"An early morning walk is a blessing for the entire day," Henry David Thoreau
* Recently I have been experiencing Perfect Health meditation free online from Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Oprah Winfrey. This is a 21 Day Meditation Challenge for people world wide to feel more deeply the benefits of a quiet mind. This program encourages participants to make room for daily meditation in their lives. I signed up! This is the first online event I have joined.
One of the reflection questions:
"How can you connect with nature each day no matter where you are?"
I wrote:
"I just close my eyes. I can transport myself into nature anywhere anytime. I can revive memories and conversations with family, friends, and pets. Today I picture walking down to the beach on wooden steps worn smooth with time and footsteps. I sink my shoes into the warm white sand. Here I practice Tai Chi, meditative exercise, in mind-space. I absorb a quiet retreat alone yet not alone in my sacred space. I feel Peace of Heart."
"In pure consciousness there is no time," Deepak Chopra, M.D.
Related Posts:
Phantoms (May 2011), In the K(now) and T-I-M-E (Dec 2011), Already Done (June 2012). Search Blog upper left toolbar key words/subjects: Meditation, Guided Imagery, Tai Chi, Yoga
Resources:
Deepak Chopra M.D., is a noted author of over 70 books, Health Expert, and Spiritual Taecher.
http://www.deepakchopra.com
http://www.chopracentermeditation.com
Meditate It Forward Free online Global Meditation. "One Meditation Can Change the World. Pass It On!" Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey.
http://www.oprah.com/OWN
Oprah Winfrey Network, Your Own Best Life. Programs include Super Soul Sunday, Master Class and more.
"Over half a million people from 204 countries completed our free 21 day Meditation Challenge, a transformative journey to Perfect Health."
http://www.taichiforhealthinstitute.org Paul Lam. M.D., explores Tai Chi's many benefits through Tai Chi for Health Programs. Relax while exercising. Gain physical strength, balance, and well being. Enjoy a more creative life.
http://www.ymaa.com
Dr. Yang Jwing-ming is a Yang Style Taiji Qigong and Martial Arts expert and author. He also explores the benefits of meditation.
http://www.worldtaichiday.org
World Tai Chi Day and World Healing Day is created by Bill Douglas, noted author and Tai Chi Expert. Sat. April 27: Practice Tai Chi around the world at 10AM in your time zone, find locations.
http://imaginehealing.info
Joel P. Bowman, Ph.D., and Debra Basham, CHTP, NLP, HTt, RMT healing for you, your family, and your pets. "Imagine!"
dahlis.roy@gmail.com
Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images:
"Good Walking Leaves No Track Behind It," Tao te Ching, Lao Tzu
Photo by Emilie
The Eagle Flies, oil painting by Dahlis Roy
* "I had a dream, and then I got real," Rick Green
Excavating My Book
Many years ago I had a dream to write a spiritual journey book. What will it be? Why would I write a book anyway? I sure had plenty to do along with three growing children, a giant silver collie and two cats. Then there were many painting commissions and book illustrations in addition.
My husband encouraged me to write. I was really reeling from the dream/image of the Silver Butterfly, moonlight reflecting on a wall. Paul told me years later, he perceived the waking vision as an Angel, an Angel of Direction. At that time I wasn't ready for the presence of Angels. I perceived Angels were figments of people's imaginations.
"How will I write?"
"I know!"
I'll just throw random thoughts or inspiring articles into a bag~ A BOOK BAG! Right away I got an image of my favorite book bag , red and grey plaid. I carried it to elementary school. I loved my book bag, then and now. And so, my Book Bag idea was born. I grabbed a plastic zip lock bag and started loading in light bulbs of ideas, fragments of poetry, drawings, and flashes of insight.
All Random, No Plan!
Recently I unearthed my (gasp) original book bag, started way back in Iowa many years ago, complete with drawings and photos! ** I pulled out an article The Power of Music, an interview with Oliver Sachs!
Imagine!
Gradually, over a span of twenty-four years, I wrote my first book, Silver Butterfly Create A Vision. Length of writing and editing timeline was without scheduling and free of deadlines. The book evolved and flowered. "Life let it happen!"
One day in the 1994 I watched The Oprah Winfrey Show. The last half of the program was about adults with ADD/ADHD. The ADD person is basically "inattentive" while ADHD includes "hyperactivity" and other symptoms. I sat up tall...I leaned forward. I recognized MYSELF! I was floored! I had no perception of living and thinking in a "different world." I thought everyone was "like me!" Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, an M.D. with ADD, was a guest medical expert on the show.
