Best-Selling Author, Lynne McTaggart, Coming to Tampa on September 20

Scientific discoveries over the past century have led to the realization that our visible world is part of a vast sea of invisible energies that link everything in the universe. The human mind and body, rather than being separate from the environment, are a power center that is constantly interacting with this field of quantum energies and influences.

The implications are enormous — consciousness and intention are central in shaping your world.

Lynne McTaggart is the author of the international bestsellers, The Bond, The Field and The Intention Experiment, she is also the editor of the wellness journal What Doctors Don’t Tell You, and the world’s foremost expert on the science of intention.

On Friday, September 20, Lynne will appear at HCC (Dale Mabry Campus) to discuss how we can bridge the worlds of science and spirit, and announce the launch of the first Intention Project in Tampa Bay! She will build on her discoveries to offer a radical new blueprint for living a more harmonious, prosperous and connected life.

Topics will include:

• Bridging the worlds of science and spirit
• Moving past competition
• Enjoying close relationships
• Achieving a more connected family, workplace and community
• Becoming a powerful agent of change – in Tampa Bay & Beyond

Who: Lynne McTaggart
Best-Selling Author of The Field, The Bond, The Intention Experiment and What Doctors Don’t Tell You
When: Friday, September 20; 7 – 9 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Hillsborough Community College
Student Services Building Auditorium, Room 111
4001 W. Tampa Bay Blvd. Tampa, Florida 33614-7820
How Much: STUDENT: $15*, $30 in advance, $40 at the door. * requires student ID at Will Call
More: Sponsored by The Connection Partners, Integral Church, Enliven Wellness Works, Inkwood Books and Creative Loafing

Get your tickets now at bit.ly/lynne2013

RSVP on Facebook

Saying Thank You: A Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving – by the sheer nature of its name – forces us to acknowledge Spirit in the second person, to thank the “thou” that is the Cosmos, or the Cosmos that is the “thou” – Father God, Mother Nature, Gaia, Holy Spirit.

On this one day a year, even atheists are thankful to their lucky stars, fate, Nature, or the Universe for granting them good fortune and helping to guide them through the signposts of life.

Today, we open our hearts, we mind our manners, and to whomever (or whatever) we love – or that loves us – we say “Thank You.”

Today, as millions gather and hold hands around tables for a shared meal to acknowledge this sense of gratitude and to celebrate with a ceremonial feast, we offer up this blessing, honoring Spirit in second person.

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As we gather together today, we give thanks and are grateful for all the things we sometimes take for granted.

Our bodies and our health.
The health and well-being of our families.
The love and support of our family and friends.
The interconnected community in which we live and thrive.
All of our unfolding and new growth.
All of our milestones and victories and success.
As well as the obstacles we’ve overcome and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.

Today, we are thankful just for the ability to spend time together around the table for a moment without the distractions of our phones and screens.
We are thankful to just be here in the presence of family — to love and be loved — and enjoy a wonderful meal.

We are also grateful.
We are grateful for our ability to give to those less fortunate.
We are grateful to those serving our country and those active in the work of building or rebuilding here and abroad.
To those that have passed on and are unable to be with us today, but from whom we have learned so much.
And to our children and the future generations who will carry on our traditions once we leave this world.

We also ask for blessings.
Bless the hands that have harvested and prepared this meal.
Bless any animals who have given their lives for this meal.
Bless the Earth from which it came.
Bless us as we receive this meal and nourish our bodies.

We ask for renewed strength to navigate this world mindfully, beneficially and sustainably.
That we may be both a beacon and a compass to those in need of an example or guidance.
And that we may leave this world a better place than we found it.

Thank you for the ability to learn and love and laugh and grow.

Thank you for the opportunity to be and to create change in the world, here and now, by changing ourselves.

Thank you for life and for the joyful act of living.

Amen

The Three-Day Cleanse: One Man’s Juicing Journal

PRELUDE

Let me paint the picture of myself before the cleanse.

I’m a 36-year-old father of two — a performing musician for around 10 years, with an energy level that tended to naturally (or so I thought) peak around 8 or 9 p.m.  I love coffee — no cream or sugar, just coffee (Cuban, Tanzanian, the bolder, oilier and more locally-roasted, the better) — and I would pride myself on making the best pot of it. I drink beer occasionally — usually craft-brewed, hoppy IPA’s. I’m around 5’10” and at the time I began the cleanse, weighed 195 lbs. Not obese, just a little flab around the middle (I hadn’t been on the treadmill in a few months). I quit smoking (again) around five months ago and haven’t looked back. I don’t have a desk job, but I don’t do manual labor, either. I cross the bridge from St. Petersburg to Tampa every morning, and my work at a local media company keeps me on my toes and relatively active (climbing stairs, lifting, working at events, etc.)

But I was tired a lot, and I attributed this to being old. I would make excuses to my friends as to why I couldn’t go out at night (smoky bars, the temptation of just one more beer) but the fact was — I was exhausted. And sitting on the couch with my family in front of the television is all I wanted to do. Sure, there was coffee and sugar (read: donuts) to create huge chemical spikes that would carry me through the day, but they would leave me groggy and sluggish in the morning, forcing the cycle to start all over again. For a time, I thought that nodding off at the wheel (even after getting a full night’s sleep) was normal. I thought I was just “tired.”

Now my wife, Jennifer, on the other hand, has always been more intuitive, more healthy and more courageous than myself. She has a background in retail management and was a massage instructor for a time. She’s currently running a corporate wellness company and is enrolled in a nutritional coaching course. So, we watch a lot of food and health documentaries. And we’ve been talking about this juicing thing for a while.

