I have often said that health is spiritual. And, it truly has been for me.
It is spiritual for many reasons, but most of all, it is spiritual because treating our bodies as a temple is the highest form of gratitude to display before God. It is an easy display of gratitude if you can overcome lust and greed, which is unto itself, a spiritual exercise.
I came to realize that health was spiritual the more that I researched how the body so magnificently and intricately, in its hundreds of processes, interacts and communicates, body, mind, and spirit synchronized. Health is spiritual because it requires absolute belief in miracles that cannot always be explained, like magic, God’s magic. Continue reading “I Try To Edumacate My People About Holistic Healing – And They React Like…”→
I have these regular spontaneous moments, moments of deep Gratitude. Gratitude hits me deeply in my spirit and it hits me at random. I can never predict when it will happen. It doesn’t matter where I am. And, it has just hit me now, inspiring me to write this post!
Honey is amazing! I just had a tablespoon prior to publishing this post.
I chopped 2 cloves of garlic to mix with my second spoon. But I’m allowing the chopped garlic to be exposed to the air for about 10 – 15 minutes to get the maximum health benefits.
I’m learning more about nature’s gift of honey every day, God’s gift. This is yet another example of how I view Health as Spiritual. Most of the things that are healing for us, physically, mentally, and spiritually, are of God. Honey, Bees, and Garlic are directly from the Divine Spirit.
While doing research for this post, I found how incredible bees are in producing it. I’ll elaborate on that below.
I knew of many of honey’s health benefits. I consume it almost every day, but in different ways, and in different strengths, depending on the need.
I add it to warm water, and lemon juice, first thing in the morning as a daily detox, and to reduce digestive stomach acids.
I put it directly on cuts and abrasions.
I mix honey with freshly chopped garlic as a treatment for colds, flu, or just to boost immunity. This is highly recommended during the pandemic, and especially with the unknowns surrounding Omicron. When I mix it with freshly chopped garlic, I follow this as a regiment for 5 – 7 days.
Sometimes I take honey in a teaspoon with essential oils like clove, lavender, and peppermint.
Otherwise, I use it as a food and sweetener. Most of the time, I just swirl it on fresh fruit for breakfast or I just take it raw.
I love honey. It is a part of my regular health regiment.
I try to eat 1 or 2 bananas each day. To me, bananas are one of God’s miracle foods, like garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, and goji berries.
I learned more about the benefits of eating bananas than I ever imagined a few years ago while working at Whole Foods Market. I really enjoyed this job, especially the residual benefits of becoming well-versed in healthy lifestyles and the health benefits of eating produce.
This only complemented what I learned from meticulously attending to my elderly mother’s health, as well as my own.
Gaining this knowledge was yet another example of how we can help each other by sharing such knowledge. Working at Whole Foods Market, I met many people who were deep into their wellness journey, who were eager to share information with me. It’s really interesting how we seemingly secretly exchange information about natural healing as if it is government classified information. That should not be so.
I had been on a holistic healing journey for many years but working in WFM’s produce department certainly elevated my health knowledge. Because customers were generally astute, I have to do my homework, research so that I knew what I was talking to others about. This included learning the benefits of exotic fruits and vegetables. ‘
Eventually, health and lifestyle became evangelistic for me. I strongly believe that living a healthy lifestyle is an aspect of Spirituality. When I learn of the uncommonly known benefits of fruits and vegetables, without man’s intervention, it confirmed that God wants us to live healthily and naturally.
At the seeming climax of many of my trials, I tend to experience vivid emotions of worry and fear, just like the next person. I am not immune to any human emotions. I have been an emotional animal at times, that an insensitive person couldn’t tolerate.
But, big but, I pride myself in managing human disappointment, pain, grieving, anger, and resentment.
I credit my abilities to manage the things that humans go through to mediation, prayer also. But I do tend to meditate more than I pray. I practice a form of Prayer-Meditation, whereby I put the intention of my prayers in the air by merely thinking about them. And, in so doing, I am praying much the same as speaking them.
People, I’m kind of pissed right now about this big Corona misinformation scam. Now, don’t get me wrong. Hear me out.
I believe that there are people who definitely need to get the vaccine. I explained this to a friend the other day. There are people whose health is so far gone, or who have years of chronic illness, and are on heavy medication, that it requires that they get this vaccine, simply because their immunity is just not strong, and they are likely to have issues. Their body functions are screwed.
However, what pisses me off is that there are people out there, and I can tell you this very clearly because I’m one of them, who have optimal health, who have spent many years making sure that they do all the things that they need to do to stay healthy, and it has worked for them. What pisses me off is, why do we have to degrade our standard of care and lifestyle by introducing vaccines, that many like me, haven’t had even before Corona was around? Why do I have to do this?
This is my chance to not appear as some sort of maniac who blindly bashes “medical and media science” with no regard for truth.
I am quite the contrary as this post, as well as all of the prior Devirusize posts, show. (See other recommended Devirusize poss listed below).
I do extensive research, analysis, and scrutiny of health information before formulating my conclusions. Furthermore, I follow protocols that I recommend that my followers at least investigate as I have, for some 30 years, no less!
