This subject is not to be taken lightly. 

Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that at the end of this

"financial crisis" life will return to any past image of "normalcy".

It will never be the same.  Global change is not going to reverse.

Fossil fuels, which have been the engine driving our luxurious,

extravagant lifestyles are not going to define our future--not if we

are to survive.  Even if we do discover small pockets of ancient

sunlight remaining underground, we have discovered that it is

poison.  It poisons the earth, the air, the water, and our bodies.

Not being the same doesn't spell disaster.  It can as easily

produce a future far grander than we can now imagine.

We have been enculturated into believing that more is better,

bigger is better, that to climb the ladder of success means to

accumulate "stuff" and accolades, and figures on pieces of paper.

Just because society has taught us something does not

necessarily make it so.

Stop a while.  Get quiet.  Go into your heart and listen there.

What is it that we all want?  No, not that nice house or new

dress, or more money.  What do we truly want?  We all want

happiness.  Our error has come in allowing others to determine

for us what happiness looks like.  We all know how quickly the

luster wears off new things.  There is always the "next new

thing"--and its' shine wears off just as quickly.  Stop and look

at one of the "toys" you bought a while ago.  How does that

"feel"?  Inside.

Now recall the smile that lights a childs face when you arrive

home after being gone.  Recall how your dog wags his entire

body in greeting.  Recall that glorious sunshine after days of

rain (we've just had a few:>).  Feel your heart now.  It's

different, isn't it?  Happiness is an inside job.  It comes from

feelings of love and true appreciation and wonder for what is.

I believe there will be a time, in our not-too-distant future, when

goods and products which are produced at large distances will no

longer be available to us.  We will no longer be able to run to

Walmart to replace any small item, regardless how necessary it

may seem to us; when our food will necessarily be what we can

grow and raise locally. 

Do not believe the media.  They have gotten us here.  Their only

job is to sell us to the highest bidder (advertiser).Let us become

independent and think for ourselves.  Let reality and our feelings 

determine what we see and do. 

This future can be filled with wonderful times as we renew our

relationships with both the land and our fellow creatures (we may

eat less meat:>)--and  perhaps even get to know our neighbors.

Any of us who have made any attempt to transform ourselves or

our lives, knows that it is long-term, challenging and ultimately 

truly satisfying.  It is the journey where the fun takes place, and

not an end goal, that is in our sights daily.

I broke my neck in an auto accident ten years ago.  I had been

divorced for one week to the day.  I had no adequate medical

insurance.  But it wasn't the accident or the injuries that brought

my life to an about face.  It was two years later, when I lost the

job I had been doing for the previous fourteen years.  I'd lost my

partner, my health, and my livlihood--my reason for being.......my

Mother used to say that things came in threes!  It was then that

I stopped and questioned myself and my life.  And I learned that....

I have thoughts.  I am not my thoughts.

I have feelings.  I am not my feelings.

I do things.  I am not what I do.

I am the Consciousness in which my thoughts, feelings and

actions show up.

This is lesson number one on our Journey.  It takes constant

remembrance, especially in the beginning.  It gets easier over

time.

Therefore, let us pause here and practice Lesson #1.  It is one of

the most important lessons we will ever learn, and much depends

on it.  It may seem esoteric, yet its' practical implications, as

you shall see, are endless.

"When you are aware that you are the force that is Life,

anything is possible.  Miracles happen all the time, because

those miracles are performed by the heart.  The heart is

in direct communion with the human soul, and when the

heart speaks, even with the resistance of the head,

something inside you changes;  your heart opens another

heart, and true love is possible." 

(Don Miguel Ruiz)

  

***Heartmath takes us to the core of our Being.***

http://www.macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com 

 

One World, One Consciousness--that is Love.

This is one of my all-time favourite quotes from Einstein.  I think

it is particularly relevant to this time.

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us "universe", a

part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his

thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest...

a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion

is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires

and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task

must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our

circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the

whole of nature in its beauty."

