7 Tips To Harness The Power Of The Full "Blue Moon" In Aquarius

http://tiny.cc/AstroTwins

You say you want a revolution? Here comes the Aquarius full moon to stir up your righteous urge for social justice — or the impulse to fight for what’s fair. Aquarius is the sign of groups, teams and humanity. It’s all about the love of our brothers and sisters (cue the Hair soundtrack), but gets squirmy under the heat of too much passion, emotion and one-on-one connection.

This is friendly, convivial energy at its best — platonic, playful and decidedly NOT romantic. But who cares? Aquarius is irresistibly fun, likeable, and adorably goofy — a good time to be shared by all.

This year's Aquarius full moon is major because it's the culmination of 2015's TWO Aquarius new moons. The first was a January 20 supermoon and the second one kicked off the Chinese Year of the Sheep. This one is also a true, once in a "Blue Moon," because it's the second full moon in a month's time (the first was a Capricorn full moon on July 1). What a powerful way to close out July!

So step out and enjoy the view — and make some wishes or intentions when you do.

Here are seven ways to put these tips into practice:

1. Embrace your weirdness.

So you secretly believe that aliens already inhabit the earth and live amongst us (come to think of it, that neighbor of yours ... ). You put hot sauce on your Lucky Charms. You don’t believe in monogamy and your power animal is a unicorn. Whatevs. The Aquarius full moon urges you to stop hiding the parts of yourself that might be quirky, eccentric or just not in perfect harmony with the people around you.

Because Aquarian energy is all about “live and let live,” this weekend is great for authentic sharing — without forcing your ideas on anyone else. As Popeye said, “I am who I am.” So gulp that spinach straight from the can.

2. Take a big step back.

Uber-rational Aquarius rocks when it comes to emotional objectivity. Where do you have your teeth and claws sunk in so deeply that you can’t see the forest for the trees? The Aquarius full moon is a great day to practice the Buddhist principle of non-attachment.

Yes, you may WANT something with every fiber of your being. But do you also understand that if it doesn’t happen, you’ll still be OK? If you think you’ll simply DIE without a person, an outcome, or whatever you’re hooked into, chill on the Scarlett O’Hara histrionics. Let go, and the Aquarius full moon will bring a better long-term resolution to your issues.

3. Envision utopia.

Got a radical idea? Aquarius is the sign of the future, and even rules sci-fi. It’s the forward-focused mad scientist who envisions a quirky, idealized world — or perhaps one populated by aliens, cyborgs, and a code of radical individualism.

Author Ayn Rand was an Aquarius, and her philosophy of objectivism was all about reason, fighting for liberation, and minimal government meddling (no sloppy sentiment in there). Of course, that can edge into uncomfortable territory, like militia activity and radical anti-government pods … but that’s why philosophies are often more interesting on paper than in practice.

While your beliefs may not be quite so stark and stripped of emotion, consider what the perfect world would be like if you could create it. What does it look like — and how can you bring a healthy drop of that to your daily life? Maybe it’s to the tune of Burning Man, where every day is a costume party and people share their talents, goods and services without exchanging money. You might want to read up on some New Age and shamanic ideas (like the Hopi Prophecies) or even astrology — all Aquarian themes.

Browse for books or sites about reforming society — notions like a “gift economy” (check out Lewis Hyde’s The Gift) or author/blogger Seth Godin’s  Linchpin: Are You Indispensible?, which takes a stand for art over cold industrialism. Or, head to the otherworldly zone that Aquarius loves and read theories on aliens (no judgment here under this broad-minded moon!), likeBringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians. All you need is a curious, open mind.

4. Light your Olympic torch.

Aquarius is the zodiac’s team player, encouraging you to show pride for a group you belong to. Whether the activity you’re involved in is sporty or stationary, wave the symbolic flag and wear the uniform. But don’t get all sedentary on us, people. The gold medal goes to those who move their bodies.

Aquarius is all about kinetic energy and this full moon is the perfect time to commit to a sports league (indoor soccer anyone?), train for a 5K with a team, or attend a group fitness class on a regular basis. The next two weeks are an especially rich time for jumping in with both feet. Summon your social network! Getting your friends into the fitness groove with you earns you 1,000 extra moonbeams.

5. Host a salon.

Idealistic, intellectual Aquarius revels in the realm of cutting edge ideas. This full moon creates the perfect space for a salon. Gather your brain trust for a topic-centered discussion, potluck style if you can, since group-centric Aquarius parties are even better when everyone contributes.

