Yoga Books Giveaway

After a few months break, I'm back! So many things have happened during this time, and overall I'm happy where I am right now and have a list of new exciting plans for the year 2012 (as I always do)!

To start with, I have enrolled in a 5-week Beginner Yoga class last Tuesday. The room was fool with about 25-30 people. Although the name of the series is New Year Beginner Yoga Class, nobody has confessed in making yoga practice one of the New Year resolutions, but everybody agreed that we need more happiness and balance in our lives. This is also where I'm at right now. 

The first class showed me that:

1) there are muscles in my body that never work,

2) yoga can be a serious work out if done correctly,

3) I feel happier and lighter after a workout.

So I'm going to stick with the class and enjoy learning the poses, although some of them are very challenging for me at this point.

I wanted to share with you this link to a yoga books giveaway that will run until January 31st. Great way to build your yoga library, if you don't have one yet like me, or to add some interesting titles to the existing one, if you do. I hope I win! If you win let me know. Good luck and take a good care!

Happy Cat

NDE and OBE Experiences

Dr. Emmett Miller on Stress - Great Meditation at the End

Tippi - A Girl Who Grew Up in Wild Africa

Children Meditate in Paideia School in Atlanta

IIN $1000 Scolarship - Tomorrow Only

I love being a part of the May 2011 class at the Integrative Nutrition Institute! I'm learning and growing so much. They offer a perfect educational environment, a wealth of knowledge that can help you to balance your life and reach your health and nutrition goals. The support that we get for creating your own business is invaluable. Great combination overall! 

Tomorrow they are running a special, which doesn't happen too often. If you choose to enroll, please mention my name (Tanya Molodtsova). The regular tuition is around $5000 for a 1-year program, plus an optional year in the Immersion program. Getting 2 years of top-notch modern nutrition education for only $4000 is an unbeatable deal. Don't forget that you will become a catalyst for change in your family, country, and the world depending how far you want to go.

Call us TOMORROW, Thursday, July 28, 2011 between 9am - 5pm EDT at (877) 730-5444 to enroll in our next class, and we will grant you a $500 tuition scholarship.

AND if you choose to pay your tuition in full within two weeks of enrolling, you will get an additional $500 grant ON TOP OF your $500 tuition scholarship.

Just think how you'll feel when you can ...

• Achieve vibrant health by learning exactly what works for you
• Teach your friends and loved ones to become healthier and happier
• Study from anywhere with your own iPod touch
• Get connected with a supportive community of like-minded peers  
• Learn all of the dietary theories from world-class experts
• Develop your own practice easily with step-by-step instructions
• Start creating the career and life of your dreams!

We're only offering this extraordinary $1000 scholarship and grant to a small, select group in our community - and only for this one day.

So if you've been thinking about taking the leap, there's never been a better time to just go for it - get healthy now and dive into a new career that you truly love. Don't let this rare opportunity pass you by!

To start the enrollment process, call an Admissions Advisor TOMORROW between 9am - 5pm EDT at (877) 730-5444.

Warmly,
Integrative Nutrition

Supportive Practices for Creating the Life You Want

For the next few months I’m going to commit to building a better, fuller, and happier life for myself. I have formulated my intention that I will repeat every morning, before going to bed at night, and before starting any important activity:

“I choose to be in my natural state of continuous happiness and joy.”

I like this statement, because it stresses the fact that it is natural for us to be happy and joyous and emphasizes continuously enjoying life. My goal is to gradually increase the amount of time I spend in this care-free blissful state. This doesn’t mean, of course, ignoring all negative events that happen around and adopting a Polyanna attitude. I simply would like to exercise my choice to focus on what I want to attract in my life. I know that by choosing to focus my attention on beauty and harmony around me, I’m inviting more of the same things into my life.

I’ve started reading a few books that will help me in this process of making a positive change in my life and came up with a list of following supportive strategies and practices that I’m going to use. These are general principles of self-care that will complement exercises recommended in the books I’m currently reading. 

1. Put yourself at the top of the list. Understanding and learning to love myself the way I am will help me to build a deep connection with my Higher Self and create the life that aligns with my true values. 
2. Determine your priorities. Knowing what’s really important to me will help me to ensure that I focus my time and attention on important things. 
3. Eliminate the factors that drain your energy. 
4. Stay on top of your finances. 
5. Create a list of activities that fuel you and do something nourishing daily if possible, no judgment if less. 
6. Surround yourself with supportive community. 
7. Meditate or take some time for yourself regularly. 
8. Move your body. 
9. Get enough sleep. 
10. Eat healthy foods. 
11. Regularly engage in some kind of creative expression, like singing, dancing, writing, playing an instrument, or drawing. 
12. Keep a journal to keep track of your experiences, thoughts, and inspirations as you go through the process of changing your life for the better.

