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This is an interview with a Roger Gray, hypnotherapist and president of Hypnosis Unlimited & Redding Hypnosis and my name is Douglas Potts. Today we are going to sit and talk with Mr. Gray, about his new technique called Blockbusting and learn a little bit about his background and how he became a hypnotherapist and his point of view on hypnosis and this new discovery.
Doug: Good morning Roger.
Roger: Good morning Doug.
D: Tell us a little bit about your background, where did you grow up?
R: I grew up in Texas, and I joined the Navy when I was 19 and trained as an aircraft mechanic. After that I had various jobs, working in the field of hydraulics in heavy industry and in the gas and oil industry.
D: When you were growing up in your early years in Texas, what were your interests, activities or hobbies? I was into sports, football and ran track and was a pole vaulter. I also had an interest in photography.
D: How did you find yourself in Redding California all the way from Texas?
R: I was ending up my oilfield career in Oklahoma. I had drilled for natural gas and oil in Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma was the last oilfield job. I had been working as a derrick hand, and a relief driller for five years and all that hard work had thrashed my body. I needed to rest and recover. My wife, at that time, was from California, and she wanted to go home and that sounded good to me.
D: From what you have said about your past, you were very sports minded and worked very physically demanding jobs. So what led you to be interested in hypnosis and how did that become your career?
R: I met a fellow that had a business selling flowers retail and wholesale. He had a fleet of vehicles, and he had me doing some work on them. We became close friends. Occasionally he would have me pick up some flowers and do some selling. As our friendship deepened, he asked me if I wanted to buy into the Redding area and I said yes. This was the first time I was the boss of anything. All the other times I was just an employee. About six months into my new enterprise, I realized that things were not going quite so well at being the boss .I sat down and ran the figures one night and realized if things didn't change I was going to be broke in six months. Something was wrong; I was working twice as hard as I had for anyone else, putting in lots of hours and still was falling behind.
I was prepared to do whatever it took to be successful. I started reading every book I could get my hands on about success.
Some of the books I was reading had mentioned hypnosis as a quick and effective way to get to the bottom of the issue and fix it. As I took an inventory on my success, I realized that I couldn't blame it on anyone else since I was the boss and making all the decisions. If my business failed it was because of me, no one else. At that point I began to seek out several competent hypnotherapists, to help me be more successful. I chose two hypnotherapists, one male, and one female therapist to help me on my journey. I was determined to be successful. I worked hard to turn my situation around. I was programming every day, listening to recorded programs, reading books on success and how others did it. In six months from the time I began with the two hypnotherapists I had doubled my territory and tripled my income. One day, one of my other associates that knew I was interested in self-help and success, gave me a flyer from the Applied Hypnosis Center in San Anselmo, California. It was an intensive course during the summer that I could do since the flower sales were always down in the summer. I had the time, the money and the interest and it seemed like the next logical step for me. The training was to become a hypnotherapist but that was not my intention when I took the course. I took a course to better my understanding about hypnosis, and perhaps get some help with my own issues, and to be more educated about what to look for when I chose a good hypnotherapist to work on me. I think therapists are like hairdressers, they all get training and some do a great job, but some you don't want near your head.
D: This was a double benefit for you, not only were you reading and preparing yourself by your studies and your interest in self-help but also found out about hypnotherapy and you were at a point where you needed change.
R: That's exactly right Doug. My initial interest in hypnosis was to save my business by finding out what I was doing to sabotage it and then reverse it. At the time my best level of thinking was sinking my ship, I knew it was within me, but I couldn't seem to change it or identify what I was looking for or at. The hypnotherapy that I sought out for myself, before my course, helped me dramatically. I developed much more self-confidence and clarity. Also, my decisions were getting better. My awareness expanded, as to what I needed to work on, as a result of it.
I was more willing to accept the challenges my life presented to me without so much resistance to change.
I noticed my organizational skills increased as well as my people skills. In that six-month period, I grew significantly, not only was I happier, more confident, but it showed on the bottom line is well. I was working smarter not harder and with much better results.
D: That's amazing. So by experiencing hypnosis as a client you were convinced of the power that lies in hypnosis first hand.
R: Absolutely, Doug I was a walking testimonial.
D: It seems that the right opportunity came to you at the right time not only to help your business and you personally, but a whole new career was presented to you. What happened that made you change your career?
R: I was a living example of how hypnotherapy had helped my life. I found out that I was really good at it and I wanted to share that success and that gift of knowledge with others. If hypnotherapy had helped me so much, I was convinced it could help others as well. Gradually over time I was seeing more clients, they were having more success and I was having a great deal of fun. Over the next year and a half I phased out my floral business and began doing hypnosis full time. That was over 20 years ago, and it was the best decision I ever made. I have a genuine interest in people, and I wouldn't do anything else.
D: Let's fast-forward to today; how would you define hypnotherapy and what are the benefits of hypnosis?
R: I would define hypnotherapy as the use of hypnosis to increase the communication and awareness between the conscious and subconscious mind and uses some technique to correct the self-limiting belief or self-sabotaging program that blocks our potential.
Given that our subconscious mind is the seat of our long-term memory and our learned responses, the subconscious programming can sometimes disagree or limit what the conscious mind wants. When that happens, we have two conflicting programs that sabotage us. It's as if we have one foot on the gas, and one foot on the brake and all we seem to do is the same old pattern. Anytime we increase our self-awareness, we also increase our awareness of those problem areas that might plague us. Because of how our mind works we are not fully conscious of the programming that is automatic.
Our history and our conditioning, create programs for all behaviors, the good, the bad, and the ugly ones. My job as a hypnotherapist is to access your subconscious and help you find the negative blocking belief or programming that keeps you from expressing your potential. When we become conscious of what the negative or blocking belief is, it becomes obvious to us why we have the problems we have, armed with this new knowledge we are able to challenge the old distorted belief and upgrade it to the truth about ourselves, that we are far more powerful and have greater capacity than we realize. Most of the limitations we experience are not out there in the world but between our ears.
D: So hypnotherapy helps increase awareness, not only in defining the problem, but accessing the program or faulty thinking that's creating the problem and out of that information is created the suggestions that is needed for the solution.
R: Yes Doug, I think you get it. If you don't know what the faulty thinking is, how are you going to form the appropriate affirmations or suggestions to counter it? This is why a lot of hypnotherapists are not as effective as they could be. Straight suggestion doesn't always get to the core programming of the problem behavior.
If you think of the mind as an apple, the skin of that apple would represent the conscious mind, and the rest of the apple would represent the subconscious. The bulk of our thinking and feeling is processed subconsciously.
D: That means our subconscious is much larger than our conscious awareness?
R: Yes, Doug, what science is telling us is, the entire brain processes about 400 billion bits of information a second and our conscious mind can only process about 2000 bits of information a second.
D: 2000 compared to 400 billion, that's like a fraction of a percent of what were conscious of, WOW!!!! What is the subconscious doing with all that vast processing power?
R: The majority of our processing power is occupied with the two basic tasks of our subconscious. Its primary task is to keep body and soul together. This means it is taking care of all the automatic bodily functions, by means of monitoring and reacting to all the chemical, electrical and energetic communication that is taking place in our bodies100 trillion cells all the time. That takes up the bulk of our brainpower.
D: I can understand why this process is kept subconscious, because it would be totally overwhelming if we knew were aware of all this processing.
R: That's right Doug; we wouldn't be able to have this conversation. If we were totally aware of all the bodily communication and processes that are going on automatically, the noise would be deafening and very distracting. The mind filters out that background information, so it doesn't overwhelm the conscious mind. Just like your computer at home, you can't have all the information that is in the hard drive come up on the screen all at once, our conscious mind can only process a very small amount of information at a time.
The other task of our subconscious mind is to be the storehouse of our long-term memory and learning, it's like the hard drive of your computer. Our memory is not a perfect representation of facts, but our personal interpretation of life as it unfolds in whatever developmental stage we are in.
D: So having the therapist there helps move the client towards their realizations.
R: Yes, Einstein said, "You can't fix the problem with the same level of thinking that created the problem, you'll just create the problem again" that's why people seek help outside themselves because they are stuck in a loop, doing the same behavior over and over again. The therapist must, act as an agent for change, to help the client to access and identify the problematic thinking and work together to come up with a higher level of problem solving that is not self-sabotaging but life affirming.
D: This almost sounds like a virus code in a computer.
R: Yes Doug it's very similar to a computer virus. A computer fails to compute or operate correctly when there are opposing or conflicting programs in the system. Human beings are biological, walking, talking computers. We are learning all the time and adjusting to our environment at every developmental stage of life.
If we learn or interpret something at the age of three with a three year olds level of understanding and we believe it to be true for us, even though it may not be a fact, it becomes law in our universe and we always interpret or filter other information through what we believe is true, unless it is changed or up graded. Let me give you an example.
Pretend for a moment that we are both five years old. It's a nice sunny day, and it just happens to be Easter Sunday. Now both of us have never experienced an Easter before, and all the older kids and adults are all talking about the Easter Bunny. Everyone is in agreement that there is an Easter Bunny. That's the only evidence we have, but since they are convinced it's true, we are willing to entertain that possibility. Remember we are only five and in a child's mind; anything is possible, after all the adults (the gods) in our universe are saying there is an Easter Bunny. Now remember, agreement is truth to a child. So what happens next is that we are given baskets and told to go out to the backyard and look for the Easter eggs that the Easter Bunny left and what do you know, there they are. The emotional brain develops first in childhood and the imagination rules, so we look to our elders to help us define what's real. First, there was an agreement that there was an Easter Bunny. Second, there was the evidence of finding the eggs and third, in conclusion, there must be an Easter Bunny. So (A), leads to (B), which leads to (C). As we grow older, we began to get information from older kids and adults that there is some doubt about the Easter Bunny being real. As this doubt builds, it begins to challenge the original premise; (A) total agreement that there is an Easter Bunny. As time goes on and we experience less agreement that the Easter Bunny is real, we began to formulate a new belief; (A) not everyone believes in the Easter Bunny, which leads to; (B) the Easter Bunny is imaginary, which leads to; (C) the Easter Bunny is not real and is just a fun thing to do with the young children. When you have a new (A) you also get a new (B) and a new (C) This is an example of how we reprocess or update an old idea emotionally.
