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Intermittent Fasting: Meal Plans

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is effective. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

I love intermittent fasts. I have found them to be physically healing, emotionally cleansing, and spiritually uplifting. As the body experiences a shift in its attachment to food, the mind and heart experience something similar in relation to their attachments to ideas, feelings, people, and experiences.​
Intermittent fasting refers to eating plans and dietary protocols that cycle between periods of fasting (no food or some food) and periods of non-fasting. There are a variety of intermittent fasting diets, along with several types of intermittent diet meal plans.

The benefits of intermittent fasting include lowering insulin levels, reducing inflammation, improving brain health, possible weight loss, and helping you feel more hopeful and prayerful. Overall, Intermittent fasting has shown promising results in broad trials involving mice and a few limited human trials.

To learn more about intermittent fasting, check out my other article about the benefits, trends, spirituality, and dangers.

“Fasting Is The First Principle Of Medicine;
Fast And See The Strength Of The Spirit Reveal Itself.”
~ Rumi

Intermittent Fasting Diets

In general, intermittent fasting includes fasting one to two days per week or on alternating days. During these days, you eat either no food at all or 25 percent of your regular caloric intake.
On reduced calorie days, men consume 500 to 600 calories, while women consume 400 to 500 calories. Rather than strictly focusing on male vs. female intake, you might consider your body type, regular diet, and personal preferences before committing to a specific number of calories.

On non-fasting days, the most successful intermittent fasters eat normally and never binge. Some of the more courageous fasters eat only during limited windows throughout each day and might reduce their carbs. For all fasts, it’s important to stay hydrated, which includes drinking water and non-caloric, non-alcoholic beverages like unsweetened coffee and tea.

Here are a few types of intermittent fasting diet plans to consider:

Simple And Painless Fast

The most cautious fast consists of no food restrictions, fasting one day per week, with only one meal on that day, and with a calorie intake at the 25 percent level (400 to 600 calories). On the other six days, eat normally.

5/2 Moderate Fast

The 5/2 fast consists of no food restrictions for two days per week, while reducing calorie intake to 25 percent, between 500 to 600 calories. On the other five days, you would eat normally.

Consistent Fasting

One of the most aggressive ways to intermittent fast is to adhere to your usual diet from 8am to 3pm, with fasting during the remaining hours of the day. On some days you might want a cheeseburger at 8pm, but you can’t have one.

Alternate-Day Fast

This intermittent fast might be one of the most difficult. Eating normally on one day and then fasting on the next day. To get the most benefit, you would continue this cycle somewhere between 8 and 16 weeks. Each fasting day can include 500 to 600 calories or no calories at all. In either case, be sure to drink plenty of water.

Alternate-day fasting can help you lose weight, and help lower your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Krista Varady created a version of this diet which she calls, “The Every Other Day Diet.” While restrictive, this diet tends to hold people’s attention longer than most. The length of time that seems to produce the most benefits is 12 weeks, which is also the number of weeks that most human trials aim to achieve.

6/1 Fast

The 6/1 Fast is a simple fast where you eat nothing for one 24 hour period each week, starting with any meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner). During this time, doctors recommend that you drink plenty of water. Low-sugared coffee, tea, and other non-caloric and non-alcoholic beverages are permitted.

Keto Derivative

A form of The Keto Diet includes an aspect of intermittent fasting that some people find helpful and effective. During every meal, eat your vegetables first and then eat your protein, with meals to be completed between 11am to 6pm, with intermittent fasting hours from 6pm to 11am. Refrain from heavy carbs like bread, pasta, and rice. Keep in mind that drastic reductions in carbs can make you feel a little foggy.

The Master Cleanse: Lemon Juice & Cayenne Pepper Fast

This popular fasting practice has been around since the 1940s, created by the controversial Stanley Burroughs. Stanley wrote The Master Cleanser in the 1940s but the 1970s revision inspired a popular cleanse movement, which continues to this day. Fans of this cleanse include Beyoncé, Jared Leto, Denzel Washington, and Angelina Jolie.

The Master Cleanse consists of drinking only water mixed with a half-teaspoon of lemon juice and a hint of cayenne pepper 5 to 8 times per day, for 5 to 10 days. While this fast is not recommended for everyone, and it’s not a cure-all or intermittent fast, you might consider this idea when creating your own hybrid intermittent fast/diet. One hybrid idea might be to drink this formula from 3pm to 8am and eat two calorie-restricted meals during the hours of 8am to 3pm.

The Warrior Diet

This intermittent fasting diet has some passionate followers. It involves fasting during the day and then eating a huge meal at night.​

Popularized by fitness expert Ori Hofmekler, the dieter consumes small portions of raw fruits and raw vegetables during the day, then eats a high-calorie meal before 8pm. In short, you fast all day (limited to fresh fruits and vegetables), and then you have a power-feast in the evening, finishing your banquet within a 4-hour eating window.​

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There are several challenges with this type of fasting. Depending on your body and metabolism, eating in the evening can extinguish the benefits of intermittent fasting. It might:

  • Negatively impact your sleeping and dreaming patterns
  • Alter hormone function
  • Increase inflammation
  • Impair blood sugar regulation
  • Create weight gain
  • Elevate triglycerides and cholesterol

Circadian Rhythm Or 16/8 Fasting

When it comes to losing weight, there are healthy and unhealthy paths. The Circadian Rhythm or 16/8 Fasting is when you eat solely during an 8-10 hour window each day. The rest of the time you refrain from meals and caloric beverages, but you can drink non-caloric, non-alcoholic drinks, including low-sugar coffee and tea.
Intermittent Meal Plan Example
For this example, we’ll focus on the 5/2 Intermittent Fast, which consists of two fasting days per week, each allowing 25 percent of your regular caloric intake (400 to 600 calories). When doing this fast, consider having an eating window from 8am to 6pm. In addition to possibly losing additional weight, you’ll have more food options if you avoid pieces of bread, rice, and pasta during your fast.
When fasting with limited calories, a hidden gem is hemp seeds. My favorite brand is Manitoba Harvest. Their Hemp Hearts are delicious and provide more protein than meat.

Here Is An Example Of An Under-600 Calorie Meal Schedule:

Breakfast: 250 Calories

  • 1/4 cup of oatmeal
  • 8 oz Green smoothie with apples, spinach, and kale
  • One hard-boiled egg or a one-egg Tex-Mex scramble with a pinch of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and salsa

Lunch/Dinner – 300 Calories (Pick One)

  • One small baked potato with one tablespoon of sour cream
  • 2 cups roasted vegetables with two tablespoons of hemp seeds
  • 1/2 avocado on toast with one tablespoon of crushed peanuts or sesame seeds
  • Chicken, Vegetable and Bean soup with 3 oz of chicken, 1/4 cup of red beans, 1/2 cup of chopped veggies. You can swap the chicken for 3 oz of beef or buffalo, a moderate portion of tofu or 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds.

Between Meals – Under 60 calories (limited to one of these items, once per day)

  • 2 cups of cooked microwave popcorn
  • 1/2 cup cottage cheese
  • Three whole-grain pretzel sticks
  • 14 almonds
  • One apple (baked)
  • 1/4 cup low-sugar ice cream
  • 1/4-1/2 banana

Anytime

  • Water with 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and a tiny sprinkle of cayenne pepper. This drink is my favorite, especially during the fasting hours of 6 pm and 8 am or 6 pm and 11 am.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

While intermittent fasting is not a cure-all, and the data is based mainly on scientific trials focused on mice, many people agree that intermittent fasting does wonders.
Many say that it can:

  • Ease depression and increase vitality
  • Improve memory
  • Reduce inflammation and weight gain
  • Remove damaged brain cells and generates new ones
  • Help reduce attachment to emotional and psychological luggage.
  • Improve your experience when praying and meditating

In general, even a little fasting here and there is shown to have positive effects. If you have gut issues or adrenal fatigue, proceed with caution. To be safe, ask your doctor or certified nutritionist before you begin fasting.
In all fasting, be careful about “starvation mode,” when your body starts to conserve energy by reducing the number of calories it burns. Starvation mode is something to avoid. It can cause your body to stop losing weight, and it will most often make you depressed, angry, lost, confused, or worse. It might also have other negative effects.

