Vegan Thai Green Curry

The post Vegan Thai Green Curry appeared first on DeliciouslyElla.

from DeliciouslyElla https://deliciouslyella.com/2017/09/25/vegan-thai-green-curry/
via Free Spiritual Marketing

Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats

Throw all of the ingredients for this Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats in your slow cooker. Turn it on, and you’ve got a healthy breakfast ready in no time and with little effort! Dear slow cooker, it has been way too long since you’ve last come out to play. I am so glad...

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The post Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.

from Fit Foodie Finds http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2017/09/slow-cooker-apple-cinnamon-steel-cut-oats/
via Holistic Clients

The Power of Giving Compassionate Touch

By Shai Plonski

The internal equivalent to oxygen, what we need in order to survive is love… Human relationships exist to produce love as surely as a lack of oxygen will kill us, so will a lack of love.” ~Marianne Williamson, Return to Love: A Reflection on A Course in Miracles

When I was 33 years old, I got dumped after a five-year relationship where we were engaged to be married. I was blindsided by it. It hurt about as badly as anything else I had experienced up till then, except for the day my dad died.

It was a Saturday afternoon at the start of a long weekend, so that gave me exactly three days to ‘get over it’ enough to be able to return to work. I was currently in the middle of leading a Thai yoga massage teacher training program with students who had come from around the world. It’s not as if I could call in sick.

The rest of the weekend was a blur. About the only thing I remember was an inner voice telling me that now, more than ever, my personal practice was key. Meditate, get on my yoga mat, learn from inspiring teachers and remember to breathe.

I showed up that first day back with a heavy and vulnerable heart, but then I did what I had been doing that whole month, not to mention most of the previous seven years. I engaged in the practice of compassionate touch. I taught what I knew to the best of my ability, let the moment take over, and somehow got through the day.

Nine years later as I look back, I realize it was then that I really knew that with Thai yoga massage I was onto something special. This was more than a form of bodywork, it was a spiritual practice. It was a way to connect with people and with the beauty of life in a way that could help me through the hard times, just as much as it could help celebrate the joy of it all.

The Heart of Compassionate Touch

This is a massage which is founded on a platform of compassionate touch. The only prerequisites are to to engage in meditation and a metta (loving kindness) practice. From there we learn techniques that come from the core where we use our whole body to give. This way, we get to take care of ourselves while helping our partner through a heavenly flow where the best of yoga meets massage.

The very definition of a great massage experience is that it needs to be at least as good to give as it is to receive. This turns the notion of balance into something much greater than can be measured on a scale. The kind of balance this beneficial practice brings is to help elevate one another. What that ends up producing between the two of us often leaves people speechless from how good it feels and what it means to connect on a whole other level. The idea that ‘we are one’ becomes an incredible and undeniable lived experience.

OK Go is a rock band that has made some of the most creative videos ever. In their song, The One Moment, they sing:

There is nothing more lovely, there’s nothing more profound, than the certainty that all of this will end. So open your arms to me, and this will be the one moment that matters, and this will be the one thing we remember, and this will be the reason to have been here and this will be the one moment that matters at all.”

To have the kind of exchange with another person where we experience that kind of depth and truth is priceless. It impacts us on all kinds of levels and that is the kind of quality that is available through compassionate touch.

Massage People You Care About

But you don’t have to be a professional to reach this kind of experience. The secret truth is that we are all already experts in touch. It’s the first sensation we use from the day we were born- to create a relationship with the present moment, with our loved ones, and the world that surrounds us. By the time we reach adolescence most of us may have forgotten its value and power, but that doesn’t mean that knowledge has gone anywhere. We can access it anytime we want.

In giving massage, we tap into the truth that through compassionate touch we are afforded direct access to safety, love, abundance and connectedness. It brings us into deep communion with each other and with ourselves in the healthiest of ways. Your partner on the receiving end gets to feel their stress and pain melt while you get a direct experience of bliss.

It is why, in all honesty I’m on a mission to share this knowledge with yogis, meditators, martial artists and really anyone on a spiritual path. It’s because the power of massage at home between loved ones is often overlooked as a way to help provide for a quality life, incredible happiness and support. It is a way to build a bridge and take the benefits of your practice and share it in a most profound way and to shift from the head to the heart; both giving and receiving.

Yet it is something that is totally accessible to anyone with an afternoon to spare to tap into your own natural ability to touch what this is all about. Giving this kind of touch isn’t tiring or hard work, it is a taste of freedom and universal love.