So you see Doug, much of the work I do with clients is about bringing to consciousness some of the old Easter Bunny beliefs that the subconscious still believes is still true, that limit our potential and is in conflict with what our conscious mind wants to achieve. Once we become conscious of what our innermost beliefs are that block our progress, we can process that information through our conscious mind and adult reasoning thus coming to a higher level of understanding and truth about ourselves, our lives and our potential. When there is agreement both consciously and subconsciously there is always forward movement. When we feel blocked in doing what we want to do, there is always a subconscious program that is in opposition to it. All of our behaviors have a program that directs it. That's the good news and the bad news.
D: What makes it so difficult to reprogram our self?
R: What makes life such a struggle is that we are not fully conscious of all the programming that is in our long-term memory or how it's affecting us. For example, if we have a subconscious Easter Bunny belief; that we are unworthy of wealth, that conflicting belief may cause us to work twice as hard for half as much in spite of our best efforts. What we believe subconsciously always shows up, as our life. If you want to know what you secretly believe just look at your life. Our lives on the outside are an exact mirror of what we believe on the inside, it's always a perfect match. Remember every behavior has a program or belief that runs it; this is true of biology and psychology. If there are areas in your life that you would like to make improvements in, but feel blocked in doing so, there is an opposing program that interferes with that success.
Let me explain. As in my Easter Bunny example, the idea of the Easter Bunny being real was natural and appropriate for a five year old child. As time rolls on, and new experiences began to challenge the old paradigm; that the Easter Bunny was not real, we gradually over time began to integrate in a more appropriate belief about the Easter Bunny.
Society is awash in many self-limiting paradigms. Many people still agree that those paradigms are real and irreversible. Many fictitious beliefs have never been consciously reviewed or up graded, example; you can't fight city hall, rich people can't get in to heaven ….etc. You see Doug; there are personal Easter Bunnies and collective ones. As a hypnotherapist, my job is to help the client access whatever Easter Bunny beliefs that their subconscious mind may have, that is blocking their potential or conscious goals, and upgrade that program.
D: What inspired you to do therapy in this way? Was it a book you read or some mentor you followed?
R: How I approach life and hypnotherapy has been influenced by my career as a mechanic and troubleshooter. The first thing you do as a mechanic is to have some idea as to the full potential of the machine, what it's supposed to do. The next step is to find out what it's doing wrong, and the cause of it. When you find out what's causing the blockage to full functioning, what is needed to repair it becomes obvious. You simply remove what isn't working well and replace it with the fully functioning part. The same is true with human beings, when we have conscious access to what is blocking, or interfering with expressing our true potential, we can begin the process of examining our limiting beliefs and upgrading that program to a higher level of learning and functioning. There is always forward movement when there is both conscious and subconscious agreement.
D: Once we get these insights, does permanent change happened immediately?
R: The insight itself creates a degree of change and shifts the perspective into a higher level of functioning, but it takes practice over time to maintain the learning and become enduring change. What the neuro-scientist says about the brain is, neurons that get fired together get wired together or what patterns of thought and behavior get practiced the most, endures the most. It's a matter of firing the new pattern, or practicing the new choice until it becomes the habit of the new routine.
D: If this information, this opposing virus code, is buried deep in the hard drive of our mind, how do we access it and change it?
R: This brings us to my discovery, the Blockbusting Protocol.
D: Tell me about your discovery. What led you to put it together the way you did?
R: About 10 years ago my day started off, much like any other day; a middle-aged lady came to see me, who wanted to lose some weight, about 170 pounds. After a brief introduction, and before I could even find my pen and notebook, she began telling me one reason after another why she thought she couldn't lose the extra weight. I quickly began taking notes, because I knew these were the fears or the negative beliefs that were stopping her from her goal. It is not uncommon for people to express their secret fears during the interview. But I was amazed at how well defined, and how many there were. One fearful thought or idea seemed to lead to another and into another and to another. She was expressing one fearful fantasy after the other. This is not an uncommon phenomenon, and these are always to be paid attention to, because it is part of the subconscious fears and reactions to what the conscious mind wants to do. I have seen this many times in my practice, as a statement here and there, but never in a series of fearful fantasies that seemed to be so well-organized. Let me reconstruct it for you, as best I can.
CLIENT: Well Mr. Gray, I'm afraid if I lose the weight that I want to, I'll get my womanly figure back and if I start looking too good my husband will get jealous that other men will find me attractive, that might cause marital problems.
Roger: What do you fear will happen if there are marital problems? I asked?
CLIENT: I might get divorced and if I get divorced I won't have a house to stay in and I might not be able to find a job that will support me.
R: I could tell by what she was sharing she was reluctant to go further into the negative fantasy. So I kept asking her, what do you fear will happen if that happens, to keep the conversation going to its most emotional and subconscious conclusion. I was curious to see where this line of questioning would take her. Remember now, this line of questioning was done in the interview process.
Roger: What do you fear will happen if you don't have a house to stay in and a job that will support you?
CLIENT: I might wind up on the streets as a bag lady.
ROGER: What do you fear will happen if you become a bag lady?
CLIENT: I would feel most unprotected and vulnerable, and I could get hurt.
ROGER: What do you fear will happen if you're unprotected, vulnerable and could get hurt?
CLIENT: I could get beaten and robbed.
ROGER: What do you fear will happen, if you're beaten and robbed?
CLIENT: I would die.
R: This line of questioning allowed us both to explore her subconscious irrational fears, of what she believed would happen, if she lost the weight and to take it to its ultimate fearful conclusion. This was the conflicting belief or program that was keeping her from losing the weight. This was her personal Easter Bunny belief. Now that we know what her subconscious fearful fantasy is, that is resisting the weight loss; we have a better idea of what we were dealing with and how to proceed.
D: This is amazing and it sounds like this is a very important discovery but there seems to be more to it than just this.
R: Yes Doug, just finding the blocking belief or virus code does not automatically correct itself in the human any more than it corrects itself on your computer. Finding out the nature of the conflict does not automatically correct it but it is the first step in recognizing what needs to be fixed and how to go about it.
When I began to work with clients using this process, I realized that these blocking beliefs were sometimes out of context, of how or where the client learned them. My clients would often comment that even though they had made the statements, and it felt correct, it still made little logical sense to their rational mind, and it seemed out of context, disconnected. Not knowing how they learned this way of thinking seemed to block their progress. It just didn't make sense to them how they could entertain two such opposing beliefs, both of them being entirely opposite of each other. Example: I need to lose the weight to survive on one hand, and if I lose the weight I won't survive on the other.
D: Can you give me an example to help explain this to me?
R: Let's use the example of the lady who wanted to lose weight. During my interview with this lady I was writing down her responses to my questioning and then I read them back to her. When I read her statements back to her, it formed an emotional equation that felt true to her, but it was obvious that it was not rational. She said, "I know that's what I said, and it felt true when I was saying it but when you read it back to me in its entirety I can see it is not rational." Her blocking belief was that if she lost the weight, her husband would get jealous and might divorce her and she might not be able to find a job that would support her. She would wind up on the streets as a bag lady feel unprotected, vulnerable and get hurt, beaten and robbed and if that happened, she might die. So the true meaning of the emotional belief was, if she were to lose the weight she wanted to, she might die. Her rational adult self knew this would probably not happen. She was a fully grown adult, and had many resources, including family. Nonetheless, another part of her was terrified and that terror was enough to stop any forward progress. Any belief that has to do with your survival become a survival imperative and it will take precedence over any other program. Her conscious rational mind just wanted to lose some weight, but to her emotional subconscious mind it was a direct threat to her survival.
When there are conflicts between the subconscious and the conscious mind, the survival imperatives always win, the subconscious mind will do whatever it believes will protect us even if it is killing us.
Many of these beliefs are ancient beliefs and have not been accessed consciously, and updated. What I did next with this client was to ask her where she learned that losing the weight would be a threat to her survival.
She thought for a moment and said, "I learned this from my mother" and upon more discussion it became obvious how she learned it.
Now that the blocking emotional belief was consciously identified and in its proper context we both could see what the problem thinking was and where it came from. The next step was obvious to me; we needed to work on some upgraded affirmations to form a new behavior program that was a life enhancing, not self-sabotaging.
D: How did you know what affirmations would be a fit for her?
R: I began by reading back to her the negative blocking beliefs, taking each part, challenging the validity of it and working with her to develop a belief about her weight loss that was true for her, life-affirming, and not self-sabotaging.
Example of blocking belief: "If I lose the weight I want to, my husband would get jealous, and that would create a divorce". Once the light of her intelligence was shown on this belief, she realized that she had been married for 20 years, and it had more to do with her dealing with her own sexuality than her husband's jealousy. If her husband did get jealous they could surely work it out. Once we formed a new A in this emotional paradigm a new B and C naturally took place.
Example: Positive suggestion: My weight loss is not a threat to my marriage or my survival. My mind and my body will adapt to what I give it. I choose to give myself healthy foods and behaviors that protect my health and happiness. I know what I need to do and I now choose to get busy doing it. My life is what I do with it and what I focus on I become. I choose to focus on what I want in life and make those small changes every day that all add up to success, happiness and well-being. By following my own best advice I am creating the life I hope for. By losing the weight I want to, I am protecting my marriage, my health and creating the magnificent life I envision, this is worth the effort.
R: I had her repeat the affirmations out loud until she was able to say them smoothly and confidently. I also made a copy of the written affirmations for her to take home, put on her mirror, to be read daily.
D: Doesn't this protocol also do something with the eyes?
R: Yes, Doug I added later, the bilateral stimulation of the eyes, because it seemed to help speed the process along.
D: Can you tell me more about the bilateral stimulation?
R: Not much is known about how it works but we do know that it works. The early hypnotists used to use a pendulum to induce a trance but they thought that the trance was brought about by fatiguing the eyes, by watching the pendulum go back and forth, and giving suggestions, at the same time, that the eyes were beginning to feel tired sleepy and fatigued. Now we have a more modern theory of why it works. Some scientists think that doing a rapid side to side motion with the eyes, while concentrating on an issue, mimic REM sleep processing and help the brain to synchronize and problem solve. When I combined the two techniques, my blockbusting questioning with the bilateral stimulation it not only helped my clients access the information they were seeking faster, but also helped them integrate the new upgraded information easier.
My Blockbusting Method in itself moves people forward dramatically, and it is a great preparation before a more formal hypnosis is used to reinforce the new beliefs. Because the issue is now conscious, and the inner conflict is mostly resolved there is little resistance to the new beliefs. The hypnotic reinforcement is icing on the cake. I do very little hypnosis work without first using my blockbusting process to find out what the blocking beliefs are, where they learn them and what is needed for the upgrade. Many issues can be taken care of using my blockbusting techniques without the hypnosis. I have found that using both my Blockbusting Method first and then reinforcing those new powerful strategies in hypnosis are a winning combination.


