Aside from being an incredibly beautiful place, las Alpujaras and the O Sel Ling centre are so peaceful. The views are absolutely spectacular and breathtaking.
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Friday, 11 May 2012
Life can be rebooted!
It’s been a while! And, well ... life certainly has taken a different turn for me. After 10 years of living on paradise island, working 6 days a week 12 hours a day and squeezing in a million hobbies, I find myself in Spain with no fixed abode, unemployed, unplugged and yet, eerily calm about an unknown future that has yet to unfold because I have yet to write it.
My feet haven’t really touched the ground since I got here and yet, I seem to have found enough quiet, solitary, moments to reflect.
In this new situation I find myself in, it’s become more and more apparent to me that when we have nothing to lose, we can only gain “something.” When there’s nothing left to be taken from us, we can only make new acquisitions and create new situations. When there’s nothing left to destroy we can only create something new. Yet, in reality, aside from death or theft, nothing is really ever taken from us. We choose to give things up. We choose to walk away from people, places, jobs; even our lives.
Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, maybe it’s a fantasy or a calling but I walked away from my life (as I knew it) in search of something. Nobody forced me to. Life didn’t make me do it. Life didn’t give me a set of ultimatums. All I had before me was a set of choices. We all have them, and some are more painful than others to make because of what we leave behind. None the less, they are still our choices. For better or for worse, we need to take responsibility for our choices and stand by them.
Everything in life is a risk and if we don’t take risks, we will never know the outcome. We’ll be forever wondering: “What if ...” I would hope that each one of us knows exactly what we have, but we’ll never know what awaits us unless we’re willing to take a blind leap of faith into the unknown.
When we have nothing and manage to put our fears aside, we potentially stand to gain everything. All it takes is a strong sense of belief, persistence, perseverance, hard work and a healthy dose of optimism and faith. It also helps to have kind souls in your life who lift your spirit, look after you physically, mentally and emotionally, and make you feel loved. That, in my humble opinion, is the true essence of life; being with others and sharing with others.
I know there are some people out there who may think they have no-one, but the truth is we are NEVER alone. Solitude is a state we create. If we don’t see anyone around us, it’s because we’re not looking closely enough. It’s not the world’s fault. It’s not the circumstances we find ourselves in. We choose to wear blinkers and, until we remove them, we will never be able to open ourselves up to the world around us.
When we get down to the nitty, gritty of it life really is very simple and we can live very well with the simplest of things; food, shelter and good company. We over-complicate life because we’re constantly chasing something or other. We expend so much time and energy chasing the next big dream, the next big pay check, the next exotic dream trip, we fail to stop and really appreciate the simplicity of life.
I’ve always said that the older we get, the harder it is to break out of our comfort zone and be challenged by something new because we emotionally allow our fears to cloud our vision of potentials and possibilities.
With my move, I’ve proved to myself, that even at the age of almost 44, it’s possible to just walk away from everything and start a new life. How this life will turn out is a matter of time and my willingness to dedicate myself to it. I realise that if I was married and had children, it might not be so easy to change life, but I also believe that a family, like good friends, should be a compliment and not a burden. Hence, a change of life might be a little more difficult but certainly not impossible.
Life really is what we make it; simple or complex, it’s all our own doing.
Now, more than ever, I am consciously aware of how life is like a blank computer screen. We choose what to write, how to write it and when to write it. We can even choose not to write anything at all or we can just write a few lines of nonsense. Yet, in the simplicity of choosing between writing or not writing, with computers, we find ourselves confronted with the dilemmas of which of the million fonts to use, what size the font should be, what colour to write in, how many words we should write, what to write about, how to express our thoughts and the list goes on - and this is before we’ve even started typing.
In this nothingness that my life has, temporarily, become it’s very clear to me how the only time I hold myself back and stop myself from making a move forward is when I look back at “what was” instead of “being here now” and plainly accepting “what is.”
I, like anyone of you out there, am limited only by my memories, my imagination, my creativity, my motivation, determination, my perseverance and my lack of enthusiasm for doing anything. Every new day, and its outcome, is my own doing. My procrastination, my advancement, my whole life and its direction revolve around how much I am prepared to put into it, what I choose to do, how I choose to go about it and how focused I am.
Life is a bit like a computer ... you really can reboot at any moment in time.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Mind Set Central Podcast 94
Hey, we’re still online! The Mind Set Central Podcast 94
I guess we should talk about the SOPA aftermath, and we do, along with a whole lot more controversial and topical issues riding the worlds meidia!
Veneriana’s New Book Can be found Here.
Living off the grid
Solar Power
Wind Power
Classified personal information
Bill Cooper’s death
Online Piracy
Anonymous fights back
Pre-Crime
Shri Lanka in the news?
Until Next Week, Peace Out Humans!
Friday, 20 January 2012
Detox - Mind, Body & Soul
Detox - Mind, Body and Soul
Good afternoon… on request of a friend, I am starting a support space in my Facebook group: - Mind, Body and Soul - for people who wish to join me on a general health kick and all systems detox. Maybe, we can all inspire and support each other, suggest menus and healthy eating plans. If we stick together, I’m sure we’ll reach our goals and stick to our plans! :-) As with any health kick and detox, you should consult your doctor first.