It is important to note that those who blindly do what their doctors tell them to, and who take prescription drugs as well as vaccines without question, do little research, nor follow healthy lifestyles. So, who’s the foolish here?
Fairly methodically following alternative and natural protocols for over 30 years, I have experienced great success. My medical lab reports, including COVID19 testing, are very close to perfect, for a Black man of sixty-one years young. I can confidently say that I have defied several medical odds, without taking vaccines or medicine.
In Inner Peace Part Two, in this follow-up to yesterday’s post, I provide limited personal commentary. The focus here is on what has been said about Inner Peace by those in Faith & Science.
I have said what I had to say and tried my best to describe the experience. In this post, I focus on what Scientists, Doctors, Prophets, and Spiritual Leaders have said about Inner Peace.
I sincerely share this post to proclaim that Inner Peace is the most valuable gift that God has given us.
In Inner Peace lies Acceptance, Surrender, Trust, Belief, and Patience. These virtues are beneficial to the body, mind, and spirit.
Inner Peace was not always accessible to me. At a time when I earned six figures, I stressed my mind and spirit to keep money flowing. That was over 20 years ago before I became a new man. Today, friends and colleagues attempt to entice me to return to ‘the game’, to be it in IT, bitcoin investments, small business adventures, or money-making ideas du jour.
I have no plans to return to that noisy chaotic world again, though. I fear what money and chasing after it would do to the Inner Peace that I now have. I never want to lose this. I have no interest in going viral or monetizing for profit. Over a year ago, I deleted my Facebook, Linked In, and other social media accounts.
I do wish to reach more people but to do so, unfortunately, costs money. So, I reach who I can on my personal but limited budget. But I do, therefore, maintain my Inner Peace.
Achieving Inner Peace in the New World Order, in our new post coronavirus world, is essential. There are many human challenges that can distract us from this gift, and worse can bring out the worse in us.
Many years ago, I recognized the importance of maintaining a peaceful state of mind. That’s likely because my life has always been dynamic, intense, and bursting with passion, since birth, I’ve experienced, and been told.
Photo – Burst On Spotify – person-faces-the-city-while-sitting-on-a-yoga-mat-on-a-balcony.jpg
Over 30 years ago, I began a ‘deep dive’ into my own spirituality. This exploration was a personal one, whereby I sought to establish a relationship between me and God. …A really close one, with no one in between, for no one seemed True. I did not want the layer of religion or the church between us, though.
I respect religion and the church, but I put them in proper perspective, with regard to spirituality. I’ve found that religions and churches often deviate from what should be their main focus, addressing other priorities, such as tiding, fundraising, televangelism, and social media. …popularity, materialism, etc.
They do a get deal of charity ministries as well. It’s not directly their fault, but the sources of their funding, contribute to making poverty and inequity comfortable, instead of working to totally eliminate it, making those that they help self-sufficient.
Generally speaking, they continue such ministries, foundations and governments keep funding their causes, people keep receiving, but their long-term status remains the same.
Though these efforts may be well-intentioned spiritually, they impeded the closeness that I needed to have with the God of my understanding. I seek, still today, enlightenment. Beyond wisdom and faith, I want to be immersed in the spirit of God.
Furthermore, I wanted to shape the image of the God of my understanding. God bestowed me with this free will. I wanted to use this blessing to see God as I wanted to based on my journey, failures, triumphs, and ever-evolving wisdom.
I longed to see the God in me, and in every living creature. I longed to experience a multidimensional sensee of God, not a one-dimensional one.
Photo – Burst On Spotify – hand-on-tree-bark.jpg
I remember, in early 2000, when participating in an exercise that Minister Rev. Barry Vennard, of Unity Church, asked participants, in a Unity Church spiritual workshop to do. This exercise still sticks with me today.
Minister Vennard asked all participants to close their eyes and imagine God as they would like him to be. He asked that we imagine how he would be towards us? Would he judge us? How would he treat us when we made mistakes? What would he say about our pain, mistakes, defeats, and victories? How would he encourage us through our trials? …And so on and so forth.
For the first-time caregiver, taking care of a loved one can be overwhelming so there is a bit of responsibility for seniors to plan for the day when they may need someone to care for them. But they must also plan for having a sustainable lifestyle that makes their later years their finer years.
Though the experience of caregiving can get grueling, if plans are not in place, seasoned caregivers will tell you, with a little guidance, it can also be one of the most fulfilling experiences life has to offer.
Harry Cline has compiled some of the internet’s best resources to give you a head start on your caregiver’s journey by preparing seniors to someday be cared for by another while remaining comfortable until that time comes.
Harry Cline, of New Caregiver, submitted this post for seniors to select their ‘Senior Lifestyle Options’. I appreciate him. Thanks, Harry!
I have taken the audacity to interject in Harry’s content that senior lifestyle preparation is the precursor to senior caregiving. In retrospect, I would advise seniors to plan their lives and lifestyle with this inevitability in mind.
