Archive for January, 2010

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Various Ancient Traditions For Cantonese New Year

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

There are number of traditions which revived during Chinese New Year which we will discuss below.

The people of china are very possessive about their age old customs and they would not let them go. The Chinese as a whole are proud of these activities and try their best to keep them alive by celebrating them at regular interval.

The Chinese New Year is a time when you manage to see Chinese traditions in full bloom. A hub of traditional activity explodes onto the scene during the first few weeks of the Chinese New Year. The Chinese have a complete set of beliefs and traditional practices with regards to the welcoming of a new year. One can pretty much see how deeply the age old traditions are embedded in the Chinese culture by looking at all the traditional practices that are brought into light during New Year celebrations.

The celebrations are carried on in huge scale during the New Year in China for another reason. The mass media is very efficient in reporting all the happenings of this time to the whole world. The western people find these traditions strange with a magical air about them. Their interest heightened they come to China in large number to witness these traditions thus giving a great push to the China’s tourism industry.

The New Year celebrations once they begin carry on for next fifteen days. In fact the celebrations start one two days prior to the New Year. If you are keen to do business in China this is a good time as people love to spend a lot as they are so happy.

Every home receives a systematic cleaning for welcoming the New Year. The ill fortunes of last year are thrown away and the house is beautified and purified for welcoming the good fortune of the coming year.

Doors and windows are painted red as per tradition. Red is the color of New Year in China. The traditional belief is that it wards away all sorts of evil spirits and omens and keeps the house protected from any harm.

The New Year is the time when the Chinese adorn their homes with various items which have traditional significance. Things like couplets and paper cuttings are supposed to bring prosperity and happiness. They have various other things like paintings, scrolls and wall paper designs as a part of their decorative items.

The New Years Eve holds a special meaning in Chinese culture. This day all the family members come together in one place for supper. A special dish is made for this meal which is known as jiaozi which has dumpling in the boiling water.

Once the whole family is together they eat the dinner and then play a lot of games to keep themselves awake the whole night. In the modern times they even watch television which telecasts special program for New Year. They also think that if they keep the lights burning the whole night their parents will have a long life.

The real day begins with greetings, presents, lantern parades, Kung fu acts, concerts and other various forms of celebrations that last a whole two weeks and end with the dragon dance with the fireworks on the night of the first full moon putting an end to the show of ancient traditions in modern times.

Chinese New Years traditions are an important part of the national culture. In order to learn more about the Chinese new year zodiac please click on the links.

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Unravel the Mystery of Chakra Healing and Reap its Benefits!

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Understanding Chakra

A chakra is the human bodys energy axis that receives, interacts with and conveys life force between an individual and his/her environment. Its direct English translation means a spinning wheel. Furthermore, ancient Hindu writings reveal that of the bodys 88,000 chakra points, there are seven which are considered of primary importance.

Located along the spine, the seven key chakras are the root, navel, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow, and crown. These energy axes (chakra) in our body continuously receive and give out energies from their interaction with our environment such as other people, plants, trees, animals and other elements. They are credited with having a direct effect on our physical, emotional and spiritual character.

The seven major energy points of our body are the root, navel, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow, and crown and they are located along the length of the spine. These energy points continuously receive and transmit life form energies resulting from their direct and indirect interaction with other elements and life forces of our environment and are believed to have a direct bearing on our physical, emotional and spiritual makeup.

The chakra unceasing interaction with our body and the environment even during our sleep gives them a direct influence over our physical structure and appearance including our bodily processes, health and our emotions. A glitch of any one of the major chakras is an indicator that something is wrong with our physical/emotional health which may directly or indirectly be noticeable.

Since each of the major chakras corresponds to a particular endocrine gland in our body, any variance in their normal function or behavior directly affects our health as well.

Maintaining the Optimum Functions of our Chakras Using the foundations of the ancient Hindus and Chineses understanding and interpretation of the functions of our bodys energy points, especially the seven major ones, we can safely arrive at the conclusion that not all our illnesses are viral; some are very likely related to the malfunction of one or all of our chakras. Physical symptoms of illness may not be present or minimal at the very least, but our feelings of discontent, stress, excitement are signs that something is wrong with us either on the physical, spiritual or emotional levels.

Since not all of our illnesses may be physical, they can also be on the emotional level brought on by repressed incidents that brought us undue pain or disappointment during our lifetime to eating the wrong types of foods and being obese for example. Lack of self confidence and self esteem can also be considered an illness in the broadest term. Certainly, there is only one way to combat these illnesses and that is to remove their physical or emotional triggers from our system.

Benefits of Chakra Healing One important aspect to note is that we have the capability to manipulate our chakras and their functions. By doing so, we are also directly controlling their functions in order to achieve good life.