Falling Asleep on High: 30-Day Process

Here is a very simple process recommended by Abraham:

1) Go to bed in a good mood (we all know this, but do we do that?).

2) Wake up in the SAME vibrational state you went to bed in, at the same time having enjoyed a few nice dreams.

3) Increase your vibrational level even more by doing a "focus wheel" or two (for those unfamiliar with Abraham, read: release resistance about one of your goals) and offering gratitude for everything that is going great in your life.

4) Repeat for 30 days or even less and watch your life transform!

Easy to do and also sounds very nourishing for the body and soul. Enjoy it and let me know what happens in a month. I'll do the same.

Primary Foods and My Soul Book List

It is my 7th week at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and I can thank enough the Universe and my friend, Kateryna, who introduced me to this life-changing program. I think I can already say that my life will be divided into two parts - before and after IIN. 

Although I'm very busy at my job, I spend any minute I have listening to my Ipod with IIN audios and videos. It's a perfect way to learn something useful and interesting while doing routine job, flying, driving, jogging, or exercising. I like to take notes as well, but not always. The IIN online forum is a resource that still need to fully explore. 

In this post, I would like to talk a little about one of the main concepts we talk about at the IIN - PRIMARY FOODS. Everyone has probably met people who look skinny and happy regardless of their terrible eating habits. We also know meticulous diet "control freaks", who have never done any consistent progress in the way they look and feel. Well, I'm sorry if you are one of them, but this is reality! The reason is that the quality of our life plays an enormous role in determining how we feel, and as a result, shapes our appearance as well. It's that simple: Happy people have happy bodies!

So what is primary foods that can affect our quality of life. There 4 main area of life that contribute to our overall happiness and well-being:

1) RELATIONSHIPS: with yourself, your spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, parents, children, siblings, family members, friends, co-workers, extended family.

2) PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: the right mix of exercise that is appropriate for your life style.

3) CAREER: find the work that you love or learn to love your work.

4) SPIRITUALITY: spiritual practice/rituals that nourishes you.

I feel like my main priority right now is in the area of relationships. Then, comes my career. Obviously, all these four areas of life are interrelated. Without good relationship with ourselves and others we can't be happy at work, for example. I find it fascinating to explore my relationships with myself, my fears, and limiting beliefs that originate far back in my childhood. I would like to come to the point where I can fully express my authentic self and create my life joyfully and with highest integrity I am capable of. I think I have made a progress in this direction, but  there is still a long way to go. 

The previous post has inspired me to start a book list with all the books that have helped me to come to the point where I am right now. The list will contain not only books, but other online resources., Youtube channels, etc. Maybe someone else will find it useful as well. I will keep updating this list continuously.

My Soul Book List:

1. Klaus Joehle, "The Messenger: Living on Love" and "Money is Love". His books are available for free here. There is also a Russian version of the site.  

2 Carla Rukker and LLResearch, "the Law of One", a book based on the materials from channeling sessions This book contains one of the most detailed and profound description of how the Universe works. Carla is still channeling, organizing workshops, writing books and has a radio program.
3. Lee Carroll channeling KRYON http://www.kryon.com/  -
4. Jane Roberts, "Seth Speaks" http://www.seth-speaks.com/

5 Eckhart Tolle, "The New Earth" http://www.eckharttolle.com/ This book is a must-read for everyone now. It talks about how each of us is participating in the process of transfomation that is going on on Earth right now. Here is another web-site with additional free resources : http://www.inner-growth.info/power_of_now_tolle/eckhart_tolle_home.htm

6. Esther and Jerry Hicks channeling ABRAHAM - http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/journal.php   

7. Lincoln - The Channel for Higher Self - http://www.99days99channels.com/
 и http://www.satsangwiththeself.com/  and his many youtube videos offers very powerful teachings  and transformative energy.

