex of human experience; but the question remains, how do we achieve these blissful states of enlightenment? Is it through years of spiritual practice and study or can we find bliss now by the simple act of stimulating our amygdala with positive imagery? According to a diverse body of research both ancient and contemporary, we can, in fact, do just that.

By self-stimulating our frontal lobes, the most advanced part of the brain, we can shift our capacity for creative intelligence to an off-the-chart degree. This stimulation can occur as a result of simple exercises during which we charge our amygdala using certain visualizations. A good way to test how prominently our frontal lobes are operating in our lives is by checking our emotional state. According to brain scientists, when we are experiencing fear, self-doubt, sadness and negativity, this area of our brain is turned off. "When positive emotion is low, advanced brain function is low. Negative emotion (fear, anger, depression, boredom) is a warning signal. Positive emotion (happiness, joy, love) is a built-in reward mechanism to encourage us to keep our frontal lobe circuits open. This is nature's method for encouraging further evolution of mankind's consciousness." Rev. Mary Hardy, PhD.

In looking more closely at our brains, we find that there is not just one amygdala, but two, on either side of our forehead, each with a posterior and anterior region. Activity in the back region of the amygdala relates to fear based responses and negative impressions, whilst the forward region being stimulated correlates with heightened pleasure, expanded creative power and higher consciousness.

Those of us with environmental illnesses have inadvertently wired our posterior amygdala on a toxic circuit of hyper-vigilant reactivity to chemicals and intense negative mental/emotional programming. We are, in effect, experiencing the worse features of a very powerful organ which is designed to be triggered by our senses, particularly our sense of smell. According to research by T. D. A. Lingo, "we understand that the olfactory bulbs stimulate the amygdala gland through smell and activate the frontal lobes of the brain - transcending space, time, energy and matter through consciousness." Somewhere along the way for EI sufferers, a strong chemical exposure got encoded in our brains as toxic and caused our system to go haywire, mis-firing the posterior amygdala and over-stimulating our immune system, long after the acute danger had disappeared.

Knowing this, we can immediately see how mixed-up the communication has really become between our sense of smell, our emotions and thoughts, and our keen-eyed amygdala. And just as immediately, we can see the avenue to resolving this dilemma for good. To instantly decide to take all thought and attention off of the posterior amygdala (fear, anxiety, worry) and give our entire self over to the "charging of our frontal lobes," is the clear and present key to a complete and sustained cure for environmental illness - and the beginning of an absolute transcendent experience of life, in general. This is not just some kind of "magic" happening in the brain; during experiments where subjects' brains were electrically monitored, a substantial lighting up of the frontal lobes was evident during amygdala self-stimulation.

Two very simple exercises have been offered by one of the pioneering researchers in amygdala stimulation,  Neil Slade, and I have personally had amazing healing results with each. I feel that these exercises instantly bypass all the seemingly hard-wired brain channels which lead to multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc. Since we know the amygdala is intricately connected with the olfalctory sense, and that chemical odors trigger EI related symptoms, how about we stimulate the anterior amygdala by simply imagining an aroma we love while simultaneously seeing our front temples (seat of the anterior amygdala) being tickled by two feathers. Sounds quirky, I know, but I've tried it and it works immediately to shift both the intense chemical odor and the emotional drama created by the mind. And get this, it doesn't stop there. As physical symptoms are relieved and the body relaxes, a feeling of euphoria awaits just around the corner from this practice and increases over time!

The next exercise is to imagine a great source of light, God - the Universe, soaring down through the top of your head like a laser and splitting into two directions out through your left and right temples. Apparently, it is normal to actually feel a click inside when you have successfully 'turned on' your anterior amygdala. You can then play with increasing the intensity of the light as it moves through your frontal lobes. I have found the most incredibly blissful states arising from this practice, not to mention the instant relief from any and all EI symptoms, e.g., headaches, muscle pain, brain fog, nausea, etc. My sense of smell shifts in the most miraculous ways, with an immediate ability to catch whatever glorious scent is on the air, as if the charged amygdala, itself, begins to relax its defense and allow space for a joyous interaction with the atmosphere instead of a fight or flight response. It is truly an enlightening experience.
 