There are a number of ways through which we can directly influence the functions of our bodys major chakras. From simple techniques such as aromatherapy, breathing exercises, physical fitness, or with the use of crystals and gemstones we can achieve balance and harmony.

For example, the practice of Yoga and directed meditation are but two of the commonly used healing methods to align and enhance our energy points in order for us to achieve total relaxation and concentration regardless of where we are. This is very helpful in relieving stress and enhances the bodys natural healing processes.

Despite the fact that we can see or touch our energy points, aside from the above there are other ways that we can keep them healthy in order for them to better support our body.

The food we eat affects our health and our system. They also have an affect on the balance and harmony of our major chakras because there are foods that can help maintain the balance and functions of the bodys seven major chakras.

Our root chakra thrives on root-type vegetables and protein-rich foods. Sweet fruits, nuts directly affect our navel chakra while our solar plexus chakra is enhanced by a healthy diet of breads, dairy product and cereals.

Our energy points that affect the heart and throat are sustained when we eat green, leafy vegetables, drink plenty of liquid, green tea and fruit juices.

Blueberries and grapes are the primary source of nourishment of our energy point for the third eye. It is also helps if we drink wine or grape juice.

The last of the seven major energy points, the crown, does not need nourishment but requires fasting in order to be detoxified.

By influencing our chakras, we are also directly influencing our health in general. This leads to a more responsive existence complete in tune with our surroundings and all other elements of both the physical and metaphysical world we live in.

The author Anne-Marie Laureaut is a writer for the popular chakra-balance.com site. To understand how chakra meditation can drastically improve your life and how you can get free chakra healing affirmations, hypnosis and binaural sound frequencies recordings.

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Chakra Balancing For Health and Happiness!

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

In this technology obsessed society we live in, most people have simply forgotten about the existence and importance of a spiritual being inside their physical being.

The Hindu thought of life, however, has kept the flame of spiritual-healing burning amidst the advancements in science and technology.

Our body is made up of 7 primary Chakras as well as thousands of secondary ones. the word Chakra, in fact, is a Sanskrit word meaning Wheel of Light, and these Chakras are in a constant state of rotation and vibration in a healthy body.

As a result, an imbalance in the vibration of these chakras results in a corresponding imbalance of the healthy functioning of the body. So, Chakra Balancing needs to be done to ensure a healthy body, mind, and soul.

Chakras are Entry Gates of the Aura and the centers of activity that receives, assimilates and expresses life-force energy. Located along the central line of the body from the base of the spine to the top of the head the seven main Chakras absorb and transmit energies to and from the universe, nature, celestial entities, and even from people.

How can the balance of the Chakras become distorted?

If there is a blockage in one or more of the Chakras, the energy does not flow properly through them, and then ultimately the result will be an imbalance among the Chakras that result in problems in all areas of life.

The harmonious functioning of Chakras can be distorted due to a number of factors, like ill health, stress, unhealthy diet, exposure to toxicity, lack of exercise, inability to express emotions, beliefs incongruent with Truth, disconnection from a higher power, childhood traumas, cultural conditioning, emotional injuries, etc.

The Importance of Chakra balancing in Health and Happiness

The normal harmonious functioning of Chakras is a utopian idea. So humans have always attempted to correct this distortion and strike a fine balance among these Chakras. The concept of self-healing is also based on Chakra balancing.

Chakras influence our body shape, glandular processes, chronic physical ailments, thoughts, and behavior. Chakra balancing ensures that these parameters all work towards the goal of a healthy body, mind, and soul.

The advantages of Chakra Balancing are:

* Complete happiness and peace in body

* Personal health and energy

* Perception and continuous feel with ones body

* Sexually comfortable life without getting partial by lust

* Knowledge of individuals feelings at the unearthly level

* Superior capacity to attract and convey love in ones life

* Increased spiritual growth and maturity

* Religious healing with higher ways of realization, attentiveness, and acceptance

* A kind and affectionate heart

* Wonderful confidence levels, but short of being over-confident

* Approaching of the Self

Successful chakra balancing

Chakra balancing in individuals body can be accomplished by utilizing different techniques. Any of the following techniques will work to balance your bodys Chakras.

* Therapeutic Therapies for example Reiki,

* Yoga (including breathing exercises) and Meditation

* Physical exercise

* Light and Color treatment

* Crystals and Gems

* Balancing with Pendulums and Hands

* Aromatherapy

* Feeling Therapy

* Positive Thinking

* Sound Frequencies

* Hypnosis and Affirmations, etc.

Our body is a reservoir of energy, in which the spent energy is released and disposed of by the body organs, and replenished, with new supplies of energies.

