Inner Hierarchy

Listening with Your Heart 

Most of us were born and raised in cultures that value the head over the heart and, as a result, we place our own hearts below our heads in a sort of inner hierarchy of which we may not be conscious. What this means is that we tend to listen and respond from the neck up, often leaving the rest of our bodies with little or no say in most matters. This is a physical habit, which sometimes feels as ingrained as the way we breathe or walk. However, with effort and awareness, we can shift the energy into our hearts, listening and responding from this much deeper, more resonant place.

The brain has a masterful way of imposing structure and order on the world, creating divisions and categories, devising plans and strategies. In many ways, we have our brains to thank for our survival on this planet. However, as is so clear at this time, we also need the wisdom of our hearts if we wish to continue surviving in a viable way. When we listen from our heart, the logical grid of the brain tends to soften and melt, which enables us to perceive the interconnectedness beneath the divisions and categories we use to organize the world. We begin to understand that just as the heart underlies the brain, this interconnectedness underlies everything.

Many agree that this is the most important work we can do at this time in history, and there are many practices at our disposal. For a simple start, try sitting with a friend and asking him to tell you about his life at this moment. For 10 minutes or more, try to listen without responding verbally, offering suggestions, or brainstorming solutions. Instead, breathe into your heart and your belly, listening and feeling instead of thinking. When you do this, you may find that it’s much more difficult to offer advice and much easier to identify with the feelings your friend is sharing. You may also find that your friend opens up more, goes deeper, and feels he has really been heard. If you also feel great warmth and compassion, almost as if you are seeing your friend for the first time, then you will know that you have begun to tap the power of listening with your heart.

Great baseline laboratory test!
An overall view of your health.

If you aren't looking with an annual check-in and are serious about prevention you should consider this test. Get it through your doctor, your health care practitioner, your nutritionist or a knowledgeable trainer. Bottom line, you should know what this looks like annually.

Cardio Plus Special $29
This is a great offer!

Here is a description of the profile. DirectLabs offers testing directly to the consumer. You can order it by the end of the month (Sept 20X) and have the draw done within another 30 days or so. Again, this is a basic baseline.  ~jgirl

The process is simple.

1. Order the test online (see link below).
2. Go right to the LabCorp near your home or office once the requisition hits your email box.
3. Results are within 3-4 days. If you are unsure about reading the results a 30 minute phone or online consultation is available for $49.

Link for ordering: Cardio Plus - Sept Special - scroll down a bit on the page OR

Enter in search: CardioPlus-Sept Test of the Month

Description
CardioPlus Profile - Only $29 - (DLS Regular Price $45- Valued at over $280)
This is a great baseline laboratory test! An overall view of your health.

Tests Included:

• Glucose
• Uric Acid, Serum
• Bun (Urea Nitrogen)
• Creatinine, Serum
• Bun/Creatinine Ratio
• Sodium, Serum
• Potassium
• Chloride, Serum
• Calcium, Serum
• Phosphorous
• Iron, Serum
• Protein, Total Serum
• Albumin, Serum
• Globulin, Total
• Albumin/Globulin Ratio
• Bilirubin, Total
• Alkaline Phosphatase, S
• Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH)
• Triglycerides
• LDL Cholesterol
• GGT
• Cholesterol, Total
• HDL Cholesterol
• VLDL
• Total Cholesterol/HDL Ratio
• Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT or SGPT)
• Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST or SGOT)

Seeing Inside

Sight Versus Vision

Sight is the ability to see the physical world while vision is the gift of seeing beyond it.

When we look with our eyes, we see the physical world in so we can participate in it with knowledge. It brings us pleasure using our senses, which perceive the colors and shapes of all the myriad expressions of nature and human beings. It helps us feel in control, allowing us to see what is coming toward us, which way we are going, and exactly where we are standing at a given moment. We are able to read signs and books, navigate the interiors of buildings with ease, sense and perceive how a person is feeling by the expressions that cross her face.

As anyone who has lost their eyesight can tell you, though, there are things that are clearer when you cannot see the world through your eyes. One of the reasons you meditate pr pray with the eyes closed is because we automatically become more in touch with our inner world when we are not distracted by the outer world.

It is in this state that vision becomes our mode of seeing.

Vision comes from within and shows us how to navigate the realms of thought, feeling, and emotion. It enables us to see things that aren’t yet manifested in the world of form, and it also connects us to that part of ourselves that exists separately from the world of form.

As we age, even those of us with perfect eyesight will generally lose some of our acuity, but this loss is usually replaced with inner vision. This is the time of life when we are meant to turn inside and take what are sometimes the very first steps of a journey that cannot be traced on a map. We call upon intuition and feel our way along a path that ultimately carries us beyond the realm we can see with our eyes and into the land of spirit.

 Discover the Joy of Eating

•  Eat a variety of real foods – nutrient dense…meat, fish, eggs, nuts, roots, fruits and veggies!
• Chemical free –organic, bio-dynamic, less packaged
• Staple foods on hand – be prepared, meal & menu planning
• Choose good fats – rich in omega 3’s, essential fats EFA’s
• Healthy clean proteins – hormone, antibiotic & nitrate free…grass fed, pasture raised.
• Eat fresh, seasonal, local grown foods – right in your community!
• Relaxed eating – eat slowly and savor your meals… chew, chew, chew!!

 ~ it’s more than just food!

  

Put Some Brain & Some Brawn Into It!

When considering an exercise routine you have to consider training with weights. Olympic lifts, Dumbbells and Kettlebells. Yes, your other weights are valid and if they work for you USE THEM! But I promise I will forget to mention a few here or there so I am mentioning the ones that I regularly use for training.

Here's the key point! And completely in a nutshell.


Weight training is good for your brain. Period. It stimulates a neuroendocrineimmune response. There is a cascade of anabolic hormones that are released during training. Anabolic hormones are not only important to muscle development but for the nervous sytem and the even complex neurological function of your brain.


Don't just give your workouts some muscle but put your brain into it! Give it a strong message of longevity and vitality. It makes sense!


On the flip side...detrimental to good brain health is stress. This is the biggest hindrance in our society to higher cognitive frontal lobe functions. I see it in your scans ALL THE TIME!


If you are under stress your frontal lobes shut down and you become reactionary rather than reflective. This is the sympathetic nervous system overworking and the parasympathetic nervous system never getting a chance to engage. Having stress hormones constantly released can literally wear you out.


We were not built to be under constant stress. Physical, emotional or mental. So, take the appropriate rest and recovery time. That might mean a day off from exercise or even your lifestyle once in a while. Incorporate some strategies to lower or remove stress. There are many options that fit and that will be in a different blog post. In the meantime, work smarter, not harder and find joy in your choices!


Here's to a iron-clad opinion!~ jgirl

Levels of Action!

Just a quick tidbit on nutrients and a few levels of their actions~

Nutrients can effect the body at 4 degrees of action or levels.

1. A homeopathic level which is mildly stimulating to the neuroendocrine system.
2. A physiological level which is required by cells for growth and repair.
3. A pharmacological level where the nutrients forcefully stimulates a biological or neuroendocrine pathway.
4. And a toxicological level where the substance is in excess and overwhelms or poisons the cells or biological systems.