I believe those of us in the MCS, CFS, Environmental Illness community are the *wayshowers. We are the guides for the rest of humanity into the inner realms of our true selves. Our being hyper-sensitive is actually due to a hyper-powerful nature. We have the ability to tap into the synergy between thought and experience in profoundly acute ways. We sense what is below the radar of mass consciousness, giving us a portal into the spiritual dimension, the formless. Once we come to terms with our dis-ease, we realize it as a blessing - to enlighten us into our present power to make each and every moment our very own creation.
Contrary to the typical understanding of ourselves as canaries in a coal mine, I believe we are in fact star people on the precipice of the evolution of human consciousness. Let us take up our charge and heal the distorted world of human thinking.


*Wayshower - "A spiritually enlightened being who has the capacity to lead humanity through a process of spiritual development.  Some traditions believe that Jesus was the Wayshower."

Supreme Healing Part 2

What if you could tell your body to stop being allergic to chocolate and it listened? And if you could admonish your heart rate to slow down after mold exposure, ask candida to retreat back to its balanced state within your intestines, command your myopic eyes to see straight again?  What if you simply imagined taking the highest quality spirulina in order to experience the actual affects of this chlorophyll-rich alkalizing fluid coursing through your veins? What if you could have your cake and eat it too?

What if you could talk to money about how much you want of it, when it will show up and with what degree of effort? Supposing you could instruct your house to shine on the market, selling quickly or your mortgage to be magnetic to its own substantial supply? Have you ever thought to communicate with your dying plant intently about manifesting what it needs to prosper, encouraging your car to make it the next 20 miles on that empty tank, or knowing that the impossible rift between you and your ex can be erased with one pure thought?

Do you realize your power? Are you aware that you are in total control and there are no limitations to what you can accomplish right now? Do you see that the groove of "I can't do it," imprinted on your neural pathways, ingrained in your mind, is the only thing stopping you from moving mountains? You created each and every mountain. Every limitation to which you seemingly fall prey is of your own making. You used to know your power, and did move that mountain before you. Now you call the mountain impossible and impact every experience of your life on earth with this lie. The mountain is an illusion...

I am gently nudging you with the truth. Wake up~

Peaceful Yoga and Longevity

Bringing peace into one's daily life is integral to health, harmony and longevity. A whole day filled with activity, interaction and communication must be grounded in a calm serenity in order for it to serve our souls. Yoga poses are direct ways to tap into our inner peace and align our daily lives with presence. Like trees that sway in the wind, weather sudden storms and take the heat of the bountiful sun, we can be solid, still and unwavering amidst the chaos of the world. This centered way of approaching life will enable us to live long and healthy lives, filled with contentment and joy.

Two ideal nutritional supplements to help enhance the natural rhythms of our body are the bio-available Vitamin C from HealthForce Nutritionals or the Earth Vitamineral powder. These Truganic, energetically enhanced formulas are infinitely more potent than the standard pill vitamins on the market, giving you the life- force your body, mind and spirit crave.

Supreme Healing of the Diseased Mind

 
What if you could, had the power, and set forth the intention to train your mind to accept whatever you told it? Say, if your mind were like your child and listened intently to your every word and bought it all - lock, stock and barrel. Imagine the influence you would have in word, thought and deed, the ability to totally program your mind with the perfect, whole and abundant messages chosen by you according to your highest ideals. Well, based on the current scientific findings in brain chemistry, quantum physics and neural-plasticity, as well as the age-old wisdom of mystic sages, this power is in fact yours. It is time we took the roof off the human mind. "The sky is not the limit."

Are you prepared to acknowledge that your beliefs about a thing are 99.9% of the substance that makes it real? Could it be when you believe in toxic chemicals, cancerous cells, and depleted bank accounts you actually, of your own power, make these real for you in your experience. Could your world be neutral, waiting to follow your lead? The very fact that your life mimics your expectations is likely proof positive that you are the creator! Your nose runs when you "catch a cold," your money is short because it doesn't "grow on trees," and your relationships always go sour after that "six-month mark," simply because your obedient mind is only following your instructions and bringing forth experientially what you mentally create. Have you forgotten that you are a steward of infinity? Might you have misnamed your power and called it weakness. It seems the magnificence of you has been diverted, tripping over its luminous rays of light into a dizzying mis-creation. You are Power, remember?

