Slowification

Tips for Slowing Down in a Fast-Paced World

2008-10-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

One problem with our society is that people have gotten hung up on the all-or-nothing mentality - if I can't do something perfectly, 100% of the time, there's no point in doing it at all, ever. That's silly. Doing what you can, even if you do a mediocre job of it and only do it 10% of the time, is still doing something!

Tackle Slowification Slowly So you want to slow down your pace of life, but don't know where to begin? If you want to ease yourself into the Slowification lifestyle, pick something that's not too much of a stretch for you: Take a walk one evening a week. Cook one additional meal per week. Don't try to go whole hog to begin with, or you'll feel stressed and anxious. Trust me.

Go Slower More Often If you've already started down the Slowification path - maybe you even consider yourself a neo-pioneer like me - see if you can add one or two more things from the list below. And if you have suggestions of your own, leave a comment so everyone else can benefit from your wisdom!

Grind your own flour
Craigslist instead of buying new
Collect and use fallen fruit
Prepare/preserve your own food from local and/or organic growers (including yourself!)
Recycle or reuse whatever you can
Grow food organically
All CFLs, all the time
Make your own yogurt
Compost all food and yard waste
Use a push reel mower and a broom
Buy only organic and/or raw dairy
Raise chickens for eggs, fertilizer and fun
Bake your own bread
Use all warm-up water to water plants or flush toilets
Walk to ...
Air dry laundry
Turn off the TV
Cook

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Take a Break

2008-10-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry for the lack of meditation last week. In the meantime, here's a thought to ponder:

“In America, we hurry--which is well; but when the day's work is done, we go on thinking of losses and gains, we plan for the morrow, we even carry our business cares to bed with us, and toss and worry over them when we ought to be restoring our racked bodies and brains with sleep. We burn up our energies with these excitements, and either die early or drop into a lean and mean old age at a time of life which they call a man's prime in Europe. When an acre of ground has produced long and well, we let it lie fallow and rest for a season; we take no man clear across the continent in the same coach he started in--the coach is stabled somewhere on the plains and its heated machinery allowed to cool for a few days; when a razor has seen long service and refuses to hold an edge, the barber lays it away for a few weeks, and the edge comes back of its own accord. We bestow thoughtful care upon inanimate objects, but none upon ourselves. What a robust people, what a nation of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the shelf occasionally and renew our edges!”

- Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

Slow down! Get your edge back!

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Meditation Lesson 5 - Podcast

2008-10-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

Subscribe in iTunes or just play the podcast here

So far, the techniques we’ve been working with have been ones to clear obstructions from within your body and energy field. Today, we’re going to work on clearing obstructions in relationships with others.

A contentious election season is a perfect opportunity to do this. There is no reason that people cannot hold differing opinions, thoughts, perspectives and feelings about something – anything – without becoming negative towards one another. If you’re a staunch Democrat and your boss/neighbor/spouse is a staunch Republican, finding ways to respect one another’s beliefs can go a long way towards reducing the stress and acrimony an election brings up.

However, this technique is not just about accepting other’s opinions. It’s a way of working with the lightfire to consume obstructions along your relationship lines with anyone. Use this technique if you have difficulty dealing with a certain person, if you just want to have clearer communication with a partner or sibling or want to forge a closer friendship with someone.

Relating to the Higher Self of Another

We all know the saying “love thy neighbor”, but as personalities we have difficulty with this concept – especially because many times thy neighbor is a jerk! This technique is not about being a doormat or pretending a person is perfect. It’s simply a way of learning to acknowledge another’s Higher Self. Sometimes from the outside it’s really hard to see that certain people even have a Higher Self, so you’ll be relating from your own Higher Self and leaving all the personalities out of it!

Let’s begin.

Think of your brain harmonizing with your Upper Room, touching into the peace and Radiant Awareness here. Experience the Radiant Awareness moving into your brain, gathering, lifting and enlightening your knowing awareness.

Now think of your sensory systems harmonizing with your Upper Room, and the Radiant Awareness of your Upper Room moving into your nerves, neurons and all the neural pathways of your body, into your spinal column and solar plexus, gathering, lifting and enlightening your sensory awareness.

And now think of your emotional systems harmonizing with your Upper Room, the Radiant Awareness flowing into your heart, blood, circulation, liver, lymphatic system and glandular system, gathering in, lifting up and enlightening your emotional awareness.

Now we’re going to do a quick downpour, so refocus your attention in your Upper Room and think of lighting your white star. Open the star and send a downpour of liquid-like crystal white energy from the star down along your central vertical axis into and throughout your head and face, along your neck and then down your shoulders, arms and into your hands. Let the downpour continue into your chest, back, abdomen, pelvic bowl, legs and on into your feet.

Think of opening your feet for a moment and allowing the crystal white energy to pull any low frequency out of your body and, as it does so, the consuming fires aspect of the energy processes and consumes all of this low frequency.

Close your feet and allow the energy to backfill through your body until it is overflowing out the top of your head. The downpour continues overflowing until your entire energy field around your body is filled with the crystal white energy.

Now, again focus your attention into your Upper Room. Here in the Upper Room is where you can most easily touch into your Higher Self. You may think of your Higher Self as Spirit or Soul or Being of Light; whatever term makes it easiest for you to access this connection is perfect. Of course, since you ARE your Higher Self, you are always connected to that part of your being; however, it sometimes seems like there is a separation and so touching into that constant connection, really experiencing it, can sometimes be difficult. Here in the Upper Room, you can more effortlessly experience your Higher Self, your spirit, or however you choose to think of it. Take a few moments to experience this connection within yourself.

Now think of a person you’d like to work with, any relationship you’d like to improve. It could be one of utter animosity or one that’s generally good but you’d like to make even better. If you’ve chosen to work with someone you can’t stand, it may surprise you to learn that even this person as a Higher Self, a Being of Light! But of course, everyone does, and at this higher level, we all get along.

Now, working within your Upper Room, touch into your connection as a Higher with the Higher of the person you’re working with. Experience how, as Beings of Light, Higher Selves or Spirits, we can move right into this union with one another with no personality conflicts getting in the way.

Okay, good, now for the fun part! Bring the awareness of your union as Beings of Light into your brain. As you do, think of blazing up the consuming fires aspect of the crystal white light and let it consume any low frequency here – any negative thoughts that arise about this person, any judgementalism you feel towards them, any mental superiority you feel, any way in which your brain and the other person’s brain have been out of sync. You may think their ideas are stupid; they make think yours are. Whatever comes up, acknowledge it and let the fires consume it. When you feel like your brain has settled down and you’ve cleaned up the mental relationship lines pretty well, spend another two minutes here, soaking up the purified energy essence. This is what you’ve worked for; don’t skimp out on your reward! Pause the lesson until you feel ready to move on.

Now shift your awareness into your heart and liver, the main organs of your emotions, bringing your union as Beings of Light here. Again, blaze up the consuming fires aspect of the white energy to consume any low frequency emotional responses that come up: anger, rage, hatred, perhaps grief, whatever negative feelings you have for this person, or any way in which your emotions have been out of sync with theirs. Let the fires do their work here and then be sure to spend a couple minutes assimilating what you’ve learned and the purified energy essence. Resume the podcast when you’re ready.