I am thrilled that Barack Obama has been elected.  However this

is not the end of our work as his supporters, it is the beginning.

So, what do we do now?  How do we learn to live sustainably?

What we must do is to bring about real and meaningful, lasting

change in this world.  It begins at home.  It begins within.

--Since 1960, thirty percent of all wild animals on earth have

vanished, almost one-third. 

--In the last 24 hours, 50,000 to 60,000 people have died of

starvation around the world (about 30,000 of them, children). 

--In the last 24 hours 100 species have gone extinct.

--In the last 24 hours at least one-quarter million acres of rain-

forest have been destroyed.

--In the last 24 hours at least ten million tons of highly toxic

waste, not landfill, have been realeased into our air and our

waters and our soil. 

And yet, I am hopeful.  I am hopeful because if this young man

has been willing and able to raise himself to the height of

President of the strongest nation on earth by organizing from the

grass roots up, which he has done, who am I not to offer my

small share to support our dreams?

Obama has spoken about "greening" our economy.  That would

satisfy two of our major problems--employment and our

dependence on outside sources for energy.  What can we do to

contribute to this aspect of the plan?  How can we support him in

this endeavour?--and how can we push it forward? Van Jones has

written a fantastic book on the subject, "the Green Collar Economy".

I am hopeful too, because New Hampshire has voted a majority of

women into its House seats.  I'm not saying this as a "sexist". 

We have learned that it is not the agricultural revolution, nor the

use of oil, or availability of food that has caused this population

explosion in one "tribe".  What modern sociologists have found is

that, in those cultures where women have relatively equal power

to men, there's a flip that happens and it'll very often happen in

a single generation, where population goes to replacement and no

more.  It happens regardless of access to technology and its

regardless of access to wealth.  

How do we heal from the wounds our country and our world has

suffered?  And how do we provide for all while living this life that

restores us and our earth to Wholeness? 

One could say that the most powerful movement in the world

to stabilize population, to diminish, reduce, hopefully even

reverse the destruction that we're doing to the planet;  the

most powerful movement for human rights, for civil rights, for

the rights of life on this planet, is the women's movement.

The future is not going to be like the past.  It cannot be.  We

must face reality.  It would take four planet earths to provide

the natural resources to make all the things for the standard of

living that we, here in the US, consider the poverty threshold.   

Our work has only begun--but we will learn the lessons we must

and we will walk this Path toward Wholeness together.  I know

of no tools and techniques more applicable to these challenges

we face today than those offered within the Heartmath system.

With Heartmath we traverse the path all the way from defining

our true, core values to learning to live in this world of stress

and tribulations happily, peacefully and honourably within those

values.

--More than 70% of Americans want national health care.

--More than 90% of Americans want clean air and food.

--More than 90% of Americans want to know the country of origin

of the food we eat (GMO free etc).

--More than 60% want a structured social safety net that includes

unemployment insurance and strong social security, retirement

and pension programs.

These are not policies from the "left", we're centrist, we're the

majority.  We must learn to live in the world, not to occupy it.

Please come visit me at:

http://www.macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com

and let's talk about Heartmath.  We all have a part to play. 

We all count and together "yes, we can..........."

There's only one.  We are all a part of that One.

Peace Day 2008!!

Well, how are we doing folks??  Peace Day '08--are we all feeling

more peaceful than in '07?

Peace begins at home.  It begins within and radiates outward.  If

there is not peace in your heart--and mind--then you cannot

purport to give, or teach, or share, what you do not have. 

We can only try to understand others by questioning our own

attitudes and feelings!  Understanding is something you reach

for; understanding is a process, it's a great search that we never

fulfill.

Peace, to me is like "being".  It is something one does every day.