Later, Dr. Hallowell came to our town! My husband and I attended. Someone asked the Doctor a complex question. "If you are asking a two part question, remember the second part, because I won't." I nudged Paul! The audience giggled and nodded.
A few days ago, I just discovered notes I had taken in Dr. Hallowell's lecture so many years ago....while looking for something else.
"Can't Sit Still? Don't!" Moving helps stimulate dopamine, norepenephren, and serotonin, the relaxing "feel good" hormones. I write and jump up and run to perform household tasks or feed a cat, then back to writing. The same with painting. I am not on screens for hours at a time, rather minutes online in scattered bits and pieces.
Stillness: Meditate
*** Recently I signed up for Dr. Deepak Chopra's 21 Day free online Meditation Challenge. The topic is Perfect Health. This is the first online event of this kind I have done. By using this program, I am having concentrated daily practice in bringing my mind more into stillness and learning a lot about myself and others in the process.
Motion: Exercise
I am grateful for Tai Chi exercise strengthening and balancing my life. Perfect! Exercise and Meditation Combined! I need motion along with stillness. My body feels younger and stronger than ever before. Tai Chi friends are here, joining in a world wide community of outreach and empathy.
Concentrate: Ready-set-GROW!
Dr. Hallowell commented, "There are two 'times' in the ADD/ADHD world:
It's either NOW or NOT NOW."
Yes!
Time Management? Allow extra time to prepare to leave your house for an appointment or event. Clean out one shelf a day! Organization is definitely a big hurdle for most people with ADD/ADHD.
Out of the Blue was born in 2010 from rapid spontaneous events and experiences. I love that stories or pictures appear at random as if by magic, totally unplanned!
* Rick Green, "Start A Blog!"
Big Yes! Blogging or personal writing helps organize your mind in focused concentration. Blending expression and creativity spurs momentum. Left and right brain hemispheres get a work out.
Music is Power! Music provides white noise for many people, a predictable background for creating or relaxing, even sleeping!
Tap into and enjoy your creative energy!
"All is possible with the mind," Paul Lam, M.D.
Pastel Memories
Related Posts:
Tonal Vision, the Power of Music, (Jan 2011), Color (Y)our World (Feb 2011), Carry Water Chop Wood (June 2011).
Resources:
* http://www.totallyadd.com Rick Green and Patrick McKenna, two comedians with ADD, bring humor and insight into Managing Adult ADD. Documentaries are ADD and Loving It and ADD and Managing It. I saw myself in every scene and leaned new techniques and coping skills. I laughed out loud! Some ADD people tend to be very serious and perhaps reserved, observing rather than participating.
Edward M. Hallowell, an M.D. with ADD, helps others with his expertise and empathy. "I was an English major in college." Books, Driven to Distraction, Answers to Distraction and more.
** Musicophelia book by Oliver Sachs, can musical notes be perceived as colors?
The Mozart Effect book by Don Campbell, can music stimulate different areas of the brain?
*** http://www.deepakchopra.com
http://www.chopracentermeditation.com
Deepak Chopra, M.D. teams with Oprah Winfrey, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), to present this latest meditation challenge, Perfect Health. This free online program began March 11, 2013. You can register anytime during the 21 Days to experience full benefits of this program. Other programs include Meditation Library, Articles and more. Get started with Meditation.
**** http://www.taichiforhealthinstitute.org
Paul Lam, M.D. is a family practice physician and Tai Chi expert from Sydney, Australia who creates Tai Chi for Health Programs. Dr. Lam travels the world to promote Tai Chi for a life of harmony and balance full of vibrant health.
http://www.worldtaichiday.org
April 27, 2013 this year is World Tai Chi and Qigong Day, and World Healing Day, celebrated the last Saturday in April every year at 10AM in your time zone. Find a celebration near you. Bill Douglas is a Tai Chi expert and best selling author.
http://imaginehealing.info
Joel P. Bowman Ph.D and Debra Basham, CHTP, NLP, HTt, RMT open your path to perfect health.
dahlis.roy@gmail.com Dahlis Roy, visionary artist, author and Tai Chi Instructor. Request free PDF format full text and illustrated E-book, Silver Butterfly, Create A Vision: Awaken Your Creative Spirit.
Images:
Book Bag, "what have you" inspirations
Pastel Memories, Grumbacher soft artist pastels, from my personal collection of animal and nature colors
Incoming Green
* What do you want to be?
And have you travelled very far?
Far as the eye can see....
