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We Will Shine in 2009 A special thank you to all of you who continue to support Life Now and our ventures! (`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*``~` (`~`*`~`) You can read archive issues of "Expansion Encounters" at Expansion Encounters and now at Expansion Encounters 2009 (`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*``~` (`~`*`~`) Wholesome Health by Dusty Reed Nutrition - We all know that eating properly, exercising and relaxing our bodies stimulates good health. Being physically healthy intertwines with mental awareness. A person is more observant and capable of handling situations that require being alert if the physical self is at its best. Nutritious food is important. We know if what we are eating, including between-meal snacks, is healthy. Much of the food sold in the market today has gone through many processes and has very little natural vitamin or mineral content remaining by the time it reaches the dinner table. Labels are indicators. Dr. Donald Whittaker, MD, suggests, "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it." He is referring to the preservatives added. He also emphasizes the importance of eating living foods, rather than those with chemicals as ingredients. Buying nuts, seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables is a good starting point. Natural vitamin supplements can help fill the void and give a nutritionally sufficient diet, unless one has a different prescription from a doctor. We live in a very real physical world where the basic needs of food and shelter are important. This physical world is here to enjoy if we are following good health habits. Exercise - Routine vigorous exercise is important. Much of the emphasis and importance is to develop deep, healthy breathing. Putting fresh oxygen into the body system in big doses helps unclog the blood system, increases cardiac and lung capacity and provides new energy. It is used as it is supplied and cannot be stored for future benefit. The body consumes enough air to keep us alive but without the full, deep breaths, there is not enough to supply a healthy dose to all parts of the body. If there are any medical problems, a physicians advise is recommended. For a healthy person, doctors usually recommend bicycle riding, swimming, or walking at a spirited pace. The body may complain but that is because it is aging and wants to continue the process. Exercise should and can be joyful. We can feel free to give ourselves this slice of time as often as possible. It offers a refreshing vitality. Relaxing - Relaxation and stress reduction are as important as proper nutrition and exercise. Relaxing the body promotes the chemical flow of the system. There is freedom for the heart, nervous system, muscles, and all other parts of the body to accomplish what is natural. When giving the body total relaxation for a few minutes several times throughout the day, there is also an effect on the mental activity. The mind can float, effortlessly, thinking about nothing. Most benefit comes by lying down or sitting with the feet propped up but can also be achieved by just sitting in a comfortable chair. Relaxation can come at other times, as well. It can happen while driving the car. It is much safer to be relaxed while driving than in a tense upheaval. It can happen at an office desk. There are some obscure exercises that no one else sees. By focusing on specific areas of the body, we counteract any stress that may be ready to pounce. A healthy exercise that both quiets the physical and mental activity happens by first taking a few deep breaths and thinking of the body as floating on a cloud. This can provide an awareness of breezing through necessary projects with no feeling of being tired. Leisure - What is leisure time? Is it bowling, bicycle riding, looking at flowers or rainbows, watching television, playing golf, tennis, or handball? Leisure means, according to Webster, "freedom from occupation." That means "unoccupied." Leisure is doing whatever we choose to unoccupy ourselves. What does "occupied" mean? Once we know this, we can decide what our leisure might be. To someone who has led a hectic responsible office management week, leisure may mean climbing into jeans and puttering in the yard or flower garden. To a mother who has been tied to two or three preschool children all week, leisure might be getting away from the house for a couple of hours, even going out with her husband for dinner. To someone who does a generous amount of mental work, leisure might be a good workout on the tennis court. To someone who has put in a strenuous amount of physical labor, sitting with a good book might be a welcome leisure. Everyone needs leisure time to add balance in today's hectic life style. We need to make sure we have a designated amount of time each day to enjoy life in leisure. Triumph - We have the responsibility for the good care of our bodies. We take this responsibility by avoiding excess in what we eat and drink, by using common nutritional sense, by providing the body with needed physical exercise. We acknowledge that good health is natural. Imagine self as totally well. What would life be if we experienced good health every moment? Staying Centered by Dusty Reed As I walk into the house and unload an armful of groceries, a desire for quiet time knocks at the door. An outdoor walk beckons. I enjoy absorbing without having to define the goodness. I give myself permission to begin taking long strolls or to just sit outdoors and see the birds, ants, clouds, and trees. I feel a special inner guidance and new strength as I take special quiet time to listen to nature and thank God for the important role I am playing as a wife and mother. I also discover, no matter what I think needs to be done, that there are two more activities, sometimes even five, to replace their completion. If I am to have time to play with my child, watch him grow up, star gaze, or watch clouds, I am just going to have to do it. It will not wait for accomplishment of the other activities. They are endless. My son is only a child for an instant. The clouds only appear exactly this way right now. I can only smell the fragrance of this rose today. Tomorrow it will be gone. I only gain a perspective of my life as it is right now. I was passing by so much goodness. Now I am tasting the pleasures of today. On other occasions I go outdoors to my quiet space, just at sunset, and enjoy watching rainbows through my eyelashes. I receive a thought. There is the inner constant knowing that my thoughts are my truth. New enlightenments are advantageous but unless they become habit, they can go back to where enlightenments come from. They do not necessarily become a part of my character. It is exciting and rewarding to contemplate discoveries of my characteristics and talents, as well as to feel the strength of heartthrob in each. Discovering who I am, what I am, and what I can accomplish, generates an explicit energy. When I stay centered throughout my day, when I take time to thank God for what He has given to me, I can then just listen, journal, and absorb all the qualities He provides through my senses. A helpful declaration: "The Lord provides an awareness of my need for centering myself through this day." To Health by Dusty Reed Giggles are joy bubbles; They're healthy; Play with them. Have fun . . . Giggle! ~ ~ ~ Meditation by Dusty Reed A thought whispers out across the expanse of lake as a sense of oneness in God's love with all creation envelops my being. As minute as a ladybug on a bramble leaf, deep in the timbered frame surrounding the crystal blue. Feeling of importance because God loves me. Feeling of equality with all nature and mankind. God's arms surround me in the dense woodland where branches of oak, elm and maple leaves surround and umbrella me. This mantle brings God into my presence with an awareness I can touch Him and whisper His name. (`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*``~` (`~`*`~`) Some sites I recommend:
It is my joy to share with you that I continue to add new rose drawings and some photographs available at art.com! You can view them at Roses. I now have some of my rose drawings at an auction site, Art By Us And, I have a page with note cards (for sale) with some of my rose drawings. You can check it out by going Rose Note Cards. I have been posting some of my other drawings now at Dusty's Art and at Dusty's Gallery My sister-in-spirit, Sunny, has several of her drawings and has added new photos at art.com, too, at Sunny's Place And, for anyone who enjoys playing at ebay, lots of goodies (records, books & post cards - occasionally some nic nacs) are available at Dusty's eBay You are welcome to forward this newsletter to friends who might be interested! If they would like to subscribe (at no cost), they can write to me at With Expansion Encounters as Subject. Thanx muchly! Working toward consideration and to better humanity, we want to encourage free enterprise, free speech. We are Life Now, a spiritual happening on and off the Internet. Pathway ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life Now ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Enjoy every moment!
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