Just in case, notify a few friends before you fast. Texting a friend is quick and easy, “Hey, I’m fasting. If I die, I buried a treasure under a tree. The map is in my fridge. It’s all yours!”

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Keto Diet: Benefits and Warnings

Keto Diet

The Keto Diet is powerful. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

Over the past few years, the keto diet, or ketogenic diet, has become one of the most popular forms of dieting and weight loss. While weight loss isn’t in the cards for every dieter, it’s often the primary motivator.

Because the diet requires a drastic reduction in carbohydrates, we might feel spacey, flaky, and lost for a few days, but only at the start. By its conclusion, many dieters report a loss of weight and see an overall improvement in their mental clarity and physical health.​

Getting on the keto diet might not make you a better person, but it will improve your relationship with bacon grease and cauliflower. It might also teach you about the addictive nature of carbs.

What Happens To Our Bodies During The Keto Diet?

As we starve our bodies of carbohydrates, our systems begin to get our energy from triglycerides in our stored fat. As our livers break down the fat and produce ketones (acids), our bodies enter the survival state known as ketosis. This is when our energy levels improve, and our weight tends to decrease.​
Let’s be careful though. When the body is synthesizing fat, it can also produce excess ketones, which can be poisonous to the body, resulting in ketoacidosis. Good times.​

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My body goes crazy for foods that are high in carbs. I especially love pasta, which means giving it up is painful. When we eat carbs, our bodies rush to produce glucose and insulin. After a plate or two of spaghetti, I tend to feel a little high. Lucky me!​

With carbs, glucose converts to bursts of energy, and then insulin processes it all in the blood and carries it throughout the body. For a while, carbs can feel wonderful.

When I completed my keto diet at 31 days, I had lost 15 pounds. During and after the diet, I experienced improvements in mental focus, memory, and energy.

Many people report losing lots of weight during their keto diet, while some don’t lose any weight at all. Luckily, weight isn’t the banner value of the diet.

What Is The Keto Diet?

The keto diet consists of a straightforward set of rules:

  • Remove carbs from your diet or drastically reduce your carb intake. This means no grains, rice, pasta, potatoes and their tubular friends, and no bread, flour, fruit, or sugar.
  • You can eat meat, eggs, vegetables, high-fat cream, butter, nuts, seeds, avocados, berries, stevia sweetener, and all the other fats (high-fat salad dressing, coconut oil, sesame oil, saturated fats, and bacon fat). Yes, bacon fat. Lots and lots of bacon fat.
  • Eat as much as you want from 11 am to 7 pm.
  • Do not eat from 7 pm to 11 am every day.
  • When planning your meals, include lots of fatty meats and oily proteins.
  • During each sitting, eat your vegetables first and then your proteins.

The nutritional breakdown of your meal plan might look something like this:

  • Fat: 70% of calories
  • Protein: 25% of calories
  • Carbs: 5% of calories

By forcing a fat-burn through the liver, your body goes into a state similar to fasting, known as ketosis. In some cases, this fast-paced fat-burn can be reinvigorating. In many cases, the weight you’ve been struggling to lose for the past five years will appear to fall off magically. Please be aware that this is not the case for everyone.​
Some people find the beginning of this diet to be very difficult. The spaciness and confusion that can result from excluding carbs from their diet can feel debilitating. If you struggle with letting go of carbs, pace yourself, and try to decrease your carb intake over time.

The Downside Of The Keto Diet

When you stop eating carbs, your body and mind begin to exhibit a type of withdrawal. While your system is scrambling to grab energy from fat, your mind, and body look for their sugar daddy – carbs.

While your body is transitioning to its new source of power, it might also produce flu-like symptoms, otherwise known as the Keto Flu, Carb Flu, or Sugar Flu. The resulting fatigue will cause you to feel like you’re running around steep mountain paths at very high altitudes. You might also feel sleepy and tend to whine like a 5-year old. It’s okay; mommy loves you.​
In the midst of your Keto Flu, your mind might wander, mostly because your brain will miss the energy bursts that the carbs were producing. You might feel confused and won’t have quality mental agility for a few days. This is all temporary. Eventually, your mind and body catch-up to the new system of fat-burning and all sorts of beautiful things take place.

During this diet, you might experience a change in bowel function, including constipation. This can be attributed to your newly-found low fiber intake. Without carbs, you’ll need to get fiber from vegetables and psyllium seed husks. Seriously, eat fiber-rich veggies and psyllium. This will make your trips to the bathroom much less painful and far more productive.

If you experience diarrhea during your diet, you might need to add probiotics to your meals, along with fermented foods like sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, tempeh, and miso. While you’re at it, be prepared for a slower metabolism and stinky breath — just sayin.

The Benefits Of The Keto Diet

Most people love the ketogenic diet for the benefits outside of weight loss. Here’s a list of the most incredible takeaways:

  • Increased energy
  • Improved mental focus
  • Increased mental agility
  • Improved memory
  • Reduced cholesterol
  • Lowered blood pressure
  • Regulated hormones
  • Controlled epileptic seizures
  • Lower insulin at healthier levels
  • Increased sex drive
  • Reversed insulin resistance
  • Reduced feelings of stress
  • More frequent feelings of happiness
  • Reduced acne (Yup, the keto diet means fewer zits!)

Keto Diet Warnings And Conclusion​

If you’re on the keto diet and you experience frequent urination, extreme thirst, high blood sugar levels, and high levels of keynotes in the urine, please see a doctor or go to an emergency room. These are symptoms of DKA, otherwise known as Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
​Most common in type 1 diabetes, DKA is a serious condition, and it can make you violently ill. It might also kill you. Treatment involving fluid replacement has the highest rate of success.
To flush ketones out of your body naturally, drink extra water.​

Keep in mind that the keto diet was never meant to be a long-term strategy for health and weight loss. Some doctors are not careful when prescribing this diet. Your keto friends might also be unaware of the diet’s potential risks.​

If you’re frequently using the keto diet for weight loss or any of its other benefits, you run the risk of chronic disease, and potentially, premature death. Yes, it’s that serious.​

In all cases and with all diets, be extremely careful, especially when limiting your carbohydrate intake.
The most comprehensive health and diet plans include exercise. Consult a western or naturopathic doctor to learn more about your limits and health risks related to dieting.

For the vegetarians and vegans in the house, it’s entirely possible to maintain your plant-based diet and be a keto rock star. While consuming fat is a normal part of the keto process, your fat can be from coconut oil, nuts, and avocados.

While getting on the keto diet has some compelling benefits, it might also cause you to become addicted to bacon memes. The hidden fun of this diet is in the fat. With a little research and careful moderation, butter, pork fat, and coconut oil might become your new best friends. Go fat go!​ Enjoy your diet and be safe!

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Intermittent Fasting: Benefits, Trends

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting Benefits. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

I began intermittent fasting when I was 15. At that time, I fasted because it cleared my mind and put me in a more meditative and prayerful state. Fasting might make you feel a little foggy or spacey, but for me, fasting helps me become more peaceful. Meanwhile, it does a great job of rebooting the system.

“All The Vitality And All The Energy I Have,
Come To Me Because My Body Is Purified By Fasting.”
~ Mohandas Gandhi

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting refers to eating plans and dietary protocols that cycle between periods of fasting (no food or some food) and periods of non-fasting. There are a variety of intermittent fasting diets, along with several types of intermittent diet meal plans.