For the detox, you need to reduce to a minimum, or cut out completely, sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, red meats, dairy and starches. Sorry, but when you’re doing “system spring cleaning” they have to go. Good news is, you can substitute dairy milk with rice, almond or soya milk. I like rice milk but prefer to make my own fresh almond milk. There are also many soya/tofu substitutes around for other mainstream foods. However, I would caution about going from one addiction to another. I’ve been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. It doesn’t work. It’s better to stick to fresh 95% of the time. I’m leaving 5% for “time out” moments.
So, when you get up in the morning, aim to drink a glass of water. Visualise it going through your system, washing it and eliminating any toxins.
A great kickstart morning breakfast (on a detox) - and one of my personal favorites is a freshly made vegetable juice with:
3 medium size carrots,
1 green bell pepper,
5 runner beans,
1 small sprig of parsley,
2 tablespoons of soya protein
You can drink plenty of green tea and water as well.
Then, to get your metabolism up you should do some exercising. Cardio is the best. Not only will it help you burn any unwanted “padding, ” you’ll continue to burn calories long after you finish working out. You should aim to do a minimum of 30 minutes. 45 to 60 minutes is ideal.
My favourite exercises are swimming, biking and jogging. Today, I went out on my bicycle for an hour (or so) and burnt a total of 1476 calories. That’s a lot of calories compared to what I might burn in the same time on a treadmill. Plus, I find the outdoors and the fresh air revitalizing for the senses. Before I went out, I drank 35ml of L-Carnatine just to give my workout a little bit of an edge. When I got back, I had another mug of green tea and plenty of water.
If you’re on a diet, you need to know that you have to burn 3500 calories to lose one pound. If you go on a bike ride 5 or 6 times a week, you can potentially burn 9000 calories a week. That’s little over 2lbs in weight, which is a healthy amount to lose per week.
If you want to seriously detox your system in a very powerful way, you could drink 35ml of ACAI berry juice in the morning.
Another thing I find helps with exercise is to find something you love to do, then you won’t think of it as a workout. There are some days when I feel like dancing, so I put on a Zumba video in youtube and dance like a crazy woman for 30 minutes or so. You don’t need to get it right. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The aim is to just get the body moving and the heart rate up.
Any form of exercise is also beneficial to the mind because it helps you to concentrate. This can help us in other areas of our lives. It’s also a perfect way to train the brain to focus on a task at hand, which is also useful in other areas of our lives.
Exercise is also spiritually beneficial because, when we’re doing any activity for a prolonged amount of time, we reduce our stress levels, which in turn brings us more inner peace.
After a hot shower and my cup of tea, I snacked on a banana. That kept me going until lunch and provided me with a post-exercise boost.
For lunch, I made a fresh fruit juice consisting of:
1 medium grapefruit,
2 oranges,
2 mandarins,
2 tablespoons of soya protein
Between lunch and dinner, you can snack on any piece of fruit you like.
Dinner might be a vegetable platter - (if you’re a vegetarian or willing to try something simple)
It might be lean fish or lean meat (preferably grilled) with vegetables. Remember the golden rule of thumb is three quarters of your plate filled with vegetables compared to 1 quarter lean meat or fish.
The important thing with any detox or weight loss program is to treat each day like it’s the only day. Never think you’re in this for the long haul. You’ll never get there. A month, 3 months or a year seem like a very long time when you’re just struggling to get through the new eating patterns in one day. Yes, you will need to shop in advance. However, remember that you can’t eat what you don’t buy. So, shop wisely.
I try to only think about the one meal in front of me and never any further ahead. I find the more I think about food, the more I tend to obsess over it and the more I create an attachment to it. Then, I start to feel like I’m depriving myself and boom, my eating habits go all over the place.
By just taking baby steps, one at a time, slowly slowly we all eventually get to where we want to be.
Good luck to you all on your endeavor and remember you are not alone.
If you want to join in the discussion and be part of the group, please come and find me on Facebook.
The Mind, Body & Soul Group
For the detox, you need to reduce to a minimum, or cut out completely, sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, red meats, dairy and starches. Sorry, but when you’re doing “system spring cleaning” they have to go. Good news is, you can substitute dairy milk with rice, almond or soya milk. I like rice milk but prefer to make my own fresh almond milk. There are also many soya/tofu substitutes around for other mainstream foods. However, I would caution about going from one addiction to another. I’ve been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. It doesn’t work. It’s better to stick to fresh 95% of the time. I’m leaving 5% for “time out” moments.
So, when you get up in the morning, aim to drink a glass of water. Visualise it going through your system, washing it and eliminating any toxins.
A great kickstart morning breakfast (on a detox) - and one of my personal favorites is a freshly made vegetable juice with:
3 medium size carrots,
1 green bell pepper,
5 runner beans,
1 small sprig of parsley,
2 tablespoons of soya protein
You can drink plenty of green tea and water as well.