8. The Course in Miracles

9. Carlos Castaneda's books

10. Louise Hay, "You Can Heal Your Life"

11. Sheryl Richardson, "The Art of Extreme Self-Care" and "Take Time for Your Life"

12. Debbie Ford, "The Dark Side of the Light Chasers"

13. Hale Dwoskin, "The Sedona Method"

14. Tao Te Ching

15. The Bhagavat Gita

16. The Qu'ran

17. The Bible
18. Napoleon Hill, "Think and Grow Rich"
19. Michael Newton, "Journey of Souls", "Destiny of Souls", "Life between Lives"
20. Robert Monroe, "Journeys Out of Body", "Far Journeys", "Ultimate Journey" 
 
Last Updated: 07/12/2011

Summer Reading Recommendations from Integrative Nutrition Staff

From IIN blog:

Summer is in full swing and vacation time has arrived. Since one of the best things about this time of year is kicking back with a good book, we asked our staff for their summer reading recommendations. The list they came up with is full of inspiring and educational books for you to enjoy while you are getting your R&R all season long.

	Women, Food and God, by Geneen Roth Christy, Marketing "Simple, profound and so helpful for anyone who's ever struggled with emotional eating"
	Mastery Through Accomplishment - Developing Inner Strength for Life's Challenges, by Hazrat Inayat Khan Laura, Student Services "This book offers guidance for all stages of life. As needed, I can read just a few pages and gain wisdom and strength."
	Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places, by Steve Brill, Evelyn Dean Ella, Student Services "This is my favorite book on exploring the wild. Steve and Evelyn's book highlights the best and tastiest wild plants and covers everything you need to know to find, cook and eat your finds."
	The Ultra Simple Diet, by Mark Hyman Shannon, Admissions "It's the easiest cleanse in the world to do and you will feel so amazing after. Mark Hyman inspires you to take a little time for yourself and revamp your metabolism in a week!"
	Crazy Sexy Diet, by Kris Carr Megan, Enrollment "This is the ONLY diet book I believe in. It's a hilarious, easy read but also incredibly informative." Rachel, Marketing "Lighthearted and informative summer read - this book will inspire you to make healthy changes that are good for you and the planet!"
	Quantum Healing, by Deepak Chopra Kathleen, Education "The power of the mind-body connection is amazing - in this book, Deepak Chopra illustrates its potential for healing (and preventing illness). so interesting and inspiring!"
	In Buddha's Kitchen : Cooking, Being Cooked, and Other Adventures at a Meditation Center, by Kimberley Snow Adam, IT It's an unusual meeting of Tibetan enlightment and Southern charm in the kitchen.
	The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls Victoria, Legal Department "A book you can't put down because you can't believe her life story. It's astonishing!"
	The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks Paula, Executive Support "Great, quick read on breaking through patterns that keep us from living the best life we possible can. For moving past self-sabotage, staying in our comfort zone and limiting our ability to receive."
	The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron Julia, Marketing "I love how this book really forces you to dig deep, helping you bring out your creativity!"
	Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan Sasha, Enrollment "Interesting, informative, amazing!"
	The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, by Michael A. Singer Kaitlin, Enrollment "Read this and you'll learn how to fly. :)"
	Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Ansley, Marketing "It encouraged me to give up meat!" Robin, Education "An honest look at the production of meat, as told from the viewpoint of an expectant father wondering what to teach his future child about animals, compassion, and food."
	Add More ~Ing to Your Life- A Hip Guide to Happiness by Gabrielle Bernstein Arielle, Enrollment "The perfect accessory if you're craving a summer of love, success and fearlessness!"
	Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future, by David WolfeMaryrose, Admissions "Wolfe gives a detailed summary of super foods across cultures. Wonderful resource for all you smoothie lovers." Samantha, Student Services "I love this book for the beach because you can read it front to back or flip around. I reference it all the time and love all the smoothie recipes for the summer!"
	Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.Jonna, IT Student Support "Opened my eyes to improving the way I feed my children."
	Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver Melissa, Education "A beautiful profile of the deliberate choice to eat locally grown food, a reminder that conscious decision-making can make a huge impact. Barbara Kingsolver will rock your socks off!"
	The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, La Leche League International Aisha, Student Services "Knowing what and how to feed newborns can seem complicated but this book contains all of the essential information about baby's first food."
	Enzyme Nutrition, by Dr. Edward Howell Diana, Marketing "Enzymes are really fascinating and not many people know how they really work."
	The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell Prysm, Admissions "It is fascinating and inspires me to take control of my health." Gillian, Admissions "Most comprehensive research/study on diet and disease, proving plant based whole foods diets aid in health and prevention of disease."
	Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by Joshua Foer Gary, Marketing "You'll never forget anything after reading this book."

Extras:

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, by Barry Estabrook Supermarket produce sections bulging with a year-round supply of perfectly round, bright red-orange tomatoes have become all but a national birthright. But in Tomatoland, which is based on his James Beard Award-winning article, "The Price of Tomatoes," investigative food journalist Barry Estabrook reveals the huge human and environmental cost of the $5 billion fresh tomato industry.