…Someone may have to care for you later in your life. Be realistic about it. Kevy
As having served as a sole caregiver for my mother as she approached 100 years old, I will not glamourize the journey of caregiving for an elder, especially when coming from a large family, and having a mother who made no concrete plans for her care. It was a topic that she and the family avoided.
Fortunately, my experience ended as one of the most profound in my life.
But glamour came only after my work was done, and God took over. Now, I smile every day that I think of my mother, knowing that I gave all that I could when she needed me, as she did when I was a child, and I needed her.
I did not realize until years later, that it would be “the most fulfilling experiences life has to offer.”
I could not wait to get this message out, and therefore am publishing it raw, with limited supporting information.
But I promise to send a subsequent post, under the DEVIRUSIZE series, that will explain what I have thoroughly research, questioned, and personally experienced in managing my health successfully for over 30 years, holistically, and through True Faith In God.
This post will be very raw and direct. Some may find that I am preaching. I am far from a preacher, but I do believe that I possess equivalent passion.
I do not mean to hate on anyone who chooses or has chosen to get vaccinated. You probably take many prescription drugs, and likely have had many vaccines. That is your right to, and I respect that.
But don’t hate on me for not choosing to get vaccinated. Don’t worry about me perhaps spreading coronavirus. You should have nothing to worry about. You’ve been vaccinated.
But as for me, I have not been vaccinated in my entire adult life, and my health is better than those that I know who have.
Apprehension of vaccinations and prescription drugs has done something unexpected to me.
It has elevated my faith in God and my desire to strive towards, that which I will never fully attain but will never stop trying to, Spiritual Perfection.
It has left me with a tremendous responsibility as well. I must strive to do everything as naturally (close to God’s paradise) as I can in terms of diet, lifestyle, exercise, connecting with nature, and stress management to show to God that I’ve honestly done my part to manage my own wellbeing, before sporadically running to man, whose motivator may be profit.
It has taken me over one month to prepare this post on the COVID19 vaccine. It is extensive and required a great deal of research. Many may not read it. That’s okay. I am not trying to reach puppets or androids. I am trying to reach those who take personal ownership of their own well-being, and who don’t follow everything that they are told to do.
This post is not intended to change anyone’s mind or to convert them. It simply provides facts, additional information, and of course, my opinion, on which you should solidify your decision if they are into that. Kevy
We’ve gotten so touchy and evangelistic about everything these days, racial issues, healthcare, taxes, global warming, and now it’s the COVID19 vaccine.
I appreciate that everyone has a right to have their own opinion about the vaccine. Whether they are taking it or not doesn’t bother me. But some people just get out right upset with you, if like myself, have decided that you’re just not taking it.
I haven’t taken the flu, pneumonia, measles, shingles, or none of those vaccines. The last vaccines I remember taking were when I was anywhere from 5 to 8 years old, and I’m standing strong. Those who take them regularly as adults often have poorer health than I do.
The Center For Disease Control (CDC) recommends 13 different vaccines for adults. I have taken none of these as an adult.
I will never say never. I never say never about anything in life, so I can’t never say I take the vaccine. But it’s not anything that I am considering anytime soon. I’ve done my research and I’ve provided a list of reasons why I’m not rushing to take the COVID19 vaccine. Maybe you should consider these things as well, especially if you fit into my demographic.
Deciding not to take the vaccine wasn’t a difficult decision. I arrived at this decision rather easily, in spite of being exposed to COVID19, testing positive, then subsequently testing negative 3 times.
I have several reasons and I’m sure that further research will probably give more reasons why taking the COVID19 vaccine is not right for me, at this time.
I respect those who choose to take the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them. That is their choice and right, such as mine. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything with regard to the vaccine, except for one thing.
This one thing I encourage everyone to do on every decision, research. Do not make your decisions purely based on fear, media, hearsay, or even religion. After doing your due diligence, then follow your heart, the part of us all where God’s spirit resides. My heart tells me not now for the COVID19 vaccine.
This is a beautiful time. Let me, Kevy Michaels, explain to you why I feel this way.
First of all, in this very moment every living creature on the planet, in the universe, and even the stars recognize that we are in a change of season.
This is not unusual, except for us. We don’t normally recognize seasons, in the air, our minds, and spirits, as the animals, trees, and plants do because we are distracted. Well, now we do.
Also, every last one of us is experiencing a certain degree of uncertainty about what the new season will bring.
Seasons As Our Teachers – This Is A Magnificent Season!
Those who follow my blog, Seasons As Our Teacher (KevyMichaels.Blog), know that I love to do mashups of totally unrelated topics. In this post, I mashup Janet Jackson and Beats, I mean Beets. Actually, I do a mashup of Janet with the veggie Beets, put to Beats contained in one of her most popular songs. The post emphasizes the health benefits of Beets in a catchy video that I created with help from other content creators. As a garnish, on the blog, I added a Janet photo slideshow, health beet recipes, including my mother’s simple New Orleans Beet Salad, and two of my favorite Janet song videos. Enjoy. Kevy
Janet Give Me A Beet! Kevy Michaels – Nov 19, 2020 – Kevy Michaels
If ever there was a time to enjoy Solitude, now is that time. Let me give you a few reasons: Truth Decay, Racism, Hate, The Lobster, Riots, COVID19, Uncertainty, etc. This post reveals that I am spending most of my free time alone. …And I am joyous! God is there with me showing me how beautiful I am, and where I may have gone wrong. …Or did I? Was it all for my greater good? Kevy
I was speaking to a friend the other day and I was telling her that I am not sure if I could ever be in a close relationship, live with another person or even engage with my family. She agreed with me for much the same reasons.
