http://www.innerzine.com/feed/ http://www.innerzine.com/ Daily articles, free tips and advice on motivation, self improvement and success. Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:12:11 +0200 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:12:11 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/living-in-the-present-moment http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/living-in-the-present-moment There are way too many things that we should be thankful about living in the present moment. We’ve heard of that statement before, “Yesterday’s a history, tomorrow a mystery. But what we have right now is a gift—that’s why it’s called “present”. Yes, the beauty of now, the gift of living in the moment. Have you ever felt a certain irony in life sometimes—that for example, when we are working, we tend to daydream about being on vacation. And when we’re basking in vacation, then we fret about our work and tasks pending on our workstations. Such silly paradox on dwelling on life’s unnecessary ironies. For why do our thoughts have to dwell on our historical past and the unforeseen future? Too often we regret about the could-have beens and the what-nots. But have you ever thought and realized that life in all its grand beauty (and madness) unfolds and blossoms in the present, in the divine now. That’s why living in the moment is a blessing. If we allow the essential present to slip away from our grasps, and busily waste our thoughts to some bygone regrets and wasting priceless moments, the true essence of living in the moment would simply come to waste. We need to start living in the moment—also known as the state of mindfulness. In this state, you’re more open, dynamic, and your attention is fully wide awake on the present. You’re alert to the experience rather than trying to drift along in life without it. Want to start living in the moment--try these steps to begin the journey. 1.) To develop your work, try not to think too much about it—unselfconsciousness. 2) Concentrate on the now to prevent fretting about the future—relishing. 3) If you’re bothered by something, instead of shying away from it, face it head-on—acceptance. 4) Have a taste of total absorption (which takes place when you become so immersed in your work that you lose track of all that’s happening around you) and let it flow to make the most of your time. 5) More importantly, if you desire to have a future ahead with a potential love interest or your present special someone, dwell in the present—breathe. When you live mindfully with a conscious curiosity it heralds a potent effect on your interpersonal life. Be mindful and awake of being alive and always remember to breathe. Focus your attention on your breathing—from your inhale to your exhale. The rationale for this is, if you are totally aware of it right now as you breathe, then you are living in the moment. It is not an objective—this is the moment and you’re already in it. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:08:12 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/personal-spiritual-growth http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/personal-spiritual-growth My friend has accidentally died. This information was just told me yesterday by another friend who is close to her family with the same spiritual growth as she is. I was so stunned upon hearing the news. I got a delayed reaction and was not able to show any feelings right away. As my thoughts are gradually absorbing the shocking news, I was able to calm myself and have the guts to ask, “What happened?” “She was hit by a big truck in the highway as she was driving her way home”, told by our mutual friend who looks so worried than sad as she tells me this. It gave me realization how short our life was and there’s much higher and powerful than us. It made me think of my spiritual growth. I was so busy with my life that sometimes I forgot to pay attention with my spiritual life. The accident of a friend is like a wake up call that we must value anything that we have from the small details that are less noticed and check our own spiritual growth. After waking up every morning, it’s a blessing for me that I was able to feel the air and see the sunrise each day for we don’t know if we could still sense it tomorrow. Of course, we all know that everything has an end even our life but the thing is, we don’t know when death is going to happen like an accident. That sweet lady is a healthy and positive person who seems perfect and was taken away by death in an instant. No one, not even herself has thought of this thing to happen. Her deep spiritual growth is so inspiring to where you could see a reflection of hope on her not-so-old face. She was barely 39 and has all the goodness in her heart but she ends up in a tragic death. I know that she was more than ready for the second life that she will be having with her Creator. She already lived her life to the fullest although unprepared for the sudden death. It made me think of my own purpose in this world as well as my personal spiritual growth. I realized that no matter how healthy, successful, rich and famous you are, all of these have limitations and death clearly speaks that we are just ordinary like anything else in this world. Although we are considered as the highest class in the animal kingdom by science, but like those things that surround us, we too have expiration. To be prepared for our end, we need our spiritual growth for guidance of our soul. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:47:30 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/spiritual-faith http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/spiritual-faith When we have proven something, we are then having sureness on it. It created a trust that made us believe it is worthwhile and beneficial to us for we see what it is like. We stick to that belief since we are convinced by it and we keep that to our minds until we experience something that contradicts to what we believed in. We have only seen the good side of it but the bad event let us see its bad side to which we have not known. You are then dismayed from what you have learned. Your faith then shatters and you won’t believe on it anymore. This kind of belief is conditional in a sense that we only get to believe something when there is positive results or is beneficial to us. But there are people who hope and believe on something they have not proven yet. Their belief comes from their longing on what they desire and believed without a doubt that it will happen. They just simply believe without conditions, proofs or assurance on their part. It is perhaps in their principle to which faith tags along. Take a look at philosophers, they have their own beliefs that just came from themselves. Faith’s deep meaning is holding on to something no matter what. You stick to it even how unpopular it is and doesn’t go with the crowd. You are free to have your own choice and your belief was formed from your thoughts that became your faith. Our thoughts have a power on making things happen that was revealed on the “Law of Attraction”. It was stated there that your mind has an influence on what will happen to you. If you keep on thinking on to something, it is most likely to happen. It’s like you are triggering something from what you are thinking to make it a reality. If you have seen the movie “The Secret”, this film illustrates further how powerful your mind could be in attracting a special force that came from your mind. The one that you are thinking the most appears to be real because your mind has a focus on it. So keeping your faith on something makes the things possible for you. For example, when you think that you are dumb and others will just ridicule you, it will likely to happen. As these words stick to your mind, you are not aware that you are executing the one that is on your mind. You act dumb because you believed you are dumb. Exposing such weakness give others the power to manipulate you and perceive you as the one that is easily manipulated thus, it is easy for them to ridicule you. See? The one that is on your mind happened as what exactly you are thinking! This law applies to all even in your spiritual faith. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Mon, 25 May 2009 10:56:40 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/total-life-management http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/total-life-management Some people lived a damned life and no one ever helped them to get out from that prison of darkness. They are just stagnant and have not used the purpose of their being and contribution to the world. Other people can’t be with you all the time just to give you the help that you need. It is not their obligation to help you in anything that needs to be fixed about you. As you are the owner of your body, you are also the only person who is obliged to manage life that is intended for yourself. Don’t depend on others to clean your mess and direct your troubled existence. You are responsible for your very own self. Others can just help and guide you but it’s you who will create the essence of your existence. To get out from the pool of hatred, bitterness and any negative feelings toward yourself and others, you have to take action. Force yourself to change something and manage life for your own good as well as others. They say that it is an echo. You receive what you have given to others. This positive action has good effect. It attracts positivity from others as well as pleasant experiences. So, if you are in your worst state, you can initiate some good little act of kindness or goodness for others to manage life which is also a great ego booster. You will be amazed on how such a small stuff can change, in a way, in your not so good existence. This is the first step for an improved and satisfying living that you will attain gradually as you start some action that could trigger a positive response from others. It just goes on whether you take any action or not but you have the influence and control what it should be like. Some events and experiences that may happen are uncontrollable but you can manage life to direct it in a way that is beneficial to you. So there comes the need for a total life management to redirect your existence into something that is sensible and useful. The perfect person that could do this is YOU. No one else can, for you are the only person who can assess your real self. The only person that can truly understand, lift, improve and change yourself in a way suitable for you to where you are comfortable is you. Manage life for your own advantage as well as for others. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:59:12 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/daily-astrology http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/daily-astrology Are you one of those who always checks out your daily astrology or horoscope in the newspapers? Yes, I know a friend of mine who, instead of reading the headlines, goes straight to the horoscopes section of the newspaper. Some people even use astrology as a way to determine compatibility with their romantic partners, to help others adjust and adopt to the unforeseen to make the most of their chances in life. Some also use astrology to find out one’s personality, abilities, aspirations, weaknesses etc. But most commonly, astrology is widely used (or some people claims)-to predict one’s future; that depends on the person though, if you believe in it or not. So what is astrology? It is the “word of the stars”. Astrology is also defined as an art form, a form of divination, or even a symbolic language. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the disparities in their definitions, it is commonly assumed that astrology is the heavenly placements which could assist in the explanation of the past and present happenings, thus, in the future’s prediction. Through the movements of the planets and the stars above the heavens, the astrologers claimed that we can foretell the succeeding important occurrences in our lives, hence that’s why, the basis for its ability to predict the future. There are 10 foremost bodies in the solar system that seem to be going around the planet. They are: the moon, the sun, the planets Venus, Mercury, Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Mars. In connection to this, we have the 12 Signs of the Zodiac or your horoscopes: 1) Aquarius (ruling planet: Saturn, element: Air) 2) Aries (ruling planet: Mars, element: Fire) 3)Cancer (ruling planet: the Moon, element: Water) 4) Capricorn (ruling planet: Saturn, element: Earth) 5) Gemini (ruling planet: Mercury, element: Air) 6) Leo (ruling planet: The Sun, element: Fire) 7) Libra (ruling planet: Venus, element: Air) 8) Pisces (ruling planet: Jupiter, element: Water) 9) Sagittarius (Saturn, Earth) 10) Scorpio (Mars, Water) 11) Taurus (Venus, Earth) 12) Virgo (Mercury, element: Earth) Most individuals rely heavily on astrology when it comes to their romantic relationships, while others only use it as a guide on certain personalities. Each astrological sign has their own dissimilar traits and features, thus, they show varying social dynamics with other people. For example, some combinations can work better as workmates than as friends, others might even bloom as potential lovers as their signs are compatible with each other. There are also cases which only work better as friends than as lovers. However, some partnerships develop more on compromise whilst others (believe it or not) in clash and disputes. Yeah, I know of a married couple who constantly engage in endless squabbles, but they remained to be together till now. There is this process known as synastry—the comparing of one’s horoscope to another person. Synastry may work by comparing the Sun signs. There are particular consolidation of some Sun signs which oftentimes result to close connections and bonding and the most usual of these are the mixture of signs of similar elements, like air and air, earth and earth and so on. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:16:30 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/healing-power-of-forgiveness http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/healing-power-of-forgiveness Are you a forgiving person? There’s actually the healing power of forgiveness. In our lives, it is inevitable that we have been hurt, angered or deeply pained by some people we’ve encountered. I’ve heard people who exclaimed that “He/she hurt me so much that he/she does not deserve any forgiveness from me!”, or “He can’t run away from what he has done to me!” But scientific study shows that it’s actually not the offending party, but the individual who holds grudges within who pays the price. It’s like accumulating all the hurt and pain through the years. As time goes by, through years and years of holding the bitterness inside you and not letting the power of forgiveness to heal you, harms your other relationships and deteriorate your immune system. Gradually, what you feel about that person heighten into the rest of your life, slowly becoming a part of your system, adversely affecting your attitude and your perception of others. Now, imagine yourself being chained to that negative feeling and in a way, to that person for so long—you don’t want that, right? Well, it’s about time to apply the power of forgiveness. But to forgive is not the same as simply excusing the behavior or conduct away. Nor does it necessitate you to keep yourself in a harmful situation. But what is forgiveness all about? I’ve read a good definition by Dr. Charles Stanley: “Forgiveness is giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.” The power of forgiveness in reality is releasing yourself from the heavy baggage of emotionally or physically “trying to get even”. It’s actually a choice—a personal and spiritual decision on your part to finally let go of your plans of vengeance or getting back at someone. At times, reconciliation with “that” individual is likely, yet sometimes, it’s not. Perhaps that person doesn’t want to change, and if you let down your guard, yet again completely, the same thing might take place all over again. But if reconciling is probable and the other party is agreeable, then you can talk about what happened and maybe create mutual plans for a more harmonious relationship in the future. But a caveat though: steer clear of the “better than you” approach—such as “I’m too perfect and too good for you. But I still forgive you anyway, even though you’re a nasty soul…” Make sure that you’re also willing to take responsibility for your part you participated in the problem. Perhaps you’ll feel better afterwards but the power of forgiveness won’t let you expect all your bad feelings or emotions about somebody to simply evaporate. As a matter of fact, the next time you meet him/her, you might find yourself in an emotional confusion which causes you to question if indeed you have forgiven. Just don’t rehash all those past things that occurred. Focus on the positive decision you’ve made right away and tell yourself that after you made that decision, now comes the process of healing—the healing power of forgiveness. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Mon, 2 Feb 2009 04:28:48 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/opening-the-third-eye http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/opening-the-third-eye Are you always fascinated or just plain curious about opening the third eye? Bear in mind that once this center is already open you would then have in your hands the power of seeing and knowing the unseen, the unknown and those things beyond normal understanding. The third eye is also known as the Ajan Chakra and it is the foundation of one’s psychic abilities, sixth sense and wisdom. There are in fact several good meditation methods for opening the third eye. Nevertheless, in this article, I will begin to acquaint you with 3 of them. For ages, these systems have been effectively utilized for balancing the third eye, hence, getting the advantages which this opening creates. 1. The AUM Mantra Chanting—is the initial meditation style on how to open the third eye. When you chant this mantra, focus your attention at the midpoint of your forehead. This is done since this is the seat of the third eye and emphasizing on this area would develop this mediation’s efficiency. In order to practice this tactic, close your eyes, sit up straight and start chanting out loud the AUM sound. Create a prolonged “Ooooooooooo” sound and conclude with it with a shorter “Mmmmmmmm”. Directly chanting this sound can have a considerable leverage at the core and causes it to get going and unlock. 2. Alternate Nostril Breathing—another method in order to trigger or set off this center. You can follow this breathing guide below. Take note to perform this comfortably at your most convenient time; since this is an extremely commanding method and if you’re just a novice, try not to overdo it. You could actually commence with just 10 rounds at the outset and then you could move on from there. When you do this, also do your visualization too. Close your right nostril and take a long, slow and deep breath via your left nostril. Try visualizing your breath wandering from the nostril to the middle of the forehead like a straight line. Next, shut your left nostril then slowly breathe out thru your right, but envisioning the air exiting off the nostril and out of the middle of your forehead. Still maintaining the left nostril shut, breathe in all the way through the right and breathe out via the left. 3 Tapping---silver hammer tapping to be more specific. In this strategy, make use of the power of attention by zeroing on at the heart of the forehead and reinforce it with this breathing sample. But prior to this, the number 16 is connected with the center/core/middle, therefore, it’s essential to be in charge of your breaths to enable 16 sniffs. Okay now, narrow down your breathing into 16 small sniffs, and with each one of them envision a tiny silver hammer tapping at the heart of your forehead. Make sure that those sniffs are so small for you to perform sixteen of them to accomplish just one inhalation. After finishing the inhalation, breathe out in just 1 breath and then reiterate the whole process. There you have it—3 strategies on how to open the third eye. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Thu, 8 Jan 2009 05:43:17 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/tarot-card-reading http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/tarot-card-reading Want to try tarot card reading—well, it is actually quite simple and not that difficult to perform. Before anything else, try lighting the candles and incense, take some gradual deep breaths, solemnly meditating. This will generate a sense of sanctity for your entire session. Make sure that you bring together all your items you need and that include the tarot cards. Then, you could think of a particular issue or question which is specific to make it your reading focus. Nevertheless, you could also opt for an open tarot card reading-- which means that whatever the cards disclose to you, that’s all you can see. In advance, you must have a chosen layout for your session. You can in fact make your own layout or they can also be found online or in books. So once you already got a question, you could shuffle the cards in any way you like to. This is when you concentrate on connecting with you and your inquiry. And when you feel ready to stop shuffling, then you can also cut the cards. After doing this and you feel as it’s high time to layout your cards, then you can begin. Now for interpreting your reading, you could choose from several alternatives. There are some tarot decks which come with books that include the interpretations for the cards given. To understand all these, it’s good enough that you consult a book. Nonetheless, you got numerous alternatives for tarot card reading layouts. You could make use of symbolism and interpret each and every one of them. You could even view the tarot cards as a story, with the first one as the starting point in the story and the final one to be the end. You could also see the artwork on every card, looking at it as an image-display regarding your query. Or perhaps you could even depend on your insight or hunch, and simply allow your internal monologue tell you what every one of them means or defines. It is highly significant to see each and very card one by one, and at the layout in general. If there are certain areas of your reading where you want more information or you simply don’t fully grasp, then you could layout more cards if you want to. But if you understood well enough yet got another query or concern, you could pull another tarot card or two to seek for added infos. If you like, you could you could keep a journal by writing down the question, the date, and every tarot card in the layout. The advantage of this is you could always return to it and review what your last session has revealed. After your session, you could end your tarot card reading courteously and slowly. Then, you can thank anyone else (who helped you) and the Universe for the guidance and pick up your cards and return them back in the deck. Place all your reading items away as if you’re ending a divine practice. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:36:04 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/psychic-healing http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/psychic-healing In the modern world, psychic healing still remains to be very polemical, yet the practice is very archaic. Perhaps the most usual kind of Psychic Healing exercised these days is via shamanistic healers of diverse cultures. These shamanistic civilizations (whether Aborigine, South American, New Guinea or Native American) engage a particularly skilled person that communes a certain curing power to their subjects, most often through talismans or special charms and at times through the involvement of spirits, who themselves carry out Psychic Healing exploits. In present-day way of life and in the modern world, much of this activity could be originated by Antoine Mesmer, who believed in the presumption of “animal magnetism” by which subjects can be instilled with an extraordinary energy through a progression of passes. Over and over again, Antoine Mesmer is accredited with the creation of hypnosis, but his speculation is certainly very dissimilar than the hypnosis’ current approach. The existing theory is established on the concept that hypnotic happenings could basically be trailed to suggestion, the influence of your thinking, typically conveyed verbally by a hypnotist to a subject, opposes the theoretical conception of Psychic Healing endorsed by Antoine Mesmer. Psychic Healing basically gives meaning to a sphere of an activity in which the healer, who in general, is not a scientific or medical professional of any kind, but actually a lay person, corresponds to the receiver, the wounded or the sick, a sort of energy that helps in treating of a disease or a condition. The power utilized in this kind of healing has not yet been accepted or acknowledged by conventional science. So is there any correlation between spiritual practices and Psychic Healing? One of the most renowned scientists who studied Psychic Healing was Lawrence LeShan, who is an educated psychological therapist who promotes a diffusion of energy to his subjects based on meditating. He actualized a procedure to stimulate Psychic Healing. There have been several endeavors to attest that this activity could take place. Among the very famed have been the experiments of a Canadian physiologist and biologist working in McGill University named Bernard Grad. In his experimentation, Grad compared the speed of curing wounded rats via allopathic medical conventions to the speed of these very same rats by healers, who performed on them by the laying of the hands. Therefore, in order to validate Psychic Healing itself and the effectiveness of these healers, who can have in fact passed on some substances to those rats through their own hands rather than applying the power of Psychic Healing, the healers were then asked to “handle” water which were placed in vials—by putting their hands on the vials, but not really in the water. The water was then utilized to hydrate 1 batch of seeds, whilst another batch stayed in a control set that was not exposed to Psychic Healing energy. The seeds dampened by the water treated by healers grew faster than those in the control set which weren’t exposed to the energy. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:10:57 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/awakening http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/awakening In lucid dreams, we have the freedom and independence from all earthly energies, a fantastic way in releasing stress as it is also a refreshing and totally liberating experience which sets you up for a new day. They say, ask and you shall receive right away. So if you wish or desire to be let’s say, on a tropical and sandy beach basking in sunshine glory, express your desire, then you are there within a snap of the fingers. Our desires, our wishes and our thoughts are quickly translated into dynamic energy, the energy then shapes our desires. Strictly speaking, we are in total control—no god or destiny or fate chooses or decides what we do in a lucid dream, we are actually the lead star and at the same time the film director. Manifestation is quick as we’re not influenced or affected by compressed earthly vibrations. But what is a lucid dream—you may ask. A lucid dream is when we wake up in our dreams; the conscious mind wakes up inside the unconscious. Wow, indeed a pretty idea or concept in itself but, aside from the whole concept, it’s a wondrous magical moment. The time or moment of the awakening can be likened to awaking to freedom. The great adventures and journeys could start, we could do anything and go anywhere we like—sky’s the limit! And anything our conscious mind wants and desires. We can have profound conversations with objects and animals, talk to the dead, feel or experience the delight and gladness of flying, discover some past lives, the list is infinite. The moment of real awakening is a marvelous moment. Well, who needs those virtual reality games anyway? Unexpectedly realizing that you’re totally aware and conscious in a wonderful playground of our mind is really awesome. The moment of awakening in one’s lucid dream could be compared to