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24 February, 2015 by Choki team

3 Steps to Healing Any Relationship

Do you have a relationship that you would like to heal?

In order to heal any relationship it is first important to understand the dynamics behind relationship issues. Relationship issues don’t occur because two people are different or they do not agree. People do not need to agree, or be similar, in order to get along great. Issues occur because one or both people are practicing judgment. It is judgment that causes all the issues in relationships. Without judgment, relationships thrive and when you release judgment, relationships heal.

Why is judgment so detrimental to relationships? When we feel judged, it invokes a feeling of rejection, so we either close down or we judge in return, in order to protect ourselves. Either reaction causes distance and discord.

When we are the ones who judge, we push the other person away, regardless of our justification for judgment. It does not matter if you feel you have a right to judge or that you really do know better, judgment is the best way to alienate a friend, lover, partner, parent, co-worker or child.

Even if we call our judgment by the name of love and caring, it is still judgment and it will always do the opposite of what we intended. If you want to lose someone, judge them.

You cannot love someone and judge them at the same time.

Releasing your judgment for another will help to heal the relationship, but it is not the whole story. There is a little trick to this healing process. If you follow this 3 step process below, you have the power to heal any relationship.

Step 1. Heal Self-Judgment

The entire world is a reflection of your conscious and subconscious beliefs. Therefore, if someone is judging you, his or her judgment must be a reflection of your own self-judgment. You cannot expect another to stop judging you, when you are judging yourself. The key is to identify how the other is judging you and then look inside yourself to see how you are judging yourself in a similar way. It might not be the exact same judgment but try to focus-in on the connection. Once you clearly make this identification, it is time to consciously release your self-judgment.

You do not need to share this with anyone. This process is something that you do privately. You will know when you are successful in releasing self-judgment because the other person will also reflect this by being more accepting of you. If he or she continues to judge you, go back inside and clear out any remains of self-judgment.

Step 2. Heal Your Judgment About the Other Person

How are you judging your friend, spouse, parent or child? Remember, do not confuse caring with judgment. Caring is not judgment. No matter what is going on in his or her life, you have no right to judge. You might want to make a list of all the ways in which you are judging this person and one by one, give up your judgments. Maybe even look to see how you are judging yourself in the same way and release those judgments, as well.

The fact is, no matter how wise you might be or how well you know this person, you do not know what is best for him or her.

If you care about someone and you want to help, the best you can do is to support her, in listening to her own heart, and by encouraging her to ask herself the right questions, so that she can make empowered choices. If you are insightful, you might even offer a question that will allow her to find her own clarity.

Don’t give advice unless asked and even then be careful that it does not contain any elements of judgment. If you judge, you alienate and if you alienate, you blow your chance for making a difference.

If you really want to be a positive influence, be a great example. Stay in integrity with your own beliefs and model this behavior but do not try to preach or meddle – because another will experience this as judgment and your message will fail to have the impact that you desire.

This article is about healing adult relationships, but even small children react negatively to judgment and positively to encouragement. You can be a more empowered parent without judgment, and you can effectively guide a child of any age without the punitive force of judgment.

Step 3. See the Other Person as Perfect and Whole

Make a list of all the things that you love about him or her. Focus only on these things every day. Do not give your attention to the things that you do not like or the problems at hand. Only focus on what you love about this person – without the issues. I knew that this can be challenging, especially when there are problems between the two of you, but if you can consistently focus on the positive and ignore the negative, before long things will begin to change – it is all up to you.

The other person will change because how you see this person changes. The amazing part is that you never have to say a thing to him or her. You only have to silently focus on the positive. You will be very aware of the changes in this person and in the relationship but he or she may be oblivious to any difference. By mentally and emotionally aligning with the positive aspects of your friend, partner, parent or child, you literally invoke a higher version of the person and a higher version of the relationship.

If you can drop your judgments, rationalizations and justifications, and you can take complete responsibility for the relationship and your experience of the other person, you have the power to not only heal the relationship but to create the best possible relationship that you can imagine.

There was once a woman in a class that I taught – she asked what she should do about her daughter who was so judgmental. My answer was, “Stop judging your daughter.” She said, “No, you don’t understand. It is my daughter who is judgmental – what should I do?” Again, I said, “Stop judging your daughter.” At this point the whole class got it – everyone except this woman. Finally, on the third round, her face went blank and she got it. If you want to change someone, you must be the change you want to see in them.

Judgment can be tricky because often we don’t even know when we are doing it, but we always feel when someone is doing it to us. If someone is reacting negatively to you, stop and look at yourself; where might you be in judgment? Even if you are not verbalizing it, your energy always projects your thoughts and feelings.

Healing Requires Time and Patience

Keep in mind that there is often a time gap between your inner release of judgment (and your mental shift) and the outside world catching up as an accurate reflection. So patience in the process is a good idea.

This means that the other may still be critical of you and show discord – allow him or her their experience and maintain your course. How long you ask? For as long as it takes. Giving it a deadline only makes it take longer and you may not reach your goal. But, if you can stay true to course in both loving yourself and the other, sooner or later a huge transformation will unfold.

At first you may notice less tension between the two of you or an openness that was not there before. Do not jump at the first signs of success. Just keep loving and be appropriately responsive in a positive and encouraging way. Sometimes there are bumps in the road, so don’t react if things are improving and then an issue arises – just stay aligned with this three step process and any issues will begin to smooth out again.

If you stay the course, success is imminent. However, if you go back to your old ways of judging, the relationship will digress as well, and you will be back to where you started. If this should occur, begin again.

This 3 step healing process does not exclude setting boundaries. If someone is judging you, you can say, in a kind and respectful manner, “I’m sorry, you probably did not know this, but no one is allowed to judge me.” When he does judge, you can say, “I’m sorry, I cannot hear you when you are judging me.” This sets a boundary for you and gives the other person important feedback on how to treat you. Make sure that your actions are in integrity with your requests.

This relationship healing process requires great spiritual maturity. In order for it to work you must rid yourself of pride, arrogance and self-righteousness. You must cast blame to the wind and you must take complete responsibility for every relationship. Others do not need to wake up, be responsible, apologize or do anything different. Only you need to shift. You must be the change you want to see in the ones you love.

Any two people in the world can have a great relationship if they surrender judgment and they embrace each other from a space of pure appreciation.

Relationship Affirmation: I love you more than “who I think you should be,” so I am just going to let you be you, and I am going to love you without needing or wanting you to change in anyway.