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Greenville authorities are still searching for the person responsible for setting fire to an African-American church and spray painting the phrase "Vote Trump" on the outside. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church -- a 100-year-old predominantly black house of worship in the Delta -- was in flames when firefighters arrived Tuesday night. The phrase "Vote Trump" was discovered in the process of putting out the fire. The FBI is aware of the incident, which is also being investigated by the state fire marshal's office, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and local authorities. MPB's Mark Rigsby spoke with Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons -- who says the burning and vandalism are an attempt to intimidate voters just days before the Presidential Election.
A group of Democratic Senators in the Legislature is calling on lawmakers to repeal recent tax cuts to help pay for road and bridge repair in the state. Lawmakers approved the tax decrease during the most recent legislative session. The cut phases out the corporate franchise tax and portions of the state income tax over the next 14 years. Speaking to the media, Sen. David Blount of Jackson argues eliminating the Taxpayer Pay Raise Act of 2016 is a first step in addressing the infrastructure needs of the state.
Next Tuesday is Election Day. In addition to voting for president, Mississippians will have a chance to cast votes for the state's four congressional seats and state Supreme Court. Yesterday, we talked to two candidates in the Northern District race for Supreme Court. Today, we talk to the two others in the race -- Bobby Chamberlin and James Kitchens. First, Bobby Chamberlin.
Northern District Supreme Court candidate James Kitchens.
When the city of Oxford cut down a fabled magnolia tree to make room for a statue honoring Noble Laureate and native son William Faulkner in 1997, it kicked off a year of controversy around development in the small Mississippi town. Over the course of the year, the community conversation expanded to include the Confederate battle flag at Ole Miss -- as well as the playing of "Dixie" and the Colonel Reb mascot. In his new book -- The Statue and the Fury: A Year of Art, Race, Music and Cocktails -- author Jim Dees explores what 1997 meant to Oxford. In today's Book Club, he tells us the year was meant to honor Faulkner on his one hundreth birthday.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Today's Taoist Question with a Zen Twist
Is it ok to just go with the flow?
Am I giving myself more work or a hard time by picking a concrete direction in order to make life a little more digestible?
Is it ok to just go with the flow?
Am I giving myself more work or a hard time by picking a concrete direction in order to make life a little more digestible?
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To go with the flow can make things easier, especially in the short term. However, for the long-term sometimes "go with the flow" choices may not get a person to higher points of their life, which require extra work/awareness to achieve. Yes, at times a person might want to climb a mountain or have to swim upstream against some flows. Of course, there are also times we have to move crosswise to rip tides to survive and thrive in your nature.
In other words: there isn't a single flow around us, but many different currents and possibilities to follow.
Which one is best? No one is best, they are all different and offer various options in life. Understand certain paths are more "Graceful".
At times we do make hard choices to go counter to the flow of life around us.
In this, it's important to trust your inner instincts to differentiate between following your flow compared to the flows around your life. In Taoism, we teach a person how to refine the ability called the "third eye". The third eye represents the ability to sense and feel potential around you. Awareness of potentials allows a person to more clearly sort out which flows can assist your life to become more graceful and which currents sweep you away from your essence.
Choosing direction in life is more of an art than a science. When people make choosing life paths a science, they make life predictable and repeatable. Flow often means following examples of others as guides. Yet following others is disadvantageous as it promotes living the same old life, without freshness. However, society pushes people down predictable paths, as a predictable way reinforces the repeatable patterns that support society itself.
The real choice becomes: Are you making life… your own?
Many people just stay down a comfortable course to reduce conflict. If you go with the social flow, you also reduce the social conflict you will encounter. However, this often increases the inner conflict a person feels by going further away from their center. Likewise, to become your person entirely increases the chances of facing social conflict against others who want to shape your life to make their life more comfortable.
Going with the flow is a deep part of Taoism. A Taoist moves with the flow using a deep awareness of all the flows around us.
You have many choices on which flow to work with in life.
A Taoist won't hesitate to follow a graceful path even if it's harder or longer path. Our choices are those that fully expand a life, as our own story. Understand there isn't a single path that defines us perfectly, more to say, we always go with the flow that allows us to live completely.
In Zen, the twist is this: you always flow to release.
In Zen practice this means, you work with the flows which are a step under the flows around you.
Ultimately, flowing in a manner that releases all flows.
I came across this photo from Reuters news yesterday.
What comes to mind.
A Taoist doesn't take a bull by its horns,
A Taoist flows around the bull.
Such perfect imagery for Taoist practice in action.
I was also asked for an answer regarding how to finding direction within one's practices. I considered this very seriously and realized in the manner the question was presented to me, as a teacher I thought was too open ended for a response. So before answering this question, I rephrased it and asked back:
If you had to ask for an answer for anything in the world, Any one answer. I mean if you could only get a single answer back from me. What answer would you want to be given as a gift?
Here is a starter list, typical answers people spend a lifetime for. Very seriously ponder the list carefully
So many answers, 10,000 different answers all equally valid from different perspectives. Which one is it you truly seek?
The one pre-consideration given for this task is to ponder how the answer reflects the emptiness you feel inside right now. After all answers, by definition, fill in space. First, you take a second to understand why you are seeking the answer before asking for an answer.
The answer people seek is usually an answer to reflect a seemingly missing part of our inner nature.
Think about this for a moment, since this how every epic tales begin: seeking an answer for an issue to overcome. So pick the answer wisely to help frame the journey better to be more fulfilling to your inner nature.
What answer would you pick as a peach or have answered from the Muses, Norns or Soothsayer if you had a chance to journey into your heart's desire and to resolve one answer?
The truth is no answer matters unless you leap into to it and meander to where it may…
This is flow.
Without flow, you will not find any answer to live against.
A rabbit's final hop is imprinted into the snow as an owl swoops in for its next meal.
I love seeing the flow of life. Animals flow to their instincts, and humans follow their stories.
This is why most humans only see thru their stories, blinded by only major plot points rather than seeing the active flow of life always around us.
Just as you can see the flow of life left behind in the snow here, if you open your senses, pause in awareness, you can discover the full flow of life and all the curling wisps of actions and what might be and what was… at once.
I do teach this to those who want to learn about living in potential. Once you learn to see the flow of life, you realize most people only see in black & white versus the full color of living in the vibrant world around us.
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The wisdom of the woodcarver….from a mere piece of wood emerges a masterpiece…nothing added but many taken out. The essence of my own personal Tao is " i am complete, i am my tao, i am my universe. i have noting to seek outside, but i have to cultivate to the deepest part of my heart to find my own true self…so deep bigger that the the physical world. i do not wish for a third eye to see and use for the outside world for i already have two of them. But i wish for a an inner eye… Read more »
Surrender is the easiest way to achieve Tao. When the ego drops another dimension rises that offers a deeper sense of peace and connection: to die and be reborn opens the self to an expansive sense of love and unity. Our bodies house a soul or life force that remains or returns to source when we die to generate life for someone or something else. An individual is a blink in eternity and yet part of the whole process of life.
@Chris: Different people have different easiest paths. Some people need to work at release, other like yourself may surrender, others yet may dive into the process with intentions, some may simply walk away. Don't judge length of time, effort or other milestones, best nor worse. For each person, they have their path and the style of approach is likewise theirs to hold true to.
Likewise destination is very personal. Tao is neither proscribed nor fixed. Even the part where one attains the expansive sense of love and unity is a stepping stone in the path of Tao.
@Christina: Yes that is true. Many people do not question the stories they have been given as they grow up. Yet once a person does begin to examine the layers of stories in their life, it becomes clear many of the burdens of life they carry are not stories that started off as their own.
There's so much social engineering in the mass media that is fed to kids at such an early age, that a lot of time is spent trying to figure out the "I" underneath the social engineered "I".
Fantastic blog, thank you.
Isnt the flow sometimes confused by comformity, egoism? Where is hidden behind the excuse for not "doing" things? If it doesnt "feel", or it doesnt "flow" then i dont do it, i dont fight, i dont work at it? I think that following the flow can be misunderstood as avoiding conflict, and go where it flows without purpose or effort to achieve a higher purpose or doing any effort? Isnt it subject to be interpreted as a very selfish and lack of effort, lack of drive and purpose?
@Chris: Flow has many sources. Flow takes a person down many different possible options. Working with flow is an art, and many seemingly contradictions will exist because people won't work to the essence of the situation. Many times people get entangled in judgements, additional stories and drag outside flows to muddy up the deeper situation they are within. Flows layer and can work at multiple levels at once. So at times you simplify flow to work with the most pressings forces. At other times you need to ignore the major flows and work with the most subtle of flows for… Read more »
John: It is all a question of perspective. At times you look ahead to a longer term flow and you push a bit or work a bit harder in order to make it happen.
There isn't a single master flow to relax into! Our nature means we swim in out of countless currents and options of flow also.
So when having a question about which flow out of several is best: Well that means to work with your essence and learning how to relax into the flow which in your opinion is the most graceful.
Great post it really connected with me. When wrapping up my 12 years of schooling, I'm beginning to realize that I never really knew my true essence, (nor do I now know it fully but it's like it's slowing coming out of the fog) but I've been so caught in getting good grades(top of class)and have been so focused on that and what society says is good hard work that I've never really connected to my own essence(except when on hikes and in nature). While I'll still get good grades in college, I think I'll spend more time enjoying the… Read more »
Recognizing from where flow begins is an important ingredient in making directions in the flow, for instance what we eat is a choice as to volume and energy content where need controls desire. Even facial expressions carry an energy we decide to direct, as beginning with direct eye contact, we see into every direction of the flow. Looking internally we can redirect the energy back outwardly into every current of life, in every direction we can can choose to reach from. Even looking at a cloud in the sky can bring energy to flow up from being below it, from… Read more »
How do you get people to open there third eyes? I see words created as tools to use like weapons. I see this whole division between political parties being pit against one another and see it as ridiculous. They don't often realize how the elites create words to socially engineer society. The words are like a distraction to pit one group against another and not focus on the real problem.
Take Care,
@Angela: so many angles to explore it from. When trying to explain it with words, the words explode out to pages and pages of variations and nuances . But when you live the answer, the answer simply is we flow with our life… This is such a simple action and lifestyle, however, it also requires full awareness and connection to your life. I think most people don't get it, since in modern western culture most people are disconnected from their lives. Awareness has been replaced by mass media and outside influences that don't hold a person's interest. People when coming… Read more »
This fundamental tenet of Taoism can be challenging to explain and yet you've done it so easily. Thanks.:)