Now move with your awareness of your union as Beings of Light into your solar plexus, which connects into the nerves throughout your entire body. Blaze up the consuming fires to consume any ways in which this person “gets on your nerves”, any misperceptions one of you may have about the other, any blockages to your ability to communicate, and any ways in which your perspectives differ, creating conflict. Whatever negative sensory/perceptual issues arise, let the fires consume them. Remember, you don’t have to agree with their perspective as personalities, but as Beings of Light, you are able to acknowledge and accept one another. When things seem more settled here, take a couple minutes to assimilate the purified energy essence, then resume the podcast.

Expand your awareness to include your brain, heart and liver, solar plexus and nerves, and your Upper Room. Experience the calm throughout your body, and the greater degree of acceptance of and harmony with the other person. This does not mean you’ll become instant best friends. However, working from a pure place within yourself to a pure place within them helps establish a common ground and a more peaceful relationship. If you’ve worked with someone you already like and get along with, working in this way can help open communication lines and strengthen your bond.

Sometimes, all even the most acrimonious relationship needs is for one person to acknowledge the Light within the other, with astonishing results after just one session. Other times, additional work is needed. Either way, enjoy!

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The Power of Love

2008-10-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

~ Jimi Hendrix

Taking time to slow down and experience love - for yourself, for others and for the planet - helps turn the tide towards the power of love and away from the love of power. Each individual working to create more love and harmony in their own life contributes to the love and harmony of the planet.

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Meditation Lesson 4 - Podcast

2008-10-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Time for another podcast!

So how are things going? I hope that using these techniques of inner light fire regularly are beginning to help you experience more calm, joy and peace in your life. The technique that I’m going to share with you today is a tool to help process and transform any low frequency energy that gets stuck in your energy field into high frequency energy that will bring you even more joy and peace.

Your Energy Field

We’ve discussed your energy field briefly in a previous session, but we’re going to go into it a bit more in today’s session. Everything on the planet has an energy field – even rocks! The energy field is not just outside the body; it’s within the body, throughout it and all around it. Most humans, being more evolved and therefore more sensitive, have a larger energy field than your average rock – extending say around 30 feet in diameter, or roughly 15 feet in any direction. This energy field can expand in size as it is worked with and purified.

One aspect of the energy field is that it is very magnetic; that is, it draws into itself energy from your surroundings. These energy vibrations or “vibes” may be of a high frequency nature, such as the peace found at a mountain lake or the joy at a wedding. Or they can be of a low frequency nature, such as the stress in a demanding workplace or the somewhat hyper energy found in shopping malls.

Sometimes when you are going about your day, feeling fine, you suddenly realize you’ve become anxious or depressed for no apparent reason. Often the reason is that your energy field has magnetically attracted low frequency energy from another person, situation or place. We’re about to learn how to purify your field of this negative energy!

I’ll be referring to your “central vertical axis” – this is not some weird appendage – it’s simply a name for the “string” that runs from the top of your energy field, vertically through the center of your body, on down to the bottom of your energy field. It moves as you move, so when you are seated, your central vertical axis bends at the hips and knees. Your Upper Room is located on this axis.

Don’t Forget…

Awareness directs thought

Thought directs energy ~ energy follows thought

Where there is pain, the flow of life energy is blocked

Where thought is focused, the power of life energy is concentrated

Let's Begin!

Sitting comfortably, eyes closed, let’s begin by focusing your attention into your Upper Room. Take a moment to experience the peace here. Now think of your brain harmonizing with your Upper Room and experience as the Radiant Awareness moves throughout your brain, gathering, uplifting and enlightening your knowing awareness.

Good. Now think of your sensory systems harmonizing with your Upper Room. Just think it and let it happen. The Radiant Awareness of your Upper Room moves throughout your spinal column and solar plexus, the nerves, neurons and all the neural pathways of your body, gathering, lifting and lightening your sensory awareness.

And now think of your emotional systems harmonizing with your Upper Room, letting the Radiant Awareness flow into your heart, blood, circulation, liver, lymphatic system and glandular system, gathering in, lifting up and enlightening your emotional awareness.

Excellent. Now refocus into your upper room and, using your thought, touch into your crystal white star. Experience it shining brightly here in your Upper Room and then think of the star opening to release its downpour of shimmering, purifying liquid-like energy. Experience as the energy flows into your head: your hair, scalp, face. All the skin, bones, and tissues of your head. And then into your brain. Your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Experience the downpour continuing along your neck and throat, your shoulders, arms and hands. Down your torso: upper chest and upper back, abdomen and mid back, lower abdomen and lower back. Down to your pelvic bowl and on into your legs: thighs, knees, shins and calves, ankles and feet.

Now, think of raising the star upward along your central vertical axis, straight up until it’s about 3 feet (1 meter) above the center of the top of your head. And then, think of expanding your 3”-diameter star expanding to approximately 3 ½ feet in diameter. Stop the downpour by closing the star.

Move your star in an arc in front of your body, from above your head to about 12 feet (4 meters) below the bottoms of your feet, re-centering the star on the central vertical axis.

Now, in order to begin clearing your energy field, think of the star beginning to spin like a top in a counter-clockwise direction. The counter-clockwise spin works to eliminate the low frequency energy that has accumulated here in the bottom of your energy field. As you experience the star spinning, also think of the consuming fires aspect of the crystal energy to consume these loads of low frequency.

Don’t try to picture the spinning star – since your star is made of light energy, it spins at the speed of light, which is faster than you can see anyway! Just let the star do its work and experience the loads being cleared from your field. Pause for a few moments here.

Now think of the star – still spinning – moving up along your central vertical axis to a point about 6 inches (15 cm) below the bottoms of your feet and allow the spinning action to clear the low frequency energy accumulated just below your body in your energy field. Intensify – just by thinking it – the power of the consuming fires.

Direct your star to move up the central vertical axis a bit more, so the spinning 3 ½’ star encompasses your feet, legs and pelvic bowl. You’re sitting in the spinning star as it consumes the loads of low frequency energy debris from your body and your energy field.

Now raise the star up again, centered on your central vertical axis and extending from just above the top of your head to just below your seat. Intensify the consuming fires aspect of the spinning star and let the star do its cleansing work here.

Raise the star up and out of the top of your body, back to about 3 feet (1 meter) above the center of the top of your head. Let the spinning star cleanse the upper portion of your energy field.

Now stop the spinning: just think of the star stopping, and it stops instantaneously. Once again, move the star in an arc in front of your body to the spot along your central vertical axis about 12 feet (4 meters) below your feet. This time, think of the star spinning in a clockwise direction. The clockwise spin has a different function from the counter-clockwise spin: while counter-clockwise works to break up and consume the loads of low frequency, the clockwise spin intensifies the assimilation of the purified awareness and energy. All of that low frequency energy has been processed, consumed and transmuted into high frequency energy, and the clockwise-spinning star speeds the return of this high frequency energy into your body and energy field.

Again move the clockwise-spinning crystal star up along your central vertical axis to just a few inches below your feet. Allow the assimilation of the purified energy to be amplified here.

Good. Continue moving the star upward so that you are sitting in the star, spinning clockwise and returning energy essence throughout your lower body and energy field.

Think of the star moving up along your central vertical axis so that it contains your upper body and energy field, from just above your head to just below your feet. Experience the clockwise spin returning purified, enlightened awareness and energy to this area.

Finally, move the star back up out of your body along the central vertical axis to about 3 feet (1 meter) above your head. As the clockwise-spinning star returns this transformed energy essence throughout your upper field, experience the lightness throughout your entire body. You’ve filled your entire body and field with pure crystal high frequency energy, replacing all the old low frequency energy that had been stuck in your body and field.