The benefits of intermittent fasting include lowering insulin levels, reducing inflammation, improving brain health, and helping you feel more hopeful and prayerful. Intermittent fasting is showing promising results.
There is also the benefit of weight loss, one of the more popular reasons why people do intermittent fasts. While some intermittent fasts are helping a wide variety of healthy humans (and many mischiefs of lab rats) to burn fat and lose weight, intermittent fasts can have adverse effects, too. To be safe, ask your doctor or certified nutritionist for the go-ahead.​

The overall consensus about intermittent fasting is that it improves health and mental clarity, but it doesn’t consistently result in weight loss, or more weight loss compared to diets that restrict calorie and carb intake.
I’ve tried all types of intermittent fasting. Sometimes I lose weight and feel better, and sometimes I don’t experience anything beyond improved clarity and peacefulness.

Intermittent Fasting Diet

In general, intermittent fasting includes fasting one to two days per week, where during those days you eat either no food at all or 25% of your caloric intake. Most people who commit to intermittent fasts reduce caloric intake to 25% of their regular diets, either periodically or on alternating days. On reduced calorie days, men consume 500 to 600 calories, while women’s caloric intake is 400 to 500.​
On non-fasting days, the most successful intermittent fasters eat normally and never binge. Some of the more courageous fasters eat only during limited windows throughout each day and might reduce their carbs. For all fasts, it’s important to stay hydrated, which includes drinking water and non-caloric, non-alcoholic beverages like unsweetened coffee and tea.

You can learn more about a wide variety of intermittent fasts, along with their meal plans and suggested eating schedules here.

Metabolic expert Dr. Deborah Wexler, Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Center said, “There is evidence to suggest that the circadian rhythm fasting approach, where meals are restricted to an 8-10 hour period of the daytime, is effective.”

There is substantial scientific evidence suggesting that circadian rhythm fasting, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can be a particularly useful approach to weight loss, especially for people at risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Fast With No Binge

While the idea of fasting for a day and then binging on fat and sugar might sound appetizing, it’s terrible for the body. It’s important to note that when you choose to do an intermittent fast, make sure you are eating normally on the non-fasting days. Studies show that people who binge after fasting can cause their health more harm than good.

“If Thou Wouldst Preserve A Sound Body, Use Fasting And Walking; If A Healthful Soul, Fasting And Praying; Walking Exercises The Body, Praying Exercises The Soul, Fasting Cleanses Both.”
~ Francis Quarles

 

Spiritual Fasting

When the body is cleansed, the spirit is uplifted. The two go hand-in-hand. Fasting allows our souls to be less attached to our bodies and minds. It improves our vibration and helps us feel more connected to ourselves and others.

Almost every spiritual and religious tradition in the world mentions fasting as an essential activity for spiritual growth. It’s found 87 times in the Bible. Socrates and Plato fasted so they could purify their minds and spirits in pursuit of the truth.

Native Americans fast either in private or during public rituals. Indian fasts generally include abstinence from food and water, and they often enhance spiritual visions. In addition to a clearer state of mind and heart, fasts are also a way to rid the body and spirit of toxins accrued when interacting with society and the everyday world.

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Kundalini Yogis encourage regular fasting because it allows the spirit to traverse the chakras and connect with the eternal consciousness. This allows energy to flow through the body without hindrance. When done in conjunction with Kundalini yoga, intermittent fasting can also improve the immune system.

When doing vision quests in the wilderness and other rituals, I’ve found it vital to fast the majority of the time. The idea here is to put my spirit in a state of wakefulness so that I can connect with my spirit guides and be more in tune with my surroundings.

During my first vision quest, I was so in tune and connected, I was able to attract peaceful bears, mountain lions, wild turkeys, and other animals to my sleeping/ritual sites. I felt genuinely peaceful, which inspired the animals to feel the same.​
One early morning, I must have been profoundly awake and aware because a big black bear encouraged me to wrestle with him. He was so loving and playful. I attribute these amazing experiences partly to fasting.
Feeling bright and awake allows our spirits to connect to several dimensions and to vibrate at higher frequencies. This, in turn, improves our health and relationships.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

If you’d like to lower your risk for disease, intermittent fasting can improve the health of your brain, lower risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and it can reduce the chance of obesity. Some studies show that intermittent fasting can reduce your risk of Type 2 Diabetes, while other studies show that your metabolic health can be put at risk, increasing the risk of diabetes.

Alternative medical doctors, who are trained in both eastern and western medicine might be able to understand your specific needs so they can prescribe the type of fast to give you the benefits you’re seeking, while also preventing you from hurting yourself.​

While intermittent fasting is not a cure-all, and the data is based mainly on scientific trials focused on mice, many agree that intermittent fasting does wonders.​

Many say it can:

  • Ease depression
  • Improve memory
  • Increase vitality
  • Reduce inflammation
  • Reduce your weight or slow weight gain
  • Reduce the growth speed of cancer
  • Protect your neurons
  • Remove damaged brain cells and generate new ones
  • Help reduce attachment to emotional and psychological luggage.
  • Improve your experience when praying and meditating

In general, even a little fasting here and there is shown to have positive effects. If you have gut issues or adrenal fatigue, proceed with caution.

Intermittent Fasting Science

One of the most remarkable benefits of intermittent fasting is that it has a positive effect on your mitochondrial networks, the fuel for your cells, by helping it remain fused. This undoubtedly improves energy, which can have positive effects on memory, longevity, and health challenges related to aging.
While intermittent fasting is trending, and many people are posting positive effects from their fasts, the research has mostly been conducted on mice.​

The hope is that intermittent fasting isn’t just a fad and that it has proven, lasting effects. Fasting research is on the rise. The hope is that more and more trials involving humans will be funded.

The Dangers Of Intermittent Fasting

Studies have shown that intermittent fasting if done incorrectly, can cause a person to have a net gain in weight. When you fast for a couple of days, and then binge on beer and pasta, chances are, you’ll do more harm than good.

Intermittent fasting may increase insulin levels, put pancreatic cells at risk, cause unnecessary fatigue, and add to your belly fat. A new study suggests that intermittent fasting, while often producing positive results, can harm metabolic health and cause Metabolic Syndrome.

​When we have poor metabolic health or Metabolic Syndrome, we are at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. See your doctor to ensure that you have the proper levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, and blood pressure.​
When you conclude your fast, your body might be oversensitive to the foods you eat. Be aware of your allergies and eat only whole, natural, unprocessed foods, at least for several days. Hydration is the key.
In all fasting, be careful about “starvation mode,” when your body starts to conserve energy by reducing the number of calories it burns. Starvation mode is something to avoid. It can cause your body to stop losing weight, and it will most often make you feel depressed, angry, lost, confused or worse. It might also have other negative effects.​

Just in case, notify a few friends before you fast. Texting a friend is quick and easy, “Hey, I’m fasting. If I die, you can have my toaster!”

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How to Prepare for Coronavirus & COVID-19

Coronavirus
Our Health-Workers Are Amazing! A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

Whether it was engineered at a clandestine lab or it naturally emerged from interactions between animals and humans, the coronavirus will be with us for some time. While it might spread more akin to a drip-feed than surge, caution (not panic) is recommended, especially for those who are elderly or health-compromised.

The official name of the 2019 novel coronavirus is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The associated disease is known as COVID-19. Hundreds of scientists have confirmed that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. As of this writing, there is no vaccine or cure for the coronavirus.

A Few Facts About COVID-19

There are many conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, most of which are based on irrational thinking, political propaganda, fear, and racism. These theories cover a broad range of ideas, from “Bill Gates is using his man-made disease to reduce world population and to gain profit” to “it was created by Democrats to bring down Donald Trump.” Spreading this type of misinformation during a health crisis can be extremely dangerous, not to mention a waste of time. It might even prevent the weak and infected from seeking the help they need to live.

If you’re lost in the insanity weeds and would like to return to a noble and defensible reality, consider these facts:

COVID-19 is a pneumonia of unknown cause, first reported in Wuhan, China,  on Dec 31, 2019, and is now reported to be in over 100 countries. Dozens of research scientists, labs, and companies have identified the genetic sequence of the coronavirus and are working on a vaccine.