I picked up Celtic Energy recently while watching Rick Steves' European travel program about Ireland. A red haired fair skinned lad spoke hurriedly about "The Mull O' Kintyre." only he said it as all one word, "Mulla-Kintyre," with accent on the first syllable. The young man in Northern Ireland pointed across a short stretch of sea miles 20km (12 miles) where, on clear days, the traveller can view the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland!
What is the Mull of Kintyre? It is the most southwesterly section of the long Kintyre peninsula. "Mull" means "bare" of trees, rounded hills. ** "The area's significance as a cultural nexus dates back to neolithic times." A historic lighthouse is from 1788. Before the lighthouse, bonfires were beacons to sailors. I felt I was right there and could even smell the sea air! I remembered my Irish, English, Welsh, and Scotch-Irish relatives from distant days. I thought of Collies herding sheep....
I must see the song again....
Having a quiet stretch of alone time one day, I clicked into viewing Mull of Kintyre video sung by Paul McCartney. As the video played, I saw scenes I had forgotten and scenes I clearly remembered from the 1977 video. In my imagination, the film tones were more muted like black, white, grey, and sepia? My memory missed altogether the full color scenes on the farm where Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine, part of Wings band, strolled together singing. I certainly got the pipe band and the bonfire into my memory bank. Interesting how the heart-mind works and reworks, editing scenes on its own.
I sang along as new images absorbed into my head. Music rolled on and on like waves in the ocean! The tune has a primal tribal beat, like a ceremonial march.
Next I played the song, Mull of Kintyre, repeating the track while writing....
I typed with wild abandon! Never mind spelling! Never mind chronological order of the lyrics! I wrote what I "heard" and I have always sung, but (guess again) some lyrics were quite different from the original intention:
Mull of Kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea I (sic) desire is always to be there....
Far have I traveled and much have I seen
dark distant mountains with valleys o' green
vast painted deserts the sun sets (sic) on fire....
Enter Bagpipe Band
Sweet grew the heather right here in the glen (sic)
Carry me back to the days I knew then....
Enter Families
Smiles in the sunshine and tears in the rain
Still take me back where my memories remain....
Enter Bonfire
Flickering embers grow higher and higher...(sic)
As they carry me back to the Mull of Kintyre
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir (way out of order here!)
of the life and the times of the Mull of Kintyre.
Change of Key and repeat chorus
Chanting and hollering from the gathering around the bonfire!
Remembering a change of key in the Mull of Kintyre song, Beatle's Lyrics floated into my memory....
* Tuned to a natural E
Happy to be that way.
Now that you've found another key,
What are you going to play?
What are we going to play?
Ever evolving and changing keys in the circles of life, love, and friendship....
Related Posts:
Silver Stars and Moonbeams, Chessie the Cat with her shamrocks, (March 2011) Grow Green (April 2011), Out of Box Experience, journey with the Collie (Aug 2011), A Sitich in Time, Call to Colors and Find A Voice (March 2012)
Resources:
* The Beatles, song Baby You're A Rich Man from Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
** http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/297391
Wikipedia, Mull of Kintyre, for more details and photos of the land.
Paul McCartney, Mull of Kintyre from Wings Greatest, (1978). After the Beatles broke up (1970), Paul and Linda retreated to High Park Farm in the Mull of Kintyre. They had a recording studio there. The rough landscape and simple life was a haven for peace and recovery. Denny Laine co wrote Mull of Kintyre with Paul. Denny was a member of Paul's Wings Band and a former member of The Moody Blues. The local Cambeltown Pipe Band performs bagpipe music.
I watched the original Mull of Kintyre song, a family home movie, and then the Scottish Channel for lyrics of Mull of Kintyre Paul McCartney (read and sing along with Paul, no pictures).
http://www.youtube.com
When I first heard the song Mull of Kintyre, I pictured Ireland and my spelling was Mull O' Kyntire. The name is an Anglicization of the Gaelic, Maol Chinn Tire (mu: ly cin tji-ria).
Lyrics' chronological order may be changed in this post.
"I" desire should read "my" desire.
"Vast painted deserts" should be "past painted deserts,"
"the sun sets on fire" should read "the sunsets on fire."