I don't think I'm the only one that did not just suddenly wake up

one day infused with nothing but peace and love.  It was, and is

a journey for me.  I am more peaceful and loving than I was ten

years ago--but I'm not there yet.   I'm not even sure that there is

a destination--during this lifetime:>)  So I work on it every day

and every once in a while I actually notice that I am different

than I was previously.  It does take more to "get to me" and I

can sit back and remain calm in circumstances that might at

another time caused me to "lose it" entirely.

I had meditated for a number of years before I really moved from

meditating "in my head", with or without my thoughts, to truly

resting in my heart--where true peace is born and resides.

Learning and studying Heartmath helped me through that

transition.

Now, knowing that we cannot remain "in peace" while living

behind the walls we build to protect our "I's", and knowing that

we are in a dire situation where we must begin to replace those

"me" thoughts with "we" thoughts, I'm going to return to my

rather lengthy--as it's turning out--story about Our Planet.

We have an imperative before us--we're either facing a new

period of enlightenment and it's a new Renaissance, or

we're facing a new Dark Age.  And the choice is up to us and

we've got to hurry--and that means we have to be informed. 

There is a tremendous lot for us to educate ourselves about

however and that takes time and most often words.......

Join me at:

http://www.macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com

for some Heartmath.   Moving from your head to your heart is

without any doubt the very best gift you can give to yourself or

to the world...........and this is

Peace Day 2008!

The Swiss consume the equivalent of 5 global hectares to

maintain their lifestyle.  In the US we use 9.5!!   Do the Swiss

live lives only half as good or nice as ous?  Don't think so, they

just live differently.  It doesn't mean the end of progress or the

end of civilization it just means making some simple, easy to

incorporate lifestyle changes.

Realism in the US needs to change from "how little we can do"

to "what we need to do"........and for all of us to do all the

little things!

--use less plastics

--drive when it's necessary, not "for fun"

--eat less meat, and only good quality, well-raised meats

--buy locally grown and manufactured goods

--keep an eye on your thermostat

--&--change those silly light bulbs!!

I spoke about our furry and scaly friends, now I'll speak about

our food.

Our collective actions have massive impacts.  We have become

completely dependent on high-tech farming, which produces food

of much lower quality.  Our use of artificial fertilizers force feeds

crops to produce rapid growth while the "food" is drowning in

pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.

"By the end of the century we are promised a dazzling new world.

A world in which man will be in control of his environment."  (Dow

Chemical ad/promo)

Man has been involved in agriculture for some 11,000 years.  More

than half of that had been done by hand--horses, mules etc.   In

the 1950's we went through the "great acceleration" with

increased nitrogen fertilizer, increased fossil fuel burning, intense

land use changes and globilization of the economy and agriculture.

Earth's biosphere is becoming more homogenous making it more

similar and destroying bio-diversity.

We lose relisiance in systems when we make them simpler.

Transorming the surface of the earth to nono-cultures (Freudian

slip?? "no-no cultures?  Of course meant to be "mono-cultures) 

creates extreme vulnerability........and...........

.....half the world's people (about 3 billion) live on less than

$2.00 per day and depend on biodiversity for their survival.

They depend on the services that Nature provides--that we

are destroying.

It is ensuring that these, the poorest, most vulnerable people on

the planet have the right kind of options so that they can have

access to the things that make life better for them--the things

that protect their natural environment.  That's at issue here.

For those who think the world is getting better, go live in a small

remote village in the Amazon, Zambia or Madagascar--then report

back to me.

Third-world poverty is a luxury we can no longer afford.

As the economy expands, we get more houses, cars, boats, and

it costs in terms of tearing up the ecosystem.  We get less

services from forests as we cut down their trees.

This shows us the difference between sustainable and

unsustainable growth.  Take for example, the Aral Sea, or Lake

Chad, the Dead Sea or Jordan River in Israel where the form of

economic development focused on cotton production which

totally destroyed the environment and ultimately also, the cotton

production, and the area is now left with a total desert, a poison

desert filled with pesticides, DDT and so on.  The tragedy that's

occuring at the Dead Sea is that the Dead Sea is disappearing.  In

the last 50 years we've lost one-third of the Dead Sea, we've

diverted the water primarily for agriculture in the belief that we

could turn what is a desert into a "bread basket".