Chakra balancing makes sure that this energy is stored and used by the body optimally, and all essential organs and body cells get an equal share of this energy.

In this state of optimization, inner peace, happiness and health flow naturally. Chakra Balancing is nothing but bringing the Chakras back to their natural state of vibration & frequency.

Jonathan Benjem is a writer for the popular chakra-balance.com site. To understand how chakra healing can transform your whole life and to get 29 Free chakra healing Audios visit here.

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Children’s Church Curriculum For Religious Growth Of Children

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Children’s church curriculum is essential for over all development of a child. It is good for giving them religious knowledge. The leaders of the church ensure that the children are getting the best kind of curriculum. Religious growth of a child is very important. It is as important as their social and personal growth.

If you want the development of overall personality of your child then it is very important that you make them join children’s church curriculum. Normally children get all the physical and social knowledge. But it is utmost important that they also get the religious knowledge also. So it is very important that you make your child join children’s church curriculum.

It is not only the responsibility of the parents to make their children join children’s church curriculum. But it is the responsibility of church leaders also to check if every child is getting the proper education. They should be cautious about choosing the right curriculum that must be taught to all the children belonging to their community. But the question arises how this will happen?

The children’s church curriculum should be efficient in propagating the Gospel. It is therefore important for it to be able to conform to the teachings of the church regardless of religious affiliation. This is one of the numerous parameters that are important for finding best Children’s church curriculum.

Children’s church curriculum should be like that it should build faith on God. Church leaders should keep in mind to use new technologies and tell the children about experiences that changed their life and inspire them to do good things. Teachings should be of the standard of the age of children and should build faith on their religion.

You should search children’s church curriculum in their own medium. The manner in which the church leaders teach everything is also very important. This is because small children get bored easily when they have to learn something. So to put the religious things in their innocent minds it is very important to make religious learning a fun learning. Teach them by telling them new stories and playing games with them. Focus on video teachings with music. Make everything simple that they can easily understand.

If you are looking for a best children’s church curriculum then you can opt to search on internet. Search on Google and you will find a lot of websites that are working in this field.

Parents can engage their children in joining children’s church curriculum. In this way, the child can mold himself to be a good Christian follower and at the same time, be an obedient citizen of society. You can also try to christian kids teaching lessons.

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Telepathic Communication – An Introduction

Friday, January 29th, 2010

It’s a well known fact that humans only use around 10% of their brains. The function of other 90% remains a mystery to most people.

What most of us aren’t aware of is that we’re all born with the innate ability to communicate with each other without having to speak a word out loud or even move a muscle physically.

As we grow up we’re conditioned to speak, think, act and behave like our elders. They don’t use the power of their minds to reach out and communicate with you, because they weren’t taught to do so either. The ability is left untapped and untrained.

We push our natural abilities aside, but it still crops up sometimes when we somehow know who is calling when the phone rings or what someone is going to say before they say it.

Is this forewarning a form of clairvoyance? Or did your mind simply receive a subconscious telepathic call from the person calling you?

Whether we realize it or not we already send and receive telepathic signals. It is possible to learn to do this deliberately whenever we want. It takes a little practice, but is well within the scope of our brains.

Mental telepathy is a talent we are all born with. The fact is most people never consciously use it therefore our natural ability to communicate with our mind is never developed. As a result most people never learn or even realize they have this power. In fact many believe they have this power is but do not know how to make it work for them.

Scientist say our though have a frequency and can be measured. A person can learn to use this to contact others and send messages. These thoughts or frequencies must be channeled in the right way in order to be effective in communication.

Some techniques to enhance your telepathic abilities

*A trance like state – When you get into a trance like state and become very relaxed, you will be able to send and receive messages at will. It is somewhat like being hypnotized, your mind will be open and receptive to communication.

If you are wanting to develop the ability to be telepathic, work on getting into the trance state to be successful with it.

*Learn to focus – Find a place where you will not be disturbed, relax your mind and body. Picture the one you want to communicate with mentally. Send the message and assure yourself they are getting it. Don’t make it a command just tell the person you would like to hear from them and think pleasing thoughts about them.

*Believe – You have to believe in what you are doing and have an open mind about it. As you grow your telepathic ability, always believe the person will get the message.

*Let go of the Trance State – Do not drift off, deliberately bring yourself back to reality and go on with day to day things. There is a good reason for doing this.

When you let go of the positive impressions the person you were trying to contact should feel that any thoughts about you will be missing and the urge to contact you to re-establish that communication should be strong. Don’t be surprised if the person you were reaching out to calls you soon.

This is a great way to become focused on developing and using telepathy to communicate. You can use two people to practice and enhance your abilities.

Here is a quick method to practice your telepathic communication using two people.

*One Sends and One Receives – Determine who wants to be the sender and who will be the receiver. We will start with you being the sender.