You might even play a film like No Impact Man or watch a TED talk to spark the conversation. Who knows? With this full moon ruling the skies, you might end the night with a plan for the New World Order.

6. Geek out.

Got an online endeavor to launch? Aquarius rules the Internet so circle Wednesday as an important date for getting the word out of your technical offerings. Need to create more abundance in your universe? This full moon prompts you to up your technical know how. Geek is chic, so what software stylistics do you need to rock out?

Check out sites like lynda.com that offer tutorials or sign up for a class if you prefer in-person instruction. This full moon is a great time to launch an online marketing, crowdfunding or social networking campaign too. Ready, set, go viral!

7. Freshen the air.

Of the four elements, air is Aquarius’ domain. As any yogi will attest, there’s nothing more centering than a deep inhalation of oxygen. Many of us won’t take a sip of water that isn’t filtered or bottled so how about giving our air the same attention near this full moon? Plug in the air purifier, dehumidifier or vaporizer.

Try an essential oil mister for a fragrant and soothing blast. Just go easy on the patchouli — a fan favorite of this bohemian Aquarius moon, but a strong whiff to catch for the average citizen. Grapefruit, lemon, tangerine and other citrus oils are uplifting and energizing. Perfect for the Aquarius “mad scientist” moments that could keep you up working on your master plan till the wee hours of the morn. 

Become Your Own Astrologer: Learn to Read Astrology Charts with the AstroTwins 

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by The AstroTwins

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-20988/7-tips-to-harness-the-power-of-the-full-blue-moon-in-aquarius.html

6 Signs You’re Experiencing Spiritual Maturity

In our society we have a very two dimensional understanding of maturity. Most people define it as an accumulation of experiences that come through the process of aging. But this isn't really true.

The truth is that maturity has very little to do with our external experiences, and everything to do with our inner processing of the world. Yes, you might have experienced a lot of challenges and hardships in life, but if you weren't present and aware of what was happening and the way in which it could help you to learn and grow, all of your experiences simply turned into moments where you unconsciously and emotionally reacted, not maturing at all.

While we have no control over aging, we do play a part in our ability to mature. Maturity is something that comes with conscious intent; something that evolves as we become more aware. It isn't how "knowledgeable" or "smart" we are either, as knowledge is a product of past fears, mental patterns, memories, reactions and illusory concepts of the self.

Instead, true maturity is the state of being internally free enough to respond consciously, to be responsible enough to see the end result our thoughts, feelings and actions and how they will affect ourselves, others and the world at large.

Developing true maturity impacts so many different areas of our lives. Below I elaborate:

1. Maturity is Courageous

Maturity involves inner freedom and freedom is the result of having courage – the courage to think differently and behave differently.

In a society that considers "maturity" as the pursuit of careers, spouses, mortgages, children and materialism, it takes immense courage to truly be mature and to pursue a path with heart, reconnecting with our authentic selves.

2. Maturity is Honest

Many people avoid the truth of who they really are by piling on beliefs, labels and roles in their lives and clinging to them. However, the mature person, in their lifelong pursuit of self-discovery comes to see all the ways in which they deceive themselves into a false sense of being.

Common examples of spiritual immaturity involve avoiding the shadow elements of human nature, believing that we have transcended our "lower selves" and are in touch with our "higher selves" (as if our "lower selves" aren't as equally part of our wholeness), and confusing the fearful voices of our core wounds with our intuition.

3. Maturity is Loving

Most people's idea of love is to love only to receive love. "I need you to love me so I can love you back" is not a very mature way of loving. To be mature means that you can love someone unconditionally, even if they don't love you back because your own self-love is more than enough.

The spiritually mature person loves because the state of love expands their limited sense of self and reconnects them with the divine. They don't just love to be reassured that they are lovable by another.

And if the other person is mature enough to love back the same way, the love becomes even more powerful.

You'll often come across people that hold love as the highest possible spiritual form, which it is. But to experience that love you must first have attained the personal freedom and responsibility that is necessary to unconditionally love.

4. Maturity is Compassionate

Many religions will teach you to do "good" out of duty through pity and sympathy (both include feeling sorry for another because they are in a position inferiority to you), as opposed to empathy when you can feel and understand their pain asequals. Many are compassionate also out of the underlying stimulus and promise of "rewards" in the afterlife. However, this is completely destructive and a perfect example of immaturity.

