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The Handstand

The handstand pose is often considered an ego based pose in yoga, however it has been explained that the handstand pose is not at all about ego, rather the headstands (and many inversions) are about overcoming your fears (falling, failing, hurting yourself) and having faith (staying focused, controlling your body, believing in yourself). So what for many starts as an interest in learning a new physical skill can turn into so much more. And you know the experience of focusing on overcoming the fear through faith tends to be a pretty good lesson for life – drop the ego and it is easier to stay balanced in life. You see when you drop the ego, you can face your fears and overcome them with faith in yourself to create a more balanced life, a more concious life.

I was able to learn this paradigm firsthand this weekend during a yoga handstand workout. So the lasts few days have involved me asking if what I am doing is ego based and if it is, what can I do to overcome the fear that created the ego?


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There’s an (green) App for that…

Many of our conscious readers also happen to be iPhone users. If you have an iPhone and are interested in being green, there’s certainly an app for that! Here are a few of our favorites:

GoodGuide, free on iTunes, helps you find safe, healthy and sustainable products, while you shop. Simply scan the barcode of the product and immediately see details ratings for health, environment and social responsibility for more than 65,000 products and companies. GoodGuide provides this information about personal care, household chemical, toy, and food products. GoodGuide’s goal is to help people shop smarter and motivate companies to offer even better products.

Green Genie, $.99 on iTunes, offers more than 100 green projects and tips telling you the environmental benefits and how much money each will save you. The app includes a breakdown of certified green products, links to green websites, an explanation of the different kinds of plastics and their recyclability, list of green organizations, and more.

Green Outlet, $2.99 on iTunes, helps you identify which of your household appliances are costing you the most to run, so you can make informed decision about your electric use. By selecting the types of appliances you use in your home and estimating how many hours of use per day for each, green outlet will predict what your electric bill will be for the month.


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Conscious Quote – Stay the course

“Ninety percent of those who fail are not acctually defeated. They simply quit.”

– Paul J. Meyer, Founder The Success Motivation Institute


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Once in a Lifetime Moment

At exactly 06 minutes and 07 seconds after 5 o’clock August 9th of this year, it will be 05:06:07 08/09/10, this will not happen again till year 3010. Have a good 5-6-7-8-9-10 moment!

If you missed it this AM, you can always catch this moment again in the PM.

Life is full of “moments” that once they pass you by you will never get a chance to experience them again. It is only in missing these “moments” will you experience regret, so to that I say – CARPE DIEM!


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Reality Check

What do Orange County, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey and Washington DC have in common? Each is home to Bravo’s “Housewives” television series, centered around the lives of Housewives, their families and their day-to-day activities. The Housewives have captured the focus of America. In fact, the recent finale of “Housewives of New Jersey” was the highest-rated season finale for the network’s entire “Housewives” franchise.

Why is it these Housewives have captured the attention of millions? Most live arguably dysfunctional lives. They certainly are not role models. Hour after hour, week after week, millions spend their precious time watching other people’s “reality”, when they could be focusing on improving their own lives.

Kathy Welch said, “We all have the same 24 hours in a day. The difference lies within how we use those 24 hours”.

Just one hour per day would add up to 21,840 minutes per year. Think of positive impact you could create in your life if you spent just one hour a day on self-improvement activities. You could challenge yourself to meet new people, read new books, learn new skills.

While the “Housewives” franchise triggered me to come to this “reality check”, I am not suggesting everyone stop watching the show. Maybe you truly watch for entertainment. Maybe the dysfunctional lives of the Housewives help you escape the challenges in your life. I am however suggesting you be more mindful of the regular activities in your life and challenge yourself to leverage your precious time for activities that could improve your life.

What regular activities in your life have you replaced, in efforts to improve and better yourself?

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