Trella's PicksThe following Posts are authored by varoius people (including myself) with the common thread being that they all had something powerful, supportive, inspiring and healing to say. Archives
May 2020
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Sugar is 4 times more addictive than cocaine. Yes, FOUR TIMES more addictive. ![]() Sugar is 4 times more addictive than cocaine. And even looking at numbers conservatively sugar kills many more people than tobacco on a yearly basis. (See here for more.) Tobacco is regulated. Sugar is not. It expands on this topic and is an interesting read. "Imagine pouring a 5-pound bag of sugar down your throat … new research shows that this is how much sugar each American man, woman, and child gets each month — and most of it doesn’t come from the sugar bowl.” – Opening chapter from “The Sugar Solution.” Now, re-read that statement. Here are the key words: - 5 Pounds of Sugar Consumed - On Average By Every American Man, Woman & Child - EACH MONTH! I have personally changed huge problems with food and most recently sugar addiction (Underneath my sugar addiction was a deep belief of unlovability so the addiction was used as a way to hide and distract that "fact" from myself and especially others.) So far I have lost 70 pounds but more importantly I have lost the WHY I was making myself an extra 70 pounds. In March I am offering HALF OFF Understanding, Breaking & Replacing Addiction Sessions Here is another article that's gets into the science of sugar addiction and its impacts on the body. Should Sugar Be Regulated Like a Drug? By Bonnie Rochman, Time Magazine Sugar poses enough health risks that it should be considered a controlled substance just like alcohol and tobacco, contend a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In an opinion piece called “The Toxic Truth About Sugar” that was published Feb. 1 in the journal Nature, Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis argue that it’s a misnomer to consider sugar just “empty calories.” They write: “There is nothing empty about these calories. A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases. A little is not a problem, but a lot kills — slowly.” Almost everyone’s heard of — or personally experienced — the proverbial sugar high, so perhaps the comparison between sugar and alcohol or tobacco shouldn’t come as a surprise. But it’s doubtful that Americans will look favorably upon regulating their favorite vice. We’re a nation that’s sweet on sugar: the average U.S. adult downs 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to the American Heart Association, and surveys have found that teens swallow 34 teaspoons. To counter our consumption, the authors advocate taxing sugary foods and controlling sales to kids under 17. Already, 17% of U.S. children and teens are obese, and across the world the sugar intake has tripled in the past 50 years. The increase has helped create a global obesity pandemic that contributes to 35 million annual deaths worldwide from noninfectious diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. “There are good calories and bad calories, just as there are good fats and bad fats, good amino acids and bad amino acids, good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates,” Lustig, a professor of pediatrics and director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) program at UCSF, said in a statement. “But sugar is toxic beyond its calories.” The food industry tries to imply that “a calorie is a calorie,” says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. “But this and other research suggests there is something different about sugar,” says Brownell. The UCSF report emphasizes the metabolic effects of sugar. Excess sugar can alter metabolism, raise blood pressure, skew the signaling of hormones and damage the liver — outcomes that sound suspiciously similar to what can happen after a person drinks too much alcohol. Schmidt, co-chair of UCSF’s Community Engagement and Health Policy program, noted on CNN: “When you think about it, this actually makes a lot of sense. Alcohol, after all, is simply the distillation of sugar. Where does vodka come from? Sugar.” But there are also other areas of impact that researchers have investigated: the effect of sugar on the brain and how liquid calories are interpreted differently by the body than solids. Research has suggested that sugar activates the same reward pathways in the brain as traditional drugs of abuse like morphine or heroin. No one is claiming the effect of sugar is quite that potent, but, says Brownell, “it helps confirm what people tell you anecdotally, that they crave sugar and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating it.” There’s also something particularly insidious about sugary beverages. “When calories come in liquids, the body doesn’t feel as full,” says Brownell. “People are getting more of their calories than ever before from sugared beverages.” Other countries, including France, Greece and Denmark, levy soda taxes, and the concept is being considered in at least 20 U.S. cities and states. Last summer, Philadelphia came close to passing a 2-cents-per-ounce soda tax. The Rudd Center has been a vocal proponent of a more modest 1-cent-per-ounce tax. But at least one study, from 2010, has raised doubts that soda taxes would result in significant weight loss: apparently people who are determined to eat — and drink — unhealthily will find ways to do it. Ultimately, regulating sugar will prove particularly tricky because it transcends health concerns; sugar, for so many people, is love. A plate of cut-up celery just doesn’t pack the same emotional punch as a tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which is why I took my daughter for a cake pop and not an apple as an after-school treat today. We don’t do that regularly — it’s the first time this school year, actually — and that’s what made it special. As a society, could we ever reach the point where we’d think apples — not cake on a stick — are something to get excited over? Says Brindis, one of the report’s authors and director of UCSF’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies: “We recognize that there are cultural and celebratory aspects of sugar. Changing these patterns is very complicated.” For inroads to be made, say the authors in their statement, people have to be better educated about the hazards of sugar and agree that something’s got to change: Many of the interventions that have reduced alcohol and tobacco consumption can be models for addressing the sugar problem, such as levying special sales taxes, controlling access, and tightening licensing requirements on vending machines and snack bars that sell high sugar products in schools and workplaces. “We’re not talking prohibition,” Schmidt said. “We’re not advocating a major imposition of the government into people’s lives. We’re talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient, thereby moving people away from the concentrated dose. What we want is to actually increase people’s choices by making foods that aren’t loaded with sugar comparatively easier and cheaper to get.” Source: Food Matters
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Love is the Ultimate Self-Responsibility10/18/2010 Love is the Ultimate Self-Responsibility.