The spiritually mature person doesn't act from a place of dutifully needing "to do good" which is tainted with all kinds of unconscious desires such as self-gratification, power, prestige and control. To do any mature charitable act, our motivation must come from a place of inner peace and freedom.

5. Maturity is Forgiving

Resenting other people is addictive. It gives us a false sense of power by believing that we are protecting ourselves from getting hurt again, and we are on the "moral high ground." It tricks us into a unhealthy sense of self-importance; "I'll never forgive you. What you did to ME was UNFORGIVABLE." It is yet another way in which our misery and self-pity makes us happy.

True forgiveness, on the other hand, involves taking responsibility for ourselves and making the decision to no longer attempt to justify or attach ourselves to feelings of hatred and anger. We are aware enough to know how damaging such heavy feelings are to us and the quality of our lives.

6. Maturity is Accepting

Maturity involves knowing what you can change and accepting that which you can't. A person who lives in a constant state of conflict with the world is one who is enslaved to their own internal reactions. They are not free to respond.

I am often confronted by people who ask me how I can be so at peace with the state of affairs in the world; the injustice, the chaos, the inequality that saddens them to the point of depression or feeling like their sensitive natures don't belong to this world.

This is closely tied with the forgiveness I mentioned above. I'm not OK with the injustice of the world, but I don't resist it either. I'm aware enough to realize that change can never, and has never, come from an external system, but from an individual internal decision. To be able to help the collective maturity evolve I must first be able to accept and acknowledge the mess that we are in without resisting it and running away into my self-righteous ideals, without judging it and condemning others so as to make them defensive and lose receptivity to my message.

You can't cure the turmoil of the world when you're acting from a place of inner turmoil. The acceptance of yourself and acceptance of others is like learning how to flow in a stream without ending up like another solid pebble at the bottom of the river.

***

The awakening of maturity is the beginning of the process of inner blossoming; it is the beginning of the journey toward the fulfillment of your own potential. Coming to truly know that potential means knowing that you require equal part sun as you do soil in order to be grounded, but to dance in the wind as well.

Photo by: Eddie Van W

By Mateo Sol

http://lonerwolf.com/6-signs-of-spiritual-maturity/

The Way You Sleep With Your Partner Reveals Secrets About Your Relationship

It may seem innocuous, but the way we sleep with our partner each night reveals a lot about our relationship as a whole. It’s pretty interesting. While sleeping, our subconscious takes over. As a result, we unintentionally take on body language that can speak volumes about how we feel. For example:

The Spoon

According to one study, about 18% of couples sleep in this position. It’s a vulnerable position, one that’s moderately sexual, and one that says “I trust you completely.” Couples end up this way often earlier in relationships.

There’s also a Looser Spoon

The looser spoon tends to happen when a relationship has matured and it no longer feels novel. It indicates greater independence in a relationship, but is still a strong sign of trust. It’s kind of like you’re saying “I have your back,” but it’s not as inherently sexual.

The Chase

The chase is a sleeping position that has a couple different meanings. The first is that the one being chased is distant or playing hard to get. They may want to be pursued. It could also be that one person wants more space while the other wants to grow closer.

The Tangle

This is among the more intimate of all the positions. It’s likely that there are intense romantic emotions at play. It could also mean that the couple is too dependent on one another.

The Unraveled Knot

This position begins in the tangled pose but unravels after a few minutes. This is actually a good sign! It indicates you have a stronger relationship. It represents a compromise between the desire for independence and the desire for intimacy. It’s really the best of both worlds.

The Independent Lovers

If you and your partner often sleep facing opposing directions, it doesn’t mean there’s distance necessarily. It likely means there is a close enough connection that both are comfortable with being a bit separated.

What do you think? Is this accurate? Let us know in the comments below!

http://higherperspectives.com/sleep-positions/

12 Health Lessons We Can Learn From Australians

I owe a lot to the great country of Australia. Full disclosure: I'm a little biased, as my amazing husband is an Aussie.

We moved from New York City to Sydney, where we were lucky enough to live and work for almost 4 years. While the culture shock wasn't immediate, I've noticed a lot of big differences over the past few years — especially upon returning to the U.S.

Australians are friendly, outgoing and vibrant people. By example, they taught me a lot about health and living well, and becoming a local was a major catalyst for my own wellness journey.