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Art from trash is anything but trashy: GLEAN art project finds beauty in garbage
An upcoming art exhibit is as much about making art from trash as it is about thinking about the things we throw away without a thought.
In the Portland area, that's about 1 million tons a year sent to landfills, as a visit to the Metro Transfer station on Northwest 61st Avenue can attest.
"We needed a different way to communicate the issues about waste, so we decided to use artists as ambassadors," said Amy Wilson, program manager for the GLEAN art project administered by Metro, Recology and Crackedpots. "Not only to make beautiful things from the waste but try to explain to the public that it's a less than ideal system."
This year five artists out of 80 who applied were commissioned to find objects at the dump in Northwest Portland and make art out of it.
Danielle Schlunegger-Warner, an installation artist, was one of the five chosen.
"With this project I came in thinking I'm going to be this scientist looking at waste as an archaeologist," she said.
Schlunegger-Warner says while gleaning art supplies from massive mountains of trash was a bit of a downer, she was struck by the stories behind the trash.
"I got really lost in the stories and the humanness of what I was finding in the trash," she said. "I really kind of got stuck on things like photographs and letters, and I found that there is so much humanness in trash and so much trash created by humanity."
She also discovered that even the most ordinary object -- a red brick stamped with the word "HIDDEN" -- had a story that was not hidden at all.
That one kind of blew my mind,' she said. "I thought, just as an object, it's beautiful and interesting and then it already had these layers and layers of history behind it."
The Hidden Brick company started making hand-made bricks in Vancouver, Washington in the 1830s. Many older Portland buildings were built with the bricks.
The opening reception for the GLEAN art project show will be at 6 p.m. Friday at the Bison Building, 421 N.E. 10th Ave. in Portland.
The show runs through Aug. 26.