My Tahitian Music Master Teacher , “It is the drums, the music that is the heart of the dance. That is why you must not let your mind wander, you must be disciplined, you must embody the rhythm through practice. The music directs the flow of the dancers. If it is off or inconsistent it disrupts everything. It is an awesome responsibility but it is what it is.” Physiologically the heart is the largest single electro-magnetic pulse throughout the body. It is the drum beat to which the self: the body, the mind, the emotions, the spirit are either in symphony or not. It is indeed a huge responsibility to bare, for it means to know oneself and to love that, to accept oneself and to live according to that. No more lies or competition, just truth and genuine expression of self. It takes ownership of your inherent free-will and the choices you have made up to the present moment. The self-responsibility is great but the outcome is joy and wisdom. -Trella “Aaa eeh tde oa raaa eeh. Eeh Eeh, Awaay, way.”
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Everything that is today could not be if it were not for that which was before.
Sometimes there is the wish that we could have done something different or better than what occurred. Well if you had believed differently, then you would have been different. You are always doing the best you can do in any given moment. Once you are aware of something then you are responsible enough/strong enough/capable enough to do it. So don’t beat yourself up over that which is past that you didn’t have the capacity for then. -Trella
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A Truth of This Universe:
If you have the body (i.e. you're embodied) You are THE Owner. Sounds simple but there is a lot of darker energies and other folks who can play off your beliefs of doubt or worthlessness or lack of self love and end up taking up your energy/space/manipulating your beliefs to feed off of. You have the right to throw everyone/thing out. Any resistance to owning your space/reality is key for you to understand for your next step for growth. -Trella
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Here my observation on being/becoming "awake" and "aware": it means that you are now strong enough to take self-responsibility and make choices. It does not mean you are without your issues, lessons or "baggage". You're just able now to choose other than the automatic pilot of before.
I have come across folks who think that it is a grander thing to be awake and aware or that their way of processing or methods of self-awareness are somehow special, so to speak. Argh! I don't agree with that personally. I think that some folks don't need a spiritual practice to have self-awareness and some do. And whatever method to ending your madness works then that is the right method... for you. Awareness is a possibility for freedom from the traps of programming, stories, past-lives, etc. that may be limiting you in your choices for the present moment. So be aware and be awake, just consider that it is your right of passage and not a spiritual superiority club card or an instant pass to "I'm done with myself, so what about you?".