Symptoms include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, muscle pain, and feeling unusually tired with an incubation period between two and 14 days. Some cases include vomiting and diarrhea. The more extreme cases result in severe pneumonia and renal (kidney) failure, which can lead to death.

The virus can live and thrive for up to a full day on your kitchen counter, door handles, and other objects. It (so far) cannot sustain itself in the air for long. This means that unless someone spits, coughs, or sneezes in your direction, you might not be at risk. To some, the verdict is still out on this idea.

The coronavirus is an intense and deadly flu, far more dangerous than viruses from recent history, and nothing like the common cold. While preliminary reports state that COVID-19 results in five to 20 deaths per 1000 (depending on the source), the common cold does not have a mortality rate. Even if the virus ranges from one to five deaths per 1000, it’s a pandemic, which means the disease could spread to millions of people within a relatively short period.

A few weeks ago, China’s CDC reported that 2.3% of confirmed cases died, but this number could be misleading, as not all cases are reported. To date, of people age 80 and over, 14.8% have died. The fatality rate for people in their 50s is 1.3%, 0.4% for folks in their 40s, and 0.2% in people aged 10 to 39. As more data is reported and analyzed throughout the world, we will likely see a shift in these numbers.

Children tend not to die from the disease, but the elderly, and those with medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease, and those who are societally disenfranchised, are far more vulnerable than other segments.

University of Nebraska’s Dr. Kevin Lawler, who’s received a bit of flack for his leaked presentation to hospitals, estimates there will be over 4.8 million total hospitalizations from the coronavirus, 96 million US cases, 480,000 deaths, and a flu season that’s 10X more severe than usual. While it’s important to understand the varying levels of potential risk, only time will tell.

Comparable flu statistics: For this flu season, which began in the fall of 2019, there have been 34 million flu diagnoses, 350,000 hospitalizations, and 20,000 deaths. Given the current trend of COVID-19, we can expect the coronavirus to exceed the flu by a factor of at least 3. Some say, when compared to the flu, COVID-19 could net 10-20X the results.

While holy roller Jim Bakker promotes the unproven idea that the consumption of silver or praying to Jesus will eradicate the coronavirus, keep your eyes glued on the data and scientific facts. There is a wealth of information available on the CDC and WHO websites.

Protecting Your Health

At some point, COVID-19 might become a slight or moderate threat to you and your family. Keep in mind that only you know what is best in terms of precaution and preparedness. As such, some of these ideas could be helpful to you and those you love:

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  • If you’re sick, stay home for the week. If you’re feeling a little “under the weather,” consider staying home for at least one day to see if your symptoms are escalating.
  • Regularly wash your hands with soap for 20+ seconds.
  • Wipe your phone with a disinfectant wipe at least twice per day.
  • Regularly use alcohol-based hand sanitizers. You might consider researching how to make your own with aloe vera.
  • Keep a personal towel (that only you use) to dry your hands, or dry them with a paper towel or air dryer.
  • Do not directly touch or rub your eyes with your hands. Do not rub your lips, wipe your mouth with your hands, pick your teeth, or pick your nose. Keep your fingers away from your face.
  • Limit your time in crowded places. Consider canceling group events and parties.
  • Consider traveling by car or air, instead of by train. It’s best to prioritize your transportation modalities in this order: walk/bike, car, plane, then train.
  • It might be best to avoid carpools during this time.
  • Working from home during time is preferable. Consider replacing some of your regular business meetings with videoconferences.

Additionally:

  • For a time, consider refraining from using holy water and other sacred ritual items at churches, temples, ashrams, mosques, ceremonies, and religious events.
  • If you begin to display symptoms, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or paper towel so that you can protect others from also becoming sick. Consider wearing a mask.
  • If someone is coughing or sneezing, and you’re not clear on what’s happening for them, to be safe, leave the room.
  • Sleep at least 8 hours per night, exercise, eat healthy meals, meditate and pray.
  • Drink lots of fluids.
  • Thoroughly wash vegetables before cooking or consuming.
  • To give your health and immune system a boost, reduce your sugar intake.
  • Frequently wipe down surfaces with disinfectant wipes.
  • Avoid sharing personal items with others.
  • Consider taking immune system boosters like Elderberry, Spirulina, Wheatgrass, Barley grass, and other superfoods to improve your immune system and energy, and give yourself a fighting chance.
  • If you’re on any regular medication, try to source a few extra week’s supplies of prescriptions and antibiotics.
  • For a time, replace handshakes, hugs, and kisses with waving, saluting, bowing, applauding, nodding the head, and winking. In general, avoid close contact with others. The safest bet is to keep a distance of at least 3 feet during this time.
  • In crowded areas, consider temporarily wearing a simple N95 or N99 mask. For the sake of ensuring that hospitals have ample supply, refrain from hoarding masks.
  • Create a separate, protected space for potentially sick household members.
  • Keep apprised of your city’s plan to counteract the challenges surrounding the spread of disease and related emergencies.
  • Don’t obsess over risks and fears; instead, focus on preparedness, preventive care, loving yourself and others, and staying healthy.
  • To counterbalance potential drama and stress, find time to laugh, play, and pray with loved ones.

Prepping Your Home

When large populations become physically ill, there can be changes in local, state, and national operations. While it’s never helpful to panic, it can be advantageous to prepare (with limits). If some of these ideas are interesting to you, be thoughtful, methodical, and careful in your planning. While parts of this list might not be required at this time, if you live alone, a few of these ideas could save your life.

  • Store an additional 1-month supply of food, including lots of vegetables, dried or frozen meats, meat alternatives, canned goods, and pickled eggs. Consider canning and jarring your favorite vegetables so that you never run out of nutrient-rich food.
  • Consider storing 2 weeks’ worth of water, just in case something happens to your plumbing while you’re sick or in case there’s a temporary change in how local utility companies function.
  • In light of a possible power outage, have a collection of candles, flashlights, and batteries on hand.
  • Stock 1-2 months of nonprescription drugs and other healing supplies, including vitamins (especially vitamin C), soothing herbs and lotions, cotton swabs, rubbing/disinfectant alcohol, herbal pain relievers, essential oils, stomach remedies, and cold medicines.
  • Buy an advanced first aid kit.
  • Source your health records from hospitals, doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and other health professionals. If possible, keep them handy and in printable formats.
  • Have a backup plan for your video, streaming, and internet services. For example, you can have a Zoom account with a backup Skype account. Add a mobile hotspot to your phone line to remedy any temporary internet outages.

In all things, seek the best for yourself and your loved ones. Care for your friends and neighbors when you are able. While there are challenges ahead, this is a great time to pray, spend time alone, work on creative projects, start a home business, love-up your family, and curl up with a favorite book. As always, it’s best to refrain from fear and panic, while ever reaching toward peacefulness, forgiveness, and love.

From all the media hype and misinformation, and all the streams of helpful insights pouring into your social media feeds, you might simply choose to use the coronavirus as a provocation to improve one aspect of your life: your diet, your exercise regimen, your relationships, or your meditation and prayer practices. When we focus on happiness and personal improvement, we increase our vibrations and thereby improve our states of mind and health.

As humankind continues to massacre the earth and haunt its many creatures, we will see more challenges and viruses in the years ahead. Stay healthy, positive, and informed. Try to be prepared, while also loving, thriving, and living in the moment.

On a lighter note, you might enjoy this COVID-19 safety video from the Vietnam government, promoted by The World Health Organization.

For the latest and most accurate information, please visit the WHO and CDC websites. Always root for science – it’s our ally!

Wishing you health and happiness, always!