Since 1991 not a drop of water has flowed out of the Sea of

Galilea.  Instead of water flowing into the lower Jordan, what

now flows into the Jordan is sewage.  What used to flow into the

Dead Sea no longer flows.  There has been a drop of 25 meters

in depth to where the Dead Sea is today.

When we lose that habitat, we lose the wildlife, unique

ecosystems and oasis that Nature has given us.  They are being

lost.  You don't need to be Jesus anymore to cross the waters.

The waters have gone!

Two-thirds of all major rivers no longer reach their mouth.

We don't know the number and the interplay between species, or

what really contributes to the Earth's systems.  We don't know

which species or groups of species are the really important ones,

or how many species we can lose before we have really big change

in the functioning of the planet.

So, until we truly understad how ecosystems play together to

make the whole system function, it would be exceedingly

dangerous to identify organisms and to say "gee, that's not

really important".

We don't know which species we can safely lose with regard to

the functioning of the planet, and which ones really matter.  This

is the biggest decision humans have made since we've crawled

out of our caves and begun to alter the face of the Earth in a very

adverse fashion that will persist for millions of years. 

Do we really know what we're doing?  NO!!  But, we're moving

ahead as though we totally know--and we don't.

It is not rocket science.   It has been said that, "the best of

sustainable design is merely the cessation of stupidity"....just

not wasting something when you can avoid it.

Unfortunately, here in the US we've had two decades of stalled

tactics and devisive debate.  In Europe the debate is really just

two sides:  everyone who agrees there's a crisis they really

need to act on--and the people everyone agrees is wrong.

Reflect back to what I said in the beginning about the Swiss vs.

American lifestyles.  The best innovative work is being done in

Northern Europe.  There are a number of places, especially in the

Netherlands and Scandanavia where they're committing all

initiatives for renewable energy, where they're re-inventing their

transportation systems, re-designing their cities, doing truly

remarkable work. 

They are committing themselves to dramatic reductions in their

environmental impact.  Sweden's official goal is to become a

carbon neutral nation--while we're still stuck in denial!

And to leave you on a beautiful thought for Peace Day, 2008, let

me tell you about the "landmine detecting flowers"---in the

presence of some of the nitrogens that come out of landmines as

they decay, their blooms turn from white to red so you know

there's a landmine.  When there are hundreds of millions of

landmines scattered all over the world that we don't know where

they are, blowing people up, killing them....let's have bunches of

bright red, beautiful blossoms instead! 

--how cool is that?  Defeat a really bad, old technology,

landmines, with a really cool, beautiful, natural technology--

flowers!

On Peace Day, 2008 let me leave you with my own challenge.

How should I spend my time on this earth?

Each and every one of you can make a difference.  Do the little

things.

There are 195 countries in this world but there is only ONE

World.

This luxury phase for humanity is now over.

http://www.macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com

--where we maintain our well-being and put that money from

medical costs to better use.

--where we find ways to promote happiness and peace from the

place where it begins, in the heart of every one of us, and let

that love and good health radiate out from us to the world.

Sandi--wishing you a lovely, joyous and peaceful Peace Day '08

 

Deepak Chopra

Obama and the Palin Effect

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national

psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly

illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the

Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she

outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given

her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her

state ofAlaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of

governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By

comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck

has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes

deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding

his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In

psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out

of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we

are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and

suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those

feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach

for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an

unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play

out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor

widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that

psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public,

but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand

Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing

call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a

higher vision. 

Look at what she stands for:

--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty,

small-minded parochialism.

--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair

America's image abroad.

--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for

social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be

heeded.

--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these

issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.

--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.

--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption

and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your

ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has

been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that  

minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types,

can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is

a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all

right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of

course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time.