Lunch Wars: How to Start a School Food Revolution and Win the Battle for Our Children’s Health, by Amy Kalafa There's a battle going on in school lunchrooms around the country...and it's a battle our children can't afford for us to lose.

New Word: ELATIONSHIP

Check out this Abraham-Hicks piece-of-art video about the art of manifesting your perfect life:

Part 1:

Part 2:

I love the new word - Elationship. When two people (or more) are elated they create elationship which makes them even more elated. It's a circle of elationships called Life!

I'm working right now on creating elationship with myself - loving myself unconditionally. I want to really get in detail here and practice new habits, both mental and physical.

Have been reading two books by Sheryl Richardson: "The Art of Extreme Self-Care" and "Take Time for Your Life". I like her books, because they serve as a personal coach for me and at the same time I learn tips to help other people too as I change my life. I'm going to post regularly my notes during this process. I learn to listen to myself and give my body, mind, and spirit everything they need and ask for in each moment.

Another book that I work on at the same time is Debbie Ford's "The Dark Side of the Light Chasers". I decided to go slowly and take the time to reflect on the questions asked after each chapter that are designed to get in touch with your self and uncover all parts of yourself - both ugly and beautiful. Eventually, accepting and embracing the "negatives" will open up the way to more "positives".

So, hop on on this journey of brutally honest and brightly illuminating self exploration!

FREE Tele-Summit on "Shamanic Birthing"

I hope you are enjoying this warm summer days! I wanted to share the information about this free event with you. Feel free to share with those who might be interested. KaRa Maria Ananda is a true visionary woman with a gentle and potent female energy.

Thursday June 9th, 6 pm PST
A FREE Live Call With Your Hostess KaRa Maria Ananda

Shamanic Birthing: The Union of Ecstatic and Sacred Birth 
 

Join this FREE Conscious Birth Emissary Tele-Council from wherever you are in the world, via your own telephone.

We will gather in this live call hosted by Conscious Birth Emissary, KaRa Maria Ananda to honor the shamanic birthing arts. KaRa will share about the ecstatic states of consciousness in pregnancy, birth, and mothering and share a simple meditation and breathing practice for pregnant women, parents, birth professionals, and everyone.

This council discussion will integrate shamanic midwifery with heart intelligence, ecstatic hormones, orgasmic birth, and soul wisdom.

This gathering is open to all and ideal for pregnant women, expecting fathers, birth advocates, birth professionals, health educators and YOU.

Join the call and also participate online in the live chat to connect and network with all in the Tele-Council!

Thursday June 9th, 6 pm PST, US/Pacific Time Zone
FIND OUT YOUR TIME: Time Zone Converter

SIGN-UP HERE for the FREE Tele-Summit on "Shamanic Birthing": http://www.birthemissary.com/tele-council.html

Joy of co-creation ))

Choice

I have been experimenting with changing my negative thoughts and beliefs into positive ones. For 21 day, I have made an effort to observe my thoughts and detect how negative thoughts arise. The results of this short experiment are amazing. My life completely changed. I can here my guidance system or intuition more clearly. 

I'm still working on understanding my beliefs and questioning them, but I'm amazed at how easy it is to turn around our life. My world responded immediately to the changes in my thought patterns.

Many new interests and people entered into my life. The most important results is that I am more true to myself and, as a result, I'm a happier person.

In short, in these three weeks I could open up to what I've been wanting to do for a long time just by being aware of my thoughts.

1) I have found a yoga studio, whose spiritual values are very close to mine.

2) I have reconnected with my old friends, and decided to continue this rediscovered friendship because we have much more in common than we thought.

3) Following my interest in the physical body, nutrition and health, I have enrolled in Health and Nutrition Coach program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. My long-term goal is to develop a holistic approach to wellness in a global sense that would include balancing all aspects of the human body: physical, mental, and spiritual. I would like to start the transformation process with myself and my family and friends, and then teach other people how to live a happy and full life in harmony with themselves and the rest of the world. This is my passion. I haven't decided yet which format I'm going to use to deliver this message. Maybe using online courses, workshops, blogging, newsletters, and books. I am open to creativity right now and ready to go wherever this journey will take me.

4) I am on my way to becoming a certified reiki practitioner. Energy healing was always one of my interests.

5) Other interests of mine, like crystal healing, meditation, shamanism, conscious birth, and everything that can be broadly connected to spiritual growth has also expanded and blossomed;

6) I found an amazing group of women who read books on spiritual growth and meet to discuss them in a book club. The two books we have picked together are exactly what I wanted to read for a long time: "A 1000 Names for Joy" by Byron Katie and "Tao Te Ching".