Here's what I learned about living a healthier life from Australians.

1. They value their vacation time.

One of the biggest differences I noticed, is not only the amount of paid vacation given (about 4 to 6 weeks a year), but how much employees are encouraged to actually take that time — and do.

Most of my co-workers in Australia would take off more than a week at a time and take multiple breaks throughout the year. Everyone came back feelingrefreshed and restored, making them able to maintain a strong work ethic.

Students often take a gap year in between high school and university to travel and get a break from academia.

2. They start their days early.

A lot of Australians I know wake up with the sun, often exercising in the early morning and getting into the office before 8:30. I ended up loving this lifestyle and embraced my inner morning person.

There's nothing better than starting the day with something that makes you feel great.

3. Exercise is a priority.

Living at Bondi Beach was eye-opening in the fact that so many locals were incredibly fit and active. 6a.m. on the beach in Sydney is a high traffic time for runners, walkers, swimmers, surfers and boot campers. 

4. They get outside regularly.

The weather in Australia is wonderful. The lack of harsh winters (in comparison to the North Eastern U.S.) make it possible to enjoy the outdoors all year long and get some much-needed vitamin D.

Beautiful beaches, rainforests and bushland encourage people to get outside and soak up the natural beauty.

5. They're sun smart.

While Australian's love a beach holiday and the outdoors (see above), they also face some seriously dangerous UV rays.

As a result, there are widespread campaigns encouraging people to protect themselves from the sun and get regular skin checks. They've also banned tanning salons and all SPFs are 30 and above.

6. Breakfast is a regular habit.

Australians were perfecting the avocado toast before it was cool.

One of the things I miss most about Sydney is the breakfast culture. Cafes and bakeries open early and weekend breakfast outings are a regular event.

We New Yorkers may know how to brunch (complete with bottomless booze), but Australians know how to breakfast the healthy way with lots of fresh fruit, eggs, pumpkin and avocados. They make a mean cappuccino too.

7. They have great produce that's widely available.

You haven't lived until you've had a mango from Queensland.

The climate lends itself to growing great (and tropical) produce all year long. They have seasons for sure, but the in-season fruit and veg is abundant and beautiful.

8. They're better drinkers.

In Australia, standard-sized pours are mandatory in bars and pubs and alcohol content is clearly labeled on all drinks. This way, people know exactly how much they're consuming and not just guessing.

It's also pretty common to take a month off drinking for organized charity events like "Dry July" and "OctSober". Taking this time to detox and examine your habits is beneficial for your body and mind.

9. They have publicly funded universal healthcare.

Australia's had universal healthcare since the 80's. It works and people get the proper care they need. They even have a smartphone app to make your claims as easy as possible.

10. They care about mental health.

They take psychological treatment seriously and encourage people to use government-funded services to get help for depression, anxiety and substance abuse issues.

Campaigns like Beyond Blue make it easy to access information about mental health conditions and treatment.

11. The minimum wage is way higher.

Currently, the national minimum wage in Australia is $17.29. (That's in Australian dollars, and it's still about double what minimum wage workers earn in the US.) The idea of everyone getting "a fair go" makes it possible for most people to make a decent living — even when working for minimum wage.

While not directly related to health, it's an important aspect of a high quality of life. 

12. They're happier.

Statistically, Australians are happier than Americans. Practically, there's a lot to be said about their notoriously laid-back, "no worries" attitude.

Australians take most things in their stride and are able to laugh at themselves, which is a wonderfully healthy quality.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

by Leah Vanderveldt

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-20882/12-health-lessons-we-can-learn-from-australians.html

Anarchy To Ecstasy: What Is True Freedom?

The secret of happiness is freedom.  The secret of freedom is courage. ~ Thucydides

As humans we find ourselves in a difficult position.  The moment we become even remotely aware of our enslaved state in this world we long for liberation and freedom.

For many of us who truly realize our state of servitude we crave deep down to be free from resentfulness, grudges, traumas, mistrust, entitlement complexes, reactiveness, depression, expectations, desires, ideals, standards, self-judgement, and most importantly free from fear.

Our souls secretly feel ashamed: we want to have wings and we want to fly - but we realize how grounded and imperfect we are, yet we still intuitively know that we can be free.

The reality is that this problem has perpetuated itself throughout history, and since the dawn of time.  Every man and every woman in every culture has searched for freedom.  But freedom from what?  And freedom towards what?  And most of all: what really is true freedom?