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Auctioned on Saturday, April 13, 2013
Not Sold at a High Bid of $20,000
350 Chev V8, mild cam, automatic transmission. 10 bolt posi rear end. Camaro front end. Aluminum rad, ps/pw, A/C. Steel body, fiberglass fenders, custom interior, custom paint. New rims and tires. Runs great. Drive it anywhere.


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Name: Michael
Subject: Re: Re: Re: To Tell the Truth or Will the Real Aquinas
Please Stand Up
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
I kinda gratuitously through in that "Thomas the mystic"
based only on his statement about the Summa seeming as so much
straw. I wish I was more familiar with other biographical or
anecdotal material on him, not to mention Thomistic philosophy and
theology. We are rich in our tradition, eh Michael? And this may be
OT, also, but I hope I haven't been too hard on you, personally, in
these exchanges of electrons. I have enjoyed your postings, for the
most part, until certain of your speculations seemed very insulting
of many of us. Maybe they would not have come across that way at all
given a less sterile interactive environs, to be sure, as you have
pointed out. In fact, I'm sure of it, again based on the overall
tone and tenor of all your other posts. So, I apologize, Michael. No
harm. No foul here, either. sincerely, Vicki Lawrence
This may be OT, but seems like I remember reading something
about Aquinas later in life saying something like "I have seen or
experienced something that makes all my writings straw!" The
presumption is that this was some mystic experience or vision. We
seldom thing of "Thomas the mystic". There are other good
devotional and perhaps folklorish accounts of mystic events of
Aquinas, maybe true, maybe not true. One such account: When he was
praying before a crucifix he had some of his documents pretaining to
the Eucharist or Blessed Sacrament the corpus came down from the
crucifix and stood on the documents and said "You have written well
of My Body Thomas!" Did this happen only in the Angelic Doctor's
mind? Who knows.
If there is an active role for human reason in the finding and
application of the moral law, and there exist an inner law of
practical reason called natural law and our God's eternal law finds
its expression therein, and if we can turn to Aquinas to
differentiate between the natural and eternal law and to explore
their relationship, then 1) Do we read Thomas, the
theologian? 2) Do we read Thomas, the philosopher? 3) If we
read both, then how do we distinguish between those tasks of ours
that are philosophical and those that are theological that we might
properly apply Thomism? If we have: a) the positive
or revealed law, distinguished from b) the natural law, and,
within the economy of salvation, c) the old law and d) the
new law, then why does Veritatis Splendor, on one hand,
suggests that a) we need go to the heart of the Gospel's
moral teaching and grasp its profound and unchanging content, while,
on the other hand, it suggests that b) the natural law is
the eternal law itself, implanted in beings endowed with reason, and
inclining them towards their right action and end; it is none other
than the eternal reason of the Creator and Ruler over the universe?
To the extent Veritatis Splendor had, as one of its aims,
the undergirding of Humane Vitae, it seems worthwhile to consider,
here, what place human reason is accorded in the encyclical insofar
as, again and again, we find the place of reason relegated in the
ordinary magisterium's teachings and conservative Catholics
discussions, subordinated to authority and tradition. The
reason I bring Aquinas into the equation is to suggest that Thomas
more carefully attends to the nuances of our discussions about
"law", makes very wise distinctions between 1) law in connection
with the Holy Spirit versus 2) law in the broadest sense with
the term having a clearly analogical character. Could the
proper use of Aquinas clear this up? That is, could the use of human
reason have gained more prominence in 20th century papal encyclicals
and CDF declarations had their authors not missed the points made by
Thomas the philosopher, Thomas the theologian and even, finally,
Thomas, both mystic and lover of God and fellow man? In
essense, I suppose I am suggesting that wherever we encounter human
reason taking a real back seat in Church teachings, someone has not
listened carefully enough to the Angelic Doctor. shalom,