The receiver should have a pad and pen ready to jot down any impressions he might receive. If the sender is focusing on a simple object, the receiver might feel as though he’s making things up at first, but insist that all impressions and thoughts are written down for later comparison.

*Visualize – You are the sender so you should have some simple images in mind to send to your receiver. These should be well known objects, for instance, a star, an orange, or an apple. These will be simple and easy to focus on and easier for you receiver to get than more complex images.

*Transmitting – Relax and shut your eyes. Imagine a line of communication flowing to and from your receiver, perhaps an imaginary line between the two of you. Get as clear of a picture as you can of this line of thought flowing back and forth.

Then place the object you want the receiver to see inside your mental communication tube and send it directly to him. Create your image as clearly as you can. If you choose to focus on a red, shiny apple, then make sure you follow your apple all the way to the end of the thought-tube.

The art of visualizing and focusing is the best way to get your message out to the one you need to reach.

*Stop Sending – As soon as you are confident your message has been received, stop sending, hang up, clear your mind of it. This is very important because your sender will then realize the transmission did come in.This also allows the receiver an opportunity to record the image he or she received.

*Receiver – The receiver should relax and remain as calm as possible. With an open mind and a willingness to receive images and impressions, the receiver should write down any impressions that come to mind.

All humans will experience flashes and images in their mind’s-eye when their thoughts are still. Your receiver will at first believe he’s making things up, but it’s important to still record any impressions.

*The verdict – When you are done with the training exercise, check and see if the images you sent were well received. Even someone with undeveloped powers will receive some images from the sender. Do not expect all of them to come through clearly at first. It will take some practice to get better at it.

These results can be improved with practice.

Alex J Gould is a writer for the http://www.telepathyrevealed.com website. Anyone can easily develop their powers of telepathy and you can try it yourself when you find out the real undisclosed secrets of telepathic communication when you visit here.

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How Does Lucid Dreaming Work?

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Sometimes known as conscious dreaming, lucid dreaming is the art of keeping self aware and knowing that one is dreaming while in a dream. This includes being conscious that the events unfolding around you are only part of the dream and being able to exercise control over the dream. All of this is possible for the person who has learned how to use lucid dreaming.

Having control over your dreams is an incredible experience. Everything which you thought you couldn’t keep from holding you back from your goals just falls before you and you have new found mental clarity, even when awake.

But is it as simple as it looks like? Can everyone experience lucid dreaming and bring to life what otherwise seems difficult or impossible in this reality?

Luckily, it’s really not that hard to begin lucid dreaming, as long as you are determined to learn it. There are proven ways to help you access this ability and use your untapped mental power.

You need to know what you hope to achieve through lucid dreaming. Are you after something specific which can help you with other areas of your life, or do you just want to turn your dreams into a playpen of the imagination? Whatever your reason for wanting to learn lucid dreaming, know your goal and be determined to reach it.

The next step is to learn the techniques of reaching the mental state where lucid dreaming is possible. You’ll have to begin learning dream recall, which is simply remembering your dreams. To begin lucid dreaming, you need to first be able to recall every detail of the dreams that you have.

This is not going to be an overnight kind of process. You should keep a dream recall register to begin writing down every single detail you can recall of your dreams every day. You will find your capacity for dream call improving as you do so. Try implementing “reality checks” during your dreams to begin training your mind to be alert as you dream.

Hypnosis can be very helpful for many in preparing their minds to have lucid dreams and can get the process of learning lucid dreaming off to a good head start. In fact, hypnosis can have people remembering their dreams in detail in as few as a few sessions. When you can do this, you are ready to try out lucid dreaming.

While in a lucid dream, it may happen that suddenly, you are wide-awake. However, with the power that you have attained so far, you’ll be easily able to recollect all the important details of the dream. Now, just try to relax and sleep again, while continuing the dream with the desired directions. When you wake up, you’ll realize the real power of conscious dreaming you just experienced the night before.

Another good way of inducing lucid dreams is to wake a few hours earlier than usual, then go back to sleep. The dreams you will have in these few hours are the easiest to make into lucid dreams. You may even find yourself unsure whether you have been sleeping or just thinking to yourself as you lay in bed. Just set your alarm for a few hours early, wake and reset the alarm and then go back to sleep and you will be more likely to have lucid dreams.

When trying to have lucid dreams, it is helpful to become familiar with your sleeping habits so as to be aware of the best times to try for lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming can actually help you fight sleeping disorders, like insomnia. Whenever you are struggling to sleep at the normal sleeping hours, you just need to tell your mind that sleeping equals lucid dreaming, and your mind will take care of all the thoughts that are preventing you from falling asleep.