She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing

forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are

millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however

obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have

won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear,

rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The

shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess

a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two

forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive

appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov.

Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming

debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose  

smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have

brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what

we are getting, without disguise.

And for a few words of my own.  We truly must learn to listen to our

hearts;  to go within, discover our own, true core values and live

from this stance.  It takes a level of self-awareness that many of us

don't yet possess and it takes courage to stray from the societal

standard we've been enculturated with.

I don't mean our social "values", the norms we use to measure our

"success" in this materialist society we inhabit--the size of our home,

or bank accounts, the sleekness of our car or the label on our clothes

and shoes.  I mean our "core" values--the ones our conscience nags

at us about.....the ones that Heartmath tools help us identify:>)

I was linked to a video by David Icke this week-end by friends and this

is how he finished his talk (I couldn't have said it better:>)........

"If we stopped making decisions about our actions based on what is

right for us in the moment and started doing what we know to be

right by conscience and justice, this would transform the world.

This world is being created as we experience it by billions of people

deciding every day--what do I do in the interests of me?  Once we

start saying, "what do I do in the interest of justice, fairness, and my

own conscience", actions change.  The world changes.  And we are

in control of that.   (The secret of "the Secret"--it's about us not me!)

We are at a fork in the road now, we have one last chance to open

our eyes and open our minds and start getting involved in doing

something about this.

There's going to come a time and it's not too long from now, when

we're going to have to look our children in the eyes and we're going

to have to answer the question without blinking and without averting,

"What were you doing?"

They are going to have to live their entire lives with the results of our

actions."

Come by:

http:www.macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com 

and watch some videos and learn more about Heartmath.   Call for

a "free" introductory session  #800-331-9547 or e-mail me at:

sandi@macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com

Living from the Heart........

I know I've been hard on everyone recently--at least those of us

living in the in the Western world.  But please understand that I

don't exclude myself from this blasting and that my rants are a

product of my despair.  I feel passionately that when some of us

suffer, we all suffer--whether we realize this or not. 

It is said that the measure of any society is how it treats its'

weakest elements.  How are we doing?

Every day I receive e-mails from people wanting to teach me the

Law of Attraction so I can attract more "abundance" and 

"prosperity" into my life.

It seems that ever since the movie "the Secret" was so widely

received, thousands of Law of Attraction teachers have sprung

up. 

So fine, it's a wonderful thing that some are being introduced--

hundreds, thousands apparently--to the concept that there is an

undeniable, and now scientifically proven, mind/body connection

and that we have tremendous control over our own well-being.

I am offended by all of the emphasis given to "using ancient

wisdom to acquire material goods" as per "the Secret".  This is

kindergarden stuff and how long do we all wish to spend in

kindergarden?  Better yet, how long can we--and survive?

There is no "secret" in "the Secret".  The idea of changing your

mind to change your world is found in numerous scriptures.  The

difference is that these ancient teachings then go on to teach

yogas and all number of mental, physical and emotional trainings

to pattern the brain/body/mind system.  And their emphasis on

these teachings and learning to have this mind/body/Spirit

connection is that we might better serve--not to get a shiny,

new SUV and a bigger house.   Not to help us use more than 

the overtly obnoxious amount of the worlds natural resources

than we already use. 

Less than 5% of the worlds population (US residents) use more

than 40% of the earth's natural resources.   These teachings

reduce us to the status of greedy children who have not yet

learned to share!  I don't believe you are that.

The notion in many of these "new" teachings that if you really

want something, just think of it with deep and loving thoughts

and positive feelings and it will manifest.  Personally I don't

believe in magic and I don't believe this was ever the intent of

these incredibly powerful teachings. 

It's suggested not to sweat the big stuff, the Universe is yours

to have, the Law is anxious, willing and just waiting to work for

you.  The Universe is your Servant and it gives you whatever you

want because you are "the most powerful transmission tower in

the world".