What Is Freedom?

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. ~ Søren Kierkegaard

When you ask most people what they would define as freedom they will most likely answer something along the lines of:  "Freedom is to be able to do whatever you want."

Have you ever stopped to think about this interpretation of freedom?  If everyone really did whatever they wanted this would not truly be freedom - this would be chaos and anarchy.  Why?  Because everyone has a different idea of what they want in life, and while one thing might benefit another person, it might impair or completely destroy the life of another.

Deep down we know that freedom has to do with what is 'right', or in other words, what benefits everyone, whether the individual or the collective.

But how can we know what is 'right'?  Religions have tried to use morality systemsas life guidelines but as we have seen, this hasn't been very effective.  To be free to do 'what is right' we have to first be able to cultivate the maturity and wisdom to be aware of the consequences of our actions.  To be free we must become responsible human beings - but yet most of us just want irresponsibility.

People continue to talk about freedom, but we don't want freedom, what we want is to be licentious.  Unless your freedom can help you go higher than you were before - to grow in spirit, compassion, gratitude, unity and forgiveness - then your freedom is most likely another form of enslavement to your stimulation and pleasure seeking, fear driven, emotionally reactive, lower self.

Some people think of freedom solely as a liberation from external forces like political systems.  But this is only one kind of enslavement!  In reality, there arethree types of freedom: physical freedom, psychological freedom and spiritual freedom.

On one hand, our physical enslavement is that which relates to our external bodies. We might be in chains or behind bars, we might be held captive and tortured as prisoners of war.  We might be in a country that holds our race or gender as inferior like ancient China where women were seen as property and you had all the legal right to kill them if you wanted.

Our psychological enslavement, on the other hand, is something we are often not even aware of.  At a young age, for instance, we were taught cultural ideologies of a political, social and religious nature, and throughout our lives we adopted them as the "absolute truths" in our versions of reality.  We also developed beliefs about ourselves, sometimes delusionally grand, and other times grossly warped such as the convictions that we are lazy, ugly, unintelligent or unworthy.  In doing so we lost our Self-Love and our authenticity.

Our countries will tell us that we are free, but most of the time they are only referring to physical freedom or psychological freedom in the form of freedom of speech and thought.  But true freedom, spiritual freedom, is to be free in thought and free in soul.  Only then can we be authentically true to ourselves.  We like to blame our governments, our religions, our parents, our teachers and our societies, but the truth is that we limit our own freedom by not being aware and responsible for our thoughts, feelings, decisions and behaviors.

Freedom + Awareness

We seek retreats for ourselves, houses in the country, seashores, mountains.  But ... we have in our power to retire into ourselves.  For there is no retreat that is quieter and freer from trouble than our soul ... perfect tranquility, the right ordering of mind. ~Marcus Aurelius

We need to be aware that we aren't, in fact, free, before we can pursue freedom.  The first and last step towards personal freedom is complete awareness.

When Friedrich Nietzsche said: "God is dead and man is free" he was attempting to liberate himself from the enslavement to his beliefs.  He was stating that, while there was a God that lived, man could never be free, as that would merely turn us into puppets.  Where we ever asked to be created, and do we ever have a say in our destruction?  How can we possibly be free if we are both victims of our births and our deaths?

But Nietzsche's words were misinterpret by many (as is usually the case), and in doing so, those that rebelled against 'God' enslaved themselves even more, becoming reactionary.  Just like every other 'revolutionary' who is against something, they are never really free.  How can an atheist or an anarchist ever be free when they are constantly opposed to something?  When they are constantly fighting?  These people are enslaved to their own thoughts about what they are fighting for or against and their own emotional reactions to it.  Only through awareness can we be totally free, and only though awareness can we choose to remove ourselves from the games of duality, finding our innate wholeness.

Freedom can only come through a deep understanding and a deep awareness of life.  If your government is sick with ideologies and out of frustration you choose to react, rebel and become ideologically sick also, this only leads to chaos.

Now, we'll change course for a bit.

When we use the word 'paradise' we associate it with outer beauty and also freedom.  Interestingly the origin of the word: "Pairidaeza", which is Persian for 'a walled, enclosed, garden' reveals the true nature of the idea of paradise: no matter how beautiful, the garden is still enclosed, you are still a prisoner.  The same is true of the story of Adam and Eve, who, once eating from the Tree of Knowledge, became free from the confines of 'Paradise', with God releasing them and their potential.  However, without developing our awareness, we've again created our prisons in the form of national borders, religious beliefs and egocentric ideologies.