Now stop the spinning and allow the star to return to it’s 3” size and move back into its home in your Upper Room. Continue to focus your attention on assimilating this high frequency energy essence throughout your entire body and field.

The more you practice this technique, the lighter you will feel all the time, since your field won’t be weighed down with the heaviness of the low frequency energy in the world. It’s also a good technique to do after you’ve been anywhere stressful or any crowded area where random energy states accumulate.

Enjoy!

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Stray Dogs and Yoga Teachers

2008-10-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

I found a yoga teacher.

I also found a stray dog this morning, but unlike the dog, the yoga teacher wasn’t wandering around aimlessly; she was, as one might expect, sitting right in the yoga studio.

We’ve gone to this studio before, and we are ambivalent about it. Pros: it’s within walking distance and it’s relatively inexpensive. Cons: the instructors tend to be either airy-fairy types or hardcore exercise types. I’m not against the airy-fairy types per se, it’s just that some of them seem to be so airy-fairy as to be somewhere else entirely and, therefore, not able to really teach a yoga class made up of actual living beings. And I’m not essentially against the hardcore exercise types, either, but that’s not what I’m looking for right now.

Once upon a time there was a teacher at this studio who we both really liked. She was airy-fairy, but she had a grounded quality about her – she could communicate and was a very good teacher. We took regular classes and even some seminars from her. But she moved on and away, and soon we stopped going to the studio altogether.

But our 20 – 40 minute yoga sessions in the morning need a little help and I was looking for a new teacher again. Since I’m pretty much unwilling to drive anywhere, I was hopeful the neighborhood studio would have a new teacher I could like. Reading the online bios was helpful, and I found an instructor who is very well-rounded in various yogas AND who’s studying Ayurveda, my other current study as well.

Yesterday was my first class, and I really enjoyed it. She indicated she has some seminars coming up as well, so that could be good.

The point of all this rambling is that everybody is looking for something different from a yoga practice. Don't give up if the first teacher you meet isn't your cup of tea. There are plenty more out there, and one of them is bound to teach in a style that meshes with yours. Many yoga studios have websites with bios of their instructors, along with schedules and pricing information. Most cities and community colleges offer community yoga classes for a nominal fee. YMCA is another place to check out classes.

Oh, and as far as the dog, I was able to get a leash on him, but he refused to walk more than about 100 feet in any direction. I’m guessing he lived right around where I met up with him (though the lack of tags made it impossible to know), but eventually I had to just leave him there. In case you wondered if you could budge a pitbull who didn’t want to be budged, the answer is no. Talk about an immovable object! He was very sweet and came to me and let me pet him and walked with me… for a bit… and then he’d sit down and that was that. Please, if you have pets, make sure they wear identification at all times - if nothing else, include your phone number so a good samaritan can contact you if she finds your beloved pooch!

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Saving Money on Groceries

2008-09-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Eating closer to nature means, of course, making different choices than those offered by typical mainstream grocers. Whether you subscribe to the all-organic-all-the-time philosophy or stick to a 100-mile diet or just try to eat healthier than you did last month, eating meals comprised entirely of food rather than “food-like-products” requires an investment in both time and money.

Until I get one of these, I have to pay through the nose for the raw, organic milk we use. While I’d like to go off on Whole Foods for charging exorbitant prices, it seems more prudent to express my sincere gratitude that we are even able to buy raw milk in California – most states do not allow the commercial sale of raw dairy products. (“Raw” as applied to dairy means it’s been neither pasteurized nor homogenized. It’s milk the way it came out of the cow.)

I recently discovered a way to save some money on dairy. The producer of our milk also sells by mail order, and they have a store at the farm. Unfortunately, the shipping costs are prohibitive and the farm is about 250 miles away. Fortunately, they also have a “hub store” in the greater LA area – really, it’s a milk truck parked in a parking lot with a guy selling jugs of milk and cream. I keep expecting him to offer us a set of speakers or a genuine-knockoff-Chinese Rolex, but so far it’s just the milk…

They charge 60% of what Whole Foods charges. When I factor in the time (1.5 hours door-to-door for the truck vs. .75 hour door-to-door for Whole Foods) and the price of gas ($15 for the truck vs. $3.50 for Whole Foods), it’s still more than worth it for me to drive 88 miles (round-trip) once every 4 – 6 weeks and freeze my products. What I spent $240 for at the truck today would’ve cost $390 at Whole Foods. In fact, we save so much by buying this way that we’ve been able to switch over to raw cream and raw butter as well, which were too expensive at Whole Foods.

I know there are bakeries that sell day-old loaves for a fraction of full price and of course farm stands that sell fresh-picked produce. Any other ways to save on quality ingredients?

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Meditation Lesson 3 - Podcast

2008-09-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

It's time for another lesson! I hope you've been practicing Lessons 1 and 2, but if not, don't worry. Lesson 3 demonstrates how to combine the previous sessions into one complete meditation. Use the podcast (pausing whenever you need to) or read at your own pace. Oh, and you can subscribe to this podcast at iTunes. Go to "Podcasts" in the iTunes Store, then do a "power search" of podcasts for title "meditation" and author "unknown" - the result "Meditation Lessons" should be this series.

Meditation Lesson 3

In Lesson One, you were introduced to your Upper Room and your Crystal Star. In Lesson Two, you learned how to gather in and lift up your awareness. In this lesson, we will combine Lessons One and Two into a complete meditation so that you can experience the heightened power of your star when your awareness is lighted first.

As always, keep in mind the Laws of Energy:

Awareness directs thought

Thought directs life-energy/Life-energy follows thought

Where there is pain (from mild discomfort to acute distress), the flow of life-energy is blocked

Where thought is focused, the power of life-energy is concentrated

Now, get comfortable in a seated position, feet flat on the floor, palms down on top of your thighs. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and relax. And, as we move through Lesson 3, remember to think, let, observe and experience.

Let's begin!

First, think of your Upper Room, 6” above the top of your head, and observe how simply thinking of the Upper Room immediately begins to bring a sense of calm throughout your body. Now think of moving into your Upper Room, and experience the Radiant Awareness here, the calm, peace and beauty of your Upper Room. Acknowledge your connection, via the Upper Room, with your Higher Self, the source of your Radiant Awareness. If this connection is difficult for you to experience, don’t worry – it’s there, where you sense it or not – you can acknowledge the connection and welcome it without having a tangible experience of it.

Now, think of your brain harmonizing with your Upper Room, and the Radiant Awareness flowing into and throughout your brain, gathering in, lifting up and enlightening your knowing awareness. Think of the Radiant Awareness of your High Self harmonizing with your knowing awareness, let your brain accept this Radiance, observe any thoughts, feelings or sensations that arise, and experience the change in your state of consciousness as Radiant Awareness lifts up your knowing awareness. Let this continue for a couple of minutes.

Next, think of the nerves of your body harmonizing with your Upper Room, and the Radiant Awareness flowing into all the nerves, neurons and neural pathways in your brain, your spinal column, your solar plexus, throughout every part of your body, gathering, lifting up and enlightening your sensory awareness. Think of the union of your nerve systems and your Upper Room, let the Radiant Awareness gather and lift up your sensory awareness, observe any responses in your thoughts, sensations or feelings and experience the lift in your consciousness as Radiant Awareness gathers in your sensory awareness. Let this continue for a minute or two.