You believe in a vitamin's effectiveness when you take and it works to the degree of your belief. Ever tried imagining you took a vitamin C and watching how your body responds as if? Tryed viewing an extra surcharge on your utility bill as a gift you gave to God and watching the increase flow. Ok, so this is beginning to make sense. It is resonating somewhere in you. I can feel it. It is even becoming obvious that you can do this. Now the question becomes, who is this you that does the opposite? And why is this you sending such limited programs to your mind and allowing them to manifest through your body and into your life experience?  Because this you is God, only stepped down to the lowest common denominator, the Supreme Self disconnected from its origins, The Creator who has forgotten itself, falsely identifying as the created. You, in losing sight of your divine Self, have bought into a world of limiting beliefs and perpetuated this faulty world unknowingly. Know thyself, I exhort.

It is, very clearly, a case of mistaken identity. You would not keep from your precious child a garden full of apples, knowing that this abundant place was yours to share. You would not deny them a cool fountain of crystalline waters to quench their thirst when you were the sole owner of the pristine land upon which this well had sprung. You would constantly venture to show them the beauty and love around them, as this very same glory poured out upon you daily, boundlessly. You would tell them wonderful stories, give them high-minded advice, reveal to them the greatest secrets to mastering the awe-inspiring feats you yourself were continuously accomplishing. Yes, you would give them the very best of your words, actions and thoughts, because you would understand that your presence was all-powerful and transcendent and what better else could you, would you, offer them.

Your mind and the body it expresses upon is your child. You are the all-powerful parent of it, by virtue of the living God within. The beneficient Creator. The fount of Love. Take back your Divine power. Imagine the very best of what you can conjure up and tell it to your mind and with all your heart believe it as true and real and act as if it is already done. For you are the Doer! If you say it, so shall it be done. Stop right now this moment saying things, thinking things, acting in ways that are not consistent with perfection, joy and wholeness. This will set you free from the false you who's lost its way and all its attendant sacrifices. The God in you will well up so magnificently, that all creation will come to meet it in humble acquiesence.

Let your highest Self stretch and unfold into its grand Being. Imagine yourself absorbing God essence all around you, for this is the Truth. Let every breath you take be as healing as the most expensive vitamins, every sound you hear sing the most melodic symphony, allow all sights to shine as pure visions of light and grace and acknowledge every encounter as a meeting with angels. Do this deliberately, constantly. Embrace the infinity of abundance and see money as always free and available through the direct action of the Highest Being within you.

 
Forget about the chemicals, toxins, diseases, disorders, crimes, wars, destruction, chaos and suffering that we alone have created in our misguided imaginations, as our false selves. These problems can only be solved through our releasing them, our discontinuing to tell that story to our children - our impressionable minds. It is time to tell the story of our realization of the perfect order that has always been at hand. We are the grand Creators, with the power to make this body and this earth exactly as we imagine it to be. So, it is time now that we put down the sword and remember who we are, whispering with calm authority, "wake up my child, your are free now...."

Yoga Healing Journey

Along with the amazing yoga postures awaiting mastery, I like to use key supplements to enhance my body, mind and spirit. Time and again, I come back to Scorpion Pose in order to measure my body's fitness level and test the effectiveness of new nutritional products I've been using. This stretch really lets you know where your muscle, joint as well as mental weaknesses are. If you are drained, fatigued and overly toxic from too much acidic factors in your diet and lifestyle, then the deep bends and curves of the Scorpion will feel more challenging. Your spine will resist the twist, your bones the shift and your mind the focus. Not being able to fully reach into that arch of Scorpion is a signal that your body is holding on to a lot of toxic residue and in need of an alkaline boost to clear the system. Here is my recommendations for a quick cleanse:


Skip the heavy traditional breakfast for a week and have a nutrient packed smoothie instead. Vegan Complete Whole Food Optimizer has everything and more in its complex formula and is convenient to add to the blender with the rest of your mix. Green foods, probiotics, antioxidants, phyto-nutrients, you name it, it's all in there! Use a high quality juice like Ceres, if you don't have the time to make it fresh.