I know it sounds a little strange but it’s not at all. I’m in spirit now more than into people. I enjoy Being alone. I have so many rituals that I follow which keeps me at a higher vibration. …Rituals such as grounding on a regular basis, meditation, and prayer daily. I have a lot of health rituals such as juicing, also do mineral baths, with salt and oils. I have a creative side where I’m writing, making videos, as well as putting content out on the blog.
I have been juicing and blending fruit and vegetables for at least 15 years now. I do both actively, but prefer juicing. I like to drink freshly prepared juices especially when I am fighting a minor illness or when detoxing, which is always since our environment and food supply is full of toxins. My juicing and smoothie regiment is a critical aspect of my Devirusizing protocol. But drinking freshly prepared juices is not equal to drinking smoothies. One is clearly better than the other. In this post, I will explain the differences as I see it, and have researched it.
When I worked at Whole Food Markets, I regularly asked customers, who were “strictly organic”, to consider a regiment for detoxing, daily, monthly, and quarterly. Many who go “strictly organic” do not detox, seeming to imply that being “strictly organic” alleviates this need. This is an illusion, in my opinion.
It is much wiser to eat organic when it matters. Refer to the 2020 Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 Lists to determine when it matters. On this list released each spring, the Environmental Working Group (also known as the EWG) publishes a list of fruits and vegetables that experts at the nonprofit say contain elevated levels of pesticides that may be concerning. Now known as the Dirty Dozen list to health experts and in-the-know shoppers, the list has long called conventional farming methods into question, especially as the EWG also publishes a competing list called the Clean Fifteen that highlights produce containing little to no pesticides when grown conventionally.
It is better to eat organic when it matters, and wiser to not assume that there is no need to detox periodically. For in spite of going organic, we must accept that we are still living in a toxic world on many levels. We should include detoxing in our health practices. It is much wiser to complement healthy food choices, with detoxing. Juicing (and drinking plenty of distilled water) is a great practice for detoxing. This is a smarter way to Devirusize.
I also meet many people who sing the praises of juicing or blending (smoothies). Most people choose one over the other. Most that I’ve met, prefer smoothies over juices. They state obvious pros for smoothies, and cons for juicing, but leave out many pertinent facts when making this comparison. This is consistent with how most people practice being “healthy”, without pertinent facts.
I liken drinking fresh juices to drinking medicine, because it goes into the bloodstream within minutes, not requiring much digestion. Think about drinking a cocktail. After a few minutes, you feel it, because the alcohol goes into your bloodstream rather quickly. The same happens with juices, but not with smoothies. Continue reading “Devirusize – In This Corner, Juicing, In the Other, Smoothies – And the Champ Is?”→
I am back with a new post and this is a really important one.
This represents a new element to the Devirusize protocol. “Devirusize” is a word I that invented in order categorize my suggestions for making your body optimally healthy. On my blog, search the word “Devirusize” to find other related posts.
This element of optimal wellness is on Earthing or Grounding. I am unsure, but I would imagine that Earthing’s distinction is that in addition to grounding, it includes hugging trees, sitting, or standing in water, or on rocks. Grounding involves intimate contact with the ground, preferably while barefoot.
It has taken me quite some time to pull this post together because, as with all my posts, I include a lot of content. And I research and dig into each subject, reviewing all of the included videos. This process is not just a labor of love, because I become well-versed in many areas of living from doing so.
This grounding thing is amazing! I want everybody to look into! It doesn’t cost you anything and if you really get into it, even if you spend money on devices, you’ll find that it’s not extremely expensive compared to the benefit that you get from grounding.
First of all, I ground all the time. I’ll do it today. I am doing it frequently because I am expecting Colorado’s winter. Believe it or not, it snowed here about two weeks ago. Three days later, it was 85°.
In this post, as with every post, I have done research in advance, in this case, on blood labs and how to interpret the results. I have also provided recommendations, supported by the medical community, and ones based on my personal experience. You should complement this information with your own experiences and research.
With today’s increasing concerns about health, I recommend that you read this detailed post, and when you are ready, I suggest that you review your last blood lab reports again to see if you understand them better. If not, you should at least be well-equipped to ask your doctors intelligent questions.
I am not a doctor, but I should not have to be to understand my own blood lab reports. They are given to me by my doctor, to assess my health status. But had I not done the research; I would not understand how to properly interpret the reports.
In my experiences, only by exception are doctors willing to spend extra time with me to explain the full report. Also, often I have to make a follow-up appointment just to speak with the doctor in detail about my blood test results, and that’s if they are willing to do so.
Years ago, as part of my ‘Urban-Holistic-Rasta-Metaphysics’ approach to health, I felt that it was my responsibility to understand the reports, how seriously to take its results, and what things to do to ensure accurate tests in the future.