And now think of your emotional systems – your heart, blood, circulatory systems, liver, lymphatic systems and glands – harmonizing with your Upper Room, and the Radiant Awareness flowing throughout these areas, gathering, lifting up and enlightening your emotional awareness. Think of your emotional systems and your Upper Room harmonizing, let Radiant Awareness flow into these systems, gathering your emotional awareness, observe whatever thoughts, sensations or emotions that come up and experience your consciousness lightening as Radiant Awareness gathers, lifts up and lightens your emotional awareness. Let this continue for a bit.

Now, think again of your Upper Room and this time, think of turning on your crystal-white 3” star. Experience this purifying, cleansing energy vibrating with pure, untainted life-energy. When you are ready, think of the star opening and releasing a flood of this pure white liquid-like energy in a downpour.

Experience the downpour of light-fire energy flowing into your hair, scalp, face and head, including the bones and flesh and connective tissues. Remember, if you feel pain or discomfort of any kind – mental, emotional or sensory – that is a sign that the flow of energy is blocked in that area. Focus your awareness into any areas of discomfort, intensifying the consuming fires aspect of the crystal white flow of energy to absorb and consume and transmute these areas of low-frequency into higher frequency states. The downpour continues moving into your brain, and notice how much easier the light moves right into your brain, now that you’ve gathered your knowing awareness first. The downpour moves into your eyes, ears, nose and mouth, and all of their nerve connections into your brain. The downpour flows into your neck and throat, across your shoulders, down your arms and into your hands. Again, notice any areas of discomfort and simply think of the consuming fires blazing up, consuming and transmuting these low frequency states. You don’t have to “do” anything when you encounter painful areas – except to think of intensifying the energy here. All it takes is your thought to direct the energy. And now the downpour continues flowing into your chest, including your heart and lungs, and your upper back. The white light continues flowing into your abdomen, including all of the organs here, your lower back and into your pelvic bowl. Think of the energy continuing its downward flow into your hips, thighs, knees, lower legs and into your feet.

Experience this shimmering pure crystal energy, as clear as a mountain spring. And then think of the bottoms of your feet opening, allowing the energy to pour on out through the bottoms of your feet into the planet. Experience the energy flowing from above your head to below your feet.

Now think of your feet closing, the white energy backfilling up through your body, from your feet, up your legs, torso, arms, neck and head. The energy keeps downpouring and backfilling until it overflows out of the top of your head, flowing all around your body, filling your energy field with the crystal white purifying energy. Experience this inner and outer shower of pure life-energy.

Now bring your hands up in front of you, palms facing each other and think of your hands opening and then experience the accumulation of energy that builds between your hands. Don’t forget you can use this energy to help heal others, by placing your hands on any areas of pain or discomfort and allowing the inner light-fire energy to flow into the area.

Close your hands. Take a few moments to acknowledge and assimilate your newly-purified awareness and energy and remember that the downpour will continue for another half hour or so. You can touch back into the power of your life-energy anytime throughout the day by focusing in your Upper Room, turning on your crystal star and letting the energy flow into any areas of need. Or, if your awareness becomes scattered, take 5 minutes to quickly gather your awareness.

Enjoy.

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Yoga and Ayurveda Teachers Wanted!

2008-09-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Having a home yoga studio is a great asset for slowifying our lives (we just have one section of carpet left to remove and we’ll be done!) and we’ve used it nearly every day for a month now, but I think we need a teacher. Not necessarily frequently; perhaps not even every week. But a couple times a month would be good.

I don’t feel the need to learn more “stuff” – it’ll be ages before I master your basic Downward Dog – but I would like some guidance in terms of putting together a series to do at home, and some feedback as to my form.

And I would prefer a more spiritual teacher, as opposed to one who views yoga as primarily exercise. Exercise is, of course, an important part of yoga, but in the West it seems like it’s the MOST important part – sometimes the only part – and I’d prefer a more complete practice.

I’m also looking for an Ayurveda teacher and/or practitioner. We’ve been interested in Ayurveda for 20+ years, but we’ve only scratched the surface with a book or two. We live maybe 15 miles from “Little India” – perhaps I should get on this before Mr. Neo finishes school and we move far, far away…

Okay, those are my current slowification missions. What are yours?

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Making Slowification Choices

2008-09-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

No, this isn’t the all meditation, all the time blog (not that that would be a bad thing) – I had a bit of a crazy week, and blogging had to take a backseat. Actually, blogging wasn’t even in the car.

But that’s what slowification is about: making choices to simplify and slow down the hectic pace of life so that what you do do is more fulfilling and pleasurable and less stressful.

So when you go to all the trouble to make the choice to eliminate an activity, either permanently or for the time being, go to a little more trouble and make the choice not to feel guilty about it. We all do what we can, and feeling guilty that we don’t have time to do more will not add one more minute to our day.

If life’s too short to drink Chilean wine, then it’s certainly too short to feel guilty about, um, how short it is…

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Meditation Lesson 2 - Podcast

2008-09-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Time for my weekly meditation post. This technique is excellent if you have trouble concentrating or if you feel scattered and out of sync. You can read along if you’re more of a visual type, or go to the Podcast to listen if that works better for you. I recommend the podcast, since that will allow you to relax and not worry about all this pesky reading, but the choice is yours. If you haven’t done Lesson 1, do that first, then come back for Lesson 2. Here we go!

Awareness

In Lesson 1, we talked about the Laws of Energy:

Awareness directs thought
Thought directs life energy and life energy follows thought
Where there is pain, the flow of life energy is obstructed
Where thought is focused, the power of life energy is concentrated.

Everything begins with awareness; you can’t know where to direct the power of your energy if you aren’t aware of what’s happening in your body. Sometimes people suppress their awareness – they learn to ignore the signals from their body, so they don’t sense pain, for example. Or they subconsciously dull their emotions. Or ignore what they know to be true. But suppressing awareness doesn’t ease the pain – only the power of the light-fire consumes the pain and brings about inner healing.

Other times, our awareness becomes scattered – we have so many things to focus on throughout the day, that our thoughts, sensations and emotions become scattered and random. Since our energy follows our thoughts, which follow our awareness, the result is that scattered awareness = scattered energy. And scattered energy is less effective than focused energy.

Categories of awareness

Awareness falls into the following categories:

Knowing or mental awareness: thoughts, mental pictures, ideas, concepts
Sensory or perceptual awareness: sensations experienced by the 5 senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch), perceptions and perspectives
Emotional or feeling awareness: the whole gamut of human emotions – love, hate, joy, despair, grief, rage…

Since our awareness has a tendency to become scattered or suppressed, we need a technique to gather it in and lift it back up. This technique can be done on its own, to quickly bring your scattered thoughts, feelings and sensations back into focus. It is also typically done before moving into your regular daily meditation (as in Lesson 1), helping you focus the light-fire energy as needed.

Get comfortable in a chair, feet flat on the floor, eyes closed and palms resting lightly on your thighs. Remember to Think, Let, Observe and Experience.

Gathering and enlightening awareness

Think of that place 6” (15 cm) above the very top of your head, your Upper Room. It’s important not to think of your Upper Room as somewhere “outside” yourself – even though it is not in your body, it is within your energy field. As you know, everyone and everything is made up of energy, and this energy field extends beyond the limits of your physical body, around 12 – 15 feet (4 – 5 meters) in every direction. So your Upper Room is part of your very own energy field.