"Sweet grew the heather right here in the glen" is "Sweep through the heather, like deer in the glen." Really missed that one! (giggle)
Flickering embers grow higher and higher" should be "embers grew higher and high."
http://www.ricksteves.com Rick Steves, travel programs on PBS. Rick Steves Europe series and more.
http://www.taichiforhealthinstitute.org Dr. Paul Lam develops Tai Chi for Health Exercises. Tai Chi helps your memory, well being, and encourages vibrant health, creativity, and enjoyment of life. Imagine!
http://dbasham.blogspot.com Cotton Candy Sunsets new post (Mar 14, 13) on Debra Basham's Blog, Yellow Brick Road, Your Path to Heart and Health
dahlis.roy@gmail.com
Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images
Grow Green, clip art shamrocks
Incoming Green, years ago I had a yin-yang sticker. I stuck it onto a note card and keep in on my bulletin board, a reminder of harmony and balance, Tai Chi in rest and Action.
Recently while scanning the channels, my eyes preyed upon Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
Daniel Strip-ed Tiger was my favorite puppet on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. My Mom helped me order a Daniel Tiger poster. She helped me complete the projects and earn Daniel's black stripes which arrived by mail. We pasted the stripes on Daniel. When I earned all his stripes, I colored in Daniel with bright orange!
I liked Daniel best because he lived in a clock! He was very time conscious. He seemed like me, reserved yet observing, watching and waiting, thinking before acting or speaking.
Settling down in front of the TV,:
"I'll have a look!"
I was pleased to discover that current cartoon Daniel Tiger, Jr. is the son of the Original Daniel, the Clock Tiger.. Dan Jr. wears a watch like his Dad. Daniel lives with his parents in Jungle Beach. I like the tiger striped curtains on the windows! Daniel Sr. still works at the clock factory, inside the big clock! Cartoon Trolley is here, Daniel's friends are here, youngsters of Henrietta Pussycat, X the Owl, Lady. Elaine Fairchild, King Friday XIII and others from the original Mr. Roger's Neigborhood program.
It is nurturing to see positive friend and family relationships dealing with issues we all face like anger management, sadness, disappointment, facing fear, and making choices. Positive solutions are explored. I laughed out loud watching Daniel get ready for school. He was trying to keep focused on getting organized and catching the Trolley Bus on time! Just like me, "then and now!" "Im late!"
Friends Help Each Other episode hit home when Daniel has a tea party at Katerina Kitty Cat's tree house. Katerina wants to lift a heavy chair.
"Need any help?"
"No thank you, I can lift it~ All By Myself.
It's so hard to accept help! Giving (being in control) is so much easier than asking for help (letting go)....I can totally agree!
Positive programs for people of any age suggest creative solutions for everyday situations:
** Tiger Tale?
Related Posts:
Words of Inspiration
Another Time, Another Space
The Immediate Rabbit
Resources:
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and other programs for kids of all ages, Public Boadcasting System USA
Fred Rogers started Mr. Roger's Neighborhood generating from WQED, Pittsburgh, PA. The legacy continues today. WQED was the first educational TV channel in the world, premiering in the early 1950's. My parents and I watched WQED go on the air, emerging from the test pattern! In grade school, we learned fractions, French, and English skills via TV in our classrooms! Our 6th grade class attended a live broadcast of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood at WQED studios.
Years later, I met Fred Rogers while working in Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania USA) Art Room. He came often for information about art and artists. His original puppets are kept in the adjoining Carnegie Museum. I saw Original Daniel in person.
Tribe of Tiger, book by Elizabeth Marshall Thom
Images: by Dahlis Roy
Pastel Painting: Tiger, Silent Hunter, inspires us with his intent and focus.
** Photo: "Animal Tale," Sasha the Cat (above) strikes a pose similar to a Hieroglyph used in ancient Egypt
** Ink Sketch: "Artist At Work," a peek into an artist's mind, jumbled random notes and images. CAV represents "Create A Vision"
Hieroglyph "Animal" from ancient Egypt is on the right. Below it, I added Cheetah spots to mine! "Dhls" (Dahlis) in Ancient Egyptian sketch-writing, notice the roaring "Lion" representing "L."
What is Reel?
How many of you have minds that run HD movies or still pictures, with or without dialogue? You can "see" scenes from your life just by having a conversation with a family member, friend, or pet. Perhaps a walk on the beach triggers images of childhood and more?
What about that birthday cake? How about those old connecting telephone and telegraph lines? Do dreams invite us into other dimensions?
Our favorite songs can call up vivid images from all stages of "us" all at once. Each song, or stream of songs, played at random has its unique frequency calling us into action, play, or rest....Love Music of all kinds propelling us forward! Music provides momentum for our work and play.
Abundance
Recently I feel scenes from Harry Potter's first movie streaming visually through my mind. Harry is receiving invitations to Hogwart's School....