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Wim Hof: Scientific Anomaly

Wim Hof
A wildman practicing the method! A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

Most of us struggle when trying to limit our consumption of meat, sugar, and caffeine. We’ll whine when our alarm goes off in the morning. When we stub our toe or prick our finger, we gasp and yelp like a five-year-old. We’ll then complain about our tiny pain for the rest of the day.​ Enter The Ice Man or just “Iceman.” After surviving his wife’s suicide, Wim Hof raised his four children alone. With deep pain and sadness as his motivation, he learned to hold his breath for 10 minutes, swim naked beneath thick ice, and set world records. To date, he is the proud owner of 26.

“I Think Of The Cold As A Noble Force. It’s Just Helping Me. It’s Training Me. It’s Bringing Me Back To The Inner Nature, The Way It Was Meant To Be.”
— Wim Hof

Here’s a sampling of facts about The Iceman:

  • He ran a marathon in a desert with no training or water. When he emerged victoriously, he rehydrated by drinking beer for a few hours with friends
  • He’s a Yoga master
  • An expert in nutrition, he has eaten just one meal a day for 38 years
  • He can control his heart rate and hormonal system through breath and meditation
  • He learned to speak ten languages without the use of any apps

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The Iceman was born as Wim Hof on April 20, 1959, in The Netherlands. With nine siblings, one of whom is a twin, Wim had to fight hard to stand out. He also had to quickly learn to defend himself from teasing and abuse throughout his childhood.​
At age 17, digging deep within himself, Wim became an extreme sportsman. It all began with a spontaneous jump into a freezing cold canal. The Iceman was born.

The Wim Hof Method

When you’ve endured near-freezing water for just shy of an hour, run Arctic marathons in your bare feet, swam like a madman under a lake’s thick ice for what seemed like an eternity, and learned to control your sex drive, you have but one thing left to do: launch a method so others can do the same.

​The Wim Hof Breathing Method was not initially created through academic research or scientific experiments. It wasn’t established by channeling information from aliens or Gods. The science of the Wim Hof Method was born from personal experience.​

Imagine if all health, healing, and endurance modalities could be developed in this fashion: no red tape, no government approval – just cold hard facts born from focused obsession.

“I Do Not Only Endure The Cold; I Love The Cold.”
— Wim Hof

Wim Hof’s website is chock full of information about his processes and experiences, including free instructions on his unique breathing method, known to fans as the WHM (Wim Hof Method).

Here’s a brief description of the WHM:

  • Sit comfortably with your back straight.
  • Take 30 quickened breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through the mouth.
  • After the quickened breaths, take one long, deep breath. Hold it for as long as you can.
  • When you feel the need to breathe inwardly, inhale deeply. Hold this breath for 10 seconds.
  • Repeat this process as many times as you’d like.

From a Kundalini perspective, this will open up your air passages and awaken your power center. You’ll immediately feel better.

In addition to his breathing method, Hof believes that repeated exposure to cold air or cold water will stimulate the immune system and improve your health. You can learn more about this on his website.

Wim Hof Method Benefits

According to Hof’s website, WHM has a long list of benefits, including but not limited to:

  • Stress reduction
  • Faster recovery from physical exertion
  • Better sleep
  • Improved sports performance
  • Reduced inflammation
  • Improved integration of pain
  • Enhanced metabolic activity
  • Increased energy
  • Heightened focus and determination
  • Increased willpower
  • Enhanced creativity
  • More focus and mental clarity
  • Greater cold tolerance
  • Stronger immune system
  • Potential reduction of symptoms from rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and several autoimmune diseases.

Wim Hof Quotes

Wim Hof is known for his inspirational talks, beliefs, and procedures. Here are a few gems that Hof has shared in recent years:

  • “If you can learn how to use your mind, anything is possible.”
  • “In the Bhagavad Gita, they say, ‘The mind under control is your best friend, the mind wandering about is your worst enemy.’ Make it your best friend, to the point where you can rely on it. Your mind makes you strong from within. It is your wise companion. The sacrifices you make will be rewarded. Life doesn’t change, but your perception does. It’s all about what you focus on. Withdraw from the world’s influence and no longer be controlled by your emotions. If you can grab the wheel of your mind, you can steer the direction of where your life will go.”
  • “Ask yourself, ‘Have I ever experienced the wonders of life?’ Meditate about it. Meditation helps your spirit bloom like a beautiful flower. The experience can be beautiful and great. Poetry is the language of the soul. So listen. Life is like a dewdrop on a grass leaf. When it slips away, it’s gone forever.”
  • “We can do more than what we think. It’s a belief system that I have adopted, and it has become my motto. There is more than meets the eye, and unless you are willing to experience new things, you’ll never realize your full potential.”
  • “Fear does not go away by itself. You have to confront your fear, mold it, then learn to control it in its own irrational reality. Every human being has the power to do just that. To go deep within and confront your inner being is a powerful act. Going deep and developing the will power is the only way.”
  • “Once you know the way to your spiritual destiny, you can change. Once you realize that there are no limits in your mind, once you realize there are no boundaries to what is possible, you can change.”

“I Do Not Fear Death; I Fear Not To Live Fully.”
— Wim Hof

Wim Hof Diet And Philosophy

Hof states that his methods are based on three core principles: breathing, exposure to cold, and commitment. Hof says, “Together, these three pillars provide you with a means to take control over your own body and to battle stress, fatigue, and many other obstacles in life.”

While becoming The Iceman, Hof also established a dietary routine in a form similar to The Fast-5 Diet outlined by Bert Herring. The rules of this diet are simple and akin to intermittent fasting: eat within five consecutive hours, every day. Herring says that integrating intermittent fasting into a daily routine “gets appetites working like they should — reducing intake if you have excess fat and maintaining a healthy weight if you don’t.”

If you’re ready to take your life (and immune system) to the next level, you can enroll in Wim Hof’s latest video course offerings. The new course consists of 10 major themes:

  • Going Deep
  • Stress Control
  • Energy Management
  • Inflammation
  • Endurance
  • Longevity
  • Under Pressure
  • Spirituality
  • Creativity
  • Life Adventure

Wim Hof explains that it is each of us who harnesses the power within. He’s designed these courses so that initiates will advance themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. Hof hopes that every participant will gain more peace, strength, and control over their energy and happiness.

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Aliens The Zoo Hypothesis

Aliens: The Zoo Hypothesis

Are We An Alien Zoo? I think so! A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

If you were an advanced species living on a distant planet, in a far-away, exotic galaxy, would you mount your space-scooter and go out of your way (plus paying for fuel) to visit a planet whose inhabitants exalt greed, war, hate-based ideologies, exclusive religions, and glitchy patriarchy? Probably not. You might, however, subscribe to the newsletter for updates.

In 1973, MIT’s John Ball mused that aliens could easily be observing Earth and its inhabitants just like animals in a zoo. The idea that alien life forms are intentionally avoiding direct communication with human beings on Earth, is the basis of the Zoo Hypothesis. The presumption includes the notion that that Beings from other worlds are waiting to make first contact with us, pending other technological, political, and ethical advancements.

“Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of the billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things within that enormous immensity.”
— Werner von Braun

 

The glitch in this philosophy is that given all the millions of species supposedly at play within the billions of galaxies, in all the universes, it would be fair say that one rambunctious, brainy toad, residing somewhere within the endless seas of alien villages, might think contrarily, rent a winged-transport, and b-line it to Earth.

Evidence of aliens is everywhere. Our intergalactic friends have long been in cahoots with a variety of Earth governments. They might even be mating with our lowest common denominator at local bowling allies, in a bridge-n-tunnel town near you. It might be that if we showed some sign of intelligence or consciousness, we’d have a lot more intimate gatherings with these tall, scaly, green and gray, lizard creatures.

“If it’s just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.”

— Carl Sagan

Let’s give our fictitious friend, Alex The Alien the benefit of the doubt. We’ll assume that he raised some money on the fundraising site AlienKickstart, and is now able to make the long trek to the formerly blue, and currently decaying planet, known as Earth. He lands in a field and is greeted by a small group of locals who capture, kill, and stuff him, and then put him on display at the local VFW #216.