Add some organic fruit of your choice,

Blend it all up, drink, and watch your body come alive due to the much needed rest from heavy digestive work. An improvement in your flexibility will naturally occur after adopting this simple detox strategy - the true breakfast of yoga champions.

Beach Yoga

There's nothing like doing yoga on the sand whilst the sound of ocean waves rushing upon the shore lull you in the background. Yoga possesses such a fascinating ability to revive and relax you at the same time. And the strength, agility and poise it builds, through consistent daily practice, is unmatched in any other fitness discipline. The headstand pose, one of my favorites, is a terrific way to build your core muscles, strengthen your spine and create deep levels of relaxation and peace.

You can easily work up to this asana by resting on your head a few minutes a day and then slowly lifting your legs with the support of a wall behind you. In time, your body will be able to support itself upside down almost as easily as it does right side up! For an anti-aging exercise, a daily headstand can't be beat. All those muscles, organs and tissues that have to fight the effects of gravity every day get a much needed turn around. And what better place than the beach to explore the fountain of youth, with the negative ions misting in from the sea water to bathe your hard-working body in pure essence energy.

Brain Retraining Visualizations

Brain Retraining is a new healing paradigm based on the science of brain elasticity. In this model, it is understood that the pathways created in the brain, through experience and learning, are not set in stone, so to speak, and are as malleable as grooves in clay - waiting to be shaped and molded according to our best intentions.

The key to retraining one's brain is to create as many strong impressions, through imagination, physical movements and verbal cues as possible in order to re-orient negative, unhealthy neural impulses into more positive, life-sustaining patterns. In my instance, I wanted to practice rewiring my brain on issues of health and vibrancy as a means to alleviate multiple chemical sensitivities. Armed with some insight garnered from Ashok Gupta's Amygdala Retraining free videos and some inspiration from my own book, I AM: You Power This Life, I set out to create my own personal classical conditoning-like experiment.

In the past, when exposed to a chemical odor, strong perfume or abrasive cleaning product, my instant response was frustration, upset and fear. These emotions almost always led to a physical reaction such as red eyes, burning nostrils and malaise. More negative emotions would follow these reactions until my entire thought process was centered around being assaulted by chemicals, made vulnerable by the toxic odors and a strong belief in the undermining of my body's health by environmental toxins.

With my intention set on brain retraining, I decided that, when faced with chemical exposure of any kind, I would alter my initial emotional response immediately. So, instead of letting fear take over after breathing in someone's perfume or encountering fresh paint, I would quickly link in to an emotionally satisfying memory like swimming in the clear blue sea in Spain one summer. I would conjure up the sun gleaming on my skin, the luscious warm crystalline water and the complete abundant surrender to the wonders of nature. This would be my first level of impressing upon my amygdala that I was safe, joyous and free of fear.


Next, I would move my my body in some repetitive fashion to distract my senses from the initial chemical stimuli and therefore, send new competing information to my brain. My favorite was to do simple hand movements, like tapping on EFT points on my wrist or doing eye exercises like shifting, ala natural vision improvement. While imagining my emotionally satisfying memory, I would steadily shift my glance to different points around the room and/or do tapping exercises. Sometimes in public, where movement was not possible, I would consistently repeat in my head, "No!," or "Cancel!," to any thought, emotion or sensation regarding the offensiveness of the chemical odor.

Another exercise that I loved to incorporate while outside of my comfort zone and my nose seemed to insist on acutely picking up on every chemical substance around, was something I call the "dimmer." In this I would imagine a dimmer switch inside my nasal passages and just play with turning it lower and lower until the questionable smell was no longer distinguishable. Often, just visualizing an off button in my mind, and decidedly clicking on it, would shut down the over-reactive response. Massaging the gamut point on my hand whilst doing this exercise boosted its effectiveness to nearly 100%.