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Author: Nanice Ellis / Wake Up World

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19 February, 2015 by Choki team

Instinctive Choices – An Exploration of Intelligence, Consciousness and Mind

What Is and What Is Not.

What is Intelligence, the mysterious expression of all that exists. What is the Prime Directive, the Action arm of Intelligence that is the overseer responsible for the harmonious functioning of Nature. What is pristine consciousness, the medium through which life expresses itself.

Stealing Lives.

How societies are contributing to humanity’s downfall.

A natural law says a like thing cannot see itself. Mind is not capable of understanding that all its beliefs, including that of being a permanent, independent, autonomous entity that is capable of generating its own thoughts, are delusional. Mind can doubt many things, it cannot doubt the reality of its own existence. That realization comes only through the lens of the pristine consciousness. Seeing through the obscure visions of mind we cannot realize that mind is a myth.

The pristine consciousness is constantly being bombarded with false teachings and so stifling its inherent nature of Acting in relationship. Pristine consciousness doesn’t need to be told how to be, it simply needs its own space to Act.

What we believe as normal living practices is what is preventing life from expressing itself. We are ancient actors wearing the masks of past generations. That mask is mind. In all peoples, mind is expressing itself in exactly the same way. We recognize the emotions of anger, hate, jealousy, envy, fear, resentment, highs and lows of all kinds, etc. because we identify with those same emotions. This has been going on since time-immemorial. In that sense there is “nothing new under the sun”.

The survival of animals depends on the instinctive choices made in their environment.

It is a natural law that animals grow from their environment. The choices that they make through natural instinct provide for a stronger future species. So why is that human beings suffer from some of the choices that they make in their environment?

Choices are always of the mind and when acting from those choices we are behaving as the animals. The instinctive animal response is to secure and protect its environment. The response to the human environment provides only for the pristine discernments to life’s expressions. We are presently protecting the turf of mind’s choices as the animal is protecting its physical turf.

When substituting mind for pristine consciousness, both suffer. The brain suffers from physical deterioration due to its emotional outbursts and the pristine consciousness suffers bouts of depression, anxiety and other negative emotions. Suffering is not nature’s consequence but rather an error in the mechanical functioning process.

Because nature is not fragmented like mind, (where the whole is comprised of its many indoctrinated parts) Nature’s wholeness is perfect and as such can only produce that which is of its own kind. The disorder we witness in humans is not in the sum of our physical parts but rather in the mis-guided functioning of its newest part, the memory-senses complex. Mind was given as an indispensable enhancement to serve the choiceless discernments of the pristine consciousness.

Because mind cannot generate its own thoughts, it cannot have its own opinion about anything. It is chameleon like, in the sense that that it can only reflect its present environment. It is simply a uniquely marvelous recording and storing instrument. So, why does it seem at times that we are acting in an errant and erratic way?

It is not mind that is the origin of these states but rather the pristine consciousness. Our identification with mind is manipulating those defects. Mind is not directly responsible for any of the world’s ills because it is not in charge of the necessary amounts of energy needed to do any harm.

An ancient proverb says: “To train up a child in the ways he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it”.

We are still wearing these ancient masks. It may at times be expedient to train animals but never human beings. For a very long time we have gotten it wrong. It is not the parents’ duty to train their children in the ways they should experience their lives, but rather to protect them from all who are trying to indoctrinate them so that they fit in with the ways of society. The state of not knowing is their natural state.

With the exception of human beings, Nature is expressing itself as Intelligence intended. It is we, as mind, that is out of order. An imaginary non-entity, non-self is making efforts to fulfill its hopes, dreams and desires by allowing us to believe that its actions are being self-generated and not seeing that they are being generated by the stealth deceiver, mind.

What we factually are is self-evident. An awareness that has no content. An awareness that does not condemn, identify nor justify. The pristine consciousness as choice less awareness was never born, it simply is and always will be. It is part of the mystery of how life, through the pristine consciousness, expresses itself. All species partake in this awareness. It is only human beings who have the ability to be aware of their awareness while being aware. This does not mean that we are better than other species, only different.

This awareness is not wanting to unite with any ideology, it simply desires its own space to respond to life’s challenges. For this to be realized there is only one way it can happen. There are no paths and no battles to be won. By simply witnessing how mind is desiring to be first in the challenge-response process and not allowing space for the pristine consciousness to fully experience the completed challenge. By mind’s constant interruption into the challenge-response process, our replies, for the most part, are made out of confusion. Mind sees and hears only what it is familiar with and never experiences the newness of life’s challenges.

By ceaselessly being fully alert (aware) in all of life’s challenges, mind comes to a complete halt and the pristine consciousness once again is in charge of its total energy. All challenge responses are again made whole and so, complete. For the first time we see our part in identifying with mind by falsely believing that it and pristine consciousness are the same. With that apperception, mind falls into its natural rhythm of being a true and faithful servant and the pristine consciousness once again returns to being the medium through which life expresses itself.

That returning

Is my wish for you.

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Author: Harry Krueger

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10 February, 2015 by Choki team

Knowledge Is Power

Why is knowledge power? How does awareness give you more free will?

When a person chooses willful ignorance over obtaining knowledge and becoming more aware of themselves and the world, they do not gain any immunity by this free will choice. Instead, they leave themselves under the rule of the “General Law” otherwise known as The Matrix.

In that level of being, you are bound by all the mechanical laws of this reality. You have no higher consciousness, therefore no higher connection, and you function from a somnambulistic, sleep-like/trance state of mind, which makes you easily manipulated and gives you no individual fate (since fate is tied to persons with a connection to something “higher”). Therefore, you share the collective “fate” of the sleep reality, because you have made no choice with your own freewill to become consciously aware.

But, when one utilizes their free will to choose awareness, they are protected on 3 fronts:

1) Application: A person who chooses to actively apply their gained knowledge to make better choices, ultimately leads to protecting themselves.

A simple illustration of this would be if someone begins to research GMOs. The understanding of this information has led them to seek out healthier quality food sources and now opened up a door to changing their entire outlook on the body and on health. This is applying your knowledge, and is the most basic form of aligning your free will with better choices, based on your knowledge.

2) Discernment: A person who chooses to become more conscious, is better able to both utilize and exercise their discernment.

Discernment is the ultimate facilitator of free will and conscious choice. It allows you the foresight to take preventive measures before even encountering troubles, and the ability to accelerate learning by contemplating and deciphering the deeper meanings in our daily events. Discernment is our compass in navigating our way through reality. The more you exercise discernment, the more free will you’re accessing because within the use of your discernment is the key to unlocking more options/pathways that once were not available.