When Alien-Alex’s wife begins to yearn for his scaly flesh, she flies to Earth, lands in the same location, assumes her husband has been eaten, and begins planting her eggs in the nearby cornfield. In a few months, she’s birthed a posse of over 40 lizards, and she’s ready to kick ass. Their first family outing? A baseball game. While they seem to enjoy the free peanut shells under their seats, the lizard tribe gets bored, calls for a space-taxi, and time-tunnels home.

I’m not sure what scenario would entice a race of infinitely intelligent Beings to regularly engage with humanoids, other than promises of becoming the master race who could eventually enslave us. Beyond that, I believe we’ll be galactically single and lonely for the foreseeable future.

“In our time this search [for extraterrestrial life] will eventually change our laws, our religions, our philosophies, our arts, our recreations, as well as our sciences. Space, the mirror, waits for life to come to look for itself there. ”
— Ray Bradbury

Is Our Evolutionary Process Precious?

Behavioral scientists pride themselves on how much space they give their subjects during times of observation. It might be that advanced lifeforms are of the same mindset: “Let’s watch the Earthlings as they try to figure themselves out. Meanwhile, we’ll take notes and continue to penetrate their gene pool. When they stop punching each other in the face, we’ll consummate the relationship and formalize it with an invasion.”

It might be that aliens created Earth as a scientific experiment. They may have planted us here with the hope that we’ll eventually become a service-oriented race that will help improve other alien ventures and planets.

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Confining us like mice in a cage, our big-eyed, long-fingered, Alien moms and dads are evaluating us, testing our viruses and bacteria, and wondering how our species went from tadpoles to apes to cavemen to hipsters in a few millennia.

When you compare human beings to whales and dolphins, you might assume that our warm-blooded, mammal brothers and sisters are advanced species. With larger brains and peppier speech functions, the 89 living species of Cetaceans are less aggressive, more communal, and more peaceful. If they’re all paying attention, they are probably aware that humans are just small, dumb, inconsequential bullies.

I liken the Zoo Hypothesis to Star Trek’s Prime Directive which states that first-contact with new species (who have yet to develop warp drive) must be of a scientific nature and result in zero political, social, technological, and monetary interference. Starfleet and The Federation of Planets also warn that premature contact can easily result in significant harm.

Are We Just Mice?

Would we be inspired to travel a billion miles to hang out with a massive population of aggressive, mentally deficient mice? Probably not. Would we want to establish a coalition with a deficient species that struggles to see beyond skin color? Nope. This is part of the premise of the Zoo Hypothesis. Not only are we less evolved than our potential sponsors and sperm donors, but we are also of no value to them.

If apes are a teaspoon of DNA away from being human, wouldn’t it make sense that human beings could easily be a cup of hormones away from being advanced aliens (who could easily be more intelligent and conscious)? I think it’s entirely possible that we are either an alien zoo or the aliens that our government has been denying.

“Or maybe, another explanation goes, we are in fact surrounded by ETs and simply don’t know it, perhaps because they decided to make the solar system a natural reserve, a place where other races can go and see what it is like to be in the infancy of civilization (appropriately, this has been nicknamed the “zoo hypothesis”).”
― Massimo Pigliucci

Alien Holocaust

Could it be that somewhere between the formation of the Milky Way and the birth of Earth’s first civilization that a Hitler-like alien devastated the intergalactic community by commandeering and then killing entire planets, all in the name of his warped ideology? Could aliens be so freaked out by this horrific history that they are mind-controlled and technologically prohibited from visiting our planet? It’s certainly a possibility.

With billions of stars, suns, and moons scattered throughout creation, there’s an extremely high probability that intelligent life, outside of our galaxy, already exists, and many of these critters have mastered interstellar travel. Given the potential scale and likelihood of all this, physicist Enrico Fermi’s Paradox seems to validate that Earth should already have been visited by extraterrestrial Beings and their pretty probes thousands of times.
Have the governments of planet Earth been so diligent and thorough that they have been able to conceal the many alien visitations to date? Have the key alien abductees and first-greeters been so well compensated and threatened that their stories are now safe and secure from public view? Are aliens truly omnipresent and regularly integrating with human life forms? I offer “YES!” to all of the above.

While it’s possible that all the aliens throughout all of the galaxies are listening but not transmitting, there is more than ample evidence that the Earth is at least a pitstop for alien life. With thousands of UFO sitings and 13 million pages of the CIA’s redacted investigation now online, there’s a high chance that the truth will soon set us free.

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How to Be Authentic and Tough When Negotiating

authentic negotiations

It’s okay to be angry and tough during negotiations. Get what you want. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

I recently negotiated a contract with a frightfully dishonest person and earned the rights to intellectual property that I would not otherwise have been able to acquire. I didn’t earn it through rational exploration and mediation. How did I do it? I gave him hell, which he rightfully deserved.

What tipped the scales wasn’t my intuition or creative style. It wasn’t my research and declaration of facts. It was my unabashed, unfiltered judgment and anger that did the trick. What did I learn? To become whole in a transaction, you might have to blow the doors off.

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This doesn’t mean that using anger to negotiate every deal is effective. In fact, it’s only effective in deals where you have a slippery adversary who has become way too comfortable with taking you for granted. In these cases, the anger becomes the element of surprise and the embodiment of the other person’s missing integrity.

Most of us don’t often know what we can ask for in a negotiation. We are all so needy that we’ll accept just about any outcome, as long as we get a small piece of what we originally wanted.

Our pursuits and demands don’t have to stop at mediocrity.

If you can be honest with yourself and stop placating or seeking to appeal to others, you’ll become aware of just how demanding and critical you really are.

We all love to play the peaceful pussy cat, resting quietly on the couch, but deep down every one of us is a tiger. We lose in negotiations because we’re lazy and we’ve shellacked ourselves with slimy, dirty, oppressive, contrived political correctness. We don’t even know what we deserve anymore.

When working with the brilliant luminary Fred Silverman, the only man to have run all three major TV networks, I witnessed such unabashed critique and unapologetic creativity, that it inspired me to the highest degree. There was never a sheepish request when a contracted promise wasn’t delivered. There was never a sweet, easy request when someone was clearly stepping out of bounds. There was no room for mediocrity or imperfection.

Fred wasn’t being a jerk, he was being honest. He knew everybody has excuses and that excuses are often imagined.

Every one of us knows when we’re being lazy or f*cking-up. We all know when we’re delivering something that’s not up to snuff and when we’re lying to ourselves.

Fred was flawless when he was directing creativity. With one glance, he could see 20 imperfections. He didn’t miss a thing, and that’s because he trained himself to encourage excellence in others and himself. This is virtue and it’s almost non-existent today.

Whether it’s a creative project where you’re worried about hurting your contractor’s feelings, or a contract negotiation where you don’t want to appear ungrateful, it’s our co-dependent patterns that get us into the most trouble. And yes, it’s trouble.

Whenever we undervalue ourselves during negotiations and agree to products, deliverables, compensation, or consideration that are far less valuable than what we offered in exchange, we undo the learning we’ve accumulated over countless lives and we deny centuries of human evolution.

Is it really preferable to be mediocre so you can avoid conflict? Is it more enjoyable to look back on something you created and secretly remember how you didn’t do it justice? Is it better to avoid sticky conversations and live with regret rather than buck-up and dive into an uncomfortable dialogue? The answer to these questions is “No”, yet we do it anyway.

If you’ve got a big heart, you’re probably not very critical or demanding. When things get difficult, you might also find it easy to give-in and let go, rather than fight for the truth of the situation or exchange.

When is the last time you were completely honest with a partner in the co-creation of a dream? When and where have you been raw, straight forward, direct, no bullsh*t? How many of your responses and reactions come from your inner-new-age idiot rather than your intuition or gut?

We’re all guilty of this insanity.