It's not food making you fat, it's your thoughts that food is

responsible that is making you fat.  Or as George Bush would say,

carbon emissions will warm the earth only if we worry that they

will.

Pl-ease!!

We are all struggling today.  I am struggling.  We are all

concerned for the future and that of our children but in the past

five decades as our material wealth has continued to increase,

our happiness quotient has continued to fall.   Have we learned

nothing?

What is being handed us fixates on a very limited view of our

lives, houses, cars, vacations--then with a little left over to

devote to our health, relationships and snippets only of being of

service.  In truth we have found that's all upside down and

backwards--real happiness doesn't come from "stuff" it comes

from community, from service.

It's not "all about me" and it's not "all up to me".   We are

inter-dependent beings.  We are immersed in the frequencies

and waves of the world around us.  If a butterfly flaps its' wings

in America it creates a wave in Japan.

We cannot go on treating the Universe as an inexhaustable

treasure trove that we can command and receive.  This is far too

simplistic and my next post will go back to putting the facts of

our living in luxury out in the open for those who aren't fully

aware yet.

Ask, believe, receive--

We are standing at a great transition point.  The time before us

can be one of positive, creative, life-affirming transformation--if

we do the difficult work that Consciousness demands, or it can be

a time of unparalleled disaster such as we have never seen.

Yes, the choice is ours.  The past few decades have presented

tremendous growth in our understandings of the Nature of the

Universe and our places in it.  Our choice is not how to design our

new, bigger house, or how to get that fancy SUV we've had our

eyes on, it's about how to encourage this new humanity that is

emerging.

We are, or can be, Co-Creators in a fantastic new future that will

emphasize our inter-connectedness and care for others--or we

can continue to destroy the one world we know with our greed.

It is indeed a low self-esteem that measures success by material

gain.  When we focus on material abundance in this country we

have an effect on every other living being.

We've made things our Master and our sense of worth is far too

tied to having things. 

"God wants you to be a millionaire..."   Truly??  Are we reducing

the human being to becoming a walking magnet?

As we acquire more we destroy the ecology of the entire world. 

We have become cancers on the Planet. 

One-tenth of one percent owns the majority of the worlds worth.

We must not only understand that it's not just our little local self

that's attracting into our lives.  We are creatures of immense

complexity.  We cannot assume ourselves as Creators of only

what we wish for.

When we really learn the lessons of the Heart and begin to live

using the intuitive guidance of our Heart's wisdom, then we just

may be worthy of the incredible abundance we seem often to

forget we have.

Heartmath is doing a Global Coherence Project.  Lynne McTaggart

is doing a Peace Day Intention.  There are numerous projects out

there that help us to focus on those things that really matter if we

expend the time and energy searching within for our own personal

journey.

I wish you all great love, great peace, great joy--and great

community......and I wish you a wonderful journey.

Sandi

This week I'm going to do a series of posts about the state

of this Planet we call home.

Watch this great video that the folks at Heartmath made for

Earth Day.  Then see the offer at the end of the post and join

me and tens of thousands of others in using the Heartmath

solution to make a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1aXaMsuWsI 

These posts are based on a documentary series that was

presented on Link TV.   I am reproducing my notes here because 

we are at tipping point.  We must act now. 

We've wasted decades hearing that the science is inconclusive.  It

is not inconclusive and the most knowledgeable minds on the

subject have been kept silent for far too long.

Part one is titled:

Global Change

Global change is not climate change.

This is the most essential issue of our time.

This is a wake-up call.

People began to think of the earth as a system when we began

flying around it in spaceships and looking back at it.

Edgar Mitchell was so taken with his epiphanies that he began

IONS (the Institute of Noetic Sciences) to study Consciousness

and our inter-relatedness with the Earth when he returned from

his mission to the moon.  The Institute continues to be on the

cutting edge of research in this area.

You can visit IONS at http://www.shiftinaction.com and sign up

for a trial membership.