Why were those options not available? Many reasons: we didn’t see them, the options were not present because we did not take actions that would have aligned us with those options, we did not have enough awareness at the time to choose them… many reasons. A common reason is those options were not available because we did not understand enough about the topic/the person/the world-whatever it be-to perceive all of our choices clearer. Options present themselves when we are conscious enough to recognize them. This requires discernment.

A person who has the awareness to perceive a broader spectrum of options, or rather the quality of their options, can align themselves – through choice – with actions geared toward the desired aims, bringing about the desired results. But none of these options exist to someone who does not use their free will to seek understanding of themselves and their world.

When consciousness is not present, suffering usually takes its place, and we are given the choice to become conscious by examining the relevance of our experiences and the events that acted as catalysts to our new understandings, or to cycle in our suffering. Hence the ancient wisdom “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.”

3) Frequency: Your level of Being is measured in vibrational frequency. The higher your level of awareness rises, the higher your vibrational frequency rises. Then your frequency begins to guard you. With the choice to gain knowledge and awareness comes the activation of the higher spiritual realms, which we have now connected to through our vibrational frequency “synching up with” them. This resonance, or harmony between our vibrations and these higher realms, establishes a psychic connection that offers protection from negative entities and their harmful intent.

The more one wields their free will toward consciousness, the harder it becomes for negative entities to breach your realm because you are aligning vibrationally with the higher realms that provide more protection and are available to those who use their free will to evolve themselves — no longer making one simply a food source to the synthetic reality. The negative higher entities can only manipulate our ends to the extent that we are not aware. Therefore it is within our non-action – our free will choice tonot choose – that our consent for enslavement is given.

This is the cosmic fine print. The universe deals in contracts and clauses and in this free will universe, if one does not choose to observe their free will and act on it toward their sovereignty, then neither does the cosmos observe it. That is how the usurpation of our reality is allowed: Default settings (“don’t blame me, blame the self-reflecting universe”). Thus knowledge is power.

In all of this the very best news there is to take away is:

Nature favors the brave. Have heart on your quest for knowledge. Don’t lose faith in the journey if it appears purely negative. You will not be left stranded in stardust. The higher realms call out to those who wish to align with them. Trust that this reality can serve you, if you allow it to.

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Author: Sarah Elkhaldy

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4 February, 2015 by Choki team

Are You Awake? The Dimensions of Alertness

What does it mean to be Alert? When the notion of Alertness is mentioned at a conversation, people often tend to confuse it with being awake. Alertness is, however, not identical with being awake, since being awake is only one dimension of Alertness. It is the outermost dimension of Alertness, its surface only. In total, three dimensions of Alertness may be identified.

The Dimensions of Alertness

The surface, that is, the outermost dimension of Alertness is when the focus of attention is open the widest. Being Alert then means that now, in this very moment, with our eyes closed (or open) you pay attention to the processes of your inner world (bodily sensations, the stream of your thoughts, the shifting of your emotions), and the external world surrounding you (noises, scents etc. from the direct world around you). In such an instant you only focus your attention on what takes place in that very moment.

From the aspect of another, deeper dimension of Alertness it is a quality of your consciousness when you cease to evaluate, qualify and control the experience affecting you at that particular moment (disregard the functions of the mind) and, at the same time, you give up all your desires to control events. You have no expectations in connection with the given moment, you accept what is taking place, without making judgments, what is wrong and what is right for you.

The deepest dimension of Alertness is a state of Consciousness, the most important characteristic feature of which is the presence of the observing Consciousness, the capability of Sight. In this state of the Consciousness we, as an external spectator, view what is happening inside and around us, and we do not allow these events to take us with them, to affect us deeper. There is a virtual space between you as the contemplating Consciousness and the experiences affecting you. This space enables you to avoid identification with your experience and to look at that experience as an external spectator. Alertness is, at the same time, Presence, which means that your are not only aware of your current actions, but you are also aware of yourself. It is only possible to talk about real Alertness when all three dimensions are present at the same time.

The Notion of the Illusionary Self

In your present, individual state of consciousness you identify with the thoughts and emotions that appear in your mind, so you believe that you are a separate, illusionary person, an Ego. Living as an Ego in this world, you attempt to stabilize your illusionary sense of self. You believe that the more (knowledge, material wealth) you add to your Ego, the stronger and more permanent it will be.

Passing time will, however, prove you wrong, since the illusionary self is just a shape and as such is subordinate to the eternal law of the world of shapes and forms. The law is that of the law of change which stipulates that in that world, the world of shapes and forms, it is not possible to stabilize anything, as everything is in the process of constant changes. Your thoughts and emotions keep changing, and so does their centre, the Ego, with them.

Your sufferings are cause by the fact that you attempt to stabilize something that cannot be stabilized by nature. But you fail to recognize that, since you fully identified with the Ego, and forgot that you are in fact pure Consciousness, free of identifications.

An Unchanging Factor

There is, however, one factor that remains unchanged in your life through the years, and that is the sense that ”I am.” As a result of the identification with your mind and its functions, the emphasis shifts from ”I am” to ”I am this and that” (I am a man, I am American, I am a doctor, I am a father etc.).

The concept of ”I am this and that” is in constant change, as they are all bound to the objects of the forms and shapes. The only thing not subject to change, what is beyond ”I am”, is the formless Consciousness.

You must wake up from the deep stupor of identification, you need to become alert, because that is the only way for you to abandon your identification with the thoughts, the works of the mind, and that is how you are able to shake off your illusionary existence.

If you are alert, only the here and now exist for you, and you may discover the quiet Presence behind the illusionary and constantly changing small Ego, the ”I am” which in turn you may recognize as your real and unchanging Self.

This state of consciousness is characterized by deep silence and tranquility. When you submerge into this quietness, the duality between you and the world ceases to exist, and in that Presence you are amalgamated into one unity with the universe. That is how the emphasis is shifted from ”I am this and that”, that is, from the forms and shapes to ”I am”, that is, to the existence free of forms and shapes. Alertness thus becomes a form of existence for you.

If you identify with your thoughts and continue to live as an Ego, dreaming that you are already awake, then you will be content with the outermost dimension of Alertness. In this way, you will feel no urge to become fully awake, to be introduced into the deeper dimensions of Alertness. Consequently, you will find the fact that I see you sleeping utterly absurd, since you think that you are awake.

In that case, only a completely radical event that shakes your life all the way down to the foundations may alarm you from the dream of your identifications.

The Signs of Awakening

In these days it seems that identification with the forms and shapes becomes more and more superficial at an increasing number of people. In these people something from the deeper dimensions of Alertness appears to emerge.