As you think of moving right into the Upper Room, remember that your Upper Room is always calm and peaceful, not chaotic and stressed. That’s because the Upper Room is your connection to your Higher Self (or spirit, actual self or being of light, among many other names), and your higher self’s awareness is never scattered or random or suppressed. It is always radiant. Take a moment to experience this radiant awareness of your actual self. Just think of the radiant awareness, let yourself open to it, observe the responses in your body and experience the connection to your higher self.

Now we’re going to gather in and lighten up your knowing or mental awareness. Focus your attention into your brain, and think of your brain harmonizing with the radiant awareness of your Upper Room. This is where your brain is likely to ask, “why?” or “how?” or say, “I don’t get it, that’s too easy, it doesn’t make sense.” Whatever chatter is going on in your brain, acknowledge it – your brain has been conditioned to analyze everything and it’s not going to stop instantly just because you’ve decided to meditate. So when you notice these thoughts, or your mind wandering, simply refocus your attention on the union between your knowing awareness and the radiant awareness, the harmony between your brain and your Upper Room, and experience your mental awareness being gathered in and lifted up. Let this continue for a couple of minutes.

Next, focus in the nerves of your body – all the nerves, neurons, neural pathways of your body, in your brain, your spinal column, your solar plexus, throughout every part of your body – and think of the nerves harmonizing with the radiant awareness of your Upper Room. As your nerves begin to awaken to this union, you may feel restless, or experience pain or tiredness or excess nervous energy. Observe these sensations, or any other sensations, as they arise and again refocus your attention on the union of your sensory awareness and your radiant awareness, and experience your sensory awareness being gathered in and enlightened. Let this continue for a minute or two.

Finally, focus your attention into your heart and liver and, from these two main organs of your emotional awareness, into your blood and circulatory system and glands and lymph systems, and begin to harmonize all of these with the radiant awareness of your Upper Room. Your emotions may feel turbulent at first, from irritation to rage, despair or grief, but as you observe and acknowledge these responses from your body and continue to focus on the union with your radiant awareness, you will soon experience your emotional awareness being gathered in and lifted up. Continue this for another minute or two.

Now, with all of your awareness gathered, lifted up and enlightened by the connection with your radiant awareness, you’re ready for the day! From now on, when you do Lesson 1, take a few minutes to gather your awareness first. With your awareness focused and concentrated in this way, you will be able to direct the downpouring pure white energy into the specific areas that need it the most, and you’ll be better able to register what’s happening in your body, mind and consciousness as you do your meditation.

As always, let me know about your experiences (or any questions you may have) in the comments section and try to do this technique, either alone or combined with Lesson 1, a few times before moving on. Enjoy!

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Meditation Lesson 1 - Podcast

2008-09-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first podcast. This is a short meditation that you can follow along with… no reading necessary! It takes a little less than 15 minutes, so you can try it on your lunch hour or before work or even right now.

I’m planning to post a new Lesson each week and they’ll build on the previous week’s Lesson, so don’t skip! Please use the comment section to let me know what you experience, or if you have any questions.

Thanks and enjoy!

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In This Car, You'll Have No Choice But to Slowify!

2008-09-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

I think, in slowification terms, you can’t get much slower than a 1.0 liter, 71 hp, 3-cylinder engine, such as the one found in the Smart fortwo, a car that’s just found its way to the United States. With a top speed of 90 mph (electronically controlled, no less) and an estimated mpg of 33/city and 44/hwy, it’s an ultra-low-emissions vehicle that may be worth a look, depending on your needs.

Who is Smart?

Believe it or not, Smart is the product of a joint venture between Mercedes Benz and Swatch. Yep, the watch people. Their goal was to build a small urban car with excellent safety specs, innovative design and environmentally-sound components and production methods. The Hambach, France production facility uses heat generated in the injection-molding area to heat the paint booths. Rather than conventional paint, the cars are powder coated, “using 40% less energy than conventional painting methods with zero solvent emissions and no water consumption.” They not only reuse and recycle, but they pressure their suppliers to provide returnable containers to eliminate waste.

What is fortwo?

This is fortwo. In the US, you can get three versions: the Pure (entry level), the Passion (with such extras as AC and a sunroof) and the Cabriolet (a convertible). Starting at $11,590 for the Pure up to $16,590 for the Cabriolet, it’s definitely one of the cheaper cars out there. Of course, as the name implies, it’s built for two. Period. Not two people and a small baby, not two people and a dog – two people. In its defense, it claims to fit two goodly-sized people, even a 6’5” person, along with 4 carryon suitcases in the cargo area (which, by the way, is where the teensy engine is located – underneath the trunk floor, where a spare tire is often found).

Are you sure it’s a real car?

Well, relatively sure. The fact that the electronic stability program has “hill start assist” gives me a pretty good idea that the poor thing is utterly gutless from a standing start. We had a diesel VW Rabbit back in the day – you had to turn off the AC to get going in 1st gear. Mr. Neo would say, “Give me turbo-boosters!” and I’d say “Aye, Captain,” and turn off the AC until we got through the intersection. Perhaps “hill start assist” is simply an internal switch that kills the AC for you in case you don’t have a handy First Mate to do it.

The fortwo also sports a 5-speed clutchless “automated” manual transmission. You can shift, but you don’t have to. According to Consumer Reports, “[Smart has] an automated manual transmission that has the worst gear shift quality. It shifts slowly, causing the car to pause and heave.” That sounds not so good; even the VW didn’t “heave”.

So what’s the point?

For me, the point is that it has excellent fuel economy, and it’s also built with the environment in mind. I like that the company is thinking about its footprint every step of the way. Realistically, this does not seem like a commuter car to me. While I can see commuting in LA traffic in a Prius or possibly even a Yaris, I wouldn’t want to do it in a fortwo. The slow starts and the choppy shifting would make for a very uncomfortable ride, and it would be difficult to keep up with the flow of traffic.

On the other hand, it would make an excellent 2nd car – the around-town car for getting groceries (I walk most of the time, but sometimes I have to go someplace farther than walking distance or carry something heavier than carrying weight), going to the farmer’s market, taking the dog to agility, etc. With its tiny footprint, it can fit in ½ a normal parking space, making it a useful car in a city with parking problems. Fortunately, it comes in bright blue and bright red, so even though it’s practically microscopic, you can find it!

(It also comes with orange fabric as an interior color option, which is a big plus in my book!)

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How To Meditate: An Introduction

2008-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite tips for slowing down is meditation. If you don't know how to meditate, now is the perfect time to learn! This is a simple meditation anyone can do.

What is Meditation?

Wiki defines meditation as

“a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, 'thinking' mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.”

There is no "right" or "wrong" way to meditate. In some methods, practitioners focus on their breathing. Others focus on a mantra or affirmation. Some attempt to clear the mind completely. Some work on a single-pointed focus toward one thought or image.

The "Goal" of Meditation

The method I've been using for over 20 years is called Actualism. Actualism is a step-by-step method of directing one's "inner light fire" (called life-energy, chi or prana, among other names) to lift one's consciousness into a higher state. The "goal", if there is a goal of meditation, is to experience union with one's higher self. I say "experience" because that union is always there – you and I and everyone are ALWAYS unified with our higher self, but unless we take time to clear away the illusions of separation, we don't experience this profound union.