This is a truly unique time in human history because for almost all

of our history it didn't matter that the earth was a system.  We

lived in small groups that affected only our immediate area.  Now

we live in a completely different situation.

When a group of scientists began to study the world as a whole

and to put their findings from their respective fields together an

entirely new picture of our planet emerged.

When you look at the earth, you get the feeling that it must all

fit together.  The different compartments must work together.

We are living in a very thin skin of the planet and--

--climate change is one of the greatest threats we face today

--global warming is too serious for the world any longer to

ignore its' danger

--global change is not climate change.  There's much more to it

than just climate change:  shrinking forests

                                     expanding desserts

                                     falling water tables

                                     eroding soils

                                     disappearing species

                                     rising temperatures

                                     ice melting

                                     more destructive storms

                                     rising sea levels

This is a long list of physical signs of environmental stress.

There are changes in the chemistry of the oceans, changes to the

chemistry of the atmosphere, population change, changes in

economics, changes in technologies, the fact that most of the

fisheries are now fully exploited, the fact that we're projected to

lose 10-30% of all mammals, birds and amphibians on the

planet this century, and huge changes to the biological fabric of

the planet. 

The signs are very clear that the environment is not very healthy

in many ways.  The signs are now very clear that we are

responsible.  It's due to our activities. 

This is a wake up call.  Every one who wakes up can, and does

make a difference.

When you see a wildlife program on TV you rarely see people.

They present as if there are very huge parts of the planet where

people don't engage and people don't live.

We create the artificial wilderness that was invented on television

by building "animal parks" and this gives a completely misleading

impression of how the world is and of how ecosystems function

and of their relation to human beings--because there are very

few ecosystems anywhere on earth that have not been

profoundly affected by human beings.

It's only on TV folks!

50% of the land surface of the Planet has been transformed

by mankind.

There is a consensus among leading biologists right around the

world that we are in the beginning phase of a mass extinction of

species.  There is no doubt about that.

It's likely that in our lifetimes half of all the organisms, plants

and animals that inhabited the earth when people first came

into force will disappear.

We're destroying tropical forests, and temperate forests too.  We

drain wetlands, we pollute lakes.  All that habitat destruction is

single main cause of extinction.

Until the next asteroid hits the planet, it's people more than any

other force that will dictate the future course of life. 

Over the past 100 years the total weight of wild, land-living

vertebrates has halved.  At the same time humans have

quadrupled.

We humans have become a geological force in our own right 

and we're affecting how the planet operates.

When did we really begin affecting life? Centuries ago when we

began smelting metals?  At the beginning of the Industrial

Revolution?  When we began using fossil fuels?

Now called "the great acceleration", research shows that the

steep incline began in the fifties--in--

population

GDP

water use

fertilizer (and other toxins) 

grain

fisheries

fast food restaurants

telephones

paper

logging

species extinctions

motor vehicles

oil

rising temperatures

natural disasters

emissions of CO2--all begin spiking in the 1950's!

And much of what we have done has been possible only because

we've had this cheap and very powerful energy source--fossil fuels.

Population growth has tripled.  But the economy has grown much

faster than the population.  

This, the economy, is the single most important phenomena

that is changng the global environment. 

Now we (6.3 billion people), are becoming economically more

powerful all the time.  We consume more.  We manufacture more.

We demand more services.

What we do, you and I, now effects people everywhere. 

That makes us responsible for people everywhere.

Each month 2500 tons of e-waste is shipped from the Western

world to Nigeria.

What gives us the right?

Pollution moves across the Planet.  No place is unaffected.

In Greenland, the Inuit have one of the highest concentrations

of toxicity from e-waste in their blood.

While the rest of the world may not be effected for a generation,

those who contaminate the least are affected first.

Now they are dependent on the rest of the world to prevent the

pollution which causes such irreversible damage to Nature.