If you are still reading this it means that these dimensions make themselves felt in your life too, so Consciousness is slowly awakening from the dream of isolation.

With the appearance of the deeper dimensions of Alertness, a gap is generated in you between the world of forms and shapes and the world without these, that is between ”I am this and that” and ”I am.” One of the signs that you are on the way towards awakening is when you begin to feel your current, limited existence, bound to your Ego is of very poor quality, and you begin to suspect that there are deeper, more profound mysteries behind your life.

Another sign of your awakening is the permanent restlessness, rooted in an unconscious desire. This desire comes from an ancient, long forgotten centre of your soul, from the deeper dimensions of Alertness.

The Ego lends a form to that unconscious desire by directing it towards an external objective in the world of forms and shapes. The objective is to become as perfect as possible within the limits of your external circumstances. You wish to include the stabilized, allegedly permanent Ego in that perfection as well. Naturally, you intend to achieve that goal some time in the future.

The mind, with which you currently identify, is full of currents and streams: thoughts and emotions come and go all the time. This is your present state of existence. The first signs of the deeper dimensions of Alertness loosen the glue of your identification with the mind, so you will be able to gain more and more experience of the free spaces of the Consciousness, and you recognize that you are not an isolated, small self, but the Consciousness itself.

Recognizing yourself as Consciousness is independent of all the activities of the mind. This recognition will only come if you have had some experience of the deeper dimensions of Alertness.

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Author: Frank M. Wanderer.

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27 January, 2015 by Choki team

Activate Your DNA with Solar Frequencies

The sun is the supreme giver of all life and the greatest source of energy existing in our solar system. Just as water is the source of all life, the Sun is the source of all water. For it is not until the hydrogen radiating from the sun merges with the oxygen of the Earth’s atmosphere that water (H20) can be created.

The receiving of sunlight not only works to stimulate the brain, but is also held as one of the 5 essential elements in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine. The sun which delivers a masculine energy to our mother Earth, is also responsible for stimulating our bodies to produce the essential brain antioxidant Vitamin D, typically referred to as “the master hormone”.

Our bodies naturally produce Vitamin D when the sun’s UVB light reacts with the cholesterol in our skin and Vitamin D can then be absorbed directly into our bloodstream. Studies on Vitamin D show its powers to enhance our brain by enhancing information processing speed, reducing memory loss and helping to prevent various neurodegenerative diseases. Yet the sun provides much more to our brains than just Vitamin D.

By exposing different parts of our bodies to sunlight, we trigger different biological DNA reactions and activations in our bodies. For example, exposing the male reproductive area to the sun is shown to multiply testosterone hormone levels in men by up to 300%. Likewise, exposing areas of our face and head to sunlight stimulates our brains pineal and hypothalamus glands to produce neurotransmitters which support overall mental functioning.

The current field of epigenetics has further discovered that by simply exposing our naked skin to sunlight, over 3,000 epigenome DNA switches are turned on or off and re-synchronized in our body in response to natural celestial frequencies being emitted by the sun. (In turn, the sun’s light unique frequencies are responsive to the communicative information it receives being emitted from the black hole at the center of our galaxy.)

The Great Deception

This great deceiver has turned up in the form of synthetic vitamin pills for vitamin D, pharmaceuticals that claim to be able to replicate natural vitamin D, and various commercial sun-tan lotions which actually contain toxic carcinogens and other chemicals which block the UVB required for our bodies to naturally produce vitamin D.

Not only do the majority of these lotions block ultraviolet light from the sun, which is needed for both producing vitamin D and activating DNA, but the numerous toxic chemicals used in these lotions are also ingested into the body through the pores in our skin. It is estimated that 60% of what you put on your skin is in fact ingested into your body and bloodstream through your pores. Being that a person using sunscreen is further adding to this absorption by heating themselves up in the sun and causing their pores to open further, one is essentially baking themselves in toxic chemicals by using most commercial sunscreens.

Enhancing Ultra Violet Light Absorption

While the sun is a major provider of life and health, certain modern technologies will counteract the healing effects of the sun, and can reverse them from healthful to harmful. For instance, the healthy UVB rays of the sun cannot penetrate glass and sunlight transmitted through glass onto the skin will promote burning rather than health. As well, the Vitamin D our bodies produce as a result of sunlight is maintained in our body’s natural oils. Therefore technically, using soap within a 24-48 hour period after receiving sunlight can wash away these vitamin D containing oils and prevent the Vitamin D from being absorbed into our bloodstreams.

To protect yourself from sun over-exposure, I recommend consuming antioxidant rich foods prior to sun exposure such as green tea, berries, cacao beans and other antioxidant rich organic fruits, vegetables and herbs. If you have circumstances which require you to spend unusually long hours in the sun, or you burn easily, consider using a protective hat or seek out a natural organic sunscreen lotion; much safer alternatives to standard commercial sunscreens. Don’t run from the sun, embrace it and activate a higher frequency of intelligence throughout your DNA today.

Author: Joshua Eagle / Wake Up World

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19 January, 2015 by Choki team

The Medicine Wheel of Time and Karma

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen all at once” ~ Albert Einstein

Time in the spiritual world doesn’t exist as we perceive it on the Earthly plane. Spiritual “time” is relative to our karmic experiences and whether or not we choose to transcend – to live only in the Now and learn the lessons the universe brings to our attention, the “karmic wheel” if you will. The medicine wheel, as it’s known in Native American Indian culture, represents a karmic, peaceful balance with the Earth and each other.

The Medicine Wheel
We tend to look at time as linear with events happening one after the other and this is true. But time is also experienced in cycle. We may not find the exact same events or opportunities recur, because change is constant in the Universe, but we will find similar energetic opportunities are presented to us so that we may confront and release our karmic patterns and emotional triggers.

Wherever we go, there we are. In that, we can consider a different perspective in regards to time and the shift in consciousness by saying that “time” is a form of karmic responsibility. We are collectively co-creating the future, and this karmic responsibility is there for all of us – which is why it’s true that “what comes round goes around”, and why it’s important to “do unto others…”.

There’s no such thing as zero other than in the binary code of the “matrix” or the universal law of duality. There is no concept in the universe that includes a zero outcome yet we find ourselves, intentionally or otherwise, spending our time going round and round in the cause and effect of duality while the wheel of never stop turning. Guided by our perceptions of past and future, we perpetuate our karmic patterns in cycles, with no beginning or end, running from the only person who can truly provide any kind of relief… our Self.

