Cross Crawl Technique

This is the Cross Crawl technique. You can do it sitting down or standing up- right knee touches left elbow and left knee touches right elbow in an exaggerated march. Do this exercise repeatedly for about a minute.

Cross crawl can improve concentration and help with coordination. It helps the neurological function of the brain by getting right brain and left brain to function more optimally, encouraging cross communication between the two hemispheres. This exercise allows the body's energies to cross over from one side to the other (which they should always be doing). This method is useful for children who have learning difficulties and for anyone who may be experiencing difficulty with concentration. Another great method for treating learning difficulties is a Body Talk method called "Balancing the Brain". You can use this daily for better concentration and for getting right brain and left brain to work together properly. Click here for more info: http://youtu.be/gWCz4jyN2iU

A Better World

As Karol Truman states in Feelings Buried Alive Never Die, "By becoming acutely aware of your own feelings and changing undesirable ones to desirable ones, you will be contributing to the establishment of a more humane and more genuinely caring society." This statement shows that our feelings and thoughts affect one another. Positive feelings and thoughts literally make the world a better place! It raises the state of human consciousness by creating a space in which peace can still exist.

Roses

Roses are known to be the highest vibration in nature, which carries the joy vibration. Roses are often equated with love and romance. Innately, we must know of this high energy vibration. Joy is the essence of who we are. It is our normal state of vibration. We remove ourselves from this joy when we are not in harmony with our true nature of being, creating a separation from our soul, which results in emotional and physical illness. The high vibration of roses connect us closer to our true selves. When someone receives a rose, they usually do so with a smile on their face. They are connecting to the vibrational state of JOY.

Soap Nuts

Soap Nuts are small berry like fruits that have been used for centuries in their native lands of India, Nepal, and other South Asian regions. The main ingredient in soap nuts is saponin, an excellent cleaning source that can be used to clean almost everything ranging from your clothes to your teeth!


Laundry Detergent: Boil 10-12 soap nuts in 6 cups of water for 30 minutes. This is the result. I have used it as laundry detergent. Add 3 tbls. of soap nut liquid to each load. Put the liquid in a jar with an air tight lid as there are no preservatives.

All-Purpose Cleaner: Put some of the soap nut liquid into a spray bottle and clean counter tops, floors, and sinks. I was surprised how great it works! Visit buysoapnuts.com for more info and recipes.

Carnelian

Carnelian is a stone that usually occurs in red, orange, or red-brown. It was a highly admired stone among Egyptian royalty. They would use the Carnelian stone in burials believing that it would help them transition to the afterlife. King Tut's burial mask was decorated with Carnelian. It is useful for work in the lower chakras as it can aid in increasing physical energy, personal power, and creativity. It is also a gentle grounding stone. Carnelian helps bridge your aspirations and current life path closer together. This is one of Luna Sol Girls' personal favorite stones!

Peace

Yesterday as I was driving to a seminar to learn Reiki Drumming, I started to pray... I was worrying about my spiritual progression and just started to question all of the things that I had been learning: Was I headed in the right direction? I told God that I needed a sign...
A few minutes after the prayer, I was getting off of the freeway and a white dove flew in front of my car. I turned around and took a picture. There were two white doves sitting in a tree. I didn't realize at the time that this was my answer! That is all that I needed, peace of mind.

Reiki Drumming

Drumming uses sound as a healing tool. Sound can change cells in the body at a molecular level based on the intention of the client. As Johnathon Goldman states in his book 7 Secrets of Sound Healing, "Intent is energy behind sound. It is the consciousness we have when making the sound which is then encoded upon it, travels on it, and ultimately is received by the person listening to it."
Sound healing is very powerful. It can aid in restructuring physical, emotional and mental issues by bringing the body's heart rhythm to a state of peace and relaxation.


Jacque and I are now trained as Certified Reiki Drumming Practitioners. Yay!!!

Presence

Eckhart Tolle states in his book The Power of now, "Presence is needed to become aware of the beauty, the majesty, the sacredness of nature. Have you ever gazed up into the infinity of space on a clear night, awestruck by the absolute stillness and inconceivable vastness of it? Have you listened, truly listened, to the sound of a mountain stream in the forest? Or to the song of a blackbird at dusk on a quiet summer evening? To become aware of such things, the mind needs to be still. You have to put down for a moment your personal baggage of problems, of past and future, as well as all your knowledge; otherwise, you will see but not see, hear but not hear. Your total presence is required."

Fair-Trade Chocolate

I was at lunch with a friend and she told me that children in Africa are forced to work on cocoa plantations without paid labor. 90% of these cocoa plantations, particularly on the Ivory Coast, use slave labor. As a chocolate consumer, I had no idea that this was happening. I am sharing this because I cannot accept such deep human suffering. I am now committed to buying fair-trade chocolate (which you can buy at Trader Joe's or your local health store) as it does not enforce unfair labor. CNN currently has a Freedom Project to end modern day slavery.

To learn more, click here:
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/06/the-dark-side-of-chocolate/

Self-Portrait

This is a self-portrait created by my 4 year-old. I love this picture! It made me ask the question: When you look into the mirror, what do you see? Do you see a positive image, or is it difficult to look because you are concentrating on all of your faults and imperfections? We sometimes have distorted images of who we are that are triggered by our beliefs and life's experiences.

What I know is that we are not our life's experiences. We are quick to make judgments that are based on inaccurate perceptions alone about who we think we are. See the beauty within and you will find your true self, your spirit self.

