Blog at the Circle

Moving into the month of November brings a smile to my face.  It's always been a time of gathering with family and friends, enjoying great food together and celebrating the fall harvest. 

Here in the United States we honor the tradition of Thanksgiving - a time of giving thanks and being grateful for what we have.  And with Halloween signaling the beginning of the holiday season November is a time of shifting our focus to letting others know how much we appreciate them.

So the word of the month is... Appreciation - the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.  When the world is zooming all around us life can become very stressful.  With our focus on the problems at hand it's easy to spiral into a very uncomfortable place. 

But if you can catch yourself in worry, fear, anger, desperation and find something good in your life to focus on you'll shift the energy and move into a more comfortable emotional space.  It doesn't have to be a big thing - just something you see as having good qualities.  The beautiful blue sky, puffy white clouds, food you're eating, a pet.

In Reiki tradition the first of five Principles is the Attitude of Gratitude:

Just for today I will live the attitude of gratitude. 
I give thanks for my many blessings.

You don't have to be attuned to Reiki energy to adopt this as a morning, noon and evening affirmation.  It's a wonderful reminder to shift our focus to something we can be thankful for, that we are grateful for, or that we can appreciate in our lives. 

I appreciate YOU!  Thank you for trusting me with your spiritual well-being.

Share your November stories of appreciation with us here or on Facebook. 

Be present in the moment and enjoy the month!

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The benefits of yoga are extensive but trying to figure out the different types and what's right for you can be confusing. This comprehensive article by Lisa Richards describing the history, styles and benefits of yoga in easy to understand language.

To your health!

Yoga 101 - An Introduction to Yoga

http://www.thecandidadiet.com/yoga-101/

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October always makes me think of apples.  Fresh, crisp apples!  I know most of you are gearing up for cooler weather - unless you're in the southern hemisphere.  But here in Southern CA it's a time of year when Mother Nature plays tricks on us.  It's nice and Autumn-like one day then the winds come through the canyons the next day making for hot, windy, dry days.  It's not uncommon for us to get into the 90s this time of year! 

So the word of the month is... Adaptability - the ability to cope with the unexpected.  With so much change happening so quickly in our lives these days the ability to adjust our actions, reactions and behavior is essential.  It's easy to get thrown off balance when life throws us curve balls instead of what's expected.  And this seems to be happening to many of us a lot lately.

And here's the secret weapon I use to combat all that rapid movement and change:  The Centering Breath

Try to catch yourself when you feel overwhelmed by changes thrown at you.  Stop what you're doing for just a minute or two, close your eyes and take a few slow deep breaths - in through the nose, out through the mouth.  You can imagine a light coming down from above and moving straight through you to the center of the earth.  It is very stabilizing.  Or imagine a peaceful place like a garden or other beautiful nature setting.  Then remind yourself that, "It is what it is.  I know what to do."  And remember that you DO know what to do.  But you have to relax and let go of the resistance to see the new course of action. 

It takes some practice but stopping and resetting our reaction allows us to adapt to life's many unexpected events.  And if you live in Southern CA I recommend keeping both the summer and the autumn clothes handy!  Enjoy your October!

Share your October stories of adaptability with us here or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/OpenEndedCircle

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Posted by Shaklee's Dr. Jamie McManus on Apr 8, 2014

Helping the environment doesn't have to be that hard, in fact there many small things you can do that have a big impact.

Take a look:

1. Filter your own water: Since studies show bottled water is often no better than tap water, why would you waste your money and harm the environment by buying bottled water? Fossil fuels are wasted in the unnecessary production, manufacture, and transportation of bottled water. Once in a consumer's hand, it is estimated that more than 75 percent of these bottles end up in landfills. To ensure you are getting the best water your body needs, try filtering your own water; it is much cheaper and far healthier for you. I like sparkling water, so I've purchased a snazzy little device that adds CO₂ to my filtered water—and voilà, I have healthier, environmentally friendlier bubbly water!
2. Replace your bulbs: Both compact fluorescent bulbs and LED bulbs use much less energy than old incandescent bulbs (and save you money). LED bulbs have a very high up-front price tag, but have a lifespan of around 20 years. Imagine replacing a bulb and then not having to do it again for two decades!
3. Plastic bags: One-use, throwaway bags are a waste of energy and resources. Choose a few strong, reusable bags and put them in your trunk. It takes only a few times having to run out to your car to get those reusable bags for you to remember them every time.
4. Eat low on food chain: Even one meatless meal a week can help to reduce your carbon footprint. It has been estimated that it requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef and that cows contribute greatly to the greenhouse effect by producing large amounts of methane. Choose organically grown and pasture-raised meats when you do eat beef to reduce the amount of chemicals in the environment.
5. Plant: Every time you plant something, you help the environment. Consider growing your own garden this spring! Plant some pretty potted flowers in your backyard—and don't forget a little greenery inside your house. I try to have a plant in almost every room in my house. All this yard work is great exercise too!
6. Go paperless: Computers were supposed to usher in the era of the paperless society, but the opposite has happened. You can go paperless by paying bills online and avoiding bills sent to your house. Estimates are that paperless billing in America would save nearly 19 million trees, 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste every year. You can take it a step further by cutting out junk mail. There are many services that can help you get off mailing lists, try searching the Internet for a good company.
7. Buy locally: You cannot buy everything locally, but commit to as much as you can. The local food movement is growing and farmers markets are popping up all over. Even grocery stores are getting into the act by having part of the produce section devoted to locally grown foods. The estimates on savings are hard to determine, but it makes sense that buying an apple grown in your state is much less energy intensive than having it shipped from thousands of miles away.
8. Walk/bike: Think before you get in your car. Can your errand be combined with another trip? Can you use a bike or walk instead? Try committing to using public transportation once a week or once a month. According to the EPA, leaving your car at home just two days a week can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by an average of two tons per year.
9. Take your lunch: It may not seem obvious at first why brown-bagging it helps the environment, but eating out usually means a trip in a car, the use of containers, paper products, and plastic throwaway utensils. Most restaurant food is going to be less healthy and higher in calories than what you might bring from home, so this step is good for your waistline and helping the environment.
10. Clean cleaning: Harsh chemicals in most cleaners are not good for you or the environment. Chemical cleaners have been linked with many health issues, including skin rashes and asthma flare-ups.  Do yourself and the environment a favor and drop the chemical cleaners for earth-friendly versions.

Bonus tip: My best tip? Share these tips with your family and friends. It's amazing that some of the smallest, easiest steps like sharing a good tip or great result from a product are so easy to share and each little step leads to big changes / differences.

What do you do in your personal life to help the environment?

Be well!

Learn more about all natural Shaklee products at http://OpenEndedCircle.myshaklee.com - Living in harmony with nature.

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You do not have to spend hours sitting in silence for the benefits to be realized.  Starting with just five or ten minutes a day is enough to start.  The trick is training ourselves to be silent!  Our mind has a job to do and it is pretty good at it.  So the first thing you will notice when you sit down to be silent is it does not seem like you can stop thinking about things!  But it is not so much that we want to force ourselves to stop thinking, it is more a process of not paying attention to or dwelling on the thoughts.  Anyone who wants to can cultivate silence.  Like anything we learn, it just takes practice. 

Here are a few tips for cultivating your silence:

• Identify a quiet time that you can use each day to sit in silence ... like just before leaving for work or after work or at 10 am  ...  same time every day.  Whatever time works for you.

• Find a comfortable chair to sit in  ...  a chair is good to start with.  If you lay down you might just fall asleep  ...  but if you fall asleep in the chair, well that is ok too!  In the beginning you may think that you are falling asleep.

• Sit down with the intention of relaxing and meditating or sitting in silence the same time in the same place every day ... feet flat on the floor (or sit in the cross-legged position), hands resting comfortably in your lap.

• Close your eyes and start with slow deep breaths.  Breathe in through the nose, exhale through the mouth, imagining any stress or tension flowing out as you breathe out.  Relaxing your body as you breathe.

• Create a focus in your mind that you can always return your attention to like a blank board or a tree or even just focusing on your breath going in and out.

• When you catch yourself thinking about something, anything, just return your mind to your focus.

• Be gentle to yourself.  Catching yourself thinking a lot is the first phase of retraining your mind to relax a bit.

• The more you practice the same time, same place every day, the easier it will get.  Your subconscious will kick in and say "Oh!  It is that time and place.  Time to relax."  And it will get easier.  After a while you will be able to do it anywhere, even if there is noise around!

Enjoy your new inner peace! 

If you would like to learn more about sitting in silence meditation and the human energy system join us at one of our meditation classes!

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