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nature Tag

Mind KEY / Posts tagged "nature"
Overcoming vulnerability through art and finding your happiness

Creativity: The Art of Happy

By Amanda Hollenbeck Vulnerability is not a feeling people tend to view positively. Typically, vulnerability is related to the pain after a heartbreak, the tears after a death, or to the shame after a failure. Overcoming vulnerability tends to become a focus on the end result, rather than the journey. However, it’s impossible to find happiness without being vulnerable enough to take chances to create that happiness.   The consequences of numbing vulnerability In her 2012 TEDx talk in Houston, Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, states that people attempt to numb vulnerability because it has been largely tied to this idea of pain, of being in debt, of having obesity, of being addicted, or of being heavily medicated. Completely omitting...

Aromatherapy and Essential Oils 101

    As I focus on my meditation practice and always look for new tools to engage in a deeper, more spiritual awareness, I find aromatherapy to be an essential instrument to my practice and overall daily living.  But with so many brands, schools of thought, and opinions, how do we discern the true meaning and benefits of aromatherapy?  Being new to aromatherapy, I’ve reached out to our Mind Key member Danielle Rose, whose expertise in aromatherapy and essential oils provides valuable information. The first question I asked her, and possibly the most important question when learning about essential oils, is what are they exactly?  Additionally, how do you know we’re buying pure and authentic products? Danielle explains that essential oils are derived through distillation of plant material--usually the...

The power of simple words, images, and art: Ava M. Hu in Yin and Yang

Photography by JoAnna SchillaciYin and Yang poet, Ava M. Hu, is an artist and poet currently residing in NYC.  She designs her own clothing line called avalove with a shop in Artists & Fleas in Chelsea Market, NYC. She creates one poem, one metaphor at a time. Ava received the Amy Award from Poets & Writers magazine as best woman poet under 30 in NYC, and Jane Hirshfield picked her poem, Varanasi, as first place for the America's Review Poetry contest.Ava M. HuShe has submitted a number of simple poems for inclusion in Yin and Yang: The Duality of Balance.  Ava's word choice is exquisite, eliciting raw, and often nostalgic emotion from a few short lines of descriptive language. She does this in all her pieces, whether...

Nature reaches to the Cosmos with Elisabeth Ladwig in “Yin and Yang”

"In Dryad of Death And Rebirth, the photo captures yin," Sarah said. "Though her roots are decaying in the earth, without that death, new life cannot grow.Hailing from the mountains of West Milford, New Jersey, Elisabeth Ladwig, an award-winning conceptional photographer and artist believes "that life’s mysteries fall within the parameters of scientific explanation, that science abides by the Laws of Nature, and that nature is magical."This belief is conveyed through her digitally composed photography, each piece with elements of nature and with an anonymous subject, offering a variety of metaphors for the miracles all around us, and for humankind’s relationship with the Earth and with the Cosmos.“Anonymity allows the viewer to take part in writing the story,” Elisabeth says, “and that story is going...

The Spirit Deer

​In early summer of this year, I popped my shamanic drum circle cherry. I had an idea of what to expect, but the actual experience differed greatly from my expectations. Thanks to fellow Mind Key members Vera Remes, Reiki Ruth, and Danielle Rose, I now have a hunger for shamanic journeying and working with spirit or totem animals. ​Somewhat deep in the woods of Ringwood, NJ, a group a seekers and I came together around a lush fire with drums, shakers, Smores, and hot dogs. Before this meeting, I had not spent much time in the woods, and I hated realizing what I had missed. Spiritually consuming nature is a necessity to true connectedness, no matter where you are mentally or emotionally. The most anticipated event at this drum circle,...

In a Nutshell: Faeries- Our Magical and Spiritual Companions

There’s something magical around us and we experience it every time we observe a sunset or walk through an open field carpeted with dew-kissed grass. This week, writer Danielle Rose beautifully brings to light the mystery of that magic:  Faeries.  As May 1st approaches, Danielle finds it appropriate to talk about Beltane, or May Day, one of the photography by Kely Luzio-Cardonafaeries primary holidays.  In Faeries for Beltane she explains what the term Faerie means by re-introducing two previously published articles.   She explains, “[Faeries] embody the magic behind the science of things. They are the reason the flowers bloom, the snow glistens, and the waves crash upon the sand. ”    Danielle also includes another fresh take on faeries. Artist and tattooist Scarlet Sinclair says, “To me ‘faerie’...

What the faeries think of us

Photography by Kely Luzio-Cardonawhat is a faerie, and why not call them fairies? Learn more HERE  There are many beliefs on who the faeries are and how they view humanity at large.  What is their role in this world, and what is their role in our lives? Faeries are in large part energy, but they also live in part in our world, on Earth.  In fact, they cannot live without Earth, and it is their duty and their purpose to keep earth spinning.They also believe it is our purpose in living here - to work with them to keep the world turning, to keep it happy and healthy for it is our mother and our child in turn.  Shame on us, they say, for not...

In a Nutshell: Connection

This week our bloggers spoke on connection and what it means to them to be connected.  Mind Key IS connection - a way for people of all walks of life to find their personal path to health and enlightenment.  As a community we bring together the resources and support to make that happen.As member Dr. Kevin Hall of Do Well Be Well says in Connected through Community, “I think that we are all affected by everyone that we meet and interact with, and that sometimes they mold or reshape our way of understanding things."In large part this happens because no matter who we are or where we live we all have common experiences as human beings. These experiences are what gives teachers...

Nature Connectedness

Photo by Helminadia RandfordThe history of humankind is impossible to understand, or even validate, without acknowledging the evolution of man in the natural settings.  Since the beginning of time our ancestors relied on nature to provide them with physical sustainability, spiritual awareness and a holistic connection. The direct connection which humans and nature have shared for centuries can’t be ignored, but should help us reevaluate the benefits of it while living in a world so embedded in technology. The modern world has been enriched by the technological advancement of global connectivity, managing to connect billions of people around the world with the simple click of a button.  This process, which enables us to view a virtual tour of the Grand Canyon while chatting on Skype...

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