Getting Ready to Meditate

A couple of things to keep in mind as we begin:

First, we don't have "good" or "bad" thoughts, feelings, emotions – we have "low-frequency states of consciousness" and "high-frequency states of consciousness." You know when you walk into a room, and you get a creepy vibe for some reason? That's an example of low-frequency. Those energy states are vibrating at a low-frequency level. (Ever wonder where "vibe" comes from? It's short for "vibration"!) Of course, you can also walk into a room and get a powerfully happy vibe, too. We are all made up of energy, and some days our energy is more high-frequency than others.

Next, the "laws of energy":

Awareness directs thought – thought directs life-energy

Life-energy follows thought

Where there is pain (from mild discomfort to acute distress), the flow of life-energy is blocked

Where thought is focused, the power of life-energy is concentrated

All that means is that your awareness directs your thoughts, and wherever you focus your thoughts is where your life-energy goes. Pain can stop the flow of energy, while intensifying your focus concentrates the power of life-energy.

Our intention for meditating, then, is to direct our thoughts and our life-energy into lifting up any low-frequency states of consciousness into high-frequency. We don't have to force that to happen. Simply think the thought, let the energy do its work, observe the responses in your body, and experience the change. Think, let, observe, experience.

Finally, this is a meditation designed for Westerners – there is no need to sit in a Lotus position or chant or anything like that. It's best, at least in the beginning, to sit comfortably in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your hands resting lightly on the tops of your thighs, palms down. Close your eyes and don't answer the phone!

Introduction to Meditation

Think of a spot six inches (15 cm) above the top of your head – this spot is referred to as the Upper Room in many spiritual traditions. Direct your awareness into the Upper Room, thinking of moving right into the room. The Upper Room is always peaceful, serene, filled only with high-frequency energy – it's good to remember that, so you can use the Upper Room as a sanctuary any time you need a moment of peace during your day.

Now think of a pin-prick point of pure white light in your Upper Room. Don't struggle to "see" the light, just think of this tiny point of crystal-white light, and as you focus your attention on this point, its brilliance intensifies and it expands into a star about three inches (7½ cm) in diameter. Stay with this experience for a moment. Along with a sense of peace, you may experience a strong sense of connection to your Higher Self (you may think of this Higher Self as the Universe, or God, or some other name – what's important is the connection to it, not the name we call it here).

This is YOUR star – it's made of your light-fire/life-energy, and you can direct this energy wherever it's needed. Let's start by thinking of the star opening (again, don't worry about "picturing" this. You think the thought, and your energy responds, whether or not you see it in your mind's eye). Now that your star is open, the purifying, cleansing crystal-clear life-energy begins to pour downward.

Now think of this downpour of energy flowing into your hair, scalp, face and head, including the bones and flesh and connective tissues. As the energy moves into your body, be aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations. If you experience pain, confusion, nervousness, tiredness or random emotions or thoughts when the light enters a certain area, acknowledge that and spend a moment focusing the energy there. Think of the intensity of the crystal white energy, its powerful force consuming whatever is obstructing the flow of your life-energy. Let the energy do its work in any area of discomfort or pain, and experience your body's responses. Think of the flow of the white light moving into your brain, your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Next experience as it moves down into your neck and throat, across your shoulders, down your arms and into your hands. The main flow continues flowing down through your chest, including your heart and lungs, and your upper back. The white light continues flowing into your abdomen, including all of the organs here, your lower back and into your pelvic bowl. Think of the energy continuing its downward flow into your hips, thighs, knees, lower legs and into your feet.

Your entire body is now filled with this shimmering, purifying and cleansing crystal-white light-energy. Think of the bottoms of your feet opening, allowing the energy to pour on out through the bottoms of your feet. As the energy pours out, it pulls out with it any low-frequency states of consciousness it encountered on its journey through your body. Don't worry about these loads of low-frequency being "dumped" into the planet – the white light and the planet's energy fields absorb any low-frequency into themselves, and the intense power of these energies consumes the low-frequency and transmutes it.

Now think of your feet closing, and the white energy backfills up through all the areas of your body, from your feet, up your legs, torso, arms, neck and head. The energy keeps pouring down from the star, so now it is overflowing out of the center of the top of your head until you are completely surrounded, inside and out, by this powerful crystal-clear white light.

Think of the palms of your hands opening. Hold them out in front of you, palms facing each other, about 1 inch (2½ cm) apart. You may feel heat or a sense of your hands resisting each other (like two magnets that repel each other), or a tingle. This is the energy flowing out of your hands. You can use this energy to calm a fussy baby, heal someone's headache, or even imbue the food you eat with powerful purifying energy.

Close your hands now, and think of assimilating all that you've experienced. The time you take to assimilate helps you to "own" what you've experienced, to ground it deeply into your consciousness. The star will continue to downpour and backfill, overflowing out the top of your head, keeping you bathed in YOUR OWN pure life-energy for about 30 minutes.

Try this technique a few minutes every day, and just before going to sleep at night. Let me know how it goes!

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Focus, Grasshopper: Slowify By Living in the Moment

2008-09-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well, sure, I’d like to slowify my life, you think, but I live in Major Metropolis, where everything is go-go-go all the time. How do I slowify without being trampled by the herd?

It ain’t easy, that’s for sure! And I won't argue that I have as slow-paced a life as someone living in rural Kentucky, despite my best efforts. But even living where I do, a major city in southern California, sandwiched between LA and The OC, with ½ a million people, 6 major freeways and 36 Starbucks, it’s possible to make choices to slowify.

The key is to be aware that everything you do is a choice. Once you have that awareness, you can choose to feel rushed and frazzled or calm and relaxed. My pet peeve is people yammering away on the cell phone in the grocery store, blocking the entire aisle with their cart, a purse the size of Rhode Island and a couple of unruly toddlers. My impatient choice is to think rude thoughts, sigh loudly and, eventually, harshly push past the oblivious person to reach whatever item I need that he or she is blocking (look, in Long Beach, carrying a purse the size of Rhode Island is not a gender determinant). My slowification choice is to assume that with the weight of that purse and the stress of those toddlers, that poor person needs to be talking with someone! If I can reach around, fine. If not, I’ll get their attention, say excuse me, push past gently, whatever – but without the attitude and the judgmentalism.

If slowification is based on making choices, I’d argue that the most important choice is to be present in every moment, fully aware of everything that’s going on both inside your body and all around you. Slowifying your life doesn’t mean giving up your efficiency or purposely taking longer to do something than you need to. But it does mean giving your full attention to whatever it is you are doing: whether you’re washing your dishes by hand or loading the dishwasher, put your attention on that… not on a running commentary about what a jerk your boss is, or the list of the next 800 things you need to do tonight, or where on earth those lost mittens could have gotten to.

Of course your mind will wander – no one can keep their mind on suds indefinitely – but recognize where your mind has wandered to, acknowledge it, and consciously move your attention back to the task at hand. You might get frustrated, but remind yourself that frustration is just another distraction and, again, move your attention to your activity.

Hmmmm. Sounds suspiciously like meditation… Well, why not? There will be plenty of times when you can’t focus like this – perhaps your job demands constant multi-tasking, rushing, meetings, deadlines, whatever, and you can’t change it, or you don’t even want to change it – so why not find opportunities to direct your attention when you can? This technique can be very beneficial when you have to do something you dislike, like weeding the flowerbed, for example. Instead of thinking about all the things you’d rather be doing, focus on everything that’s going on while you weed the flowerbed. Do you smell flowers? Hear bees? What about the teeming life going on just below the surface of the soil you are disturbing – have you ever looked at that before? Experience the temperature, a slight breeze, the sounds of cars whishing past. Acknowledge the pain in your knees, but don’t dwell on it. Don’t look ahead at all the weeds you have left to pull – maybe you’ll pull them, maybe not – but experience the satisfaction of consciously pulling this specific weed.