that of realizing reality and the truth of our situations and circumstances as human beings. When we come to our understanding that process which creates and forms our lives, we get freedom, and we find out that we’re no longer at the mercy of fate or destiny or any other outside factors. We as human beings have choices and alternatives—it is all up to us. With this freedom comes along responsibility—responsibility we’ve been trying to evade for all these years. If we do not like our lives, we could no longer blame other people for our circumstances or situations, we and only we could change or alter or even modify the things we do not want in the world or we do not want in our lives. We create and weave our own reality. Our thoughts manifest, although at just a slower rate, than in lucid dreaming, due to the compressed energies of the physical, but still the process is similar. We could actually change our lives and the entire world yet we should believe in ourselves and in our power of doing so. We have all the rights to make choices, the choices to be happier individuals. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Fri, 7 Nov 2008 06:40:27 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/yin-and-yang http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/yin-and-yang The yin and yang symbol is one of the well-known and ancient symbols across the universe, but just a few truly understand its meaning. Though it has been commonly used in media and fashion, it’s in fact an old Chinese symbol which expresses a scholarly philosophy. According to this philosophy, all contains both yin and yang—which explains why we see a spot of black in the white area of the yin and yang symbol and vice versa. These symbols are utilized in several disciplines and Chinese arts. In Chinese medicine, illnesses and healing are classified as either yin or yang, and even Chinese cuisine considers these two properties of various foods and then tries to balance yin and yang in just one dish. In T’ai Chi and the traditional martial arts the movements are continually contracting then expanding, and practitioners are trained not to place themselves in extreme positions to prevent being caught off balance. Yin and yang interprets the twin poles of existence that are totally opposite yet complementary, and that actually exists in everything. The yin represents all that is feminine, dark, receptive, passive, withdrawn and things which move in and down. Yang, on the other hand, symbolizes the masculine, forceful, expansive and bright, and the motions up and out. It also signifies that as something reaches an extreme it will always become its opposite. This is depicted in nature in so countless of ways, yet also related to everything else: cold replaces hot replaces cold in the nonstop cycle of the seasons; a fierce storm is preceded and followed by a serene stillness; a balloon would explode if overinflated; an organization which is very stern and authoritarian would result into a rebellion when the rules or policies become too stringent. These instances and examples may seem trifling, but an individual that could spot yin and yang occurring in the world could foresee the outcome of events. Therefore the ancient Chinese Taoists already accepted that things change and progress steadily, moving first one way and then another. Modern day Taoists meanwhile, still try to make use of this belief, and among other stuff it could aid in minimizing stress by not feeling worried or upset whenever hard times or problems arise—knowing that things would improve eventually. The key is in balance and harmony. In each and every area of life, being between the extremes typically makes for a smoother and less stressful life, because neither excessive yin nor excessive yang is normally good. For example, a couch potato who never leaves home and TV and never have any dreams or ambitions in life is way too Yin and might also suffer from depression and bad health. But then again, a person who is a workaholic and highly motivated and always rushing is way too Yang and would soon be suffering from burnout. Ideally, a middle way between these 2 extremes is healthier and easier. By understanding, observing and anticipating yin and yang influences the Taoist could bring better balance and harmony into their life. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:15:54 +0100 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/kabbalah http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/kabbalah What is the real purpose of our existence? Maybe this is the single question that has weighed on the very basis of our lives and one whose answer still evades us till this time. But what if there is a form of meditation which can give us the answers and enlightenment to all our questions and confusions? Then, the Kabbalah form of meditation assures us just this among its other advantages. But before we continue on any further, let us go back in time and go deeper about this whole Kabbala thingy and how it came about in existence. In Hebrew, Kabbala literally means “receiving” and is the center of all spiritual teachings in Judaism. It was deemed by religious scholars to be quite far ahead of its time and hence was restrained and contained as they feared that the human race was not ready to accept, understand and recognize the wisdom, beliefs and philosophy of the Zohar. Nonetheless, the dogma behind Kabbalah meditation is in making use of the insight of the Zohar and enlighten those aspects in our lives that escape our understanding. It makes us find those answers regarding our existence, and those questions which spin around life and death. Kabbalah was perceived as an unexplained mysticism in the olden