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Compassion and the Illusion of Responsibility
Compassion sure does get thrown around in the Personal Growth, spiritual and religious venues a whole lot. Don’t mean to say that those not playing in those areas are not exploring compassion too but you know what I mean. I have been in quandary and confused about it because for myself there has been a lot of beliefs around service that have become servitude as well as inappropriate responsibility for others (i.e. pity, help that is not asked for, expectation that my support is appreciated, etc.) and expectations for responsibility for me. Been doing a lot of things in my life (and waaaaay many past-lives for that matter) based on the expectation of what it would create “out there” or what would I get from others. A ripe recipe for getting out of authenticity and getting into resentment is really the brass tacks of the matter here. I have, as a soul, spent considerable effort, energy and execution towards compassion and trying to explore its wisdom for myself. Thus in this lifetime, I have ended up unconsciously taking on others lessons, less-than-desirable energies, un-processed information, as well as giving away my own energy, healing, awareness, work, capabilities, information and other little things like oh … self-respect along the way. Great. This compassion thing like sucks. But what!?! Not strive for compassion?!? It’s what some of the spiritual elite would have work towards on your path to enlightenment. Hmmm how is it that compassion for others is true? I have not formally studied the subject so maybe they know something about it I have missed. Well I started back with the basics. I looked up compassion in the dictionary:noun com·pas·sion 1. a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. I.e. Pity and Responsibility in a nut shell. Well folks I think that pity is a pretty massive and invalidating judgment. I am coming from the thought that God/Supreme Being/Source/That Special ‘Je ne sais quoi’ is not in a hurry for the “completion” of our development so we get more than a few tries at embodying and experiencing. As that premise is the case, any path is valid. And how can you judge another because honestly you don’t know what their path is, hell I am hoping to get my own figured out. And how can you really take responsibility for another? Or how can another be expected to take responsibility for you? With the premise of free will we can only truly take responsibility for ourselves. No more and no less (Please don’t understand me to be lumping kids, pet parakeets, etc. into this concept as I am not. Those and other examples of appropriate responsibility are a whole other matter.). So back to compassion being a combo of pity and responsibility. Not what I really want to order on the blue plate special. Which begs the question then what is something to strive for with compassion? What is it about compassion that is relevant to a present time interpretation of the concept? I think that understanding, empathizing and accepting are a better starting place for an updated definition for compassion. This idea means that there is room for self-compassion as well as compassion for others. And thus a space for balance opens up. Also there is a place and a space for being who you are, really really…. like as Shrek-ish or whatever you are in this time and place. To be really seen and accepted is a great gift. The next step that affords is the freedom of choice to be great. If you are fundamentally acceptable right now (not like in 3 weeks after you have lost 7 more pounds) but RIGHT NOW, then your personal self is acceptable. The whole “I’m ok. You’re ok.” thing. That gives you and others this incredible permission to be. And when you, can with every fiber of your being know that you are valid, then literally the sky becomes the limit has to how you can choose to express that self and/or change. So responsibility for others coming from a place of joy or inspiration or genuine self-expression now can have the freedom to blossom but like a Haiku poem it is given boundaries and structure for always making it relevant to honest self-responsibility. We are still the captains of our own ships, even if we gave them away. The illusion is that we can captain someone else into what they should/could be, know or do whether from a story of victim or perpetrator, giver or receiver. No I think. Instead I will play with inviting folks to hear my thoughts for my own enjoyment and better understanding for myself. If that creates support, inspiration, ideas or even the alleviation of suffering of another then what awesome fringe benefits. Sincerely a muse-ing you, Trella
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A new friend of mine who dotes a little on me feels great and nuturing - he was also my mommy in a past-life (very capable multi-tasking loving frontier single women). Sure is fun and downright affirming to look at past lives you share with someone in the present when they are pleasant.
I have been spending soooo much time as I would guess most folks who can do this or at least who access those like myself who can do this looking at the bad shit past lives as a means of awareness and release to create greater freedom to be who and what I am now. - You know its about investigating all those relationships and situations that dont work to understand why I choose them in the first place. Really drags on ya to always be looking at another spiritual/healer servitude past lifetime or abuse or whatever that isnt so swell to look at. Ultimately Martyr past-lives are all about a really low permission for self-acceptance/the ability to have for yourself. Also anyone playing the Spiritual superiority game ultimately has to deal with the flip side of the coin too - being treated as Inferior (from yourself and others). As I have been cleaning up those energies and others, I have started to be able to have and attrack those experiences that are more supportive, loving a serve toward a positive experience in the body of moving towards my highest and greatest potential. And its not just about more positive relationships I notice that they are more adult. Meaning less co-dependence and other dynamics that translate into behaviors that are needy instead instead of supportive or manipulative instead of direct/honest, for example. The more I am know I can do for myself (doesnt mean perfect or complete but just can manage for myself) the more that the old shenanegans at whatever level are necessary. Its
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The Four Agreements - don Miguel Ruiz3/17/2008 The book is amazing and below is a brief summary. This is incredibly simple, powerful and tough - but what isn't worth our own happiness?
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Prayers & Exercises for Protection and Healing from Psychic Attack/Influence/Control
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"Why People Don't Heal" - Caroline Myss3/11/2008 The key to healing is forgiveness. There is nothing logical or orderly about healing. There is nothing logical about forgiveness but you have to do it. You will never want to forgive, but after you have done it, it is the greatest gift you can give yourself and afterwards it will have seemed so easy. |