In order to function in our pretty, buttoned-up, politically contrived circles, we put ourselves on shelves. We’ve bottled up our authenticity. We’re half, if not, a quarter of what we intended to be.

Snap out of the dream and come alive again. Just beneath your society-pleasing mask is a technicolor spirit raging with power and light. Let her out, let her live, and watch her thrive.

Much of what happens in the new-age scene is numbed, quelled, passive, and indirect. This is because the new-age movement is broken.

Even when we seek eternal truths from local ashrams, temples, and yoga studios, we find that the eternal truths we’re seeking have been watered down so they might appeal to the masses. The bite, the teeth, and the truth have evaporated.

We’ve forsaken ourselves, more specifically, we’ve given up on our honest natures. Instead of being authentic, we are repressing our healthy, gut, knee-jerk reactions. Being inauthentic has serious physical implications and emotional side-effects.

After all, if we’re being honest and true to every moment, it’s not always white light and roses, is it? If we’re paying attention to all the gurus out there, isn’t it about accepting what is happening, rather than avoiding it? Isn’t it about the light and the dark? Isn’t it all ONE?

Life and living are comprised of white light, charcoal, and fire, all embedded in a stew of emotions, reactions, and projections. Living and creating are messy businesses.

How do we get back on our authentic feet during negotiations? How do we become more congruent with the totality of all of our moving parts? How do we integrate the yes, the no, and everything in-between so that we’re not afraid of any of it? How do we shake off society’s projections and limitations and rise above and beyond it?

Be real with yourself. Honor your perspective and intuition. Be true to your feelings in every confrontation, discussion, negotiation, and creative exploration. If it’s needed, allow yourself to be raw. Demand excellence from yourself and the people around you. Take it all in. Consume the whole as a truth and reflect the truth back to the All.

When you’re ready, pull your response from the depth of your spirit’s knowing. Bring all of you to the surface and to the table. If you’re bitten, bite back with love and with a positive vibrancy.

Invite and merge with every ancestor and guide who roots for you from the spiritual rafters. Shout to them and to the universe:

“I LOVE MYSELF. I WILL BE MYSELF. I AM BEAUTIFUL & WILD! A CREATURE OF LIGHT & DARK. I WILL BE WHO I AM, I AM WHO I AM, RIGHT NOW & ALWAYS!”

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In Time-Travel, Can We Be Trapped Within The Infinite, and Stripped of Our Originating Moment

Time Travel

Time Travel is possible. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

If you committed to going back in time to kill Hitler, there are questions to consider: what would you be unwinding and what could truly be undone? Once on the other end of the journey, who would you know yourself to have been, and who would you become?​

By reversing spacetime, you could lose the knowledge and desire to do the killing, and you could lose the reason for your desire. As you unwind your self-identity, do you lose connectivity to the originating point as well as the destination? These questions point to the conundrum known as The Bootstrap Paradox, otherwise known as the Ontological Paradox.

When caught within cause-effect loops that include traversing the space-time continuum, our purpose and identity can be dissolved, with or without a reboot. Our originating self-identity can become self-created and temporary or self-created with new, unlimited potential.

In essence, being caught within a recurring time arc is similar to the moment of birth within a woman’s womb. A living being and new realities are born, and trajectories for three-dimensional potentialities emerge.

These ideas invite others. If our souls collect specific information during time-travel, it means that consciousness includes all spacetime possibilities and every potential realm. If our spirits can recall our original, intellectual fodder throughout these types of journeys, it means that self-identities remain intact when traversing spacetime, and therefore evolve as if the experience of spacetime were linear.

I wonder when moving deeper into time spirals, would we begin to collect clear visions and experiences or would we be thrust into undeterminable clouds of impressions?

While the term metaphysics translates literally to “about physics,” its meaning has evolved into something more spiritual. It might be said that metaphysics is better defined as, “the nature of being, existence, connectivity, and consciousness, throughout all physical and non-physical realms, and in every dimension and direction.”

“By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox.”
— Galileo Galilei

Bootstrap Paradox Examples

Our best teachers of how paradoxes might unfold could be some of the writers and producers in Hollywood.

Here some of their narratives involving the Bootstrap Paradox:

  • When Star Trek’s Scotty described how to make transparent aluminum in Star Trek IV, he was referring to how matter might un-form while also remaining in a relatable structure, thus alluding to a cause-effect loop.
  • When Marty McFly played “Johnny B. Goode” and Marty’s bandmate called Chuck Berry so he could hear it, it could be said that Marty and Chuck Berry became born-again with new trajectories, as if never having had the potential to exist prior, except in this unique moment of creation.
  • During The Time Travelers Wife, the time-traveler memorizes a list of dates from a written note. He then ventures back in time and dictates the list, thereby becoming a co-participant in a never-ending loop that is without a discernible point of origin. In this case, the time-traveler is pulling himself upward “by his bootstraps” as if he is simultaneously both the puppet and puppeteer.
  • Now let’s get to the juiciest example of the Bootstrap Paradox. Doctor Who proposed a riddle. A Beethoven-Loving time traveler departs his current reality to traverse spacetime to meet his musical God.
    • When he lands in Beethoven’s living room, he finds that Beethoven is without inspiration or any chance of producing his famous music. Because of his devotion and love for Ludwig, the time traveler commits to copying every one of the master’s creations. On subsequent visits, the time traveler gives them to Beethoven, who in turn, absorbs these gifts and delivers them to the world.
    • Fast-forward to an unknowing time traveler listening to his favorite Beethoven symphony. In an instant, he decides to travel back in time to meet this profound and wonderful composer. The challenge here is to determine who actually wrote the 5th, 6th and 9th Symphonies? Who is Beethoven in this story? Is Beethoven the person who is birthed the moment he receives the copied music? Is the genuine composer, formerly known as Beethoven, now erased from reality? We’ll never know!

If I went back in time to the moment I was assigned this article and handed myself the required research prior to a word being written, I would be creating a bootstrap paradox involving two versions of myself, each of whom would have non-predetermined, potential trajectories, while also being forever tied to each other and the production of this article.​

“How wonderful that we have met with a paradox.
Now we have some hope of making progress.”
— Niels Bohr

Could Bootstrap Paradoxes Lead To The Hemorrhaging Of Spacetime?

Whenever we imagine something, it can have an impact on our realities. One simple intention or desire can cement unknown and untested trajectories. If our thoughts can impact our lives, it would be easy to imagine that the mechanisms and laws behind spacetime could be tricked, trapped, and trampled. Connecting strands of trajectories and potentialities, whether in this moment or in prior ones, could reshape reality as we know it.

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Events like these wouldn’t only affect our physical realities; they could give birth to pathways and algorithms that are entirely foreign to our bodies, minds, and souls. If one soul was inventive enough to trick her relative spacetime construct, a collection of tinkering souls could have the potential to give birth to new realities, reform consciousness as we know it, and reconstruct the building blocks of creation in all directions and realms. In other words, yes, we can cause the eternal nature of all realities to have simultaneous strokes, which in turn could extinguish all realities or birth unlimited ones.

Bootstrap Paradox Movies And TV Series

Hollywood has done an excellent job at creating believable narratives and characters that bring to life these types of paradoxes. Even though these are not all perfect examples of bootstraps, this list will answer most of your questions and freak you out (in a good way):

  • Interstellar
  • Looper
  • Timecrimes
  • Arrival
  • Primer
  • Time Lapse
  • The Final Countdown
  • 12 Monkeys
  • Terminator
  • Terminator 2

You might recall moments where you felt as though you were within a loop. It may have felt like déjà vu, or it may have felt more palpable and tangible. It’s entirely possible that every life is a bootstrapped loop. When we’re feeling bad about ourselves, what picks us up? When we’re missing important pieces of information, what mechanisms or influences cause them to appear? Before a flower is born, does life-itself reach backward to pull it into existence and give birth to a new here-and-now? It’s fun to ponder!