times. Kabbalah meditation is oftentimes confused to be a religion that is associated with Judaism. Though Kabbalah was meant to take on a journey to spirituality that will bring people closer to God, its teachings and mastery is not confined to only followers of this meditation. The origin of the Kabbalah could be found in the antique book of “Zohar”, which means “splendor” in Hebrew. The Zohar is a compilation of consecrated writings which deals with the ideas and theories of miracles, reincarnation and the visionary experiences and of the presence and existence of hidden forces. Advocates and followers of Kabbalah declare that this form of meditation answers the 3 critical questions and they are; who we really are, why are we here and where did we come from? Kabbalah, like in all forms of meditation, is a medium through which we could learn to focus our minds. The aim of that focus is to make a deeper level or extent of spiritual intimacy and connection with God. It allows our mind to cross above the experience of the world and open our minds and hearts to the gifts of the spirit, such as peace, knowledge and wisdom. It is said that those who abide by pedagogy and philosophy of Kabbalah enjoy a certain spiritual intimacy with God and become cognizant to the reasons behind His work and establish a divinatory understanding of the laws of nature. The benefits and learning of the Kabbalah meditation surpass race, faith, and personal and political orientation. Nonetheless, in these day’s age, science has opened its doors wider to questions and queries which has enabled a better grasp of the world; advocates and religious scholars of Kabbalah presently feel that the time to announce mankind to the aged and immense wisdom of the Zohar has indeed come. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:39:28 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/runes http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/runes Runes for neophytes. Runes-- what are those and how can they be used? They are actually symbols—the code to the Creative Energies of the Universe. These are the energies which could be attracted and propelled sans any relation or relevance to the time or distance. Runes could be utilized in order to modify or recreate one’s life. Currently, they are making a rebirth or reawakening all across the globe. The runes have been utilized to write, to encrypt tombstones and graves, to divine, to perform some magic, to empower weapons and to bless ships. Ever since time immemorial, The Runes have already been around and existing. In contemporary history or the past 2000 years, they have emerged three times in the affairs of man. The first time was like 1000 years ago, when the Vikings held sway in the universe. The Vikings carried them on their Dragon Long Ships then left vestiges on monuments and stones all throughout the universe. Then they resurfaced again at the turn of the 20th century in Germany and some German mystics such as Guido Von List empowered them all over again. And as previously stated, they have been making a comeback to bless ships, etc. In fact, we have just entered The Age of Aquarius, and it has given us the Laws of Quantum Physics. Simply put, these laws state that there exists a never-ending Ocean of thinking, intelligent energy also known as the Quantum Ocean. These Laws of Quantum Physics attest that the Runes are in fact energies and they could be utilized to make your life better. Spiritually speaking, it’s the Mind of the Creator God. The only God who made and created all those other Gods. There is no space or time in the Quantum Ocean but just the Here—NOW. The Quantum Ocean reacts and responds to your symbols and thinking. Whatever symbol you utilize or whatever you are thinking, connects and links you directly to the accompanying Energy in the Quantum Ocean. Thereupon, Runes are signs for the Creative Energies in the Universe enclosed in the Quantum Ocean. Everything that ever was, or ever would be enclosed inside the Quantum Ocean the Runes are always there and have always been around and existing. To start with, contemplate and meditate on every 18 Runes of the Armanen Futhark. In this way, you would be able to attract the Runes’ energies into your aura. So whatever energies you bring into your aura, attracts or draws your life to you. Okay now, get the energy of the Rune within you. Just take 1 Rune per day and take a look and meditate at it for 15 minutes. At this time, try not to be concerned with Rune Mythology, Rune Monuments, Rune History, etc. Try to be concerned with 1 Key Word every rune, so you would know precisely what energies you are trying to attract into your aura. Now let us begin. Rune UR - Health; KA - Creativity; Is - Self; Rune FA - Wealth; Hagal - Universe; Sig - Victory; Yr - Femininity; Man - Masculinity; Gibor – God; Not - Karma; Os - Wisdom; Thorn - Protection; Bar - Birth; Eh - Marriage; Ar - Honor; Laf - Law; Tyr - Courage; Rit – Intuitions. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Tue, 7 Oct 2008 10:13:24 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/crystal-ball http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/crystal-ball Once you have mastered this art of using a crystal ball, it could be a very pleasant and beneficial experience, although doing this (and perfecting this) may take a lot of practice just to get some results. And the most important thing to consider here is to not let anybody else use your own crystal ball. This would affect the energy of it and would make it tougher for you to utilize it effectively in the future. Okay, so now it is about time to start the ball rolling, so to speak. Just follow through your intuition and you would be on the right track. The major thing to consider here is to ensure that you make use of it in an area where you would be free from all sorts of distractions as this would really affect the reading. The most significant initial step in trying to use a crystal ball is to do it whenever you feel the mood to do it and if the atmosphere is right. If you still have to force yourself into a session, then the outcome or results would be critically affected. There are actually some individuals find it truly useful in having a candle burning though other people may find it quite a distraction, but just do whatever you feel comfortable with. Position the crystal ball in front of you and then relax. You can use the this in a dimly lit or quiet room. Now, put your hands on it then think of a question you will like to be answered. Imagine this subject in your thoughts, and normally, after a few more minutes, when you feel the time feels right, withdraw your hands from the ball. Now, look intently into it and let your eyes become unfocused and relaxed. In just a short period of time, you should be able to see a smoke or mist molding in the crystal, allow this to fill the ball and in the end, the haze must clear to disclose some images. Just allow these images to emanate and they would ultimately fade away. Take note though, that these images may not be what you expected to see but it is highly essential not to ignore them and continue trying to see or view something that is not there! At this stage, do not try to make sense of them yet but just try to recall what you see. Now, when the images began to clear, you could cease your scrying session. Nevertheless, it is crucial that you do not remove your hands off the crystal ball right away. Prior to removing your hands, must envision the fog returning and concealing your images—even if there is nothing there! This would exit the scrying session appropriately and let the crystal ball to come back to its original state so it is prepared for the next time you want to use it again. But now you need to interpret those images you have just seen in connection to your question. This is something which only you could do as those images are linked to your own self. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful. Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:07:39 +0200 http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/energy-healing http://www.innerzine.com/spirituality/energy-healing Long distance healing sessions could be done in the comfort and privacy of your own home. This distant healing is just as effective as a session done personally. The great thing about this kind of practice is that it can be done or performed over the phone but just some other energy healers do not even make use of the phone. The client would simply sit quietly during the entire session. So in effect, energy healing does not require you to leave your house just to see a healer in person, which is more convenient, isn’t it? An energy healer could contact you at your request and then conduct a session. That is why pure strength knows no limits or distance. There are actually reports that animals are also benefiting from this. Animal healing could be accomplished through the use of an energy healer. There have been some accounts of animals acting younger and being energetic after an animal treatment service. Pet treating services such as cat healing, horse healing, and dog healing are available for your favorite furry pals. For us humans, energy healing, or qigong is an effective way in bringing harmony and balance to the body, mind, emotions and improve our general wellness; since stress also significantly affects our emotional, mental and spiritual “bodies” as well. With all the hassles and pressure going on in our lives on a day to day basis, it is highly important to find effective ways in practicing daily self-care. There are in fact several techniques in self-care like meditation, exercise and more sleep, that take care of the physical body. This is what qigong is all about. Qigong is a Chinese word which simply means “energy work”. In China, it is used for minimizing pain and stress, increase productivity, stamina and creativity, balance the feelings and emotions, and boost the immune system. It is an ancient energy medicine and alternative energy treatment system which has been used in the Far East for many centuries to aid in several serious health conditions. Also, Chinese practitioners believe that Qigong is really a big help in promoting well being and longevity and especially in preventing illnesses. It is now becoming increasingly more and more well-known. After an energetic healing session, the following may take place: lessened pain, a sense of lightness, a very long sleep succeeded by feeling more energetic, and a sense of peace according to many people who have engaged in this kind of practice. When the human body is in balance, natural healing could then occur. It may feel like their chakras, or energy centers have been opened and many felt that they have experienced an aura balancing and chakra healing. While others also attest long distance energy treatment brought them an overall sense of balance of mind, body and spirit. Actually, it differs from one person to another. Your aura or energetic body as well as your physical human body would greatly benefit and thank you for it. You can always give qigong energy healing a shot. About the author. Amy Twain is a successful Self Improvement Coach who has been helping and coaching individuals for many years. Amy now decided to share her knowledge through this site, Innerzine.com. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter and learn how to become more self confident and successful.