Thus, when we think of “zero point time” we can relate it to the transcendence of duality, or a graduation of sorts; a state where we’ve worked to identify and release energetic patterns and where we have an unwritten, clean karmic slate in which to Create.

The karmic wheel is a gift and a challenge for us to rise above the energies, emotions and influences that are hampering our spirit and experience of true freedom, and to reach a higher state of grace and abundance within, then without. With a little currency, an understanding of how these emotional roles play out in our lives, a new perspective on time, and the Heartfelt intention of transcendence… we’re prepared to heal our “karma”.

And when we do, we clear the energy of the “past” and clear the path to understanding and manifesting our soul desires for the “future”. And with our karmic pathway cleared, our emotional being (now) and our soul desires (future) become our conscience, informing our thoughts and actions in the now moment and in the future we create. Our Heartfelt intention.

The Human Drama

We come into this world with pre-assigned roles that we’re expected to adapt to and participate in, even if it often feels unnatural to our being (and it does). Our roles are based on gender, social status, race, financial concerns, and on it goes. These social repetitions have shaped our society today – one that is built on judgment, fear, competition and separation, leaving us pre-disposed to miss the entire point of our existence. We tend to get lost in competition, thinking we missed this boat or that opportunity, and therefore a plethora of other golden opportunities that most surely will never pass this way again.

It’s true that our thoughts create our reality, at first. Most importantly, they inform our belief in what’s possible in the first place. The very first step is changing the neuropathways in the brain from an imbalanced energy to a more positive approach about life and all its infinite possibilities. But the true key to creating and manifesting is through our spiritual and emotional “body”, our energy signature. If we perceive our karmic lessons as punishment we’re completely missing the gift of transcendence.

We tend to judge or deny the issues that we’re fearful of, have been taught to avoid, or find distasteful in some way. From there, we create emotional roles for ourselves to feed our “ignorance” which is just another way of saying we haven’t chosen to learn something yet – in the case of our emotions, ignoring our own nuances and/or personal truth.

The emotional roles in the human drama typically take on the character of either the victim/martyr, the oppressor/antagonist, or the savior/messiah – all depending on the relationship. When we take the time to genuinely consider that we’ve played some or all of these roles in our relationships, we can begin to see them for what they are – unresolved emotional patterns – and why we continue to play out our dramas on an individual and collective level.

The first step in re-writing the play is identifying and nurturing the aspects of ourselves that are wounded in the first place. The key is not creating new roles but looking for areas of healing, with the goal of moving toward our unity and divinity. In unity, we resonate with the vastness of experience, remaining open to receive, feel, and experience, without the need to assign roles, labels and words of limitation.

There’s a tool in our toolbox that we all came “here” with and we all have access to. There’s a ladder lying around somewhere inside the labyrinth of boxes, squares, patterns, emotional addictions and the insanity of doing the same thing over and over even though it doesn’t work. Once we find the ladder, it takes a process of patience, persistence and, most importantly, a Heartfelt intention to make the climb.

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Author: Jennifer Deisher / Wake Up World

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9 January, 2015 by Choki team

Bhutanese Folktale: Meme Haylay Haylay and his Turquoise

Once upon a time there lived a poor old man called Meme Haylay Haylay. He liked his life, and was not unhappy. One day, while he was digging in a field where the soil was hard, he uncovered a large, round piece of turquoise. The stone shined a bright light into his eyes. Even through it was so heavy he could hardly lift it, Meme Hayley Hayley placed the treasure in a cane basket and set off for home.

On the way, he met a man leading a horse with a rope. The man asked him, “Where are you going, Meme Haylay Haylay?” The old man replied, “Meme’s fortune is burning today. As I was digging in a meadow, I found a turquoise.”

Before the horseman saw the jewel, the old man made a proposal. “Will you exchange your horse for this precious stone?”

The horseman thought, Who in the world would barter a turquoise for a horse? Meme Haylay Haylay put down his basket and revealed the jewel of great fortune. The horseman was speechless. He was happy for the poor old man.

Meme Haylay Haylay persevered. “Will you not exchange your horse for this turquoise?”

“Don’t joke, Meme Haylay! Your turquoise is priceless. My horse is worthless!”

The old man spoke earnestly. “Priceless or worthless, are you for the trade? Take this stone and hand over the horse’s rope to me!”

The horseman lost no time in giving the rope to Meme Haylay Haylay, and then went his way with the precious turquoise. He considered himself the happiest and luckiest man in the world. Meme Haylay went his way as well, feeling even happier than the horseman.

Then Meme met a man with an ox. He exchanged the horse for the ox. Then, he bartered the ox for a sheep, and swapped the sheep for a goat. In each exchange, the people he traded with thought Meme Haylay Haylay was a fool.

Then he traded the goat for a rooster. With each barter, Meme Haylay Haylay grew more and more joyful.

As he neared his home, carrying the rooster under his arm, the old man heard someone singing in the distance. The closer he walked to the singer, and the louder the song became, the more joyous he felt. As he listened, tears of happiness swelled in Meme Haylay Haylay’s eyes.

He thought, I am content hearing this song. How much happier I would be if I knew how to sing it myself.

Suddenly he found himself face to face with the singer.

“Where are you going?” the singer asked.

The old man smiled. “I am going home. Today, Meme’s fortune is burning. As I was digging in a meadow, I found a precious turquoise. I exchanged it for a horse, the horse for an ox, the ox for a sheep, the sheep for a goat, and the goat for this rooster. Now, please take this rooster and teach me how to sing.”

The singer could not believe his ears. He thought it was unlikely that this foolish man had found a precious turquoise. Only the richest, most powerful, meritorious, and lucky persons ever found such a jewel. Then he thought, Supposing this man was lucky? Even the most foolish person would not exchange a precious turquoise for a horse, the horse for an ox, the ox for a sheep, the sheep for a goat, and the goat for a rooster. One mistake would be enough to sharpen the mind of the most stupid person!

The singer also knew that Meme Haylay Haylay had the worst voice in his village. A foolish trader and a bad voice! he thought.

Finally, after much discussion, the singer became convinced that the old man was serious. So he taught Meme Hayley Hayley the song. When the old man departed from the rooster and the man who had taught him the song, he walked home singing.

Meme Haylay Haylay felt like the most successful trader in the the village, the richest man in Bhutan –and, most importantly, the happiest person in the world.

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This tale was collected by Dorji Penjore in Bhumtang, Bhutan. It is a retelling of one of the most popular tales in Bhutan.

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7 January, 2015 by Choki team

Who Am I?