Too often the results were given to me as vital health information but often were never explained. I did not know what the various measurements meant, beyond the information I received about those numbers which were outside of ‘normal ranges’. Hell, they didn’t really explain what ‘normal ranges’ meant.
We are not adequately advised on how to prepare for our blood test to ensure that the results are not skewed by our lifestyle and habits days or hours prior to taking the tests. We are told to fast for lipid and glucose tests but are often unadvised on other factors that can skew blood results or cause false positives.
The news media can be deceptive, in general. It has been for a long time and will continue, given its eternal conflict between truth, and beholding to advertisers and government regulations.
They are not thoroughly presenting the protest rallies as they are actually occurring. They are demonizing protesters at worse, or are not revealing how united and caring participants are, at the very least.
Photo NBC News – Rodney King Footage Weaved In With BLM ent Protests
Protesters are unlike they are being perceived by the media, The Lobster’s administration, and those who subscribe to their stories, without doing any investigation. For example, I’ve attended over 10 protest rallies in the past two weeks. I shed tears of joy and was inspired every time I saw how warm, passionate, creative, and ingenious the mainly Millennial protesters are.
The same is being done with the coronavirus. I am not implying that COVID19 is not dangerous. It is certainly more dangerous to some, more than others. That says more about those individuals’ health status and lifestyle more than it says about the danger of the virus itself.
The Devirusize posts are meant to reduce your chances of becoming ill from viruses and other pathogens. This is the third installment and it is on the oil that we consume in our diets.
In the first two posts, I presented the importance of the Sun, and Water and how it impacts our health and immunity. In this post, I present the importance of the quality of the oils that we consume.
Oils have gotten a bomb rap from misinformation. Most of the misinformation is intended to boost corporate profits, product unnatural shelf life, and to sustain mass processed food production.
I hope to dispel rumors and urban legends about oils, the first of which is that all oils that we consume are bad. All oils or fats are not bad. We must consume certain in our diet because the body cannot produce them.
I am eager to also dispel that canola oil is not good. It’s trash for the body, due to all the techniques and chemicals used to refine it. Lard is better than canola, of course, when used modestly.
I have come to learn that nothing is totally bad in life. This belief even applies to the Coronavirus. I will show you its positive sides in a list of good things that will ultimately result from us enduring through this pandemic.
We tend to see only the negative aspects of challenges because that is what we are dealing with in the present moment. We have become accustomed not to expect the positive aspect, though it is inevitable. We don’t see anything positive because we do not look beyond the surface.
But based on my life experiences, often my worse trials and challenges resulted in unforeseen good, which was ultimately realized many years later.
Being very ill made me more conscious about taking better care of my health and lifestyle.
Being an insecure people-pleaser for years, through disappointment and pain, lead me to confidence, better self-worth, and self-love.
Losing nearly all of my material possessions, becoming bankrupt to care for my elderly mother, humbled me. Now I need less, have less, and am happier.
Experiences like these are what changed how I evaluate trials. I am constantly looking for the good in bad or good situations.
“Any kind of crisis can be good. It wakes you up.” – Ryan Reynolds
God really is good, all the time.
If you look for a silver lining in every situation, it will be there. I believe that exemplifies the belief that God’s understanding is mightier than ours. The infinity of God’s understanding goes far beyond whatever negative emotions that we may experience at the time.
“Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” – Psalm 147:5 – NKJV
The Devirusize posts are meant to reduce your chances of becoming ill from viruses and other pathogens.
In the last, and first post, I presented the importance of the Sun, and how it affects your health and immunity. The Sun can be a double-edged sword. It offers magnificent health benefits but can damage your health if we are not safe and prudent, while in the sun.
In this post, the second of the Devirusize series, I present the importance of water consumption, relative to your health. Everyone knows that drinking water benefits their health. Even I was surprised at all of the health benefits of water. Most of them, I knew about, but some I did not.
As with the Sun, too much water can harm you. I have had an experience, while caring for my elderly mother, with the harmful effects of drinking too much water. But this threat is not as likely or severe as harm from getting too much Sun.
I have written other posts on the health benefits of water. They are listed at the bottom of this post. I used very little material from those articles so that I would find updated information and research.
This post, along with the two prior ones will keep you busy for a while. It covers a lot of ground, therefore I leaned towards providing information in bullets. You may click on the links for greater details contained in research studies, articles, and videos. Kevy
In the first post of this series, I will discuss one aspect of Devirusizing, properly using the sun.
I spend time in the sun as much as I can. Colorado has about 360 Days of sun each year, even when it snows. After preparing this intensely researched post, I am much more educated about the sun.
The new information I gained was quite enlightening and will result in me adjusting my habits, as I hope will be the case for you. You may just learn sumthin.
Over the past few days, my mind has been marinating on a catchy way to present holistic health protocols that I have found to be very successful, after over 30 years of personal practice. I knew that the first one would be on The Sun since it has been really sunny here in Colorado. Higher altitudes receive more intense sunlight.