When you finish a task or activity, let it go. Whether you rehash things that happened while you were at work, or stew about a confrontation you had in the grocery store, or even continually linger over a pleasant memory, your attention is focused in the past. On the other hand, if you anticipate what might happen tomorrow at the office, or worry about how you’ll pay next month’s bills, or daydream about the perfect house on the perfect plot of land in a slower-paced area, your attention is focused in the future. Instead, focus on the present.

Deepak Chopra says,

“Someone once told me, ‘The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called the present.’ ”

Who doesn't love a present? When all is said and done, slowification is about living in the moment.

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Getting Started in the Garden

2008-09-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

So you want to start gardening, but you don't know where to begin… welcome to my world. On the one hand, the sheer volume of information available makes the prospect of sifting through it all beyond daunting. On the other hand, finding information specific to your situation, climate, aptitude and goals can be like finding the needle in the haystack.

What are zones? What are microclimates? Should I use raised beds? What about fertilizer, pests and weeds? What should I plant?

Actually, that last one is the easiest: plant what you like to eat. While garden-fresh produce tastes vastly superior to anything you're likely to buy, the fact that you yourself grew the broccoli will not magically make you like broccoli if, in fact, you hate broccoli. Don't waste the garden space, resources or your time.

Zoning out: According to Sunset Magazine,
“ A plant's performance is governed by the total climate: length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer highs, humidity. Sunset's climate zone maps take all these factors into account — unlike the familiar hardiness zone maps devised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which divide the U.S. and Canada into zones based strictly on winter lows. The U.S.D.A. maps tell you only where a plant may survive the winter; our climate zone maps let you see where that plant will thrive year-round.
This clickable map provides detailed information for every area of the country (and a wee bit of Canada).

Although the USDA hardiness zone provides less climatic information than the Sunset zones, it is the zone most often referred to in gardening books. To find your zone, enter your zipcode below.

Microclimates are small areas that have different weather conditions than the immediately surrounding areas, like a shady area under a tree, an exposed patch of ground that gets windswept, or a damp patch between two buildings. Zones can't tell you anything about your specific microclimates; you need to observe your land throughout the day (and the seasons) and take note of areas you may be able to use to your advantage.

Raised beds require less weeding, watering and space than conventional beds. If you plan to plant 5 acres, raised beds are not for you. But for the serious backyard gardener, raised beds can be a lifesaver. According to Penn State Agriculture Information Services,
“ Most gardeners find that raised beds are easier to maintain and promote better plant growth. Walking in a garden causes soil compaction, which can cause problems with drainage and oxygen availability to the roots. It's also more difficult to weed when soil is compacted. With a raised bed, you can plant, weed and harvest without ever walking on the soil.

Raised beds can be filled with high-quality soil and it's easy to add compost or other organic matter. Long-rooted plants, such as carrots, do especially well in this environment, because there are no stones to hinder their development.
Plants in raised beds get more sun and air circulation and they can make better use of water. You often can plant earlier and harvest later, because raised beds warm up early in the spring and stay warm later in the fall.

Raised beds also make ideal places to grow plants that can be invasive in a regular garden – such as mints and horseradish. But ease and convenience is the benefit many gardeners appreciate the most. If you get a bad back and sore knees every year from gardening, a raised bed may put an end to those aches and pains.

Raised vegetable beds are excellent for gardeners who have trouble with their backs and older people who don't have limited flexibility. They are also excellent for people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities and those who don't want to spend the summer on their knees in the garden.
Fertilizer, pests and weeds… oh my! Growing an organic garden means different things to different people (you certainly can't go by the government's definition!). I use no inputs but water and compost. I try to control pests by planting a variety of crops and manually eliminating any critters before they become an infestation. With some, I adopt a live and let live philosophy: I have ants on my eggplant bushes, but the bushes are healthy, vibrant and producing more delicious, unblemished eggplants than we can eat, so who cares if there's a colony of ants making its home there? In raised beds, weeds aren't much of a problem – a couple minutes a week of plucking any interlopers, and I'm set. Mulching with organic compost also keeps weeds in check, and by feeding the soil with compost and crop rotation, I don't need to feed the plants with synthetics fertilizers.

For information on gardening in your neck of the woods, consider attending Master Gardener classes.

“ The Master Gardener program, conducted throughout the United States and Canada, is a two-part educational effort, in which avid gardeners are provided many hours of intense home horticulture training, and in return they "pay back" local university extension agents through volunteerism. Master Gardeners assist with garden lectures, exhibits, demonstrations, school and community gardening, phone diagnostic service, research, and many other projects.

Google "Master gardener" and your city, or just click the Master Gardener link above, to find the program nearest you.

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Turn Off Your TV, Add 12 Years to Your Life!

2008-09-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Although I am gainfully employed, I am fortunate to be a) only moderately gainfully employed and b) able to work from home. Also, I have no children. Thus, I have ample time to do pretty much everything slowly. The fact that I am speedy by nature and driven by a compulsion towards efficiency, however, makes doing things slowly a challenge. Still, my challenge is, well, psychological I guess, as opposed to environmental, cultural or economic in nature.

In a world where 40-hour workweeks are pretty much the minimum, with kids' activities and traffic and everything else that life entails, finding time to toast bread can be difficult – never mind grinding the flour to make the bread, letting it rise – twice – and baking it… then toasting it and spreading it with homemade jam. But slowing down doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing prospect, and there's one sure-fire way to find more time in your day to have a little fun and do something good for the planet, your family or yourself: turn off the TV.

According to the ratings people, A.C. Nielsen, the average American watches over 4 hours of television a day. Well, that's only a few hours, you think. Add it up: 4 hours of TV a day equals TWO MONTHS of television-viewing each year. If you live to be 70, you will have spent nearly 12 of those years glued to the tube.

Kill Your Television has links to fascinating facts about how TV drives consumerism, bombards kids with negative messages about self-image, saturates us with violence (both on the news and in our "entertainment"), contributes to obesity and attention-deficit problems… the list goes on.

But these statistics, breaking down the bottom line in terms of the time TV steals from our lives are the most compelling, I think. People have experimental surgery every day in this country in the hopes it will gain them five more healthy years… and yet they willingly give up twelve years to television. I'm not saying TV is inherently evil. But really, should it usurp 1/6 of our lives, leaving us with "no time" for things we claim matter to us?

If you don't watch any TV at all, good for you! I watch about 2 hours per week. If you think you don't watch much, you might be surprised. Try keeping a diary of your viewing – every time you turn on the TV note the time you turned it on, what else you were doing (like eating dinner, folding clothes, "listening" to your spouse), what your mood was, whether you watched something you actually found enjoyable or just channel surfed, and what time you turned it off. Add up the hours for the day and then for the week. Could you have done something in those hours that would have benefitted you more? I thought so.

What will you do with the time you create?

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Growing Challenge: Patience and Detachment (or Zen and the Art of Gardening)

2008-09-01T11:36:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed the The Growing Challenge graphic over there on the left. That's a challenge put on by Melinda at One Green Generation encouraging people to garden (either start a garden or expand one) and share their questions and what they learn by posting about gardening at least once a week.