We are invited in our own way. I am excavating items of all types from inside our home and "trying" to organize them. I feel intent owls circling and dropping hundreds of Invitations to "LIfe School 101." First the invitations slide in the letter drop, then they come down the chimney, and stream in through open windows! Soon the whole house is buried in letters, each letter (thought/memory/project) is inviting me into to an ongoing journey.
* "Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box, they tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe...."
What next? Paintings, slides, photos, books, furniture, music of all kinds and movies appear right here right now....I love them all! Each piece contains a treasure trove of untapped memories. I am rewinding and fast forwarding all at once! A few days ago I discovered a box of slides. I had seen these pictures only once before and many years ago. Was that me? I was a young twenty year old. I saw my paintings on the walls of my parents home....I painted the pictures again in my imagination.
Help!
I feel overwhelmed with goodness and abundance all around.
I practice Tai Chi with joy and gratitude!
I stop to rest in front of my TV. I still love a scheduled show, slowing me down a bit. Of course the program is also online. I like the "time out" space and time, a regeneration of spirit in an alert resting state. Left to pick a show up on demand, I would never schedule it at all!
** Were You Here Before?
The TV topic is past life regression. I'm watching! Brian Weiss, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. are guests on Oprah Winfrey's Super Soul Sunday this morning. I grab an every-ready pencil and paper! Dr. Oz and several others had agreed to be hypnotized by Dr. Weiss. Dr. Oz related a "gentle yet powerful," experience different from imagination, fantasy, or conscious daydreaming. Dr. Weiss added that hypnosis is a "direct line in."
Many are/were skeptical. Even the two physicians, at first, dismissed some of their patients' testimonies. As events progressed later in their lives and medical practices, "There is something to this!"
Many years earlier I had read Out on a Limb by Shirley MacLaine and marveled at her pictorial descriptions of her personal spiritual journey including past life recalls. What about me?
What events could I explain or not in the physical-non physical world? Do I need explanations? I remembered books that helped....
"You don't have to believe to experience," a voice from the TV calls me back.
In my imagination, I am seeing reels of vintage films in storage waiting for viewing.
GET REEL?
*** "It's never too late to have a happy childhood," Debra Basham
Related Posts:
Tonal Vision, The Power of Music (Jan 2011), See Spots Run, Master Cheetah teaches the lesson of letting go. (Mar 2011), Ghosts of Myself (April 2011), Phantoms (May 2011), Zenwalk (Oct 2011), The Edge of Time (Aug 2012), and In the Fog, my stuff my way, (Feb 2013).
Resources:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, movie and book series for all ages.
* Across the Universe, Beatles song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Seek hypnosis help only from qualified professionals.
** OWN Oprah Winfrey Network, Super Soul Sunday, Feb 24, 2013
Many Lives, Many Masters, book by psychiatrist Brian Weiss, M.D.
http://www.brianweiss.com
http://www.doctoroz.com Mehmet Cengiz Oz, M.D., is a cardio-thorasic surgeon.
Helpful Books, use with professional guidance:
Edgar Cayce on Soul Mates by Kevin Todeschi
You Can Remember Your Past Lives Edgar E. Cayce edited by Henry Reed
The DNA of Healing by Margaret Ruby
http://www.shirleymaclaine.com Shirley MacLaine is an actress, author, dancer, and spiritual teacher.
http://www.ymaa.com Dr. Yang Jwing-ming, Yang Style Tai Chi expert, Qigong and Martial Arts Master. The Essence of Shaolin White Crane book includes Self-Hypnosis Relaxation Meditation guidelines (p 188). Use with professional guidance.
Chants of India by Ravi Shankar, produced by George Harrison, cut one, Vandanaa Trayee, is my frequency of the day. I find it interesting that this is a calming chant now, whereas several years ago, it sounded disturbing. My cats love it too for a relaxing effect. This selection's vibrations continue around me even after I have turned off the player.
***
http://www.scs-matters.com Subtle Communication Systems with Joel P. Bowman, Ph.D and Debra Basham, CHTP, NLP, HTt, RMT. Products include hypnotherapy Cd's such as Freedom from Pain, Remembering Perfect Health, and Everlasting Peace. Debra's New Book, Stories from My Heart
http://imaginehealing.info Your Healing Journey
http://www.totallyadd.com Two comedians, Brian Green and Patrick McKenna, use humor, medical research, and interviews with medical experts to bring ADD/ADHD into focus.
dahlis.roy@gmail.com Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images, photos by Dahlis
Communicate! Telephone pole is from my electric train set
Light and Time, sunlight flickers across tile patterns.