Our perception of freedom is always external: the Garden of Eden, protective government laws and financial wealth.  We ask God to help us because we don't want to take responsibility for our own lives and we don't have the courage to experience our own divinity.  And when God doesn't help us, when the world doesn't turn out the way we want, we blame others.

A simple example of this is our typical love affair.  Throughout our lives, many of us fail to grow to love ourselves, and when we do find someone else who loves us, we become overwhelmed with happiness.  Very quickly we throw our happiness into the other person's hands thinking they'll fulfill everything we desire out of life - but in doing so we have enslaved ourselves to them.  How?  For example, when they connect with someone else we feel jealous.  When they don't behave the way we expect them to, we become angry.  We lack so much awareness of ourselves that we blame them constantly, and in doing so we imprison them in our own cells of expectations.

This is the nature of every encounter with other people.  Someone cuts us off on the road, we blame them as 'idiots' and become angry instead of taking responsibility for our patience, tolerance and expectations of others.  The truth is that we never made a deal with them that they shouldn't behave the way they do - we only project our ideals of responsibility onto them so they don't make our lives more difficult.  We never stop to think that the key to freedom is changing somethinginside of us, rather than something on the outside.

To be free from all that binds you, from all that is false, from all that is ephemeral, to rid yourself of all that is a imaginary and mortal is to experience the truth and the immortal within you.  This is what the Hindu's call "Moksha" ('emancipation', 'liberation' or 'release') and what Mahavira spoke as "Kaivalya" ('solitude', 'detachment' or 'isolation').  Freedom from past thoughts and future expectations is true freedom.  Free to be, to exist, to experience joy, God, innocence, consciousness, is true freedom and is entirely, internally of the present moment.

Freedom comes from being aware of what truly makes you happy and taking responsibility for this.  You cannot change the world as even attempting to do this creates expectations that will imprison you once more.  You can only changeyourself and embody the message you wish to share.

Freedom To Respond

In spite of all similarities, every living situation has, like a newborn child, a new face, that has never been before and will never come again.  It demands of you a reaction that cannot be prepared beforehand.  It demands nothing of what is past. It demands presence, responsibility; it demands you." ~ Martin Buber

To be aware is to be responsible and to be responsible is having the freedom to respond.  Response is not emotional reaction, response is a calm action that is performed while fully present and centered in your being.  A response can only be born out of a mature soulful energy - an immature and lazy person is incapable of action and is consequently irresponsible.

Responding is not controlling, as controlling is only another form of enslavement of repression.  For example, we try to ignore or destroy parts of our inner being, of ourshadow selves, so that we can pretend to be calm and collected.  A priest must control his sexual desires so that he can continue to be inauthentic and appear celibate or saintly even though his thoughts are 'perverse' to his standards.  However, in the end this only creates neuroticism, self-denial and self-hate - something the desire to control and repress causes in everyone.

To be free takes courage, to be able to respond in an authentic way takes courage.  We are so habituated to avoiding taking risks because of our fear of the uncertain and unknown.  It is only through self-love, of feeling comfortable in ourselves, that we can resist depending on external excuses to be more responsible.

It is through responsibility that we can become aware of our authenticity and the infinite potential within us, of the joy and freedom inherent in life itself.  And it is only once we taste this freedom, this joy, that we become aware of our capacity for passion, our highest reason for being, our calling in life.

We can never truly be free externally; we are an interdependent ecosystem of animals, plants, trees and people that all rely on each other to exist.  Our individual ideas of 'freedom' can become other people's binding problems.  We can only choose to be aware of our authenticity, reflecting and responding to it in ways that will not interfere with other people's authenticity.  If you are truly responding authentically, you realize that to respect anothers freedom is to respect your own.

I never asked to be alive, yet I am.
As a being who is alive, I am experiencing.
The nature of experiencing, is to respond.
Each response will change what I experience next.

Photo by: Kristof Magyar

http://lonerwolf.com/true-freedom/

7 Tips For Healthy Holiday Travel

After a five week world tour launching my new film Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead 2 across six countries in fifteen cities, it's good to be standing still in one place. My family and friends would agree that Travel is my middle name. I am constantly on the move. I frequently live in hotel rooms. I gave up my apartment in Sydney four years ago and my furniture is still in storage.