And if it speaks to you, then perhaps you’ll have discovered a new way to help you through some of life’s profound certainties.

——————–

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Shai Plonski.  Born and raised in Montreal Canada, Shai is the bestselling author of ‘Compassionate Touch: Giving Massage for Optimal Health, Thriving Relationships & Spiritual Awakening’. Shai has taught Thai Massage to more than 3300 people on three continents for the past 15 years and is the founder of the Still Light Centre. Shai loves educating people on how giving massage is a life-changing choice and sharing how simple and easy it is to do. Visit www.stillightcentre.com to learn more.

 

 

from Daily Cup of Yoga http://dailycupofyoga.com/2017/09/24/the-power-of-giving-compassionate-touch/
via Holistic Clients

OMG! Introducing HGG STRONG

Today is one of those whirlwind of a days where your team has put countless hours, time, and passion into a giant project and it’s FINALLY LIVE! What’s even better, is I am with team HGC today in Denver celebrating! Without further adieu, I’d love to introduce you to Healthy Glow Co’s new fitness plan–...

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The post OMG! Introducing HGG STRONG appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.

from Fit Foodie Finds http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2017/09/omg-introducing-hgg-strong/
via Holistic Clients

How the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ influenced a generation of men: Billie Jean King’s TEDWomen update

Billie Jean King: “Bobby Riggs — he was the former number one player, he wasn’t just some hacker. He was one of my heroes and I admired him. And that’s the reason I beat him, actually, because I respected him.” She spoke with Pat Mitchell at TEDWomen2015. Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

Forty-three years ago this week, the number one tennis star in the world, 29-year-old Billie Jean King, agreed to take on 55-year-old Bobby Riggs, in a match dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes.” The prize was $100,000 — which compared with today’s million-dollar-winning pots wasn’t much — but it was the first time that women and men were offered the same amount of prize money for victory.

The exhibition match, which admittedly was more notable at the time for its spectacle and outrageousness — Billie Jean King entered the Houston Astrodome on a feathery litter carried by shirtless men, for instance — was the most watched tennis match ever, with an estimated worldwide television audience of 90 million people. If you are old enough to remember it, you probably watched it.

Billie Jean King won in straight sets: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

This weekend, a new movie based on the true story starring Emma Stone as Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs hits theaters. With the election of Donald Trump — and all the sexism and misogyny that the 2016 election entailed just behind us — the story is sadly relevant today. As Lynn Sherr wrote in her review of the movie today at BillMoyers.com, “It’s all frustratingly familiar, but this time, the over-the-hill clown won.”

I interviewed Billie Jean King at TEDWomen in 2015 about her tennis career and lifelong fight for gender parity in sports and in the workplace. She talked about the match with Riggs and the intense pressure she felt on every stroke to win for women. She recalled, “I thought, ‘If I lose, it’s going to put women back 50 years, at least.’”

After she won, many women told her that her victory empowered them to finally get up the nerve to ask for a raise at work. “Some women had waited 10, 15 years to ask. I said, ‘More importantly, did you get it?’” (They did.)

As for men, the reaction was delayed. Many years later, she came to realize that the match had made an impact on the generation of men who were children at the time – an impact that they themselves didn’t realize until they were older. She told me, “Most times, the men are the ones who have tears in their eyes, it’s very interesting.” They say, ‘Billie, I was very young when I saw that match, and now I have a daughter. And I am so happy I saw that as a young man.’”

One of those young men was President Obama.

He said: “You don’t realize it, but I saw that match at 12. And now I have two daughters, and it has made a difference in how I raise them.”

Watch my interview with Billie Jean King if you haven’t seen it:

A common refrain of those working to improve diversity and representation in media is that if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. And that’s true in sports, government and in the workplace as well. If leaders don’t represent the diversity of our globalizing world, fresh ideas, diverse talent and an inclusive society can’t flourish. Through the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, King works to level the playing field for all people of all backgrounds so that everyone can “achieve their maximum potential and contribute to building a better society for all.” (Full disclosure: I am a member of the BJKLI advisory council.)

Emma Stone told USA Today earlier this month, she’s proud to play a part in showing some of King’s story to a younger audience. “The nice thing about doing a film like this,” she said, “is that there’s a whole generation of people who weren’t born before the Battle of the Sexes who are going to learn about this incredible period in history and all the things that have come since, so I’m grateful for that.”

“It wasn’t about tennis,” says King. “It was about history and social change.”

TEDWomen 2017 happens November 1–3 in New Orleans, and you’re invited. Learn more!