The question is an eternal one. If you don’t answer it, you may never be able to distinguish between what your essential self wants and what other people manipulate you to want. Each of us may do best to answer it for himself or herself. Yet the answers given by others do affect the way we approach (or avoid) this question. Several general types of answers have been offered.

The most traditional answer in Western culture is that you are a creature, a creation of God, a creation that is flawed in vital ways. Conceived and born in original sin, you are someone who must continually struggle to obey the rules laid down by that God, lest you be damned. It is an answer that appears depressing in some ways. One the one hand, it can lead to low self-worth and the expectation of failure. On the other, it can lead to the rigid arrogance of being one of the “elect.” Further, this view doesn’t much encourage you to think about who you really are, as the answer has already been given from a “higher” source.

The more modern answer to “Who am I?” is that you are a meaningless accident. Contemporary science is largely associated with a view of reality that sees the entire universe as totally material, governed only by fixed physical laws and blind chance. It just happened that, in a huge universe, the right chemicals came together under the right conditions so that the chemical reaction we call life formed and eventually evolved into you. But there’s no inherent meaning in that accident, no spiritual side to existence.

I believe that this view is not really good science, but rather what we believe to be scientific and factual. More important, it’s a view that has strong psychological consequences. After all, if you’re just a mixture of meaningless chemicals, your ultimate fate – death and nonexistence – is clear. Don’t worry too much about other people, as they are just meaningless mixtures of chemicals, too. In this view, it doesn’t really matter if you think about who you really are – whatever conclusions you arrive at are just subjective fantasies, of no particular relevance in the real physical world.

Psychologically speaking, this materialist view of our ultimate nature leaves as much to be desired as does the born-into-original-sin view. As a psychologist, I stress the psychological consequences of these two views of your ultimate identity, because your beliefs play an important role in shaping your reality. Modern research has shown that, in many ways, what we believe affects the way our brain constructs the world we experience. Some of these beliefs are conscious. You know you have them. Yet many are implicit – you act on them, but don’t even know you have them.

If you think life in general is a meaningless accident, your perceptions of the complex world around you will likely be biased toward seeing the meaningless and absurd. Seeing this will in turn reinforce your belief in the meaninglessness of things. If you believe in original sin and the great difficulties of finding salvation, your perceptions will likely be biased toward seeing your own and others’ failures, again reinforcing your belief in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our beliefs about who we are and what our world is like are not mere beliefs – they strongly control our perceptions. So we can gain more control by finding out what we believe and how those beliefs affect us.

Between the traditional religious and materialistic views of who you are, there are a variety of ideas that embrace elements of each which include rich possibilities for personal and social growth. The common element in these other views is that life and the universe do have some meaning and that each of us shares in some form of spiritual nature. Yet they also recognize that something has gone wrong somewhere. We have “temporarily” lost our way. We have forgotten the essential divine element within us and have become psychologically locked into a narrow, traditional, religious or materialist views.

There is an old Eastern teaching story that illustrates this – the story of the Mad King. Although he is actually the ruler of vast dominions, the Mad King has forgotten this. Years ago he descended into the pits of the dankest cellar of his great palace, where he lives in the dark amongst rags and rats, continually brooding on his many misfortunes. The king’s ministers try valiantly to persuade him to come upstairs into the light, where life is beautiful. But the Mad King is convinced these are madmen and will not listen. He will not be taken in by fairy tales of noble kings and beautiful palaces!

We have a lot of evidence in modern psychology to show how little of our natural potential we use and how much of our suffering is self-created, clasped tightly to our bosoms in crazed fear and ignorance. Yet the ministers do carry a light with them when they come down into the cellar, and they do bring the food which keeps the king alive. Even in his madness, he must sometimes notice this. In the real world, events keep occurring that don’t fit into our narrow views, no matter how tightly we may hold them, and sometimes these events catch our attention.

So-called psychic phenomena are like that. They certainly don’t fit a materialistic view, just as they challenge the traditional religious view held by many that this kind of phenomena only happened thousands of years ago, and are thus to be believed, but not pondered.

Psychic phenomena are disturbing to both the traditional religious and materialistic views of who we are. It is one thing to consider abstractly that our true identity may be more than we conceive, or that our universe may be populated with other non-material intelligences. It is quite another thing, with channeling for instance, when the ordinary looking person sitting across from you seems to go to sleep, but suddenly begins speaking to you in a different voice, announcing that he is a spiritual entity who has temporarily taken over the channel’s body to teach you something!

Now you have to really look at what’s going on. Who is that so-called “entity?” Who is that person who channels? If someone else can have his or her apparent identity change so drastically, do we really know who they are? Can I even be sure about who I am? If you have been conditioned to believe that who you are is meaningless or inherently bad or sinful, you might not welcome this stimulation that the phenomena of channeling gives to the question “Who am I?”

We have many ways of psychologically defending ourselves against dealing with things that don’t fit into our organized and defended world. You could just say, “This person is crazy, or maybe even deliberately faking this stuff.” It’s a good defense, for of course there are some people known as channels who are probably just crazy or deliberately faking it. The best lies usually contain a very high proportion of truth.

You could also just naively accept whatever the ostensible channeled entity says. “Yes, you are Master Shananangans from the 17th planet of the central divine galaxy Ottenwelt. Teach me Master, I hear and obey.” This overenthusiastic acceptance can be just as much of a defense against deeper thinking and questioning as overenthusiastic rejection.

Channeling and other psychic phenomena are having a great impact on our culture today. We can use this impact for personal and social growth if we are willing to think about the deeper implications, and examine the things we take for granted about our inherent nature.

If we just believe or disbelieve without really looking, this opportunity will be lost. Read, reflect, examine your own beliefs, argue, go meet some psychics or channels. Perhaps you will decide that they are “real.” Perhaps you will decide they are not “real” in the ordinary sense of the word, but are somehow psychologically or spiritually real or important. Perhaps you will decide that some (or most or all) of this stuff is really crazy. But in the process, you will learn a lot about who you are, and who we are.

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Author: Prof. Charles Tart

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6 January, 2015 by Choki team

20 Transformational Truths From Sages Throughout the Ages

Throughout the ages, there have been many who have had gotten a taste of incredibly mesmerizing higher states of consciousness. Rather than keep their experiential knowledge and wisdom about the higher and deeper elements of existence to themselves they spread the word to others, be it through spoken word, written works, or other methods.