The reason that it has been a challenge to come up with an angle is that holistic healing involves many facets and perspectives, and therefore has a lot of areas to cover.
I do not want to overwhelm those who may be interested in learning more with too much, even though it will still be too much. I knew that I had to present it in pieces, though.
At first, I had ideas like The Ten Commandments of Health, The Holistic Health Bible, Holistic Health Verses & Scriptures. I then thought, ahh, no, I may offend even more people.
Music has always been a major influence in my life, even as a child.
When I was not much older than 6 or 7 years old, I used to listen to the Motown Sound. My sister’s husband was a deejay, on the most popular black AM radio station in New Orleans, WYLD, and he’d bring free copies of virtually every 45 that was released. Since the Motown Sound was most popular, we ended up having nearly every song released.
Along with my brothers and sisters, we would pantomime performances of the Temptations, the Four Tops, and the Supremes to name a few. I still remember the words to songs that were released when I was a young child.
Back then, my sister Annette, and my brother Ulysses had the strangest music tastes, considering that they were fairly young and products of the ghetto. My sister would have days where she would play Johnny Mathis albums it seems for the whole day. Her go-to song was Chances Are.
My brother was in love with Nancy Wilson. He would do pretty much the same, often playing Guess Who I Saw Today. Music was so integral in our ghetto lives that we embraced everyone’s choices, and even me, at a very young age, would eventually learn to appreciate Johnny Mathis and Nancy Wilson.
My family, as most black families did back then, had two very elegant phonograph consoles, build with craftmanship into very nice solid wood cabinets that looked like an elegant piece of furniture. It served as the foundation of our modest entertainment endeavors. When the top was closed, and my mother placed a lace dolly and a vase of plastic flowers on top, and polish it with that weird-smelling furniture oil. One would never know that it was a record player until it was opened, and guest would say, ‘Oh I didn’t realize that was a record player.’ For a moment, we would feel white-privileged. It was a big bulky piece of furniture that only housed two speakers, a turntable, and storage area for 45s and LPs, but it was nearly the center of our lives back then.
In addition, either I or my sisters would get a portable record player for Christmas. …Sort of the Easy Bake Over of record players, allowing us to listen to music in our rooms upstairs. It did not have a big sound because the speakers were transistor-radio-sized, but we enjoyed listening to the latest music just the same. Upstairs we would sing, dance and listen in private, well almost.
Music is also a significant aspect of New Orleans’ culture. It’s about ‘what-n-what’ with our food. New Orleanians hold deep pride in both. We have our own style of music, and that tradition continues today with new styles like New Orleans bounce music. I’m not that crazy about New Orleans bounce music. But our most popular music back then was New Orleans blues, soul, jazz, Mardi Gras, and second line music. Continue reading “Not Much Of A Drinker But I’m Enamored For Hours In This One Bar – The Buddha Bar’s Zen Chill Music”→
Become Like Freddie The Lounge Lizard, But Just For A Day
Have you ever met someone who is ultra-chillax? They don’t let anything upset them. They are the kind that repeats mantras like “Child, I can’t be bothered”, or “Life is too short”.
I’ve admired those type of people for years. I’ve seen this attitude most vividly in the ghettos and projects of New Orleans. Though we struggled and suffered, we never let it cramp our spirit.
On my mother’s block, there were two families who lived across from each other. They were on section 8 housing assistance and other aid, and surely struggled to provide for themselves and several kids but seemed pretty joyous every day. The played music for the neighborhood, even with deejays. And when one of the kids had a birthday, they celebrated with elaborate house decorations, barbeques, and bouncy houses.
And during the second-line season, no matter the challenges they faced, they were out in the streets dancing with umbrellas and handkerchiefs.
New Orleans is known as The Big Easy for a reason. Everybody is so chilled. For me, after returning from world travel, it was a culture shock. Traffic moves slowly, grocery store cashiers, restaurants, and parades. But no one’s on edge about it.
In New Orleans’s black neighborhoods, it is common to hang out in the streets and play your music loud, with a cocktail, and ‘smoke smoke’ to accompany it. Most people just sit on their shade covered porch and chill. Just riding through neighborhoods can be quite entertaining, especially when it is not dangerous.
I remember when I had to catch to bus from my high school, Mc Donogh #35, I would arrive at the Magazine and Camp stop and would see a family sitting on the porch, about 4 of them, each with a plate, having dinner, watching the traffic as it passes by. It was like clockwork. They would always be there. They ‘felt no pain’ about it either.
In New Orleans chilling is part of the culture. But, now I live in the Rocky Mountain Region.
I can’t chill that way every day, as I used to in New Orleans, but I carry with me the knowledge of knowing how important it is to just chill.
Relaxing is healthy for the mind, body, spirit, and soul. It is just as much health maintenance as doing a detox. Relaxing, in its highest form is meditation. But you don’t have to meditate to reap the benefits of relaxing.
I have a rather difficult time explaining holistic healing to friends and people I meet.
“When I stand before thee at the day’s end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.” ― Rabindranath Tagore
Those who follow conventional medicine are always looking for a cure for this or that. When in actuality they are relieving a symptom, never addressing the underlining problem, and as a result, may actually be causing your body additional harm.