The idea of juicing itself seemed a bit silly to me at first. A bit extreme. I mean, I was making small adjustments already. A year ago, we stopped drinking bottled water — because of the chemical treatment of the water and its impact on the environment — and started eating primarily non-processed foods. I cut out Pepsi, which I’d been addicted to since adolescence, and replaced it with organic cranberry juice — and I exercised portion control when I could. I thought I was making good choices, even though my energy level hadn’t changed and I hadn’t made any effort to lose the added weight. I’d also planned on cutting back on my dairy intake, as I more and more noticed a slight congestion after having milk or cheese — which is so very bittersweet for someone born and raised in Wisconsin. It cuts me deep, actually.

A few months ago, we purchased a juicer of our own, and I would occasionally taste Jen’s concoctions, nodding or grunting approval and partly hoping this was just another of her passing phases. But when a friend of ours made the leap and started her own juicing company, offering personalized blends and delivery service, Jen wanted to give her service a try. In part, to support our friend in her new endeavor, and partly because it would be easier for us if there were no excuses (“it’s too late to shop for vegetables,” “there’s no time to juice”). We would stock the fridge with 3 days of pre-made juice and if we wanted to extend it to 5 days (or longer), we could pick up and carry on with our own juicer.

With only some reluctance, I said yes.

I’d done a 2-day liquid fast for a colonoscopy a few years back, and it wasn’t that bad. 1) I figured I could save some money by not eating out for lunch every day, and 2) I have a hard time saying “no” to my wife. We chose to begin on a Saturday, so there wouldn’t be any work-related temptations (like that endless line of bagels and cookies on the break room counter), but not a Saturday with a big event to work that would require a lot of energy.

I was given only one warning by people who had already done the juice cleanse. Wean off of caffeine BEFORE you begin. I was told there would be sensations within the body as it adjusts to operating on purely raw food, and it would be advantageous to know the difference between a symptom of withdrawal to certain vitamins or minerals as opposed to the full-on rage of a caffeine detox.

DAY ONE – Thursday before the cleanse

I limited myself to one cup of coffee (with one raw sugar), down from the usual 2.5 cups per day. As the day wore on, I sensed a slight headache in the occipital region of my head and neck. I took 400 mg of ibuprofen and my daily 24-hour antihistamine.

DAY TWO

I reduced my morning coffee to half-caffeinated (no sugar), and again had an onset of headache in the late afternoon. I repeated 400 mg ibuprofen and my antihistamine.

DAY THREE

No caffeine. No sugar. No wheat. Jennifer made me a green tea in the morning (which had a bit of caffeine, but none of the oil or acid found in coffee).

We decided to go out with a bang (and break a couple rules) by getting down at The Refinery in Tampa for our last solid meal. We enjoyed an appetizer of potato and andouille sausage, roasted chicken, and a “Brimley Burger” complete with sharp cheddar pimento cheese, homemade “spam” gravy and Yukon Gold fries. Yes, indeed. Out with a bang.

DAY FOUR – The juice cleanse begins!

Our refrigerator was full of Mason jars, labeled with a numbering system for each of us (Joran 1/1 = Meal one, Day one; Jen 3/2 = Meal three, Day two) and that morning everything looked to be going according to plan.

And then, it happened. Tropical Storm Debby was brewing outside — a consistent horizontal rain with trees creaking and bending — and out of the dark blue, I snapped. I got angry. I have issues with power and control to work through, and all the caffeine in the world can’t help something like that. I yelled at Jennifer and I made her cry. I hadn’t seen her cry in forever. I felt horrible. Over stupid things like the fact that she was watching a food documentary while my stomach rumbled. Over the fact that I needed some quiet time to do some writing, and her food doc wasn’t helping. Over the fact (I claimed) that I didn’t really need to do this and was just playing along.  Me. Me. Me.

The Friend-Sourcing Project

“If you could harness the power of your friends, family and everyone you knew to make a positive change in the world around you, what would it be?”

This is what I scrawled into an empty journal and passed around at my birthday gathering last night.

I expected some good and bad, but I didn’t expect such reasoned, rational response (well, at least toward the beginning of the night). 20 entries were collected in all. At a minimum, there will be more gathered in the next few days, and ideally, this will become an ongoing method of gathering information from our friends and family. Responses ranged from pie-eating contests for homeless kids (“to take their minds off being bored”) or building a beer can pyramid to community engagement (recycling, attending city council meetings, urban farming, child mentoring, feeding the homeless, etc.) and even included a full business plan for the launch of a new baked goods concept for mothers.

I am indebted to Joanelle Lusk for inspiring this public appeal for dreams, desires, passions and projects. Without her, Integral Church would be stalled at best. There are some very real, very possible outcomes in the pages of this new journal. Having mind-mapped all the entries thus far, there seem to be commonalities and clusters around the following topics:

1. Food / Urban Farming

2. The Arts

3. City Living / Government

4. Wellness (Body, Mind, Spirit)

I will continue to collect and map these entries as more come in, seeing as my contribution to this project will be to design a system (through meet-ups, outreach and fundraisers) that will make as many of these ideas as possible into sustainable, long-term realities.

If you would like to submit an entry for the Friend-Sourcing Project, please do so in the comments section (be as simple or detailed as you’d like) and we will add yours to the list.

Thank you, everyone.