Getting back to Nature

In our busy fasted pace world that we live in today our children are developing many disorders that have began to hinder their growth and their ability to connect with others and their surroundings. Research has began to discover that a crucial part of a child's development is being exposed to nature on a regular basis. As parents we have had the tenancy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the economic consumption mentality of today's lifestyle and our children are paying the price. We give them fast food, the quick processed foods, and use electronics as baby sitters while we are in a hurry to chase the monetary means to keep up with the consumption of what is convenient not what is beneficial. We are walking through life with our children in a manner that is causing us to become disconnected and unhealthy both physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Here in the USA we are more concerned about the next sport to get the child in rather than what can I do to help my child become more connected. Though sports promotes physical health and should help promote working together as a team, it has become more of a competitive focus and for the children of today it goes against their nature thus causing some of them to shut down their creative minds and their ability to maintain healthy relationships. Not because of the sport but because of the mentality of the parents and their focus on the winning the game mentality.

Unfortunately, young children today do not have as many direct experiences with nature, and it's taking a toll. Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, maintains that this disconnect from the natural world is producing ill effects in both mind and body. But he's optimistic that well-meaning, forward-thinking parents and educators can close the kid-nature gap. "We should not think of a child's experience in nature as an extracurricular activity," says Louv. "It should be thought of as vital to children's health and development."

In an interview with the editors of Scholastic's Parent & Child, Louv states that “Research suggests that a connection to nature is biologically innate; as humans, we have an affinity for the natural world. When children spend most of their time indoors, they miss out. Problems associated with alienation from nature include familiar maladies: depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Kids who have direct access to nature are better learners. Exposure to nature has been shown to reduce stress and increase attention spans.”

As part of our Child Development Programs we it is our hopes to encourage the connection and to be enthusiastic about nature.

Some ways to begin with your child is to go out in your backyard. Instead of a manicured lawn or garden, leave some spots untamed so kids can dig in the dirt and find rocks or interesting weeds. If you have a vegetable garden, have your child help you plant seeds or pick tomatoes. Even walking to your local park can be a nature walk to a preschooler — he can collect leaves, you can point out trees and bushes and show him the bugs crawling along the curb. Let your kids get down in the dirt so they can see at eye level the whole universe there. Nature is good for everyone's mental health. Nature isn't the problem; it's the solution.

Gratitude For What Is

We are coming up on a holiday that, in my opinion should be celebrated on a daily basis, Thanksgiving. Our ancestors celebrated throughout the year in giving thanks. My ancestors were Irish and in the Gaelic and Celtic traditions my ancestors celebrated with the moon cycles. Why do you suppose we took it from several times a year to only once per year? On this continent the Thanksgiving tradition and other holidays have been borrowed from the indigenous tribes and from other continents that either lived here prior to the arrival of the Pilgrims or were celebrated in other lands. In fact if you research the history of the America there has been findings that there were folks here as much as 25,000 years ago. So in truth was it settled first by the pilgrims or was it taken. At any rate the Thanksgiving traditions and the truths of that tradition are being exposed by many scholars and researchers. All you have to do is investigate it and compare the history books to other data and information that is out there for your use.

I mention this because in these times of evolution finding more well-serving and truthful ways of existence is what we are facing. And in my opinion is essential for the survival of the Human Race.

Many times in our lives we get caught up in worrying about what we don’t have. We focus on the future placing our concerns and thoughts on what is to come, what if’s, and ultimately forgetting about today or this moment. Remaining in this mindset ultimately creates fears, anxiety and great discomfort.

Creating from our heads without gratitude for what we have today will lack the synchronicity and love centered intention for more well-serving lives personally and for that matter our world. So think from your heart and give thanks each day for what is at this moment and watch your life and world flow with fluidity and grace.

Let our focus be on gratitude and love of our families, abundance (whatever we perceive that to be), and even our trials upon each day as we awaken and throughout our day as a celebration of Thanksgiving as a daily practice creating truth within the moment which will eventually create future experiences on a heart centered basis.

Happy Thanksgiving/Gratitude Day Today and Always!

Earthships

The Earthship, as it exists today, began to take shape in the 1970s. Mike Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture, a company that specializes in designing and building Earthships, wanted to create a home that would do three things; first, it would be sustainable, using material indigenous to the entire planet as well as recycled materials wherever possible. Second, the homes would rely on natural energy sources and be independent from the “grid”, therefore being less susceptible to natural disasters and free from the electrical and water lines that Reynolds considered unsightly and wasteful. Finally, it would be economically feasible for the average person with no specialized construction skills to be able to create.

The Power of Conscious Patience

When we think of patience it is usually when we are trying to endure waiting for our expectations to be fulfilled. We pretend to have patience while our own unappeased thoughts and feelings pound on us. Let’s look at some facts about the true nature of patience, and what it is that we have to acquire or what we have to understand for us to become a more evolved human being. The way we have let our minds run us is much like a machine, where most of our lives are spent in automatic reactions to experiences where an expectation meets up with either the fulfillment or the denial of our dreams. It is time that we see that our own conditioned expectations always set us up for a sorrow, strife, anger and other kinds of emotion that leaves us living a life lack of peace. I find it sad that our hopes are tied to this source of our heartaches, not just for our pressing wish to acquire more money, a better house, more respect, another relationship, what have you, but also according to the degree to which we demand these expectations be met. It is time to change our unconscious condition. This is a necessary stage in our spiritual development. One of my favorite scriptures is from Luke: "In your patience possess ye your souls." This is true patience and in this we gain the power to control our lives. This would convey to us is that the true spiritual path can't have anything to do with some imagined quality of consciousness that we can give to ourselves because, for one thing, in the very imagining of that quality, whatever its name, we end up becoming impatient to possess it! This is a vital point: Our desires create an extremely powerful second force in us; and gradually, as we struggle to be seen as we hope others will see us loving, wise, strong, gentle, and patient we come unglued! Instead of being patient, kind, and compassionate, we become the opposite: a raging volcano of conflicting desires that finally explodes. Clearly this approach doesn't work. We must stop pretending. We must learn a new kind of patience one not with regards to getting what we want, but with those pressing, stressed parts of us that insist we must have or what we want when we want it! With this conscious patience that I’m speaking of has nothing to do with the love of things, or of sensations, but with the love of what is True, what is good and graceful, spiritual in nature. It embraces the love of that which cannot be owned outright by any human being but that must be permitted to possess us if we are ever to know its peace-giving and perfectly patient presence.