Thanks to the sages, luminaries, spiritual teachers, thinkers and every-day people who had and shared their enlightening experience, we can ignite the light of expanded awareness of the higher and deeper aspects of the human experience and existence itself, within ourselves. When the future looks bleak and the motivation to excel and advance seems pointless, we can look to those who have lived and are still alive who possess that inner wisdom, realized through their own personal experiences of an enlightened state of awareness.

The transformational truths that such guiding lights to humanity express to us can raise our level of hope once more to the domain of energy that makes us more proactive. Reignited excitement and passion can drive us closer to the successes we imagined and dreamed would come true. We are all capable of incredible feats.

Ask yourself: is your state of mind stopping you from realizing that ‘realized life’ success story that you undoubtedly played within your head so many times before? Don’t let it stay a dream, let it become a reality. Living in the 21st century of our archaic timeline, we have the amazing opportunity to taste such consciousness-shifting words of wisdom.

Today we will take a look at 20 such enlightening truths from sages throughout the ages. Allow these timeless words nourish your mind, heart and soul.

Transformational Truth 1: Albert Einstein

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us a universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest … a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

– Albert Einstein

Transformational Truth 2: The Digha Nikaya

You should be an island to yourself, a refuge to yourself, not dependent on any other but taking refuge in the truth and none other than the truth. And how do you become an island and a refuge to yourself? In this way. You see and contemplate your body as composed of all the forces of the universe. Ardently and mindfully you steer your body-self by restraining your discontent with the world about you. In the same way, observe and contemplate your feelings and use that same ardent restraint and self-possession against enslavement by greed or desire. By seeing attachment to your body and feelings as blocking the truth, you dwell in self-possession and ardent liberation from those ties. This is how you live as an island to yourself and a refuge to yourself. Whoever dwells in this contemplation, islanded by the truth and taking refuge in the truth–that one will come out of the darkness and into the light.

– The Digha Nikaya

Transformational Truth 3: Unknown

“Life is what you make it,” this is very true.
Find beauty and magic in all things,
and the Love that sees you through.
When you look at the world where you live,
seek not your gain, but what you can give.
When a man is poor, and hungers, and thirsts,
serve not yourself til you serve this man first.
When a man is down and seeks shelter from cold, give him shelter.
You’ll receive blessings untold.
Live by the Golden Rule:
Do unto others as you’d have done unto you.
And always remember:
When you destroy, you destroy a part of you, too.
Life is what you make of it!

– Unknown

Transformational Truth 4: Carlos Castaneda

Loving this world, seeing the beauty in everything.
Appreciating every moment as a beautiful, wholly contained,
pearl of eternal nature, this is the world to me.

A never ending string of pearls…. every moment is in and of it’s self a life time,
and when we have affection and let ourselves experience life without expectation…
that is when the majesty of the world opens her petals to us…
And welcomes us home.

– Carlos Castaneda

Transformational Truth 5: Max Heindel

We may liken truth to a mountain, and the various interpretations of that truth to different paths leading up to the summit. Many people are traveling along all of these paths and every one, while he is at the bottom, thinks his path is the only one; he sees only a small part of the mountain, and may therefore be justified in crying to his brothers, “You are wrong! Come over to my path; this is the only one that leads to the top.” But as all these people progress upward, they will see that the paths converge at the top and that they are all one in the ultimate.

– Max Heindel

Transformational Truth 6: Nisargadatta Maharaj

Stop attributing names and shapes to the essentially nameless and formless, realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelled, felt or thought,expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear.

– Nisargadatta Maharaj

Transformational Truth 7: Gautama Buddha

Do not believe anything
because it is said by an authority,
or if it is said to come from angels,
or from gods,
or from an inspired source.

Believe it only if you have explored it
in your own heart
and mind and body
and found it to be true.

Work out your own path,
through diligence.

– Gautama Buddha

Transformational Truth 8: Osho

Every man has his woman within him and every woman has her man within her. Only the meditator comes to know his whole being. Suddenly his inner woman and the inner man melt and merge into each other. That creates an orgasmic state in him. Now it is no more a momentary experience that comes and goes; it is something that continues, day in and day out, like the heart beating or breathing.

– Osho

Transformational Truth 9: Lao Tzu

When you find the way
Others will find you
Passing by on the road
They will be drawn to your door
The way that cannot be heard
will be reflected in your voice
The way that cannot be seen
Will be reflected in your eyes

– Lao Tzu

Transformational Truth 10: John Gray

When we experience the pain of another person, we instinctively want to take away that pain. But by taking away the other person’s pain, we also take away his or her opportunity to grow. To be truly compassionate, we must be able to share another person’s suffering and pain — knowing there is nothing we can do to relieve it and that we are not responsible for it, and yet knowing and understanding what that pain feels like.

– John Gray

Transformational Truth 11: David J. Lieberman

How people see the world is often a reflection of how they see themselves. If they think that the world is just a cesspool of lies and deceit, then they themselves may be full of lies and deceit. Watch out for those people who are always telling you just how corrupt the rest of the world is. As the saying goes, “It takes one to know one.”

– David J. Lieberman

Transformational Truth 12: Lao Tzu

Throw away holiness and wisdom,
and people will be a hundred times happier.
Throw away morality and justice,
and people will do the right thing.
Throw away industry and profit,
and there won’t be any thieves.

If these three aren’t enough,
just stay at the center of the circle
and let all things take their course

– Lao Tzu

Transformational Truth 13: Terence McKenna

Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual who is a member of a neurotic culture against the facts of the matter. And culture, which we put on like an overcoat, is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable.

– Terence McKenna

Transformational Truth 14: Ghandi

Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviors.
Keep your behaviors positive, because your behaviors become your habits.
Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny.

– Ghandi

Transformational Truth 15: Franz Hartmann

All the forms of Life in the Universe may be looked upon as being manifestations of the One and Universal Principle of Life in various forms; the whole of the Cosmos, being a product of the Universal Mind, may be regarded as universal, absolute consciousness becoming relative in separate forms. The universal consciousness of the Universal Mind forms spiritual centres of consciousness in living beings, whereby each being may feel and know its surroundings; and as the kind of living beings expands, their consciousness and power of sensation and perception expand with it; for all their powers belong to the mind. and not to the body: the latter without the mind is merely a form without life.

– Franz Hartmann

Transformational Truth 16: Bettie Eadie

If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely.
If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative.
In our thoughts and words we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths.
Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts.
We can always replace negative with positive.