The secret to successful brain retraining is to take a playful approach to the whole experience. Like a child, just let yourself "pretend" that these imaginary scenarios are real, powerful, and able to dilute the apparent reality. Don't take yourself too seriously and open up to allow for transformations to occur easily and effortlessly. Switch your mind over from focusing on the problem to attending to a blissful state in which all issues are solved. Remember, "there are truly no boundaries in life, all perceived boundaries are conceptual." Deepak Chopra

For an even deeper impression to enhance the emotional, physical aspects of brain redirection, I also incorporated a spiritual component. Since the smell of chemicals was my greatest challenge, and my nose, being acutely sensitive, felt like the door through which these toxins entered, I created a visualization of the Light of Christ in particle and atmospheric form entering my nostrils and spreading through my body via this route. I saw myself being filled with Christ Light as the pure, clear elements of the Divine were breathed in through my nostrils and up my nasal passages, into the back of my throat, up to my brain and down throughout my entire body, until my cells were alight with this clean, healthy, loving, healing, sweet-smelling, spiritual elixir. Then I would focus on one of my favorite affirmations from Catherine Ponder: I am surrounded by the pure white light of Christ into which nothing negative can penetrate and out of which only good shall come."

Finally, I would let this energy, this light, so magnify my inner body that it would spread in sunlight-like rays outward to surround my whole self in a cocoon of light. This last step was the amazing icing on the cake of the whole exercise. At first, my mind really fought it - with notions like, "how can this chemical smell be anything remotely connected to God.. But, in the end, every time I practiced, the old patterns of thought gave way and the new programming prevailed. Yes, my mind and then my body came to acknowledge that God is All and I am therefore safe, with no need for hyper-sensitization to chemicals in my environment.

 
This is an absolute and deeply healing experience, not just for chemical sensitivity, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and myelitis encephalitis, but for our mind's tendency to run its own negative programming which limits our ability to fully express our divinity and spiritual perfection while here on this material planet earth. We must retrain our brains according to our higher conciousness' wisdom and not let it dwell in the mass consciousness of fear, limitation and sickness. Namaste~

For more advanced "charging of your amygdala," go here.

Healing Chemical Sensitivity

So many of us are at our limit of chemical exposure. Our bodies have been nearly overcome with the effort to detoxify the onslaught of toxic additives, preservatives and chemicals added to our food, water and the everyday products we use. For those with multiple chemical sensitivity, life can become a constant battle where we are forced into being exposed to substances/odors that our systems can no longer tolerate. As a result, autoimmune diseased states take root in our bodies and we end up suffering with MCS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and other debilitating conditions. Thankfully, the earth, our beloved Mother Nature, has provided us with antidotes to these harsh man-made chemicals which wreak havoc on us daily. Here are a few of the most potent and effective remedies that I have explored recently.

Fulvic Acid is made from rock deposits deep in the earth that were formed millions of years ago. This healing clay-like compound has a profound effect on the body's ability to clear itself of heavy metals and other toxic residue. As a result, the total chemical load on the body is lessened leaving it more energy to detoxify everyday chemical exposure. In using this ionic mineral, I have experienced increased restful sleep, less sensitivity to perfumes and paint fumes, a balancing of the thyroid and clearer vision. For any swelling in the thyroid gland, Fulvic Acid is an incredibly effective cure when all else has failed. It is a great alternative to thyroid medication or surgery for goiter.

Cordyceps, a wild mushroom, is an incredible antioxidant and has the effect of bringing more oxygen to the cells of the body . In taking this supplement, I immediately felt increased energy, stamina and flexibility - especially when doing my daily yoga. Muscle tightness and soreness was greatly alleviated and in riding my bike, going up hills took less physical effort and strain. For the first few days, I did have a slight herxheimer reaction with subtle flu-like symptoms, but afterwards I felt so much lighter and clearer with more tolerance for cold, better digestion of wheat/dairy and sparkling, smooth skin.

Black Walnut/Wormwood tincture is excellent for cleansing the body of candida overgrowth and parasitic infection. These conditions hamper the immune system, cause food allergies, clog the intestines and induce hyper-sensitivity to chemicals in the environment. Once the herbs begin to rebalance the intestinal flora, the body can then start to effectively detoxify excess foreign toxins. Cloves are also added to the mix as they eliminate parasitic eggs that lay dormant in the system and recolonize after the mature yeasts have been eradicated.

In working with all these healing substances, the body can be given a strong line of defense against the cancer-causing chemicals that are seemingly everywhere these days.