Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Moss and Volcanoes

Portland had only 3 entirely sunny days between the spring equinox (March 20) and the summer solstice (June 21). Wow, no wonder the moss was growing like gangbusters! Of course, we didd have a few of our partly cloudy, partly sunny days.

By June 12, we already had more rain than any entire month of June on record. (Oregon weather record keeping began in 1890.) This unusually cool wet weather may be related to the eruptions of Icelandic volcanoes which closed airports in Europe.

"Whoever said sunshine brings you happiness has clearly never danced in the rain."

Sunday, June 6, 2010

A Call for Prayers to Heal the Earth

A letter from Chief Arvol Looking horse:

My Relatives,

Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the
bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in Prayer.

We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the World; we are guided to speak from
all the White Animals showing their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the
sacred life of all things. As I am sending this message to you, many Animal Nations are being
threatened, those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all
will be affected from the oil disaster in the Gulf.

The dangers we are faced with at this time are not of spirit. The catastrophe that has happened with
the oil spill which looks like the bleeding of Grandmother Earth, is made by human mistakes,
mistakes that we cannot afford to continue to make.

I ask, as Spiritual Leaders, that we join together, united in prayer with the whole of our Global
Communities. My concern is these serious issues will continue to worsen, as a domino effect that our
Ancestors have warned us of in their Prophecies.

I know in my heart that there are millions of people that feel our united prayers for the sake of
our Grandmother Earth are long overdue. I believe we as Spiritual people must gather ourselves and
focus our thoughts and prayers to allow the healing of the many wounds that have been inflicted on
the Earth.

As we honor the Cycle of Life, let us call for Prayer circles globally to assist in healing
Grandmother Earth (our Unc'I Maka). We ask for prayers that the oil spill, this bleeding, will stop.
That the winds stay calm to assist in the work. Pray for the people to be guided in repairing this
mistake, and that we may also seek to live in harmony, as we make the choice to change the
destructive path we are on.

As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected. And that what we crate can have
lasting effect on all life.

So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer. Along with this immediate effort,
I also ask to please remember June 21st, World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites day.
Whether it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your own sacred space, let us
make a prayer for all life, for good decision making by our Nations, for our children's future and
well-being, and the generations to come.

Onipikte (that we shall live),
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation
www.manataka.org/page108.html

I received this message forwarded from:
Lenore Norrgard
Circle of the Living Earth
www.circlelivingearth.org

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Tension Headache Relief - Spiral Eye News June 2010

In This Issue -
Tension Headache Relief
Blog Highlights

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"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles." - Anne Frank

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Tension Headache Relief

Learn how to manage and prevent headaches with improved posture, stress reduction, and massage...

Many Americans suffer from chronic tension headaches and typically treat them with pain-relieving medication. Do you have frequent tension headaches? Would you like to feel better and reduce your reliance on medication? Massage is an effective treatment to relieve and prevent tension headaches.


Causes of Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache and are usually caused by poor posture and exacerbated by stress. The most common cause of tension headaches is a forward head. This causes tightness in the muscles of your neck, shoulders, and back, because the weight of the head is not properly balanced on top of the spine. When properly aligned, your head weighs about 10 pounds. But if it's forward, it can cause much more strain on your muscles, forcing them to work as hard as if your head weighed up to 4 times as much.

When the head is forward, the muscles on the front of your neck and shoulders are shortened and tense, while the muscles on the back of your neck and torso are tight and straining. This poor posture is often caused by work station positions and body mechanics.


Other Types of Headaches

- Migraines

Occur when the blood vessels in the brain become dilated, usually due to food allergies, hormonal changes, or stress. Symptoms include visual disturbances, severe head pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sensitivity to light. Usually felt on one side of the head, but can be on both sides.

- Hormonal Headaches or Menstrual Migraines.

70% of migraine sufferers are women. Most female migraines are related to changes in the levels of hormones during the menstrual cycle.

- Mixed Headaches.

A tension headache combined with a migraine. Typically, the tension headache starts first and the pain causes a migraine to develop. With a pattern of mixed headaches, the best way to avoid the onset of a migraine is to treat the tension headache.

- Migraine or Not?

A headache that includes dizziness, nausea, and visual disturbance may be a migraine. However, these symptoms may also be part of certain types of tension headaches that affect C1, the top vertebra just under the skull, or the Vegus nerve, which passes through the neck.


What You Can Do

Attention to body position, stress management, and regular massage treatments can help prevent or reduce the frequency of headaches, and consequently your use of medication.

- Attention to Body Position

Be aware of where your head is at as you move through your day.
Learn what it feels like to have the base of your skull in line with your tailbone while allowing natural curve in the neck and low back.
Notice how it feels to have your ears aligned over the middle of your shoulders.

- Stress Management

Includes such techniques as meditation, aerobic exercise, and yoga.
Yoga is especially good for reducing stress and improving posture.
By strengthening and stretching muscles of the upper body, chest-openers, backbends, and spinal twists help to counteract the pulling forward caused by much of what we do in daily life.

- Massage

A recent medical study showed regular massage can help relieve stress and decrease pain in people with chronic tension headaches. Tension headaches are the most responsive to massage. With mixed headaches, a tension headache that is combine with a migraine, massage can quite effectively address muscular tension and stress. However, massage can't help much with a headache that is predominantly a migraine or hormonal.


How Massage Helps

Massage relieves muscle tension and promotes general relaxation. It alleviates the tension, range of motion restrictions, and stresses on posture at the root of many headaches.

Muscles eventually adapt to being shortened when they are chronically tight due to poor posture or stress. Massage teaches them how to let go of tension and lengthen again. Massage can also free the connective tissue which creates a new way for muscles to function.

Reiki and other energy healing techniques promote relaxation, reduce pain, remove energy blockages, and restore healthy energy flow to the body and being.


You Can Feel Better

You can reduce the severity and frequency of your headaches and even prevent them with good body mechanics, stress management, and regularly scheduled massage treatments.

To take care of ourselves properly, we need intention, knowledge, and self-awareness. To notice what our bodies are telling us, we need to prioritize time to slow down and listen. Then we must respond in a self-compassionate way to the messages we receive.

Be a best friend to yourself. Care for the house you live in. In a healthy being, there is no room for separation of mind and body. The union of mind, body, and spirit helps us move toward a healthier life and greater peace in our being.

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"When I discuss survivors, I'm interested in how they embrace life, not how they avoid death." - Bernie Siegel, M.D.

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Blog Highlights

Click to Read a letter from Chief Looking Horse calling for prayers to heal the Earth
or copy and paste into your web browser:
http://SueRedding.blogspot.com/2010/06/call-for-prayers-to-heal-earth_06.html

"Where wisdom is available, we seek guidance to carry us home."

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