Living the Happy Life

by ClareShale Mountain Star

That heartwarming feeling you get when you help another, even just holding the door for a stranger, is connected to a deep place within your very humanity. As it turns out, scientists are discovering that humans share the impulse to help with chimpanzees, our closest genetic animal friends – and that impulse is connected to a well-researched brain hormone.

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Recently I watched a small segment of the PBS series The Human Spark (hosted by Alan Alda, yessss!). The video clip shows an experiment designed to compare the altruistic response present in chimps and human 18 month-old infants.  As you can imagine, the cute factor is quite high! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8rKKp-vP0

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Basically what they found is that both humans and chimps will go out of their way to help another. Felix Warneken at the Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology sums it up well: “Potential altruistic motivation to act on behalf of others is something that is shared between chimps and humans, and therefore something that maybe was already a characteristic of our common ancestor.”

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There are many reasons I can think of that this makes so much sense. Being of support for others is simply what being in community is all about. We are a social species and the well-being of those around us directly affects our own well-being.

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Another super-cool factor in this realm is the hormone that helps us build trust: Oxytocin, also called the “cuddle” hormone.

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This hormone is released during important social occasions such as communal meals, breastfeeding, parent/child bonding time, physical contact with other beings (humans and animals) and not surprisingly during moments of altruistic behavior.

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It is actually possible to increase your oxytocin levels by being generous! Check out this article for more info: http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?type=article&article_id=218393041

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There’s a bit of science for your day.

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Here’s a fun exercise to try:

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The next time you are feeling anxious, stressed out or frazzled, you may be in need of a dose of oxytocin! If you can, get yourself into a cuddle situation as quickly as possible. If animal or human friends are not close by, try letting someone go ahead of you at the store, holding the door for a stranger or even making a donation to a trusted non-profit.

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What are your favorite ways to connect? Let us know if this exercise is helpful for you in bringing you through to a state of Trust in the universe.

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Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Manifest Your Dreams

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

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LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

Quietude in Music

by Astra Spider

It can be seen as ironic that one of the things that brings me to stillness is music. Logically, music is the opposite of quiet – as it is made up of sound.

Energetically, however, everything is energy and has energy – including “quiet”!

And being brought into the energy of quiet allows for dreaming – and dreaming allows for creating – and music is one of the most innately creative things made by a soul.

So, intuitively, it doesn’t surprise me at all that the mesmerism of certain melodies often brings me deepest into the sound of silence.

A song which pops instantly to mind when feeling into the stillness of music is “Pandora” by the Cocteau Twins.

Listening to Pandora brings me directly into a state of feeling lightly blanketed by a sprinkling of snow in afternoon sunlight – only it is not a cold snow. It is tepid, healing, perfect; the illumination of the sparkle of each flake echoing through the mirrors of my soul.

This song performs a Soul Retrieval (a form of shamanic healing) on me each time I allow myself to fully relax into the harmonizing care of its trance.

I am snow. I am silence. I am the sun.

What brings you into your state of stillness?

Love,

Astra

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Manifest Your Dreams

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

Being Myself in a World Full of Magic

by ClareShale Mountain Star

I emerge from bed at 6:45, and then it’s a two-hour dance of love bringing my children from home state of mind to school state of mind. From there my day unfolds in such a large variety of ways, each day of the week being different from the next, each week holding its own magic. It feels like my life is a grand and glorious improvisational aerial dance, complete with a flying trapeze (and safety nets of course, lots of them!).

This feeling, that my life is an aerial dance, began to emerge over this past summer and has been increasing in intensity and duration since then. I am still in observation mode, not sure I totally understand it yet, not sure if I like it or want it to dissipate. Can I attribute this to planetary shifts or is it simply a phase of life? Maybe both?

This new “dance” energy does feel important for me to master somehow – its lessons extend beyond the wisdom I am gaining from raising a family, strengthening my community and enjoying my career. My intuition tells me that the particular muscle I am being called to develop right now is: Faith. Faith in myself. Faith in the perfection of what IS. Faith that all my needs will be met in all situations if I follow my intuition, love myself enough to set and stand in clear boundaries, and follow the bright light of what brings me true JOY.

I have, out of necessity, begun to intentionally strengthen my Faith in the grand directors of this aerial dance, who I’m pretty sure are my own spirit in close cahoots with the mysterious workings of the Universe. I am finding that in order to move forward, I must trust that the platform will be there when I release my grip and fly through the air, grabbing lunch and dry cleaning as I gracefully twirl onto my feet. Sometimes I perform beautifully and gracefully, not missing a beat. Of course, there are also those days when I completely miss my cues and end up all turned around; but that’s the learning process in action, I suppose.