I wrote about what I've learned from gardening recently. What I didn't mention in that post is that gardening has also taught me about patience (no matter how much I might want Caprese salad, the tomatoes are not going to ripen until they're darn good and ready) and about letting go (for that matter, they might never ripen, and who am I to say differently?)

First of all, the decision to eat locally presupposes a certain amount of patience: I am going to patiently wait until tomatoes are in season here, rather than eating tomatoes from Chile in January. Going one step further to growing your own tomatoes (or herbs or zucchini or whatever) requires not just patience, but also dedication, perseverance and more than a little luck. You may patiently water, transplant, cage, feed and mulch. You might patiently talk to your tender seedlings, create secure enclosures to keep out the birds and kittens and then mulch some more. But while patience may be a virtue, it's no guarantee: in spite of all your efforts, the garden may not cooperate.

Weather, disease, some microscopic creature – any of them can wipe out months of patient work in a heartbeat. With experience, it's possible to stave off some problems, but there's nothing you can do to prevent a week of 100° days in April, or scorching winds that crisp delicate leaves or torrential downpours that rot fruit on the vine. Face it: if farming was easy, people wouldn't have given it up.

Planting a polyculture helps, of course – if your tomatoes get hit by fusarium wilt, you still have a chance with your eggplants or lettuce or beets – while adopting an attitude of involved detachment will help you withstand those inevitable losses with equanimity. You do not create the tomatoes, after all – you simply provide the soil, nutrients and water the seeds need in order to grow into tomatoes. The rest is out of your hands. Of course, your goal of putting up 20 quarts of sauce may require you to visit the farmer's market if your harvest fell short, but look at it as an opportunity to discover varieties you might not have considered before. And talk to the farmers – maybe your Green Zebras weren't as well-suited to your climate as you thought and the farmers can recommend something else for you to try next year.

Personally, I'm having trouble getting carrots to germinate. I got a few to grow to maturity, but now they're being stubborn. But the tomatoes are starting to arrive! How does your garden grow?

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Backyard Chickens

2008-08-30T09:30:00.001-07:00

What is the most neo-pioneery thing I do, you wonder? Oh come on, you know you wonder… And yes, “neo-pioneery” IS a word. It’s an adjective, describing someone or something with qualities of a neo-pioneer.

The most neo-pioneery thing I do is probably chicken.

No, not this.

This.
Mr. Neo (no, that is not some latent Keanu Reeves fantasy peeking out, although…)

Right. As I was saying, Mr. Neo and I have three lovely hens, 2 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Buff Orpington. Not in the country or the ‘burbs, but in Long Beach, California – a city of half a million humans and an unknown quantity of poultry. And we’re not the only (or even the first) people on our street to have them. They lay delicious, healthy, 100% organic, cage-free, free-range, grub-fortified brown eggs.

Keeping chickens in the city is incredibly easy, fun and doesn’t have to cost a lot. Chicks are cheap, a few cents to a few dollars apiece, depending on the variety and the quantity. Feed is also inexpensive, and when it comes to treats, chickens love table scraps. Coops can get pricey, but they certainly don’t have to. I mean, let’s face it, chickens don’t have the most exacting design standards in the animal kingdom. Not like, say, a tiger. I mean, you don’t want to throw together some aesthetically-challenged tiger coop and risk your tigers’ wrath. But for a chicken, scavenge some reclaimed lumber, have the kids help you, and call it “education.” Keep in mind that, for coops, size does matter (too small a coop and the girls will literally hen-peck each other; too large, and they won’t feel secure), and be sure to include a roost unless you want them roosting in the trees at night.

Before you bring home your flock, be sure to check your local ordinances. Some municipalities have no restrictions on backyard poultry, some don’t allow it at all and most fall somewhere in the middle.

And check out this post at Slow Food Nation about goat farming. LB laws allow us one goat, and goats can make charming pets, and I truly want a goat. Possibly even a goat farm. But we just have the yard, no pasture, and no way to keep the goat from using the doggie door and coming in the house and doing, well, goaty things. Everywhere. So the goat – and the alpaca and lama – will have to wait until we slowify even more and move to the country.

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Tips for Slowing Down

2008-08-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

“ Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much.

~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

If our 32nd president thought he was busy, I wonder what he would make of life in the 21st century, where multitasking isn’t an option and fatigue is epidemic. Modern “conveniences” like computers, cell phones and faxes haven’t reduced our workload; rather, they’ve made workers more efficient, ~~allowing~~ forcing us to cram ever more activities into our already over-scheduled days.

Instant messaging and texting will soon do to email what email did to the Postal Service – render it obsolete or, at best, optional. You know, for times when your message absolutely, positively has to be there… sometime… maybe… or not… whatever.

And cell phones. Don’t get me started. Just because, with a cell phone, you can make a call, doesn’t mean you should. Talking while driving = bad, according to many, including several states which have banned the use of handheld phones while driving. Personally, I propose banning conversations punctuated by orders shouted at drive-through speakers and, worse, toilet flushes, both of which I’ve endured without comment or complaint. (Though I always wonder what other activities the caller combines in their quest for multi-tasking superstardom, leaving me with an inexplicable desire to shower.)

Questions of etiquette aside, does it seem right to be so pressed for time that you have to talk on the phone while doing, um, other things? That you have to purchase a pre-cooked meal through a window, then consume it while you drive? That you don’t know your neighbors because you – and they – leave for work early and get home late, with barely time for a nod and a wave?

Trust me, the machines will not save us. There will be no magical invention that rescues us from work – we have those already, and we simply use them to create more work. Every time-saving device enterprising humans have invented has simply caused to us to become more creative in our endeavors to fill up that saved time with more work, worry and stress.

That’s where slowification comes in. Take control of your life, slowify it, even for just a few minutes, every day. Here are some suggestions:

Turn your cell phone off during certain times (ie, meals, time with your family, your wedding).

Return business calls, emails, faxes, etc. only during business hours. In your timezone.

Check and respond to email twice a day. Period.

Eat a meal with nothing else going on: no TV, no driving, no reading the analysis from your teleconference with Brazil.

Cook something. Anything. Not in the microwave.

Try mono-tasking for a few minutes a day. Do one thing. Only. From start to finish.

Spend five minutes in silent meditation. Don’t meditate? Start. Or spend five minutes quietly contemplating a flower, the view from your window or even the really cool sportscar parked across the street.

Do something physical: Stand up and stretch, take the stairs, get off the bus one stop earlier, walk the dog or even – gasp! – try something more focused like yoga.

However you decide to slowify, try to make it a conscious choice, rather than a frazzled response like throwing your cell phone out the window in frustration when it rings for the 16th time while you’re trying to meet a deadline.

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Neo-Pioneering: Way Cooler Than Urban Homesteading

2008-08-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

First, some definitions:

Slowification ~

noun

the act of reducing the speed of one's life
elimination of hustle and bustle

Pretty self-explanatory, wouldn't you say?

Neo-pioneer ~

noun

one who rediscovers something that had fallen out of use - for example, home canning or natural cleaning products - but that was once common knowledge (like to the American pioneers)

Okay, okay - a neo-pioneer is pretty much the same as an "urban homesteader." Only way cooler.

~~~~~

I wonder... If slow food is good, must technology be bad? Does green living mean living without style? If I'm not sewing my own clothes - from hemp - and composting my own poop, can I call myself an environmentalist?

I'll share my thoughts and experiences as a neo-pioneer (how 'bout "neoneer" for short?) in the field of slowification. Hopefully you'll do the same!

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Slowification

2008-08-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

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