– Bettie Eadie

Transformational Truth 17: Huang Po

Since time without beginning, the nature of Awakened Mind and Emptiness has consisted of the same, absolute non-duality of no birth or death, no existence or non-existence, no purity or impurity, no movement or stillness, no young or old, no inside or outside, no shape and form, no sound and color. Neither striving nor searching, one should not use intellect to understand nor words to express Awakened Mind. One should not think that it is a place or things, name or form. One should not think that it is a place or things, name or form. Only then is it realized that all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and sentient beings possess the same natural state of great Nirvana.

– Huang Po

Transformational Truth 18: Dalai Lama

As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery. We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.

– Dalai Lama

Transformational Truth 19: John Lennon

There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.

– John Lennon

Transformational Truth 20: Sarah Ban Breathnach

Greet everyone you meet with a warm smile, no matter how busy you are.
Don’t rush encounters with coworkers, family and friends.
Speak softly. Listen attentively.
Act as if every conversation you have is the most important thing on your mind today.
Look your children and your partner in the eyes when they talk to you.
Stroke the cat, caress the dog.
Lavish love on every living being you meet.
See how different you feel at the end of the day.

– Sarah Ban Breathnach

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Author: Paul Lenda / Wake Up World

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2 January, 2015 by Choki team

Apple Cider Vinegar – One Of The Most Powerful Health Tonics In Your Kitchen

The question is not what Apple Cider Vinegar can do, but what can’t it do. As a folk remedy, it has been credited with curing everything from the flu to warts or sunburn to dandruff. However, it also can help reverse many serious diseases that many would immediately turn to pharmaceutical medications to solve.

The benefits of apple cider vinegar come from it’s healing compounds which include acetic acid, potassium, magnesium, probiotics and enzymes. Science has verified this through empirical evidence observed through the ages.

Apple cider vinegar can kill head lice, ease digestion, prevent flu, prevent acne, reduce inflammation, kill fungus, regulate pH balance, dissolve kidney stones and helps relieve allergies, migraines, asthma, nausea, heart burn and wash toxins from the body.

1) Diabetes.

The effect of apple cider vinegar on blood sugar levels is perhaps the best researched and the most promising of its health benefits. Several studies have found that vinegar may help lower glucose levels. For instance, a study (White, A. Diabetes Care, November 2007) of 11 people with type 2 diabetes found that taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed lowered glucose levels in the morning by 4%-6%. In another study from Arizona State University, subjects took a drink of 20 grams of apple cider vinegar and 40 grams of water. Those with insulin resistance who drank the vinegar had 34% lower postprandial (after-meal) glucose compared to controls.

Vinegar may be the most cost-effective diabetes medicine in history, but most people with diabetes still aren’t aware of its benefits.

2) Allergies

This miracle vinegar helps to break up mucous throughout the body and cleanse the lymph nodes. Believe it or not, research suggests that apple cider vinegar can help with allergies because of its ability to reduce mucous and sinus congestion. When reducing the effects of allergies, it can also help stave off sinus infections and their related symptoms, such as sore throats and headaches.

3) High Cholesterol.

A 2006 study reported in Medscape General Medicine, showed evidence that ACV could lower cholesterol. In a study published in a foreign medical journal, scientists found an apple cider vinegar-enhanced diet may increase HDL (“good” cholesterol) and reduce levels of triglycerides, while research in rats also suggests that apple-cider vinegar can help control triglycerides and cholesterol (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, June 22, 2011).

4) Blood Pressure and Heart Health.

A large observational study found that people who ate oil and vinegar dressing on salads five to six times a week had lower rates of heart disease than people who didn’t. Researchers have suggested that ‘this reduction in blood pressure may be caused by the significant reduction in renin activity and the subsequent decrease in angiotensin II’. Potassium in the vinegar ‘balances sodium levels in the body, which aids in maintaining blood pressure within healthy limits’ and ‘apple cider vinegar also contains magnesium, a mineral that works to relax blood vessel walls and thus lower high blood pressure’. Another study in rats also found that vinegar could lower high blood pressure.

5) Restores Acid/Alkaline Balance

Apple cider vinegar helps the body maintain a healthy alkaline pH level, and some ‘alternative’ practitioners recommend using apple cider vinegar to help balance the body’s alkaline/acid levels. The theory behind the alkaline diet is that our blood is slightly alkaline (with a normal pH level of between 7.35 and 7.45) and that our diet should reflect this pH level as the body constantly strives to achieve this state of equilibrium.

Research shows that higher acid levels (lower pH level) leads to a lack of energy and higher incidences of infection. Proponents of the alkaline-acid theory believe that a diet high in acid-producing foods leads to lack of energy, excessive mucous production, infections, anxiety, irritability, headache, sore throat, nasal and sinus congestion, allergic reactions, and increased risk of conditions such as arthritis and gout.

6) Face and Hair Health

It is widely known that apple cider vinegar can be used as a rinse for your hair after shampooing to add healthy body and shine. Recycle an old shampoo bottle and fill it with 1/2 a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a cup of cold water. Pour through your hair after shampooing several times a week.

You can also dilute apple cider vinegar with two parts water, and spread the concoction over your face with a cotton ball as a toner at night after washing, or in the morning before you apply your moisturizer. You can also dab apple cider vinegar directly onto age spots and leave them on overnight to lighten their color.

7) Weight Loss.

For thousands of years, vinegar has been used for weight loss. Why? White vinegar (and perhaps other types) might help people feel full. A study (Ostman, E. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,2005) of 12 people found that those who ate a piece of bread along with small amounts of vinegar felt fuller and more satisfied than those who just ate the bread.

A 2009 study on mice showed that consuming acetic acid (the active component in ACV), upregulates the expression of genes for fatty acid oxidation enzymes in the liver causing a suppression in body fat accumulation. In a double-blind experiment, obese Japanese were assigned to three different groups based on similar body weights, body mass indexes (BMI), and waist circumference. Each group drank a 500 ml drink containing either 30ml, 15ml, or 0ml of vinegar daily for 12 weeks. Those in the 30ml and 15ml groups had lower BMI, visceral fat area, waist circumference, serum triglyceride, and body weight to the control group of 0ml. The 12-week weight losses were modest: 1.2kg in the 15ml group and 1.7kg in the 30ml group. These two groups consumed a similar number of calories to the control group and also performed a similar amount of exercise, so the effect is not likely to have been due to an impact on appetite or other lifestyle changes. It was concluded that consumption of vinegar might reduce obesity.

Final Note.

Unpasteurized or organic Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) contains mother of vinegar, which has a cobweb-like appearance and can make the vinegar look slightly congealed. It’s the best way apple cider vinegar should be consumed.

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Author: John Summerly / Wake up World

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