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Previous Issue
Next Issue
- Don't be alarmed. I am Iron Man
- -- Iron Man
Appearing in "Long Way Down Part 4: The Work"Edit
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Resilient (First appearance as Resilient)
- Iron Man (Jim Rhodes)
- Ezekiel Stane
- Mandarin
- Mauler (Brendon Doyle)
- Chemistro (Calvin Carr)
- Hammer Industries
- Detroit Steel (Doug Johnson)
- Spymaster (Sinclair Abbott) (Death)
Other Characters:
- China
- United States of America
- Washington
- Seattle
- Stark Resilient HQ
- Seattle Medical Center
- Seattle
- Hammer Industries
- Washington
Synopsis for "Long Way Down Part 4: The Work"Edit
Having struggled free of the mind control, Stane attacks the Mandarin, but, weakened from his surgery, he is quickly overpowered. Rather than kill Stane and lose his work, he puts him back under control. He sends Mauler and Chemistro off to assassinate Tony Stark.
At the Seattle Medical Facility, much press has showed up as Tony and Pepper arrive to visit Tim. Spymaster has carefully stabbed around his heart to spare him. Beth confronts Tony for not letting her do her security job properly, saying that he is in too much of a position of power to allow himself to get careless. She quits. Spymaster is waking up from surgery. He attempts to steal a revolver from one of the policemen guarding him; the rest quickly gun him down.
At Hammer Industries, Doug Johnson arrives with the sedated Sasha Hammer as his hostage, demanding the Detroit Steel armor back. Justine doesn't look ready to negotiate, but Doug states that his being a dead man gives him all the time in the world. She decides to hand over the armor, though her attitude towards her daughter's life is entirely cynical. She reveals to Sasha that she plans to simply remote detonate the armor once he is inside.
Downtown Seattle, Mauler is spying from a rooftop. Tony is in a board meeting, signing his power of the company away. The biometrics data revealing his being intoxicated while piloting Iron Man has been found. He leaves, meeting a mob of press outside. Seems he's got nothing but bad news these days. A man in the crowd pulls a gun on Tony, but Iron Man arrives, disabling him.
- No special notes.
Solicit Synopsis:
•The New Iron Man explodes into action!
• Spymaster's rampage within Stark Resilient comes to its bloody end!
- No trivia.
See AlsoEdit
Recommended ReadingEdit
- None.
Links and ReferencesEdit
- None.
|Like this? Let us know!


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If you are one of the people that backed the Grendizer Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/incubot/anime-super-robot-grendizer-usb-flash-drive-with-s] with Alen Yen and Incubot Productions, your wait is over! We have just received them and will be shipping all this week, so set up that tent by your mailbox!
Check out these custom WattStation USB drives we just made for GE!
Check out these simple USB drives we made for the luxury furniture designer Ligne Roset!


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grassroots acupuncture has found a new home in chelan, and i am excited to join my colleagues in the area and to get to know more of this wonderful community.
september/kozi special
september 10th-30th - free first visits
free for initial appointments throughout the month of september for kozi listeners
as you may be able to tell, i am just cobbling together my website, so bear with me as I get things up and running. in the meantime, feel free to get in touch if you have questions, or - if you know that you want to get started - go ahead and schedule an appointment.


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Stand alone or out door cinema's are an elegant way to add more space to your home. Often used as home offices, and sun rooms they are also perfect for home cinemas. The opportunity to soundproof; install equipment in optimum positions; and decorate without constraint is a unique one. Especially without using up valuable living space in the main home. There is also something quite special about taking a stroll to your own purpose built, fully detached, private cinema and with all the comforts and convenience of still being at home.
Outdoor Home Cinemas can be as elaborate as any dedicated home cinema, just as they can also be more casual, multi-purpose media rooms. From electronic system design and installation, to cinema seating and decor, Lairds of Troon can deliver whatever your imagination has conjured. Working with a number of leaders in manufacture, with our partners we can truly deliver a turnkey solution, from garden field to Outdoor Home Cinema.


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Decades before John determined the produce a gospel, Paul had already written about "new creation." To the Corinthians, he wrote, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 ...READ MORE +
There are some statements that seem to come to mind in certain situations; phrases that were fueled by extraordinary moments. I think of the words of Neil Armstrong as he floated ...READ MORE +
When one reads the creation account in Genesis 1, a learned reader who has been schooled in Hebrew will immediately pick up on architectural language that's being used. However, ...READ MORE +
Rather often I see an article about what Christians ought to wear to assembly on Sunday. I know many of us have diverse views on the matter. For example, someone may say, "Wear ...READ MORE +
"For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth (2 Peter 1:12).'" In the early years of ...READ MORE +
"For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33)." One of the striking contrasts between the world of the ...READ MORE +
"So the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat ...READ MORE +
In this edition of Desert Spiritual, Timothy Gunnells offers a prayer meditation of Psalm 99. He invites you to offer your own.READ MORE +


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Viewing: Love
May 18, 2017
To the Most Beautiful Woman I've Ever Seen: Love Doesn't End HereYou stood in front of me in your brown velvet tracksuit as you embraced your daughter one last time. Your eyes brimmed with glassy tears as you turned to me and said, "She almost died last year. She's still having symptoms. Keep in in your prayers, will you?" I told you we could pray right then if you'd like, but... Read more
Posted in Caregivers, Chronic illness and relationships | By Stacey Philpot
May 1, 2017
5 Signs You're Stronger Than You ThinkYou're still here. There's been ample opportunity to call it, to throw in the towel, declare it all "too much," and yet you don't. Every day your feet hit the floor, and you go at it again. Oh, I'm sure you make plenty of morbid jokes about quitting, changing your name, your job, your identity and moving to Guam, but... Read more
Posted in Chronic Life, Community | By Stacey Philpot
April 20, 2017
Embracing the Path- the Way to True FreedomShe only said 'what many are thinking' is what the enemy would have me believe, but I asked The Lord for His truth believing my friend had good intentions and did not intend to harm me. You see my husband of thirty years had recently passed away. Within weeks it was Easter Sunday. Prepare they say. Know it will be... Read more
Posted in Addiction | By Stacey Philpot
November 28, 2016
People: The Problem AND The SolutionThat's me in front, on my 3rd birthday. With me are my brothers Mike and Gary, and uncle Todd in the middle. Todd was more like a brother, as he was only a year older than Mike and spent lots of time with us. I am the lone survivor from this picture. (Cheerful post, right? Hang in there, we'll turn... Read more
Posted in Anxiety, chronic illness; support, Coping, Depression, Isolation, Love, Relationships, Self-Care | By Kande Milano
October 20, 2016
An Open Letter to the Chronically IllIt is my honor to love and serve you. While it is true I don't understand your medical condition; I can't relate to physically not being able to get out of bed each day, and I don't comprehend your insecurity of not being enough. I do want to tell you that you are valued. You are appreciated. You are enough.... Read more
Posted in chronic illness; support | By Stacey Philpot
June 13, 2016
{In Which} We All Let Go Of Meeting Others' ExpectationsAbout ten or twelve years ago I found myself haunted by a single moment, an act, a decision I'd made hanging out there on the horizon. The memory would creep up on me in the night and dance around in my mind, turning my stomach, rending my heart into pieces over and over again until they fell out my eyes... Read more
Posted in chronic illness; support | By Stacey Philpot
February 25, 2016
Can You Love Me At All?"Can you love me at all?" Marriage is hard they say. Hard, but wonderful. It takes work. It's not all it's cracked up to be. The first year is the hardest. These are all things I've heard throughout my adult life. These are statements married friends make to remind single friends marriage isn't quite what we think it is. They... Read more
Posted in Chronic illness and relationships, chronic illness; support | By Katelyn Roskamp
February 18, 2016
Can You Love Me Anyway?Can you love me anyway? (Fighting to Stay Married While Your Spouse Fights to Stay Alive) "It's okay if you don't understand if you don't get it, but can you love me anyway?" ~the spouse who is ill Marriage is hard. You knew that already, right? Actually, all of what I'm about to say is probably nothing new for... Read more
Posted in Caregivers, Chronic illness and relationships, chronic illness; support, Love, Marriage | By Stacey Philpot
January 23, 2016
We Don't Get to PickYesterday was hard. I just need to stick a stake in the cold, hard ground and mark that from the start. Not so much because of what happened, as much as how it wrecked me. From the time Avery was born, when I saw that fleshly little girl and took her in with majestic awe and wonder,... Read more
Posted in Chronic Illness and Diagnosis, Chronic illness and relationships, Grief, Love, Parenting and Chronic Illness | By Stacey Philpot
December 30, 2015
Bringing an End to Breaking the BrokenAs I survey the landscape of my life over the last ten years, I can't help but marvel. I have been the youth pastor's wife, fallen from grace, turned newly divorced single mom. I've come to your churches as that newly single woman, as the teacher who struggled to support herself, to put food on the table or buy Christmas... Read more
Posted in Love | By Stacey Philpot


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Any animal that has a chubby look is always termed as cute by animal lovers despite the potential health issues associated with such chunkiness.
Therefore, a true-blue animal lover like me has to stop halfway through my lantern shopping and marvel at this bochup feline. At first glance, it looked like a normal drain tabby so commonly found in Singapore.
It's only when i was about to walk past that i realised it had a damn humongous ass! Though i am unsure on its gender, my late grandma always told me that a fat ass is synonymous with loads of kids in the future.
No prize for guessing her recommendation of the main criteria for my future spouse.