Lucid dreaming used to be something which took a very long time to learn. Recent technological advances, particularly in the field of audio technology have made lucid dreaming something which anyone can easily accomplish.

Binaural audio is one of the most reliable methods of getting people to have lucid dreams.

Binaural beats audio is the playing of frequencies which are slightly different from each other, one in each ear. This causes a feeling of deep relaxation and brings brain waves into the proper state for lucid dreaming.

Before binaural audio technology, meditation was the method of choice for those wanting to learn lucid dreaming, and this was a process which could sometimes take years to master. Many simply gave up, not having the determination to pursue the practice.

Particularly in conjunction with hypnotherapy, binaural sound waves can get your mind ready for lucid dreaming, sometimes as early as your first attempt!

The author Trevor Albitt writes for the luciddreaminginfo.com website. You can enjoy the incredible experience of lucid dreaming and you can try it yourself when you get 29 Free lucid dreaming Audios when you visit here.

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Why Critics Attack Kenneth Copeland Ministry

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

One of the wealthiest charismatic organizations in the United States is the Kenneth Copeland Ministries. It was founded by its namesake, Kenneth Copeland, in the 1970s after being converted to Christianity. He was a former recording artist turned into a Christian author and evangelist. His TV show Believer’s Voice in Victory is available to many television channels worldwide. Besides his show, he has also authored many books. His offices are scattered in different countries worldwide.

Many non-believers, former members, government offices and others from the Christian community criticize the ministry. In 2007, Kenneth Copeland Ministries had been put under investigation as complaints from the public and the media arose concerning the wealth of the couple Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. The Senate committee aimed to find out whether the couple had made personal profits from the donations of their members by overcompensating themselves. Since the church is also exempted from tax, others may hide their personal business under the church’s name.

It should be noted that Kenneth Copeland teaches that the members are promised financial stability and prosperity by giving financially to the ministry. Several verses from the Bible are quoted as support for this teaching. By giving, the members are blessed a hundredfold. Because of this, the Kenneth Copeland Ministries has collected millions of dollars and has already bought jets and a constructed a private airport.

Another controversial teaching that is being criticized by many is the promise of healing to the members. As an advocate of faith healing, Copeland preaches that members can achieve healing from their sickness and optimum health through their Word of Faith. This time he quoted from the book of Isaiah in the Bible that members only need to accept the gift of healing without any traces of doubt and they should be healed. A lot of members were angry when they did not achieve what they expected of the faith healing.

From the Christian community, many critics also question the teachings of the ministry about the non-deity of Jesus on earth. Copeland also teaches that we, men are just like little gods. On the first claim, Copeland says that Jesus did not claim to be a God when he was here on Earth. Instead, he only claimed to have walked closely with God and that was it. However, another one of his teachings is that we are god in ourselves since it was God that created us. A lot of the critics of the ministry consider this doctrine misleading, even heretical. Another teaching that is considered by many Christian critics a heresy is the doctrine that Jesus’ physical death was not enough to have saved the people from sin. Rather, it was the spiritual death that redeemed men, wherein he, in a sense, became the worst sinner who was united with Satan when he claimed all sins as his. This leads away from the traditional Christian doctrine that Jesus’ death was offered to God and instead creates a new teaching that his death was as an offer to Satan.

Kenneth Copeland Ministry will help you to learn more about the Words of God and put meaning into your life by making you spiritually fulfilled. You will know more about it if you become one of its partners. You may want to check out Ken Copeland Ministries.

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Must-Have Children’s Church Curriculum

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Children’s church curriculum is really important to pertinent to the religious growth of each and every child across the globe. Both parents and church leaders should be reminded that just like personal and social development, kids’ religious growth should never be taken for granted. Because of this, it is really important to ensure having only the best of this kind of curriculum.

It is every parents’ obligation to ensure providing all the necessary tools and resources they possibly can have just to make sure that their children’s spiritual growth is well taken care of. Other than providing for your kid’s physical and social needs, it is also your big task to ensure that your children are properly nourished with the words of God for their spiritual growth. Hence, it is essential that you should scrutinize children’s church curriculum being adopted and used in whatever church you may belong.

It is therefore necessary for church leaders to be extra cautious in having to choose with the right curriculum that must be taught to all children belonging to their community. These people need to ensure giving only the best spiritual teachings to all children in their church community. How then should these people of you as parents choose the right children’s church curriculum?

How varied these curriculum may be, it should therefore be efficient in propagating the Gospel. It is therefore important for it to be able to conform with the teachings of the church regardless of religious affiliation. These are only among the many different parameters that each and every one of us to adhere to especially if we want to have only the best children’s church curriculum.