Then, to get your metabolism up you should do some exercising. Cardio is the best. Not only will it help you burn any unwanted “padding, ” you’ll continue to burn calories long after you finish working out. You should aim to do a minimum of 30 minutes. 45 to 60 minutes is ideal.
My favourite exercises are swimming, biking and jogging. Today, I went out on my bicycle for an hour (or so) and burnt a total of 1476 calories. That’s a lot of calories compared to what I might burn in the same time on a treadmill. Plus, I find the outdoors and the fresh air revitalizing for the senses. Before I went out, I drank 35ml of L-Carnatine just to give my workout a little bit of an edge. When I got back, I had another mug of green tea and plenty of water.
If you’re on a diet, you need to know that you have to burn 3500 calories to lose one pound. If you go on a bike ride 5 or 6 times a week, you can potentially burn 9000 calories a week. That’s little over 2lbs in weight, which is a healthy amount to lose per week.
If you want to seriously detox your system in a very powerful way, you could drink 35ml of ACAI berry juice in the morning.
Another thing I find helps with exercise is to find something you love to do, then you won’t think of it as a workout. There are some days when I feel like dancing, so I put on a Zumba video in youtube and dance like a crazy woman for 30 minutes or so. You don’t need to get it right. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The aim is to just get the body moving and the heart rate up.
Any form of exercise is also beneficial to the mind because it helps you to concentrate. This can help us in other areas of our lives. It’s also a perfect way to train the brain to focus on a task at hand, which is also useful in other areas of our lives.
Exercise is also spiritually beneficial because, when we’re doing any activity for a prolonged amount of time, we reduce our stress levels, which in turn brings us more inner peace.
After a hot shower and my cup of tea, I snacked on a banana. That kept me going until lunch and provided me with a post-exercise boost.
For lunch, I made a fresh fruit juice consisting of:
1 medium grapefruit,
2 oranges,
2 mandarins,
2 tablespoons of soya protein
Between lunch and dinner, you can snack on any piece of fruit you like.
Dinner might be a vegetable platter - (if you’re a vegetarian or willing to try something simple)
It might be lean fish or lean meat (preferably grilled) with vegetables. Remember the golden rule of thumb is three quarters of your plate filled with vegetables compared to 1 quarter lean meat or fish.
The important thing with any detox or weight loss program is to treat each day like it’s the only day. Never think you’re in this for the long haul. You’ll never get there. A month, 3 months or a year seem like a very long time when you’re just struggling to get through the new eating patterns in one day. Yes, you will need to shop in advance. However, remember that you can’t eat what you don’t buy. So, shop wisely.
I try to only think about the one meal in front of me and never any further ahead. I find the more I think about food, the more I tend to obsess over it and the more I create an attachment to it. Then, I start to feel like I’m depriving myself and boom, my eating habits go all over the place.
By just taking baby steps, one at a time, slowly slowly we all eventually get to where we want to be.
Good luck to you all on your endeavor and remember you are not alone.
If you want to join in the discussion and be part of the group, please come and find me on Facebook.
The Mind, Body & Soul Group
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
The Power to Transform is Yours!
99% of the time, what we believe is the product of other people's beliefs. Our entire belief system is based on beliefs our families have, the type of education we receive, the culture we find ourselves immersed in, the role we play in society and what is expected of us within that role.
Clinging too rigidly to beliefs can hold us back in life. It can stop us from progressing. It can prevent us from following our dreams. It can also stop us from understanding others who are different to us.
In order to understand others, communicate more effectively and aim for a world where there is peace, we first need to begin to understand ourselves.
By changing our beliefs, we can change our entire world. We can create the life we have always wanted and we can find happiness everywhere and in everything.
Check out my new book - On Sale Now!
The Power to Transform is Yours
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Mind Set Central Podcast 93
Let the controversy begin!
Episode 93 or the Mind Set Podcast is hot, really hot!
The topics tackled on this weeks show are sure to raise the blood pressure of any listener, well at least the human ones.
Topics of this weeks show are:
Satellite downfall
Satellite downfall
Satellite wars and EMP weapons
Israel to attack Iran?
Japan Princess Predictions
The Moon Mystery
Abortion
American Views and immigration
Until Next Week, Peace Out Humans!
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Mind Set Central podcast 92
After our break for the holidays, we’re back with the first Mind Set Central podcast of the year…. and boy oh boy … did we delve into some serious issues … Happy 2012 to all our listeners! Thank you for your support in 2011. We hope you’ll continue to support us in 2012.
The Mind Set Podcast: Episode 92
Topics discussed this week:
A Post Christmas Debrief
Alex Car Crash
Venerina’s New Book
Joe’s hiking Videos
2012 thoughts
Bad weather – Super Storm?
Man Made Disasters
Royal Murder?
Iran Nuclear Weapons
Xenophobic World View
Replaceable consumerism
Cattle Mutilation
A Jesus Candidate
Alex Visits the Magna Carta
Until Next Week, Peace Out Humans!
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