I so appreciate you taking the time to walk through this with me. I know that we are all connected in ways I don’t totally comprehend, so it is highly probable that you have danced though the air in your own life as well. I welcome your feedback and would love to hear about your experience!

ClareShale

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Manifest Your Dreams

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

A Deep and Abiding Love for Bees and Raw Honey

ClareShale speaks from the heart:

When contemplating the bees and enjoying the feeling of being present in gratitude for all that they do for us, many spiritual truths are brought to life.

In choosing just one to focus on today, what comes to mind is – Abundance.  

We see Abundance demonstrated in the perfect way that bees collect their sustenance in beauty, from beauty; fully connected in community, individually brilliant and powerfully self-directed.

The bees’ gift to the earth is the propogation of green life. Their gifts to humans and animals are many and complex; however perhaps their most delicious gift is the production of the miraculous and magical: honey.

If you and I were to sit down and chat, it would only be a matter of time before I started talking about the many uses of raw honey. I might even share with you a story of how I used honey to cure my child’s sore throat overnight!

In the spirit of preparation for our future chat, let me share with you some awesome facts….Did you know that:

* Raw honey contains anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. 

* When collected from local sources, consuming raw honey can decrease symptoms of seasonal allergies as it introduces pollen to the human body in small amounts helping to gently accustom the body to what might otherwise cause a more intense reaction.  

* Raw honey has helpful bacteria (probiotics) that support human and bee health while decreasing the presence of harmful bacteria.

* Raw honey can be used as a cough suppressant, immune system stimulant, dressing for wounds, promotes excellent blood sugar control and is just super-yummy.

* Note – cooking or heating honey lessens or completely destroys these awesome qualities – it’s totally worth it to purchase the raw honey from your local farmer’s market. Let me know if you want support finding a good source!  

Enjoy this quote from fellow honey enthusiast:

‘ “Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best –“…and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.’

Bringing in What’s All Around

by ClareShale Mountain Star

This New Year is bringing fresh hope to so many people – it seems as though everywhere I turn I see big plans, new adventures and revitalization. With each of these newly seeded visions comes an opportunity to engage with life’s boundaries once again. All over the world people are feeling, stretching and confronting what they had perceived as possible. They are preparing their vision seeds for germination by expanding their reality to include what once was unimaginable.

Here are a few 2012 visions that I have heard so far: People are inviting health into their bodies by giving up watching television, going to bed earlier, eating pure foods. People are starting brand new business ventures, expanding their existing businesses and changing fields completely. People are starting new families, having children and re-committing to their partners. Wow! That’s just a small portion of the people I know.

What is it that you want to create this year? What visions are ready to blossom and grow within you this time around the sun? Are you ready to open to deeper levels of Love? Relationship? Integrity? Health? Wealth? Contentment? What seeds have been planted in your mind?

As you orient yourself to the future – dreaming and creating the wonderful things you intend – do you have a sense of unlimited possibility? Do you feel the unique intelligence of all that exists within you? How about the universal abundance that exists in the world “outside” of your mind, emotions and body? The coming together of these forces are part the miracle of vision-manifestation – just as the coming together of seed, water, warmth and soil are part of the miracle of Life.

Your vision has its own intelligence, just like a seed, and has been kept safe inside your soul within its protective outer layer until conditions proved just right. Your vision-seed knows that outside of that protective layer you will find an abundance of all that is needed to grow and thrive.

Perhaps you have already broken through that outer layer, and are finding that opportunities for growth and success are indeed abundant and surround you continually. Or, perhaps you are finding that breaking through is a challenge for your mind – you wonder, is it really possible? Does what I need to thrive and be happy really exist in the world?

The truth is that you have your own specific vision because you are ready. If you are coming up against a limit that feels impossible to overcome (like that outer protective layer for the seed), it is a good sign that you are about to take on a new challenge and grow in ways that will ultimately support the future success of your vision-seed.

Opportunities for growth and newness present themselves on a daily basis. It is through identifying and willingly engaging with these special moments that your consciousness expands and breaks through to new levels of possibility, thereby creating your vision seed as a viable part of our beloved world.

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Congratulations and a big thank-you to all of you who are willing to nurture and hold your visions for the future. Bringing life to what is within you is truly the most important work of all. I wish you unlimited growth and success in all your endeavors this year.

ClareShale

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Manifest Your Dreams

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598