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If you're by now weighed down with financial debt then consolidation personal loans can provided you with a essential getting rid of high rates of interest and spinning debt servicing worries. Your variety of monthly obligations will reduce in size therefore ought to your rate of interest.
InDebt consolidation personal loans actually make simpler the entire process of getting rid of the money you owe and achieving back again on very good financial foot-hold.In
When merging your credit card debt you can discuss an improved interest rate to tear down installments and accelerate the settlement time in your debt. There are many strategies for doing it, but no matter what method you employ the secret's to make certain the new personal loans give you superior terms compared to the aged and save you money in the act.
Credit cards and a few sorts of signature loans may have very high aprs and also by bringing together them into one particular cheaper pace loan it will save you literally hundreds of cash in interest payments each and every year. That certainly can make consolidating your debt eye-catching doesn't it?
There is a host of benefits you might enjoy when joining together your debt for example the subsequent:
2 .decrease expenses each month
*lower interest
1 .much easier accounting with merely one monthly payment
1 .can aid you to avoid a personal bankruptcy
3 .will assist you to pay off your debt more quickly
*will save you dollars vs . your overall loan instalments
1 .reduces the requirement of you to cope with several financial institutions
While searching for debt consolidation lending options you obviously wish to place yourself on far better financial a foot-hold than that on which you at this time remain, that is evident. According to your circumstances there are several different ways to begin bringing together your existing financial obligations, with every getting it's own positives and negatives.
My goal is to supply you with a bit more information regarding both ways for debt consolidation reduction now.
Hel-home Equity Loans
It can be these kinds of loans that contain granted consolidating debts such a undesirable brand within the last years. I do believe it really is been loaded with anything even though simply because normally those having problems with home equity loans wouldn't bring them for consolidation functions, but had taken them out to cover items like redecorating, education and learning as well as holidays.
While this worked okay provided that house values kept growing it has not exercised very well inside a decreasing house selling price natural environment. Don't low cost hel-home equity loans so that you can consolidate your credit card debt as a result of poor media they have got received not too long ago.
A home loan is actually an effective way for most people to negotiate their financial debt for several factors and some find it is the better means for anyone.
Hel-home equity loans are a sort of attached mortgage loan which utilizes the price of your money in your own home as collateral contrary to the bank loan. This means as your home benefit springs up you can easily have a more substantial mortgage loan even when you have never produced the actual obligations. This is just what bought many homeowners having difficulties.
You'll be better however since you will use the home equity loan to consolidate increased interest personal debt reducing your rate of interest along with your monthly payments.
The thing is that, for the reason that bank has a sort of security obtaining the credit they are able to offer a reduced rate and far better terminology. You've probably noticed how low home loan rates are presently and also since a home loan is a second mortgage loan on your own house you might appreciate really competing rates.
Combining By means of Residence Loan refinancing
It is yet another kind of mortgage which has got very bad push more than recent times, but is you should use really productively as a debt consolidation reduction financial loan. It truely does work similarly to the home loan, apart from having a refinance you're in fact restating the relation to its your current house loan.
Of course this means you should acknowledge the present mortgage rates too, but industry experts concur that when recent loan rates are .75% below your premiums you can benefit from mortgage refinancing your mortgage loan.
As a matter of reality, should your current home loan rate of interest is substantial you would possibly even see that your monthly payments it's still reduced right after mortgage refinancing and including far more personal debt on the financial loan as a result of the reduced rate of interest. It could possibly certainly be beneficial for you to investigate a property loan refinancing when you are searching for debt consolidation loan financial products.
Personal Loans and Personal lines of credit
A 3rd method for joining together debts are to carry an unsecured loan or personal line of credit. A personal unsecured loan is usually a single unprotected mortgage as soon as you pay it back your duty ends. A credit line in contrast is an start mortgage the location where the bank offers you a borrowing limit that you could engage without notice.
One benefit from the loan over a personal unsecured loan is always that when you be worthwhile your current debts accountability the line continues to be open up so countless uses for flash in the future when necessary for problems.
Equally signature loans and personal lines of credit could be often secured or unsecured, but it's more established to determine loans. As with any unsecured credit card mortgage the interest rates shall be above people found with home equity loans or refinancing a mortgage, but they also also are under the charges on plastic cards.
If your existing debts are largely bank card associated you can save some cash with these types of debt consolidation reduction loans.
Regardless of what your credit history standing is that gardeners can be eligible for a consolidating debts loans. The interest rate costs, words and repayment schedules you obtain will be affected by your credit score so it's always best to test bringing together the debt before rather than after you continue to encounter problems.
It is rarely best if you get up to now behind that you simply miss out on installments and debt consolidation reduction loans can make certain that you can to go on repairing your credit card debt which enable it to cost you on sound economic surface…


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Core Health & Fitness partners with Innovex in Benelux and adds StairMaster, Nautilus and Schwinn to their Product Portfolio
Legendary Fitness' Brands United Under One Roof for Benelux
Core Health & Fitness, a worldwide leader in design, manufacturer and sales of commercial fitness products, announced today that long term partner and distributor of Star Trac products, Innovex Fitness will now be marketing and selling all Core Health & Fitness brands including StairMaster®, Nautilus® and Schwinn® commercial fitness in Benelux.
Innovex Fitness is the supplier of fitness equipment in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Having previously distributed Star Trac for the past 15 years, Innovex Fitness will now be promoting all brands.
The consolidation in Benelux mirrors actions taken by the Company in the US and UK in 2015.
"Moving all our brands and products under a single selling organization has improved the customer experience", said Dustin Grosz, President of Core Health & Fitness. "With this structure, we can provide a customized, 100% solution –cardio, strength, high intensity training, group cycle – to meet the needs of every corner of a club."
Cees van Toor, Owner of Innovex Fitness added 'We have been distributing Star Trac products for over 15 years and we are really pleased that we can strengthen our portfolio with 3 other equally strong brands such as StairMaster, Nautilus and Schwinn. With the collaberation of the sales, marketing and service department at Core Health & Fitness we can better serve our customers with best in class fitness equipment'.
Cees also added 'We see that functional fitness is a growing market. The StairMaster products are perfect for this market. Our SHIIT (Stairmaster High Intensity Interval Training) concept is really popular and we have already seen a lift in our sales of last month. Schwinn is a top brand in indoorcycling and is partnered with high quality education programme. And Nautilus is known as a top brand in strength because of its build and biomechanics. We are really excited that we can offer all these top brands to our costumers and together with the Star Trac cardio we believe we have got a complete range of top products'.
About Core Health & Fitness
Core Health & Fitness is the world's fifth largest marketer and distributor of commercial fitness products to health clubs, community recreational centers, hotels, government, educational facilities and more.
Core markets its products under the Star Trac, StairMaster®, Schwinn® and Nautilus® brands. Headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, we employ over 400 people worldwide and serve a global customer base. Core maintains sales, engineering service offices throughout the United States (Vancouver, WA; Irvine, CA; Independence, VA as well as in the United Kingdom (High Wycombe); Germany (Munich); Spain (Barcelona) and Brazil (Sao Paulo). We operate our primary warehouse locations in the United States, the Netherlands and China.
Op de foto vlnr: Dustin Grosz (President & COO), Cees van Toor (eigenaar Innovex Fitness) en John Gamble (Managing Director of Europe, Middle East & Africa).