Conventional medicine focuses on symptoms, which is the smallest part of the equation. Symptoms could also be related to diet, nutrition, stress, emotions, oneness, and toxins, including people, but conventional medicine doesn’t seem to give these aspects of illness much attention.
Conventional medicine does not consider God’s influence either, and how strongly we believe. It does not consider miracles or the magical, but many unexplained miracles occur. Ironically, doctors are aware of things that they just can’t explain, but may not talk about such exceptional cases. I am here to tell you conclusively that such medical exceptions do exist. I am one of them.
Conventional medicine does not look at the “whole” picture, body, mind, and spirit.
It is unfortunate because there are very promising aspects of conventional medicine, which are complementary to natural healing. For example, in trauma care, there isn’t a tea, vitamin, plant, or guided meditation that will relieve and heal, say a gun wound, a broken limb, or cardiovascular trauma caused by careless living.
I am not as much into health, as I am into healing.
I see the difference in the former aiming to address a specific ailment, whereas the latter aims to immerse you in healing energy, creating an environment that repels illness, in any form it may appear. Healing enfolds me in an energy of health.
Healing goes much deeper than being healthy. Healing requires balance and vibrational, physical, spiritual, emotional, and nutritional connectivity, just to list a few of its many aspects.
In my healing strategy both balance, and vibrational connection are given the highest priority.
With regard to balance in resting, I do not work too diligently, without attentively ensuring that I get proper rest. I try to rest at least 8 hours a day. I consciously work to balance the two.
The same applies to eating healthy, juicing, fermenting, consumption of smoothies, and herbal and root helpful foods, I must balance this lifestyle practice too. I will never place myself in a ‘food prison’ and expect healing. I allow myself to deviate from time to time, and don’t beat up on myself for being human.
I learned the importance of balance namely through working with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors and acupuncturists. I’ve been seeing TCM practitioners for over 20 years now. I had acupuncture just this week.
The practice of TCM believes in staying in harmony with nature. The practice believes in seasons, as well, not just in the atmosphere, but in our body, spirit, and emotions. I strongly believe in seasons and its impact on my life. I’ve written about seasons on several occasions.
It was also painful to revisit my mistakes and flaws. But, I was courageous in that I did, for the benefit of others, and to maintain my integrity. After I published the posts on the “Mess Age”, I felt invigorated, and relieved.
After, a day or so, that feeling wore off, and I started feeling a bit melancholy.
Living in New Orleans, as I child, I don’t remember my mother ever warning me to stay out of the sun, maybe drink water, and don’t overheat.
Nor, did she put sunscreen all over my body, as mothers do today.
Interestingly, there wasn’t much talk about skin cancer, or the sun causing it, in those days.
I never believed the hype being propagated about the sun for one simple fact. The sun sustains all life. We would not be able to survive without the sun. Life would not have begun had the sun not penetrated through the oceans, turning organisms to plants and marine life, and so on.
In the past, the sun was regarded as a divine power, and was equated to God.
Nowadays, the sun seems to be regarded as our enemy. I, however, still believe that the sun is divine. I hope that I can convince you, if you’re not already convinced.
I usually take a stroll through Washington Park, in Denver, Colorado, USA, to take in the sun, the oxygen from trees, and the beauty of the flowers in the colonial gardens.
While walking, I pray, and usually stop to sit under a tree to meditate, then to get writing inspirations. Trees inspire me. I’ve written several poems on trees.
Soaking in the sun is a very creative, healing, and spiritual experience for me. After taking these excursions, I instantly feel rejuvenated in body, mind, and spirit. When I get home and look in the mirror, my skin glows in health and vibrancy.
Of course, here in Colorado, we are thousands of feet above sea level, as high as 14,000 feet. I am no scientist, but I do wonder if being closer to the sun is better than getting sun from low elevations.
At a mean elevation of 6,800 feet above sea level, Colorado has the highest mean altitude of the 50 states.
Colorado’s low point, 3,315 feet above sea level at the Arikaree River in Yuma County, is the highest low point in the nation and is higher than 18 state high points.
The highest point in Colorado, Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet above sea level in Lake County, is also the highest point in the Rocky Mountains and the second highest point in the Continental United States. It’s located in the Sawatch Range in the western-central part of the state about 20 miles east of Aspen.
“A really spiritual person will live life as an art, will create a deep harmony between the body and the consciousness. And this is the greatest art there is. His life will be a joy to see. And he will be fragrant, for the sheer reason that there is no split in his being. The very unity makes him organic; the wound of division is healed.” – Osho
“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is Meditation To Kevy Michaels? – By Kevy Michaels
I am only joking about becoming Shakespeare, but I wanted to draw your attention to the power of regularly meditating. Apparently, I did.
I practice meditation passionately, as I have been meditating regularly for over 20 years.
It’s the biggest benefit of my life is that it gives me clarity and it elevates me, the latter of which is not very easy to explain, but I will attempt.
