Wednesday, March 10, 2010

plenty to be grateful for

Proud to Sponsor


I recently was invited and am feeling so grateful to be able to sponsor a wonderful herbal event which will be held at the shambhalla institute in LA

www.shambhallainstitue.com



I am grateful for all that the universe has to offer and am feeling it's great love and energy daily, which it has stemmed partly from the wonderful out of season rain that we have been getting here in Phx,Arizona and the beauty of the desert that the rain has brought.

The wonderful blooms that I have in our flower garden and the healthy organic veggies that are growing in our other garden.

Spring is in the air and I am lapping up and enjoying every drop of it.

Is it often that we stop and think about all we really have to be grateful for?

Maybe for some, but not for everyone. It isn't always easy, I know that first hand but getting into the habit of it by daily journaling or prayer or how ever one chooses will work, and the more grateful you are the more you will have to be grateful for, others who see this in you will envy it and some may not understand it but it is our responsiblity to share it and to teach it... and if you don't have it then pretend to have it and it will come... that is just how it happens. :)

Monday, March 8, 2010

Own it, the Zen way.



I recently have acquired several books about and to do with the ZEN way, however with the book list that I have ahead of these books…. I won’t get to reading them for another couple of years.

I love books and always have, I have too many to read though and when I am overwhelmed with all the reading that is required in school and that I have put on my “to read for pleasure” list, I will not read anything that I am supposed to.

This overwhelming pattern of mine brought me to my magazine reading. I can get tidbits of my reading on subjects that I want but not have to worry about finishing a book to get the content in which I was wanting. These little magazine blurbs seem to fill my need for the moment until I can find the list of other books listed in the magazine in which I need to purchase in order to read. It is such a vicious circle!

One of the magazines that I truly feel inspired by is “Spirituality and Health” and in their March/April issue there is an article by Geri Larkin and she writes about “owning up” the Zen way.

She talked about her normal morning dog walking routine in their lovely home town of Portland, Oregon. This certain morning, Geri was groggy from about only six hours of sleep and on her way out the door grabbed her library book to take to the book drop during her morning walk. Her dog Bodhi decided once arriving at the library book drop that he was ready to make his morning poo and so he did. Geri was prepared, with a plastic bag she reaches down and picks up her dogs deposit and ties the bag shut and then placing the bag into the book drop, closing it, and then gasping to realize that in her hand was the book and in the drop were the droppings of her beloved dog Bodhi.

She goes on explaining the stages in which her emotions ran.

Stage one: OH, NO!

Stage two: I could get away with this, just walk away… no one can see you.

State three: Owning up.

This is where she mentions the old Zen koan embedded in her mind in which every morning a monk calls to himself: “Master! Master!” then he answers himself: “Yes” “you must keep clear” In other words, you must stay in the situation exactly as it is, and do what it needs you to do.
She needed to own up and that is what she did by calling the library when they opened and explained what she had done. Her reasoning was that if she hadn’t then she would have causes harm, by leaving the bag without notifying anyone she would have caused harm to the person opening the box and to everyone that that person would have told throughout that day. But by calling and explaining to the appropriate people what she had done, she had caused a great laugh to the person on the other end of the phone and to all that were there to share in the experience of the phone call.

How simple was that I ask myself? When owning up, good things come of it. Sometimes it is harder than you can imagine but the good that comes out of it is priceless.

I may have walked away that morning, not feeling like it was my responsibility and not thinking that it may harm others. Harming others by my actions is not something that I want to do and the next time I do something silly like this, I will give it an extra thought about how my action will affect the next person and I will make the ZEN choice.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Loving Oil of Ylang Ylang





Ylang Ylang comes from the tropical Asian Tree of the custard-apple family and is named Cananga odorata. It is a fast growing tree and regenerates itself quite rapidly when damaged.
The Cananga plant is native to the Philippines and Indonesia and is commonly grown in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia thriving on the humid tropical environments.
Ylang Ylang is a loving oil because it speaks to our Heart on many levels, perhaps on every level and especially with the love within ourselves for ourselves and others. It is a calming oil and not only helps normalize sebum issues by calming down over active sebum glands but also with hypertension and tachycardia.
Ylang Ylang harmonized with your soul, mind and Central nervous system… it is said to help control a fit of epilepsy by a simple inhaling of the fragrance at the onset of a seizure. It is loving and calming to premenstrual syndrome, insomnia and anxiety. It is told to help aid infections of the intestinal tract.
The loving oil of Ylang Ylang aids with self-esteem and self awareness, it opens the heart, the sensuous aroma of Ylang Ylang aids with depression, tension, stress, shyness, impatience, resentment and welcomes joy and warmth into your being and your surroundings.
I loved Ylang Ylang before I knew all these wonderful things about it. Before… before I was open to believing in the powers of nature, the power of aroma, the power of plants. What changed it for me was education, I had a teacher that used the word “wooji woo” to explain all the hippie like things, the things that somewhere in my life growing up I found to be ashamed of. The childlike belief of fairies and plants that spoke to you went away a long time ago… along with some hope and some dreams but all that is coming back to me and with the help of the plants.
I wish everyone who laughed or mocked the wisdom of plants would give in… give in to the desire to be like a child again and carry hope and love and forgiveness like children, we are growing up so fast and teaching our children to grow up so fast.. it is such a horrible shame and I am not above this… there have been times that I had to bite my tongue before I said to my daughter when she 9 or 10… “grow up”… why would I want her to grow up? I surely know now that I was foolish, she is 15 years old and way too grown up for me.
Now, I try to erase the pushing of her to grow up, I can’t erase anything though. However, I can introduce her to my knew understandings… this week it will be the understandings of Ylang Ylang, and if she will listen… then it will be a beautiful week.

Carrie ( Herban Chica)

* Ylang Ylang information was gathered from an article written by Robin Michaels called Ylang Ylang a loving oil. The article was found in FEB/MARCH article of the “Four Corners” magazine.