The biggest challenge I have in all this travel is not the long lines at airports or the inevitable delays. It's not being away from family and friends, and it's not jet lag. It's staying healthy and staying motivated to stay healthy. Given that we are in the middle of the "silly season," as we call the holiday season down here in Australia, I thought you may be interested to know some of my tips for how I do my best to maintain my sanity and health all at the same time while smiling at TSA agents! Here are my Seven Tips to Survive Holiday Travel:

1. Prepare and organize.

Traveling comes with predictable challenges, mostly from being out of your own controllable environment. One of those is the challenge of finding fresh, wholesome plant-based food, either in an airline terminal, onboard a commercial flight or while driving down a highway. You can beat the system with a little advance nutritional planning. My favorite is to prepare a super healthy and delicious trail mix of goji berries, coconut and almonds. I recently did an 8-hour hike in the Zion National Park in Utah (talk about food deserts) and carried this mix along with some fresh fruit. Never had more energy in my life!

2. Water yourself.

Water is big. When you're traveling don't order a soda or bottled juice (unless you can find an HPP juice, as other bottled juices have been heat-treated to kill bacteria). Instead, drink as much water as you can. You can't bring any liquid through the security checkpoints at airports unless of course you're lucky enough to be travelling in Australia where we can still do that, but you can buy bottled water once you're inside. It's also free onboard. Worried you're going to feel too famished during your journey? Drinking lots of water not only hydrates you, but it also makes you feel less hungry (sometimes thirst is mistaken for hunger)! Plus, when you get off the flight (or out of the car) you're going to feel lighter, more energetic, and better about yourself than if you'd eaten a lot of junk along the way.

3. Keep moving.

When you're on holiday you're going to find yourself in a new place, possibly without your own transportation. This is a great excuse to walk as much as possible. I'm always looking for ways to walk more. When I'm waiting for a flight at the airport, I walk the terminal, figuring I will be sitting soon enough, and long enough. The same goes for any destination: when you visit a shopping mall, try parking as far from the entrance as possible. When you're in the mall, make a pledge to use the stairs, not the escalators. And use technology to help: I find that a simple pedometer device keeps me aware of the amount of walking (or lack of it) I'm doing, and makes it a kind of game to increase my number of steps.

4. Avoid alcohol.

I don't drink alcohol. I find that when I do, I don't make good choices about what I'm eating. If you do choose to imbibe, skip alcohol in flight and save it for a celebration at your destination. Flying and alcohol are both dehydrating, which equates to an extremely dehydrated YOU. If you're going to have a drink, be careful what you have with it. The guard usually comes down when you have a glass of wine or a cocktail, and that means salty nuts or crisps or cheese can start looking like sensible choices. Be aware of this when you're having a drink, and don't mindlessly add a lot of useless calories.

5. Be your own personal trainer.

When you travel you immediately muck up your daily routines, meaning your normal schedule for exercise goes to the wayside. You don't have your favorite gym nearby or the place where you like to run, walk, or bicycle, but that's okay. It's inconvenient when you're on holiday, but any exercise you can manage is far better than nothing. Besides walking, you can do a whole bunch of exercises anywhere using your own body— leg lifts, pushups, or sit-ups. Dancing vigorously to music in your hotel room for a few minutes (please draw the curtains) can do wonders.

6. Make a mental road map.

Everything I've mentioned here—from deciding to drink water to making sure you get in enough foot work—will go a lot smoother if you think about it first. This makes you in control, acting rather than reacting. It helps you avoid feeling a little disjointed and jostled by all the stress of traveling. Rather than looking through a menu of bad food on the aircraft or at the turnpike rest stop in order to decide that it's not for you, make those decisions ahead of time and 'see' your day of trail mix, water, and breaks for stretching. You'll be surprised how much easier it is to make the journey.

7. Relax.

Make sure you build some recovery time into your schedule, whether this is when you are at your destination or post-travel. If you do find yourself caught in traffic or in a delay, take some deep breaths, and realize that 99% of the time it is outside of your control, and getting stressed won't do any good. Just by being conscious of that actually can lower the heart rate and delay the frown lines. Now that the film tour is over, I'm looking forward to spending time in Sydney, going to Bondi Beach for some nice long walks, a­­­­nd getting some much needed sleep – emphasis not on the beach but on the sleep!

Photo courtesy of the author

Joe Cross 

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