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Modern comfort in every room/suite, subtly combined with authentic building materials. Excellent facilities in a rural setting. As is typical of old buildings, the rooms are warm and snug in the winter, and cool in the summer. Each retreat has its own front door. In the summer, soak up the sun from your own private terrace. The spacious - and heated - swimming pool is within easy reach. Nature lovers can enjoy the natural splendours from one of the many outdoor terraces along the Molenkreek millpond.
The breakfast room, which doubles as a conference room, has a fascinating history. It is a former cowshed, lovingly renovated and extended with respect for authenticity. During the renovation of 2008, Tine and Robert decided to save a nearby ash tree, dating from 1920. To preserve the tree, the shed was built around it: this explains why a huge tree can be seen protruding from the roof. The room is fitted with an open fireplace and a jukebox dating from 1947. Outside is a wood-burning fireplace with a cosy outdoor terrace. Throw an extra log on the fire and enjoy a glass of wine with your friends or colleagues.
The winebar along the millpond, with its intimate terrace and atmospheric lighting, is a paradise for romantic souls. Enjoy the sunset together, listen to the sounds of Mother Nature while enjoying a glass of wine, what more could you desire....Of course, it is also possible to hold a small party with your friends or colleagues along the water's edge. In Tine's Winebar, you have a selection of our finest wines and beers. You can serve yourself with whatever suits you best...then, add a bit of music and your evening is complete.
The swimming pool lies at the heart of this rural retreat. In 2002, a heated swimming pool measuring 9 x 5 meters was constructed on the site of an old slurry pit. From the water, you can enjoy breathtaking views of the Molenkreek millpond and the estate.
The Molenkreek is a delight for nature enthusiasts. It is surrounded by many outdoor terraces and places to fish or to find inspiration for your next painting. Enjoy nature at its most beautiful and take time to restore a sense of calm; watch the ducklings swim, the geese land on the water, herons fishing. Or simply relax and listen to birdsong...This is the perfect place to unwind.
Find out more about our suites and rooms and book online.
Are you looking for an original gift?
Photographs of the accommodation and package.


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'educare' is the Training and Development Academy started in the year 1995. So far we have trained more than 2 lacs students of various streams and more than 15000 corporate employees. Today 'educare' is the center for excellence in Training, where ideas are exchanged, curiosity is kindled, and minds are moulded for excellence. 'educare' is an abode of new thoughts and Innovative training methods are our key to success.
About us
'educare' conducts client centered, result oriented and Quantitative In-House and Out-Bound training programs for:
- Corporates
- Colleges
- Schools and
- Other sectors
Our photo gallery, Videos and Client list will show the numerous training programs which have been successfully conducted by us. Whoever comes across `educare' is deeply and continuously CARED.


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Food stamps are a government benefit provided to the people of Iowa that have low income or are disabled. We don't want anybody to go hungry or starve in Iowa, and the food stamp program was designed to prevent this.
If you think you qualify for food stamps in Iowa, know that you must be disabled or have a low income. Then you must begin the Iowa food stamp application process.
1. The Iowa food stamp application process begins with the individual applying for food stamps. You will need a food stamp application to fill out. You can get an Iowa food stamp application by visiting a food stamp office, or printing one from the following web site.
2. Bring the fully completed and 100% accurately filled out food stamp application in at your local Iowa food stamp office. It will be looked over quickly to see if you qualify for emergency food stamps. You will either be given an interview immediately, or you will have to schedule an interview for a future date. If you would like to find out the location for an Iowa food stamp office, you can do so at the following site.
3. After the interview is done and you are approved for food stamps, you will either get paper food coupons in the mail, or be given a food stamp card. Be sure that you use your food stamps quickly so that you will be sure that they are properly working. If you happen to encounter any problems when using your Iowa food stamps, be sure to contact your Iowa food stamp office.
© Copyright Livingpress.com Wednesday, March 15, 2017 - Save money today!


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Wild Hearts Youth Co. plans new intensive
Wild Hearts Youth Company in Sydney will soon hold a two-day Contemporary Dance Intensive. On April 26 and 27 at Creative Dance Co. in Hurlstone Park, students can come and learn from the best.
The intensive will provide top quality training in all facets of contemporary dance, including creative movement and play, dance theatre, improvisation, creative skills, choreography, floor work, body conditioning and exposure to different contemporary dance techniques.
Meant for dancers aged 9-12 (juniors) and 13-18 (seniors), the intensive will be led by Wild Hearts and Twisted Element Artistic Director Angela Hamilton and Twisted Element company artists Naomi Hibberd, Charlotte Twitchell and Georgette Sofatzis.
To reserve your spot, head to www.eventbrite.com.au.
This intensive follows a very successful audition for Wild Hearts that resulted in a full company of promising young dancers.


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Universal Nutrition's Real Gains - Product Review
Universal Nutrition's Real Gains is a powerful weight gain support formula loaded with calories, protein and complex carbs. It contains Real Gains Protein Complex, maltodextrin, flaxseed oil, MCTs (medium chain triglycerides) and inulin. Real Gains is specially created for strength athletes
to maximize lean muscle mass while minimizing fat gain.
Real Gains Protein Complex contains ultra filtrated whey concentrate, micellar casein and whey protein isolate. It has a top notch amino acid profile that promotes maximum nitrogen retention (stored muscle protein) while minimizing stomach upset and digestive disturbances. The addition of inulin, a special dietary fiber, helps with protein, carbs and fat digestion and keeps the intestinal tract functioning at peak efficiency.
Maltodextrin complex carbs help sustain muscle glycogen (stored energy) levels and fuel muscle expansion. Flaxseed oil contains beneficial essential fatty acids that promote fat metabolism and leanness. MCT oils promote leanness while retaining muscle energy. MCTs are more easily digested than larger fat molecules, allowing for a slow and steady release of energy
People who are allergic to dairy products should avoid whey protein.
Some people may experience flatulence or diarrhea with inulin use.
Pregnant or lactating women and people with pre-existing medical conditions or taking medication should not supplement with Real Gains without consulting a physician.
There are no known drug interactions at this time.
Is It For You?
If you want a weight gain support formula loaded with calories, protein and carbs, Real Gains may be for you.
However, pregnant or lactating women and people with pre-existing medical conditions or taking medication should not supplement with Real Gains without consulting a physician.
Dosage And Directions
Mix 3.5 scoops with 12 ounces of cold water.
Use one serving of Real Gains in between meals and at bedtime.
Due to its highly concentrated formula, you may want to consider using 1/2 serving of Real Gains 2 or 3 times per day.
For best results, combine with resistance exercise or weight training to promote lean anabolic weight gain.
Store tightly closed in a cool, dry place away from direct heat, moisture and sunlight.
User reviews
Written by laura mangan | View all my reviews
Top 50 Reviewer
Sunday, 09 May 2010
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
I'm a boxer and when I got to Championships i had to gain 15 pounds to fight.
I hate binge eating and thats usually what i have to do to gain the extra weight or buff up.
If i gain too much muscle though i look like a man, so this is great.


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Product Description
Caramel Craze Premium e-Liquid is like fresh brewed roast with sweet caramel cream, drizzled in caramel syrup. Liquid Kandy Premium E-Liquid in 30 ml glass bottle.
Available in High VG (70VG/30PG) or Standard (50VG/50PG) blend and 0, 3, 6 and 12 Nicotine – Every recommended blend for sub tanks and dripping.


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