Processing Everything

I haven't posted much the last few weeks not because I have nothing to say but because I have too much to say and am not yet sure I can say it. I like to let things distill so they are coherent before I spew them out in writing. I should take the same precautions before speaking. Ha. But here is a little bit of what I am processing and what you can expect to see more of in the near future:

1) I was led through coincidence (yeah right) to this book at the library which I am now reading. It is called How God Changes Your Brain. It was written by some neuroscientists who wanted to see how spiritual practices affected the brain. I plan on writing a thorough review when I am done, but just to give you a preview, some of the things they found were that meditation (several different kinds, but basically contemplating on a loving God) for 12 minutes a day actually changes your brain structure. It enlarges one part of the brain and shrinks another--it shrinks the part where fear and anger come from. Thus enabling us to feel more compassion. It also improves memory and cognition--and so much more that I won't go into just now. The cool thing, though, is that it doesn't take years. They tested subjects who had never meditated before and had them do it for 12 minutes and day and saw changes on their brain scan in just 8 weeks time. 8 weeks. But I'm sure the changes took place sooner. Perhaps 40 days. That seems to be the magic number everywhere in the scriptures. Anyway, I look forward to reading more and seeing what I may be be able to use in the Spirit/Mind/Body chapter of the book.

2) I have had a miracle happen to me with the aid of hypnotherapy. I have been trying to work on an issue for almost 4 years. Consciously, I wanted to change my behavior, but since the behavior was unconscious, I kept getting the same bad results over and over and it was causing a lot of problems in my life. In 2 sessions of hypnotherapy and some reinforcement between sessions, the behavior is totally gone. I can't believe it. This can change everything in my life. I know it's unfair to be vague for all you people who love concrete details, so I promise to give as detailed an account of this as I can in the near future--particularly the role Jesus Christ played in hypnosis. Yes, Jesus was very involved in my hypnotherapy. It is awesome. In fact, I think this is why it was so effective. More on this later.


3) A while back I read a book called Step Families, by James Bray and John Kelly. I read it because I was thinking of getting remarried (still thinking) and wanted to know what I didn't know, and this book was highly recommended. Recently, I keep feeling like I need to write a review of it, so you can look forward to that in the near future, too. Though most readers may not be in the situation of blending a family, you most likely know someone that is. I found this book incredibly interesting (depressing at first and then totally filled me with hope). It is based on a 9-year study of real families and analyzes why some (most) step families don't make it and why some do, thus, sharing the much needed information about what you can do to be in the most-likely-to-succeed category.

4) I started teaching Khalsa Way pregnancy yoga at my local YMCA. The Y community is very different from a yoga studio, which is challenging in that some of the members know nothing about yoga or about conscious pregnancy--but also cool, because they are the ones who can be most dramatically effected by the teachings and be most transformed in their spirits, minds, and bodies. Last week was my first class and two ladies showed up. At the end of class, I was saying thank you to the babies for bringing their moms to yoga and one of the women said, "She just kicked!" I nodded all-knowingly. Of course they are listening. And they are stoked to be doing yoga with their moms.

Did you know that there are 94 positions in yoga and that babies make all of them in the womb?

Here is a picture of my little bunny doing probably the most famous of all yoga poses, downward dog, on a beached surfboard two summers ago.