Billie Jean King: “I started thinking about my sport and how everybody who played wore white shoes, white clothes, played with white balls — everybody who played was white. And I said to myself, at 12 years old, “Where is everyone else?” And that just kept sticking in my brain. And that moment, I promised myself I’d fight for equal rights and opportunities for boys and girls, men and women, the rest of my life.” Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

from TED Blog http://blog.ted.com/how-the-battle-of-the-sexes-influenced-a-generation-of-men-billie-jean-kings-tedwomen-update/
via Sol Danmeri

Cassini’s final dive, and more news from TED speakers

As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights.

Farewell to Cassini — and here’s to the continuing search for life beyond Earth. In mid-August, PBS released a digital short featuring Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist and the leader of the imaging team for the Cassini mission to Saturn. In the short, Porco discusses what is required for life to exist on a planet, and how Saturn’s moon Enceladus seems a promising place to look for life outside Earth. This coincides with Cassini’s final dive on September 15, 2017. After 20 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft ended its seven-year observation of Saturn by diving into its atmosphere, where it burned and disintegrated. (Watch Porco’s TED Talk)

How old is zero really? The Bakshali manuscript is a 70-page birch bark manuscript thought to have been used by merchants in India to practice arithmetic. Notably, it contains the number zero, represented by a small dot. After carbon-dating the manuscript, scientists from the University of Oxford, including mathematics professor Marcus du Sautoy, determined that the manuscript likely dates from 200–400 A.D., much earlier than previously thought. If the carbon dating is correct, Bakshali may be the first known usage of zero as a symbol for nothing. (Watch du Sautoy’s TED Talk)

The power of taking time off. In 2009, Stefan Sagmeister took the TED stage by storm as he shared his vision of time off. In his talk, he explains that every seven years, he embarks on a sabbatical year to recharge, be creative, and feel inspired. Fast forward to 2017, and Neil Pasricha teamed up with the CEO of SimpliFlying, a global aviation strategy firm, to test Sagmeister’s approach within the company. Instead of every seven years, employees took vacation every seven weeks. Despite a few pain points, workers’ creativity, productivity and happiness increased, and the firm’s economic performance improved, Pasricha reports in the Harvard Business Review. It seems as though it pays to relax. (Watch Sagmeister’s TED Talk and Neil Pasricha’s TED Talk)

What’s wrong with US democracy — and how to fix it. In this time of divisive politics, Michael Porter and colleague Katherine Gehl released new research describing the causes of the U.S political system’s failure to serve the public interest. Their detailed report explains how the system changed over the years to benefit political parties and industry allies, and offers strategies for how we can reinvigorate our democracy. (Watch Michael Porter’s TED Talk)

The worst flag in North America gets a reboot. In Roman Mars’ TED Talk on awful city flag designs, he calls Pocatello, Idaho’s flag the worst in North America. The city’s residents didn’t stand for that; they called on local officials to create a new flag. In 2016, a flag design committee was formed, discussions were open to the public, and 709 submissions poured in. Mars even traveled to Pocatello to consult on the design process. Now, Pocatello’s flag has been transformed from what the North American Vexillological Association rated as the worst flag in North America into a flag that attempts to capture the beauty and history of Pocatello. (Watch Roman Mars’ TED Talk)  

Community Health Academy: Phase one. The news may be regularly alarming, but around the world, things are on an upward trajectory. At Goalkeepers, held September 19 and 20 in New York City, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation set out to celebrate the “quiet progress” being made toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Amid a speaker lineup that included Malala Yousafzai, Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama, 2017 TED Prize winner Raj Panjabi stepped up to share his vision for bringing health care to the billion people who lack it by empowering community health workers. He shared the latest on his TED Prize wish: the Community Health Academy. The project now has 15 partners and phase one, launching next year, will be a free, open-education platform for policy makers and nonprofit leaders interested in community health models. “We cannot achieve the Global Goals without investing in hiring, training and equipping community health workers,” said Panjabi. “We’re working to make sure community health workers are no longer an informal, unrecognized group but become a renowned, empowered profession like nurses and doctors.” (Watch Panjabi’s TED Talk)

Have a news item to share? Write us at contact@ted.com and you may see it included in this biweekly round-up.

Featured Image Credit: NASA.

 

 

from TED Blog http://blog.ted.com/cassinis-final-dive-and-more-news-from-ted-speakers/
via Sol Danmeri

Southern Sweet Potato Salad | Easy Vegan Soul Food {VIDEO}