A good church curriculum for children should truly build strong christian faith amongst children. It should propagate teachings pertinent to life-changing experience to inspire the innocent minds of children. Above all these, it should be powerful enough to lay some sort of stepping stones to holy living for children.

While content is essential to take note of, it is equally important to consider the medium in which these curriculum is being adopted. With the fact that most children are easily bored when it comes to learning things, this curriculum should be as interesting as it possibly can. It is also essential to remember that the manner in which it shall be inculcated especially amongst children also counts a lot.

Since, most children are easily bored, children’s church curriculum should be taught in an interesting manner. Using the latest in modern technology this curriculum can become more exciting for children to appreciate and learn. But what is more important is for it to be easily understood for kids to be able to absorb the teachings they ought to get from such curriculum.

You do not need to spend a lot for curriculum of this kind. For children to easily absorb the morals and teachings it contains, it should be simple and easily understood. These are just among the many things you need to take note of in having to choose only the best Children’s church curriculum.

Parents can engage their children in joining childrens church lesson curriculum. In this way, the child can mold himself to be a good Christian follower and at the same time, be an obedient citizen of society. You can also try to become kids church curriculum lessons.

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Conscious Dreaming – Wake Up Your Dreams!

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Lucid dreaming, also called conscious dreaming, is the process of being asleep while maintaining awareness of your dreams. While you’re in a dream state, you actually know that you’re dreaming. That can even allow you to control your dreams consciously.

The power of completely controlling your dreams might seem like something out of a fantasy novel, but it’s actually quite possible for anyone. Lucid dreaming is actually fairly easy, and offers you a wonderful way to express your inner desires and feelings. There are even tried and tested methods to get you into a lucid dream state.

First, you have to know what your goal is; are you looking to be able to get more enjoyment from your dreams or would you like to use this ability to help you improve your life in other areas? Whatever the reason, decide what it is that makes you want to discover conscious dreaming.

After you’ve discovered why you want to start conscious dreaming, you’ll begin to learn the techniques to get you into the right frame of mind. Lucid dreaming requires a particular mental state. Most people learning how to do this start with dream recall. This is a simple matter of remembering the dreams you’ve had.

If you want to begin conscious dreaming, you’ll need to be able to recall all the details of the dreams you have each night. There are a number of ways to do this, but the most common is keeping a dream diary. Place it by the bed, and every morning, enter all the details you remember from your dreams as soon as you wake up. It’s important to make sure you do this right away, because you start to lose information the longer you’re awake.

Before long, youll find yourself able to remember more of your dreams ” and your dream diary can help refresh your memory. Once your mind is trained to remember dreams, the ability to recognize them while they are happening will follow easily. You might, like many do, come to the awareness suddenly that you are dreaming!

Hypnosis also helps, whether in conjunction with a dream diary or on its own. This can get you into the right state of mind for conscious dreaming ” and in as few as a few sessions of hypnosis, most find that they can remember the minutest details of their dreams! Once you can do this, lucid dreaming follows quickly.

At first, you may wake suddenly while having lucid dreams. Dont get discouraged, this is very common. You can often get back to your dream by focusing on the dream as you go back to sleep.

Another technique is to set your alarm for two or three hours earlier than usual then going back to sleep once awoken. It is a lot easier to have lucid dreams in the hours before you usually awake. It may even be unclear to you if these were dreams or you were just thinking as you lay awake. With practice, this technique will lead to conscious dreaming.

Try to keep track of your sleep schedule ” this will help you to figure out when the best times for conscious dreaming are. Be sure not to deprive yourself of too much sleep, as you are actually less likely to have lucid dreams when sleep deprived.

Thankfully, conscious dreaming can be a good remedy for insomnia and other sleep disruptions! Once you develop lucid dreaming, you will be able to put a halt to the thoughts which keep you awake at night.

You may think that learning lucid dreaming takes years of practice, but in fact its not so hard at all to learn ” with just a little practice, you can be a conscious dreamer too!

In fact, conscious dreaming is something that everyone can do. Just practice and use these techniques to develop your own lucid dreaming abilities ” youll find that it has a lot to offer.

The author Allan Matacan writes for the http://www.luciddreaminginfo.com website. Discover the amazing experience of lucid dreaming for yourself and get 29 Free conscious dreaming Audios when you visit here.

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BOGO And B1G1 Redefined

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Definitions of words often change quite quickly these days. In the distant past the meaning of words was often set in stone. Today the meaning can change in a blink. With new faster ways to communicate with wider and more culturally, socially and education

There is a growing significant movement happening global where consumers are asking businesses to look after the things they care about such as the environment and the less fortunate in society. The request is still mainly tacit and despite it being an ironic request it still signals we are in a time of great change. Consumers these days want their ‘toys’ but they don’t want the environment to be destroyed in the creation of these. They want cheap products but they do not want workers to be paid a pittance to create the cheap products.