If we were so inclined, closed-loop time travel, causal loop paradoxes, and controlled repetition of cause-effect loops might also produce trajectories that result in the absolute liberation of consciousness, for all beings, across all realities, throughout all the realms, and for all time. This gives greater meaning to the Sanskrit mantra often shared by Amma, The Hugging Saint: “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu,” which translates to, “May all the Beings in all the Worlds Be Happy.”

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Electric Universe Theory

Electric Universe Theory

Electric Universe Theory. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

Before Einstein created his unique theorems on relativity, deflating Newton’s theories on gravity, Nikola Tesla posited the idea that electricity and energy were responsible for almost all cosmic phenomena. Tesla saw energy and electricity as an “incompressible fluid” of a constant quantity that could neither be destroyed nor created.

“If You Want To Find The Secrets Of The Universe,
Think In Terms Of Energy, Frequency, And Vibration.”
— Nikola Tesla

What Did Einstein Conclude?

Consider what happens when you lift your knees when under a blanket. It warps the blanket. You can see that your knees (a mass) created a bend or cavity. This warp structure (bend, cavity) is gravity.
There’s much more to it, but this gives us a foundation to help us understand the beauty and challenges behind The Electric Universe Theory.

The Electric Universe Theory Backstory: Atoms, Electrons, And Plasma

Most of us wander around our lovely planet never fully understanding how atoms, electrons, matter, and energy function. It’s not because we’re not interested, it’s because it’s complicated, and a bit intimidating. No wonder, the processes that create and support life are nothing short of miracles.

To better understand the Electric Universe Theory, let’s kick things off with a few definitions:

Atoms

An atom is the basic unit of a chemical element. They’re made up of tiny subatomic particles, including protons, neutrons, and electrons. Atoms are surrounded by one or more negative electrons. Electrons are a bit like non-committal partners; they can be easily separated from their host atoms. When electrons are emitted, all sorts of things can happen. For example, the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is born from these types of currents, forming multi-colored sheets to burst across the sky. These bursts and sheets are forms of plasma filaments.

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Plasma

Plasma is the most common of the four fundamental states of matter. The other big players are solids, liquids, and gases. Plasma is formed when ionized gasses become electrically conductive, meaning that electrical current (electricity) can flow through them. Fire and lightning are forms of plasma.

It’s in this way that stars and galaxies get their power. Currents flow into stars and power them like light bulbs. They can also induce the births of planets. You can see the remnants of these energy infusions in the forms of craters throughout our galaxy.

Plasma Filament

As charged particles move around and throughout plasma, rings of magnetic fields can form around the electric current. This is called a plasma filament. Interconnected and perfectly woven, these filaments stretch across billions and billions of light years, creating the silent equilibrium inherent in the physical universe. When current flows through plasma filaments, it generates colorful tendrils of light.
This is where Nikola Tesla (1856 – 1943) comes in. He invented the plasma ball when experimenting with electric currents in vacuum tubes. As such, many refer to the center ball as a “Tesla Coil.”

Tesla believed that electricity powered the universe, and could power our physical and eternal realities.

Tesla On Einstein

On July 11, 1935, the NY Times quoted Tesla, “The relativity theory…is much older than its present proponents. It was advanced over 200 years ago by my illustrious countryman Boskovic, the great philosopher, who, not withstanding other and multifold obligations, wrote a thousand volumes … on a vast variety of subjects. Boskovic dealt with relativity, including the so-called time-space continuum.”
Tesla went on to say this about Einstein’s theories: “…magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king … its exponents are brilliant men, but they are metaphysicists, not scientists….”

What Is The Electric Universe Theory?

The Electric Universe Theory (EU) generally states that electricity is the engine behind a long list of natural and astrophysical spectacles. It supports the idea that electricity powers the Sun and stars, and that cosmic occurrences are electrical in nature.

The theory also suggests that the universe is a vast, electric organism, chock full of yet-to-be-discovered masses, holes, relationships, and phenomena. EU advocates believe that we are at the beginning of exploring the possibilities around the concept.​

Since the first pamphlet was distributed in 1983, there have been many papers, books, and theses published on The Electric Universe theory.​​

While some of the tenets of the theory appear to be difficult to prove, the idea that there is electricity throughout the Universe and within every animal, plant, and everywhere else we find plasma, is undeniable.​

From subterranean electricity, known as Telluric currents, to Atmospheric electricity (for example, meteors), and from extraterrestrial (or cosmic electricity) to electrostatic phenomena, electric currents are visible and/or audible. All of these things result from the interaction between electrical currents, filaments, atmospheres, and formations of matter.

The EU has been proven, disproven, celebrated, and dismissed throughout the last 125 years, and since Tesla disappeared from planet Earth.

“We live in an electronic world. Our cities are visible from space at night, blazing with electric lights. The electricity courses invisibly in the darkness over great distances along thin power lines. We find electricity indispensable. Nature does the same since all matter is electrical. Astronomy is stuck in the gas-light era, unable to see that stars are simply electric lights strung along invisible cosmic power lines that are detectable by their magnetic fields and radio noise.”
— Wallace Thornhill

Support For The Electric Universe Model

While there are many variations to the Electric Universe model, supporters of the theory tend to believe that the cosmology and phenomena found throughout the universe is driven by electricity, rather than gravity. This idea has many fans and even more enemies.​
Immanuel Velikovsky (1985-1979) influenced and empowered the EU movement with his ideas around how the universe rearranges itself via electrical interactions.​​

The Plasma Universe is a concept and theorem established by Nobel Laureate, Hannes Alfvén, known as the father of plasma physics and plasma cosmology. Alfvén believed that the visible universe is almost 100% plasma and his theory is often considered a companion to EU theory. Alfvén knew the interstellar and intergalactic network of planets, meteors, suns, moons, and stars are all plasma.​​

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The EU community, sometimes referring to themselves as The Thunderbolts Project, has a long list of social media channels and voices, including, Wallace Thornhill and David Talbott at the helm of the EU experience. While he truth around the Electric Universe Theory might never be accepted or proven, it will never be eradicated.​​

Even though there is fair and considerable pushback against the tenets within the EU theory, it might need more time to mature. We also might consider that there might be limits to Einstein’s research and applied technologies.​​

I think it’s important to consider that just because a theory is globally accepted or that current scientific procedures support them, it does not mean they are 100% correct. It might be that there are nuances in every theory that are yet to be proven, for a variety of reasons.

Putting It All Together

At 14 billion years old, the universe is still unfolding and expanding. Assuming that today’s theories are precise and comprehensive is a mistake. The full scope of the universe’s elements and truths has yet to be revealed. At the very least, we must remain open to new, potentially remarkable possibilities.​
The biggest roadblock in the pursuit of life-enhancing technologies and disproving (or proving) the Electric Universe theories might be that today’s scientists are more concerned with algorithms than experiments. It’s important to keep in mind that equations do not create or prove realities; they propose and support imaginary ones.​​

Also relevant, governments and iconic business people have always been nervous around innovation and they’ve stifled it for the darkest of reasons:

  • JP Morgan put an end to Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower in fear that its resulting wireless energy technology would interfere with the growth and profits from the companies that Morgan financed, including General Electric
  • J. Edgar Hoover seized Tesla’s work upon the death of the unsung hero, fearing it might inspire a revolution in the country’s energy and economic infrastructures, putting power, profit, and influence in the hands of citizens instead of corporate entities
  • Hundreds of patents were classified by the US Government over the past 50 years, which can easily be attributed to the notion that governments do not want people to be empowered, they want people to be reliant

Regardless of its limitations and imperfections, Tesla’s work and the suppositions surrounding The Electric Universe are compelling and can potentially lead to profound shifts in our thinking and forthcoming technological advances. Given these ideas, we might reframe Einstein’s theories on Special Relativity by saying, “E = mc2 is relatively true, for now.”

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