The Secret Life of Water

Masuru Emoto, A Japanese scientist has written a book, The Secret Life of Water. He captures water molecules at the point of freezing and tells their story: Water molecules hold thought patterns. In other words, our thoughts and words affect the structure of water. He has shown that "Thank you" creates a beautiful pattern while "you idiot!" created chaos- the water molecules appeared stifled. Pictures are taken before during and after prayer. The change is remarkable with the end result again forming a beautiful pattern. My favorite experiment was with the word "happiness". The water crystals formed a perfectly symmetrical crystal that was very balanced, while "unhappiness" was faint and weak only partially formed. Emoto believes that"unhappiness is not the opposite of happiness-it's what we experience on the way to happiness."

My point is that our words carry power. Do we create words of harmony or disharmony? Imagine how our own bodies respond to words knowing that we are composed of 70% water.....

Limitless Potential

If our beliefs match one grain of mustard seed, we can command the elements to change and shift. How amazing is that? Doubt will always keep us from our goals and dreams, as it is a very low vibration. The universe will respond and act accordingly, by just believing anything is possible.

We then become part of our limitless potential.

Four Thieves Blend

Legend has it that during the 14th century in Europe during the Black Plaque, four thieves would rob the people who had died of this terrible disease. The Black Plague was highly contagious and the four thieves never got sick. They were brought before judges to be killed. They wanted to know why they were not getting the disease. The thieves' lives would be saved if they shared their secret. Here is our version of the magical blend:

This oil can be used on the body or in a lotion. We used a 1 oz. cobalt blue dropper bottle to put our mix in. It is important to use a carrier oil as a base. We used Vitamin E moisturizer (from the dollar store) or you can use Jojoba oil. Fill this oil to the shoulder of the dropper bottle. Next, add: 2 drops Rosemary oil, 2 drops Eucalyptus oil, 2 drops lemon oil, 2 drops cinnamon oil or 2 chunks of cinnamon bark, 2 drops clove oil or 5 whole cloves.

To use this blend on the skin, we recommend that you purchase a bigger bottle and put the carrier oil in as a base and put a few drops in of the blend we just made in because essential oils are very strong. This will mellow out the blend. You can use it as a massage oil or if you are congested, you can rub it in the congested area. Our "Four Thieves" You Tube video will be out shortly!

How to Preserve and Dry Flowers

This is a mixture of dried lavender and dried rose. It smells great and is perfect for sprinkling in letters or adding to bath salts or making in candles. Here is our You Tube video tutorial:

Vision Boards

My daughter and I just made vision boards. They are a great way to visualize your goals and manifest your dreams. They plant a seed for your desires trusting at some point they will grow and manifest. Vision Boards are congruent with the Law of Attraction which states that what you put out will grow and multiply back to you! We started by cutting out magazine pictures and pasted them on to a large poster board. Remember to create only positive associations to what you want. This is a fun project!

Laga Designs

Another amazing Mother's Day present given to me by my mom. This wallet was made by survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. Making these handbags, has given victims a place of peace and refuge. It also gives them a livelihood.
Click here:www.laga-handbags.com for more info.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, my husband gave me this present. I love that it is wrapped with recycled paper and that it has sage on it...





I love it!!! It is a hand purse made from recycled aluminum tabs that women in Brazil hand stitch together. This is the amazing result...



To learn more about these bags and how they are made,
click here: www.escamastudio.com

How to Harvest Herbs

Here are some herbs, Sage and Basil. You can also use Rosemary, Lavender, etc. To harvest these herbs, simply pinch on the plant where there is an area of new growth and pull. Once you have picked these herbs, they will need to dry in a cool, dry spot for about two weeks. Never put herbs in direct sunlight as they will loose their flavor and color.


To dry, put each group of herbs separately into a brown paper bag. For example, one bag for Sage, another for Basil, etc. Mark each bag with what herb it has and when harvesting took place. Cut bag out on sides (triangle shapes are easiest). However, not too big or herbs will fall out.

After herbs are dry, put them separately into jars. If you do not have pretty looking jars, you can use anything like a spaghetti jar and spray paint the lid black. The herbs- (like the basil in the picture), can be kept in full pieces or chopped in a food processor, or crushed by hand...

ENJOY!

Finger Labryinths

Labyrinths are one of the oldest transformational tools to humanity. They are used as an ancient symbol of healing and for connecting the mind body and spirit. Research from Harvard Medical School has shown that walking meditations greatly reduce anxiety and stress. Labyrinths balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain and balance the masculine and feminine energies in our bodies. They represent life's journey, the journey to the soul. There is only one way in and one way out. Finger labyrinths are an amazing tool to relieve stress. You can download one here:

labyrinthsociety.org/download-a-labyrinth/

Mandalas

Mandalas are a symbol of wholeness and that is why we are attracted to them because they are the core of who we are and what we are. As Lori Bailey Cunningham states in her book, "The mandala appears in all aspects of life: the celestial circles we call earth, the sun, moon, as well as conceptual circles of friends, family and community." It is about completeness.

Many cultures use the mandala as part of a meditation. It centers the body and clears the mind. The mandala bridges a connection to ourselves and the world around us by creating awareness of what we are and who we are.

A few days ago, my daughter and I colored mandalas. Coloring these mandalas was very therapeutic and relaxing. It is a great way to get into a meditative state and forget about the woes of the past and the worries of the future. I was in the moment just enjoying this "coloring meditation" and remembering my current state of wholeness.