Until recently there was no real answer to this complex puzzle but today one actually exists. It exists in the reforging of a simple single word – GET. Today there is a new movement of consumers wanting to get and at the same time give. They are reforging the word GET into the word GIVE.

Every day automated email notices arrive in my inbox from Google Alerts for two keywords – BOGO and B1G1. I see all the new places these words are turning up on the Internet. Little by little these two words are gaining a their new meaning as more and more people take up the Buy One Give One cause.

B1G1 and BOGO, despite sounding like characters from a Marvel comic are acronyms for Buy One GET One free. You buy one and they give you an extra one for the same price.

If you look on Wikipedia you will find these definitions for BOGO (there isn’t a definition yet for B1G1) -

* An acronym in the retail industry that stands for Buy One Get One. For example, you could say “Buy 1 DVD, Get 1 FREE!

* An acronym in slang British that stands for Britons Of Greek Origin or Greek Britons.

* Bogo, Cebu, a city in central Philippines.

* Norway, a village in Norway.

* Norway, a village in Norway.

* The mascot of the ITESM CEM.

* Bogosort, an ineffective sorting algorithm

* Bogosort, an ineffective sorting algorithm

BOGO Lights – torches that give

There’s an entrepreneurial business in the USA called SunLight Solar which was founded by Mark Bent. They’ve created a special torch that’s not only an amazing and sturdy solar-powered light; his company also gives a free torch to that in need in developing countries every time one is sold. If you look up their website you will learn more about their “BOGO light”.

“The BoGo – our Buy one/Give one – program has successfully provided lights to many, many thousands of people in the developing world, changing lives because of your purchase and participation.” – BOGOlight.com

Mark Bent has managed to flip the meaning of the BOGO acronym upside down. For Mark along with thousands of his customers, BOGO now means Buy One GIVE One. A light is given whenever one is sold. Now each sale supports people in remote parts of the world who don’t have the benefit of electricity. They can now tap into solar power support themselves.

There are many other well known and less well know businesses now doing Buy One Give One giving or transaction based giving as it is becoming known. Some of the famous ones are One Laptop Per Child and TOMS Shoes. Some of the less well-known ones (in the USA at least) are based in Australia, New Zealand and the UK – Maple Muesli, Blinds Couture, Earthstar Publishing, Figure 8 Body Chains, Honestly Women magazine, Sunsplash Homes and Thavibu Gallery based in Thailand are just a few special businesses that are leading the Buy One Give One movement in their parts of the world.

There are many Buy One Give One businesses now uniting under the common brand banner of Buy1GIVE1 managed by a Singapore based social enterprise which is becoming the home of transaction-based giving. Any business in the world can now integrate Buy One Give One giving with ease. It’s like a ‘CSR plug-in’ allowing a business to instantaneously start giving from each and every sale, starting from just 1 cent. It’s also no longer about giving an equivalent product to someone else. Instead it is about contributing to a project that resonates with a company’s activity. For example a restaurant can feed a child, a television retailer can give a cataract blind person the gift of sight (Get Vision-Give Vision), a magazine publisher can plant a tree every time they sell a subscription and a property developer can build a low-cost family home for those in need (Buy1BUILD1) – the list is simply endless.

There is something very special happening these days as more and more people are switching to giving and what are known as ‘citizen brands’ as a part of their everyday experience. In the 2008 Goodpurpose study of global consumer attitudes it reveals that almost 68% of consumers would choose to remain loyal to a brand during an economic downturn if it supports a good cause. And 71% say that when they think about the economic downturn, they have either given the same or more time and money to good causes. This study also highlighted some other key points as well such as:

* 52% of consumers globally are more likely to recommend a brand to others when it supports a good charity cause over one that doesn’t.

* and 54% would champion a brand to promote a product if there was a good cause behind it.

* Globally consumers are voicing a distinct desire for marketers to associate their brands to social causes. Forty-two percent say that if two products or services are of a similar quality and price, commitment to a cause trumps factors like innovation, design and brand loyalty when selecting one brand over another.

Getting becoming Giving

In the minds of consumers, Buy One GIVE One is sure to replace Buy One GET One as the global giving movement led by Buy1GIVE1 ripples out. Certainly with the large consumer demand shown for products from companies like BOGOlights, TOMS Shoes and One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), this tide will continue to spread.

I did a recent Google search to find the 25 top key words associated with the keyword BOGO. The results were very interesting in that none of them currently contained the word Give. I have displayed the results below. It will be interested to repeat this test in twelve months time and see what changes. Consumers are starting to drive major change and despite still wanting to receive free gifts (as in traditional B1G1/BOGO), they equally want to help others and the environment. This sentiment is validated by the 2008 Goodpurpose global study.