Meditation gives me the ability to interact with the physical world, but in a metaphysical way. It gives another dimension to my senses, in it’s truest, non-manipulated form. Meditation allows me to feel the energy, of people, nature, and the air even, from the perspective of my soul, not from the object’s perspective.
Its power in my life is hinted to in the tagline of this blog, Life Is A Teacher. Meditation transforms my experiences from being externally driven, to being internally guided. It takes me to the field of Pure Potentiality, chapter one in Deepak Chopra’s, 7 Laws of Spiritual Success, abook changed my life’s direction, many years ago. I am so passionate about it, that I reread it regularly, and have given copies of it to friends, family, and strangers in many parts of the world.
I will feature posts on other chapters in the future.
In the field of Pure Potentiality is where Divinity, Creativity, Healing, Nature, and God’s energy resides. It’s a sacred layer of existence, on top of physical existence. Meditation makes this energy in all things, accessible, in addition to its physical offerings.
I have found profound power in meditation because it separates me from myself, my ego, and from the character of who I am to the world. It takes me to my spiritual essence, therefore I see my spirit interacting with life, as opposed to my ego-self having the experience. It is quite powerful and its benefits have manifested in many ways in my life. Here are a couple of examples.
It made me more creative, though I never thought that I was. I can clearly remember when I would write songs (such as the one below) where the lyrics, rhythm, and sound would come to me vividly. Since I am not a musician, I would ask a close friend, who sang and played guitar, to give the song chords. Together, we would delight others, performing these songs (and poems) at the Unity church, schools, charity events, nursing homes, and for family and friends. I would eventually write over 200 songs, over 600 poems, and 100’s more finished and unfinished works. There were days where I would get what seemed like cosmic inspiration, writing over 10 songs and poems, in one day.
Being in the field of Pure Potentiality, through meditation, revealed that I had these unbeknownst gifts.
It happened again in the early 2000s, with Love Electra. Love Electra was a company I created that aimed to propagate the message of love through its products, presentation, and messaging. The name, theme music, and product designs all came to me vividly, and magically. The many products, including t-shirts containing messages of Love & Peace, were sweatshop free, were aura cleansed, contained color psychology, and messages and/or images that inspired. During this phase, creativity overflowed to the point that I had boundless energy and ideas. During this period, I meditated daily for at least an hour.
Those days were exciting! Our web and remote boutique set up at concerts, churches, raves, and festivals ignited every venue. In the San Antonio, Houston, and Austin areas, we had a cult following. I would see before my eyes at these events the power of the mind in making visions manifest.
I included my mother, in her late 80’s, in the excitement. She guarded the money box. She protected the money, like Pilate’s guards protected the tomb of Jesus. I can remember how thrilling it was for her to be adored by so many.
I believe that like changing a radio channel frequency from hardcore rap to spa music, meditation tuned me into a frequency where all of this potential was accessible to.
Unfortunately, due to having to surrender to life’s circumstances with health, the economy, and mainly having to solely care for my mother after she had a major stroke, Love Electra was dissolved.
But has it really been dissolved? I feel that with the Life Is A Teacher blog, I am propagating the same message, but doing so digitally, as opposed to doing it with physical products. Please note that I do not sell anything through my blog. I don’t directly promote anything either unless it has positively impacted my life. And, from those indirect promotions, I received no monetary benefit.
My goal now fueled regularly by meditation, is to convey to my audience my life lessons and wisdom, discerned through trials, errors, bad and good choices, successes, triumphs, and failure.
What I present today are virtues I’ve gained and discovered in my life, with the hopes of that others will be inspired, as well. Meditation not only makes this possible, it makes it insuppressible.
The videos below may be helpful in explaining meditation and Pure Potentiality clearer than I have.
What is meditation\to you? How has it impacted your life?
This week, Rev. Wendy begins a 7-week series based on Deepak Chopra’s book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In this lesson, Wendy covers the first law—The Law of Pure Potentiality—and the fact that we are all pure consciousness.
In this short teaching, Mingyur Rinpoche discusses the relationship between meditation and creativity. As he explains, meditation clears space in the heart and mind for the spontaneous, creative expression of one’s true nature. This video includes subtitle captions in English. This video was originally released as part of the Tergar Learning Community course of Rinpoche’s Monthly Teachings.
My family, as most black families did back then, had two very elegant phonograph consoles, build with craftmanship into very nice solid wood cabinets that looked like an elegant piece of furniture. It served as the foundation of our modest entertainment endeavors. When the top was closed, and my mother placed a lace dolly and a vase of plastic flowers on top, and polish it with that weird-smelling furniture oil. One would never know that it was a record player until it was opened, and guest would say, ‘Oh I didn’t realize that was a record player.’ For a moment, we would feel white-privileged. It was a big bulky piece of furniture that only housed two speakers, a turntable, and storage area for 45s and LPs, but it was nearly the center of our lives back then.
In addition, either I or my sisters would get a portable record player for Christmas. …Sort of the Easy Bake Over of record players, allowing us to listen to music in our rooms upstairs. It did not have a big sound because the speakers were transistor-radio-sized, but we enjoyed listening to the latest music just the same. Upstairs we would sing, dance and listen in private, well almost.
