Raiders of the Lost Spark

The cedar tree expresses a great spiritual strength. The Egyptians used its wood to build the doors to their templates, so that its fragrance would stimulate the physic centres of the worshippers gathered within. It was with great interest that I read of this use in ancient times. I have been using a mixture of cedar wood (Cedrus atlantica) and sweet orange (Citrus auranthium) for quite some time, noting that it always had the particular effect of aiding my concentration and relaxing me. Therefore, I decided to create a blend with the goal of increasing my psychic abilities.

The oils I selected for my blend were cedar, as a base note, pine (Pinus sylvestris) as a middle note, orange as a high note, and lime (Citrus limetta) as a blend enhancer. I decided against using adding a specific blend equalizer because of the fact that orange and pine are already used as equalizers as they remove the edges and help the blend to flow harmoniously. In addition, they control the intensity of the most active ingredients. Cedar is also considered to be a blend enhancer, however, I decided to add a fourth oil to my blend to give a personal, non-overpowering touch. As enhancers should have a pleasant fragrance, I originally selected lemon (Citrus limonum) as my enhancer. Unfortunately, I discovered that I was out of lemon, and I settled on lime as my second choice.

I decided on canola oil as my carrier. It is light and odorless and penetrates the skin easily. Canola oil does not go rancid due to its high linoleic acid content. To the base, I added 5 drops of cedar (approx. 25%), 10 drops of pine (approx. 40%), 5 drops of orange (approx. 25%) and 2 drops of lime (approx. 10%). Creating the blend was a very pleasant and inspiring experience as I listened to one of my favourite CDs – David and Steve Gordon’s Sacred Earth Drums, putting me into a light meditative state. On initial inspective, the blend smelled appealing, but slightly “off”. I decided that the lime was too crisp and overpowering, and adding several more drops of cedar to bring it down.

Following the self-application of my blend, I felt calm, focused and mentally clear while working. I felt slightly more energetic – possibly due to the stimulating qualities of lime, and I was not feeling particularly stressed out or anxious due to the large quantity of work I had to accomplish. In applying my results to my original goal of “psychic enhancement”, the personal results that I experienced lend themselves to harder work, concentration and the ability to focus, and thus would have a direct impact on the ability to enhance manifestation, meditation, visualization, working with energy, or participate in a group ceremony or ritual.

Yoga doesn’t just benefit your muscle tone, mental state and emotional health, it can have a big effect on internal things you can’t see, but certainly can feel. There are numerous aspects of body chemistry that are impacted in a positive manner by yoga, including:

• Sodium – Prepackaged, canned and fast foods can be loaded with sodium. Yoga can help battle some of the bad effects of these foods that form a large part of many people’s diets. For even greater benefits, try doing yoga in a hot room, just make sure to rehydrate when you’re done.
• Glucose – The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a study in 2007 that suggested that yoga may alter or lower blood glucose levels, helping you more effectively keep them in a healthy range.
• Cholesterol – If you’ve got high cholesterol, yoga may be able to help by burning fat and improving your blood circulation. Additionally, The Buffalo Center for Integrated Medicine reported that yoga can help in lowering LDL cholesterol, due to the stress-lowering effects it has.
• Lymphatic System – Many people are only aware of their lymph nodes when they’re swollen and painful when they’ve got a cold or flu. At these times, the lymphatic system is doing what it was designed to do: boost your immunity. Many proponents of yoga recommend poses that invert or twist, that are supposed to promote lymphatic system strength.
• Endocrine System – Doing yoga regularly can help regulate and control hormones in your body, making you feel better physically and mentally.
• Vitamin C – Some studies have suggested that doing yoga actually causes your body to retain more vitamin C, boosting your immunity and offering many antioxidant benefits.
• Triglycerides – Having too many triglycerides in the blood can put you at a higher risk for a heart attack or high blood pressure. Doing yoga regularly, according to a study by the SP Medical College in India, can significantly lower your levels and keep you healthier.
• Red Blood Cells – When you don’t have enough red blood cells in the body you can feel run down and ill. Yoga has been shown to actually increase the number of red blood cells in the body, bringing more oxygen to your whole body and making you more alert.

Doing yoga regularly can have numerous benefits, even if you can’t see them immediately on the surface so consider adding it to your workout schedule or practicing it whenever you can.

This article was contributed by Meredith Walker, who writes about the online nursing programs. She welcomes your feedback at MeredithWalker1983 at gmail.com.

Ancient Toltec wisdom offers a powerful code of conduct to bring us freedom, happiness, and love

I’m not usually one for going to the theatre. I don’t value typical Hollywood movies enough to fork over the price of admission when I can simply wait for the DVD to be released. However, when a friend invited me to see Fierce Light in Vancouver last week, I jumped at the chance. Fierce Light (When Spirit Meets Action) – where spiritualism meets activism – is probably the best offering I have seen this far into 2009.