Here are the results:

Free, networking, boots, groups, music, dallas, togo themes, wallpapers, buy, applications, skins, values, coupon, African, gift, photography, blogging, discount, sharing, shopping, pics, join, prose

Transactional or transaction based giving

Buy One Give One giving is transactional – every time you buy something, you give something. In the case of SunNight Solar, TOMS Shoes and OLPC they happen to give physical products of the same nature for everyone sold. However, in most cases, Buy1GIVE1 associated businesses give a charitable contribution from each sale. Giving can start from just a one-cent contribution per sales transaction and go up to thousands of dollars in the case of Buy1BUILD1. At 1cent any business in the world can afford to give from each sale especially when they also know 100% of the contribution goes to the cause.

The amount contributed from each sale is not the point of focus with Buy1GIVE1 transaction based giving. The focus is instead on the story and sharing the simple joy of giving. In the end, if you think that 1c is not a lot to contribute and is unlikely to make much of a difference think again and consider the following idea.

From its origins in Ethiopia, where the main coffee production is still from wild coffee tree forests, coffee consumption has spread globally. Brazil is still by far the largest coffee producer in the world producing on average 28% of the world’s total coffee. In 2006 Brazil produced enough coffee to make 216,400,000,000 (216 billion four hundred million) espresso coffees. If we were to calculate across global production then we get a daily global consumption of around 2,117,416,830 cups of coffee – wow. The figures are somewhat hard to track down but let’s guess that 40% of the world’s coffee is sold and consumed in coffee shops then we would get that 846,966,732 cups are sold commercially each day globally – nearly 900 million. This would equate to about’5,485,714 cups in the US on its own seeing they purchase around 21% of the world’s coffee.

Imagine now that for every cup of coffee sold a child in a developing region like Africa received drinking water from its own well and it costing only one US cent per person per day. Now any coffee shop could afford to contribute this amount from the sale of a single cup of coffee because it has a high profit margin sale. Imagine the different that this alone would make in the world.

Transaction based giving is the story of a thousand mile journey starting with the first step. To dig a well costs a few thousand dollars hence many communities in developing nations cannot afford to dig wells. But when you see that it only takes the sale of a single cup of coffee to give clean well water to a single person for a day1, then you can see the magic of transactional based giving. Buy1GIVE1 giving is like the compound interest of giving – a little turns into a lot very quickly.

So many companies are used to doing things on their own. Doing transactional giving is no different. A company can go out find a cause and start doing Buy One Give One giving. And yet they are missing the point when they do this. Buy1GIVE1 giving is about sharing the joy of giving and not trying to change the world. As soon as you step up and say you are going to change the world then the world will step up and challenge you. Within a heartbeat a company would experience the sharp scrutiny of the media inspecting their every move. And yet when a company steps up and says it is supporting what its customer want and joins with others in its industry to do that in a win-win way, the story is different. When companies choose to join together under a commonly recognised banner/brand they can have a powerful joint effect. The ripple that a single company creates is added to that of another and the ripple grows into a tidal wave that benefits so many. This is the power of giving and doing things together.

Everyone wins with Buy-One-Give-One transaction-based giving. The consumer wins – at no extra cost to themselves they’ve made a difference to the lives of others through their purchasing choices. The business also wins in so many tangible and intangible ways. And of course the charity partner wins because they are now able to receive small amounts from numerous sources aggregated and paid in a lump sum on a regular basis allowing them to focus on what they do rather than raising funds.

A new start – a new world – new thinking

If you go right now and check Wikipedia.com for the word BOGO you should find that a new definition has been added. And soon B1G1 will be added. It is time for a sea-change – a change from the focus on GETTING to focusing on GIVING. I personally added a small addition to Wikipedia’s BOGO definition that says this: “… an acronym in the marketing industry that stands for Buy One GIVE One.”

Simply imagine our world where every time you go and buy something you give something automatically and seamlessly – giving a gift forward to someone in greater need than you. This is the simple joyful magic of transactional giving.

This is the world I want to be part of.

And remember – you don’t ‘get’ giving till you get giving.

References:

http://www.buy1-give1free.com/index.php/Partnering/Worthy-cause-charity-projects.html

http://www.buy1-give1free.com/index.php/Partnering/Worthy-cause-charity-projects.html

http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/what_we_are_doing/ethical_clothing.page

http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/what_we_are_doing/ethical_clothing.page

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee

http://www.coffeepoet.com/2007/09/

Footnotes: 1 The daily cost for clean well water per person is calculated by taking the average cost to dig a well then dividing that amount by its average expected life without major maintenance then divided it by the number of people in the community benefiting from the well on a daily basis.

Find out more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

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