I'm going to continue my experiment and want to encourage everyone to please pay attention to your thoughts. You have control over them, or they will start to control you and run your life. There are only two options. Let's choose to live and create our life consciously!

I started to write this post, because I wanted to say a few words about choices that we make and how we decide what's best for us. Right now, I see an immediate connection between the opportunities that arise in my life and my thoughts and intentions. One problem that I couldn't solve yet is which option to choose if more than one opportunity for growth arise in my life. Let's say, I have two workshops that I can register for this week-end. Both of them sound very interesting and I'm sure I'm going to benefit greatly from attending either of them. How do I decide which one to attend? It seems to be simple, but it's not for me. I know that I have attracted both workshops with my intention. The next step would be to honor this opportunity and enroll in a workshop that will answers my questions, but I can't decide which one will answer most questions. It might be that they will open two different paths for me, and I don't want to make a mistake. At the same time, I know that there is no mistakes in life, there are only experiences. Then why I can't choose between the two workshops?

Beliefs and Thoughts

Here is a great reminder to be mindful of our thoughts.

Your Beliefs become your Thoughts,
Your Thoughts become your Words,
Your Words become your Actions,
Your Actions become your Habits,
Your Habits become your Values,
Your Values become your Destiny.

~Mahatma Gandhi

I can completely subscribe to this eloquent statement. The question that seems to be very important to me right now is where our beliefs come from and how to change them.

100 Ways to Motivate Yourself

Grow Your Own Garden

This is what I'm going to buy probably for my deck in a condo I live in. It seems to be very easy to set up and to take care of. That's exactly what I was looking for!

Be Yourself

I've been working on changing my negative thoughts into positive, which eventually will have an effect on my life. I would like to explore the connection between my thought patterns and physical life. It has been just 3 days into the experiment and I already started to see positive changes in my life.

1. I have found a group of like-minded people, who can support me on my path. We are reading books together and discussing them. This Thursday, I will join Insigh Meditation group for the first time. Very excited!

2. I have also found a yoga teacher that resonates with me. I'm going to attend the first class tomorrow.

Establishing a regular meditation and yoga practice is going to have a huge supportive effect on my transformation, because changing thoughts doesn't happen overnight. Some deep-rooted beliefs are stored deep in our bodies. Yoga can help me to purify my body, as mantra or insight meditation does.

I'm a big fan of Joseph Campbell. Here are a few quotes that resonates with my intentions today.

“To find your own way is to follow your bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where real deep bliss is - not the quick little excitement, but the real deep, life-filling bliss.”

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

“Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.”

“It is by going dow “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

"If I want to be loved as I am, then I need to be willing to love others as they are." - Louise L. Hay

Someone falls to pieces
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
She finally drifts away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
And catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave
Yeah...

And to be yourself is all that you can do
Hey...
To be yourself is all that you can do

Someone finds salvation in everyone
Another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love
Until the end of time
Another runs away
Separate or united
Healthy or insane

And to be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
Yeah..
To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)

To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
Hey...
Be yourself is all that you can do

even when you've paid enough
been put upon or been held up
with every single memory of
the good or bad, faces of luck
don't lose any sleep tonight
i'm sure everything will end up alright
you may win or lose

But to be yourself is all that you can do
Yeah...
To be yourself is all that you can do

Ohhh...
To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
Ohhh...
To be yourself is all that you can do(all that you can do)
To be yourself is all that you can--
Be yourself is all that you can--
Be yourself is all that you can dooooooohoooo

Mindfullness

In this video, Tenzin Palmo, an amazing woman who became one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, spent 12 years living in a cave, and the last 3 years in strict retreat, profoundly explains the nature of mindfulness and gives practical advice on how to be mindful. You can read her entire story here.

Her advice is "simple" - ignore your thoughts because they are not you, and know what you are doing in each moment.

Amazing Animal Friendship

Recently, I have come across a few absolutely amazing stories of friendship among animals. I think we have a lot to learn from them.
1. The first story involves a joyful and caring friendship between an orangutan and a hound dog. Enjoy!



2. I love elephants! They are so smart and kind animals and apparently also very loyal friends. In this CBS News story, an elephant Tara became best friends with a dog Bella. I liked how Tara gently scratches Bella's belly trying to do something pleasant for her friend.





3. Another elephant story is about two elephants reuniting after about 25 years of separation. Very touching!