 

Radioactivity cannot be diluted; every year the contaminants

spread further, underground, into the rivers etc.

Satellite images from the fall of 2007 show that we are losing an

area of ice at the polar ice caps, the size of California every week

during late summer and early fall.

The Northwest Passage has been completely free of ice for the

first time in history. 

Change is coming very fast.  We have less time than we thought.

We have to get off the treadmill of wanting more.

Global populaton is a minor factor.  A much larger impact comes

through the economic growth, the transition of developing

countries into economies that are more like those of our Western

world including Western Europe, the US and Japan.

Our Western lifestyle is the problem!

How can we possibly justify or rationalize our way of life as we

wake up to the results of our actions?

It's okay for us but not for you?  To be rich is a fantastic thing!

By 2031, at current growth rates, the income in China will be the

same as the US today.  If China has three cars for every four

people, as the US now does, it will have 1.1 billion cars.  The

world currently has 800 million cars.

What China is showing us is that the Western economic model--

auto-centric, throw-away, fossil fuel based--won't work for China.

If not for China, also not in India, where population by 2031 will

be even larger than China's. 

Nor will it work for the other developing countries who aspire to "the

American dream".

It will not work for the industrialized world either.  In a global

economy we all compete for the same oil, grain and steel.

Bottom line:  we have to restructure the global economy.

Shift from a fossil-fuel based economy to sustainable energy.

From auto-centric to a more diverse system.  From a throw-away

economy to a more comprehensive, recycle/re-use economy.

We don't have till 2031--by that time the game's over.

 

Come visit me at:  http://www.macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com

and watch the other Heartmath videos.

Call me at:  800-331-9547

or e-mail at:  sandi@macarthurparknaturalmedicine.com

and set up a free introductory session to learn more about and

to experience the Heartmath tools.

Using these methods we can truly make the changes needed

to turn this situation around, to halt the destruction.  

When we live from the heart, when we honestly connect to

our core values, and live them, the pieces fall into place.  

We "feel" our connection.

At MacArthur Park there are also other tools we can use to

address the issues that block us from living a heart-centered life.

Together we can!

 

                          PRAYER FOR PEACE

We are one global family, all colors, all races, one world united.

We dance for peace and the healing of our planet Earth.

Peace for all nations.

Peace for our communities--and peace within ourselves.

As we join together across the world, let us connect heart to heart.

Through our diversity we recognize unity.

Through our compassion we recognize peace.

Our love is the power to transform our world.

Let us send it out now.........

Sandi

 

 

World hunger?   Yes, it is that bad.   And we can make a difference.

See the offer at the end of this post.

 

Some facts......

1.3 billion people are living on $1.00 per day or less. 

The average per capita income in Burkina Faso is less than 200

euros annually (approximately $300.)

The cost of food is up 80% (wheat up 180%, poultry has doubled,

milk tripled) in the past three years. 

840 million people suffered hunger in 2000 (do you think it's better

in 2008?)

In developing countries three-quarters of peoples' income is spent on

food (compared with 11% in industrialized countries-Germany).

33 countries are currently at risk of famine.

It would take $11 billion to save 11 million from death by

starvation. 

$11 billion is spent by Europeans each year for ice cream.

The US is spending $12.3 billion each month in Iraq and

Afghanistan (figures from the Center for Arms Control as of Feb.

25th, 2008).   One month of war or 11 million saved from starving?

First we need to educate ourselves as to why this is happening. 

Then we'll talk about what we can do to fix the problems.  

Yes, we can each make a difference.   So,

Some history........

This current crisis is not primarily a result of population growth.  It

is man-made.  For decades rural areas have been ignored while

cheap, subsidized crops from the US and the EU (European Union)

have flooded markets.

This is a fundamental and global food crisis, the result of a system that

has consistently favoured the interests of the industrialized world at

the expense of the people and resources of the emerging world.

As small indigenous farming regions began to suupply greater than

their demands, the surplus began to drive down prices on the world