"Crystal Bowl Meditation" Review

This weekend I was looking at a display in my local supplement store that carried relaxing music.  I was able to listen to "Crystal Bowl Meditation" (see link at the bottom of the post) that had Tibetan Singing Bowl music.  If you've never heard a Tibetan Singing Bowl, it's really unusual.  If done well, it has a very relaxing effect.

The singing bowls are like a musical instrument.  They are played by striking or rubbing the bowls with a striker.  They are used for meditation, clearing, chakra alignment, feng shui, spiritual workshops, and healing.

It is said that the tones of the bowls can be both heard and felt.  When you listen to a good recording with good headphones, it seems to be true.  Some tones make me feel uncomfortable, and others are very pleasant.  It seems like the bowls can really "speak" to you on a physical level, and a lot of research has been done on soundwaves and healing, so it wouldn't surprise me if the singing bowls actually can somehow help in healing.

The bowls can be made of metal or other materials, but a lot of New Agers really like the crystal bowls because they like the energy of the crystals.  I just think the crystal bowl tones sound nicer.  ;-)

On soundtracks, the sounds of the bowls are usually accompanied by other instruments to create music, especially with woodwind instruments.

Normally I don't care for most singing bowl CD's, because often the musician feels the need to put in distracting or startling sounds.  For me, I'm mostly using this music to relax, so annoying percussion music or other distracting noises only serve to irritate me. But this wasn't the case with this CD.  The Crystal Bowl Meditation music was much more enjoyable and relaxing.  There were two tracks that I didn't care as much for, because it featured someone blowing into a woodwind instrument without making a tone...it sounded like someone blowing into a bottle as the bottle was being filled with water.  I found that irritating.  But other than that, the music was really nice.

There was something about the tones that I found really relaxing and yet...somehow...I don't know...interesting?  Hard to explain, but I can see how someone would find this music perfect for meditation.

Here are a couple of links: one to a beautiful (and pricey--eek!) set of bowls, and another link for the Crystal Bowl Meditation CD. I'll have to settle for the CD, myself!  :-p

Food Inc. Review

Oh. My. Gosh.

If you haven't seen Food, Inc., you need to buy it, rent it, borrow it, whatever it takes.  I'd heard sooooo many people say how good and how important this documentary is, but I just couldn't justify the $25 to buy it.

I was an idiot.

Seriously, this will change the way you look at food and at your family's health.  I was already into eating healthy.  And I'm pretty well-informed about the food industry.  However, they put it into such a neat little package, that I think it's really easy for anyone to follow and really "get it."

They condensed an amazing amount of information into it, and kept it interesting.  And I have to say that I'm impressed with the quality of the graphics they used, particularly with the opening credits.  It's not a blockbuster or anything, but I felt the quality of it was a step above the typical documentary.

One thing that will really impact you is how our food industry treats animals and the planet.  I do not consider myself an environmentalist or animal activist by any means, but I do believe that God gave us the animals and the planet to sustain us, but with that sustenance comes responsibility.  Plus, to be frank, you just don't poop in your nest.  Meaning that if we want the animals and plants to sustain us, we need to sustain them.

Don't worry, there aren't any overly graphic scenes, a la PETA undercover videos.  The producers did an excellent job of walking the fine line between lifting the veil on the inhumane treatment these animals get, without going to the extremes of grossing people out and making them tune out.  It was just sad, really.  My heart ached for those poor creatures.  And the workers aren't treated much better. 

For me, it was really an eye opener, because I've gotten really lazy with my eating lately. One thing I've learned is that the healthier you eat (at least in my case), the harder you fall "off the wagon".  Then it becomes REALLY hard to get back on.  This movie was just the push I needed, to remind me how bad the SAD (Standard American Diet) way of eating is.  It's not really food, people.  It's chemically processed fake crap that will kill you.

Which explains why I've felt so cruddy lately.  Which I already knew.  But the film really brought it home for me.  I'm spending the next few days coming up with an affordable meal plan.  I am the absolute worst meal planner in the history of mankind.  Which means I spend too much on stuff I want (but don't need) and forget to buy what I do need...leading to waste.  Not to mention the convenience foods I eat when I'm not eating healthy.

So I will be doing a series of posts about eating healthy, what we can do to change the system, frugal recipes and menu plans, as well as addressing common complaints about why we think we "can't" eat healthy.

Please leave a comment with your suggestion of what your own complaints or challenges are to eating organic, local food, and I'll try to address them and/or come up with solutions. I'm also considering doing a one-time linky party for cheap, easy organic recipes.  Let me know if you'd be interested in that.

In the meantime, buy this movie!  Or at least rent it.  I rented it, but it's so important that I feel I really need to buy it now, to be able to watch it on occasion when I need a kick in the pants!

Borders and Barnes and Noble stores usually carry it, and I think Netflix does.  I also believe you can rent it off of iTunes.

Please Note:  One of the links below is a regular DVD, one is a BLU-RAY, and one is the paperback book that followed the movie.  Be sure you're choosing the right one.
   

Old Post # 11: Book Review: Living on Live Food

This post is the eleventh in a series of posts taken from one of my old blogs.  It is a review of a book I still own and use to this day.
 

Living on Live Foods - originally posted July 22, 2007

This week I finally found Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book at my local raw food restaurant.


This book has it all. Most raw books I've bought or seen are little more than recipe books with a couple of chapters of very basic information about the raw food diet in the beginning. Alissa's book has very good information about the science behind the diet (but in a concise, easy-to-read format), the hows and whys, the benefits, success stories, before and after pictures, and much more. Plus all the recipes, which look really good. I'm really enjoying reading this book.


There are two negatives to the book, however. First is it's price. At first, I didn't mind the $30 price tag because it is a very large, high quality book. The pictures are great, the pages are glossy, and the layout keeps the reader's attention. But after reading the book, I realized quickly that this book didn't NEED to be so big...which brings me to negative point number two: the size.


This book is HUGE. It is very heavy. I feel like I'm carrying around a dictionary. It doesn't make for easy transporting. The easiest way to read it is to lie it flat on a table, or possibly in your lap, if you don't mind the weight. Laying on your side in bed is impossible...it is forever sliding off the bed, or slipping out of your hands. I dropped it spine-first onto the side of my foot while sitting in bed--a six inch drop--and it HURT!! Really hurt!


Also, the words on each page are in narrow columns, with one column per page. Only half of each page is used. Then, each chapter uses one whole page just to display the chapter number on it. And many of the chapters have less than one page to them...and remember, only half of each page is used! While this does make for an easy-to-read format, it goes too far. I think the book easily could have been condensed into a smaller, easier to carry book without sacrificing quality or readability.


I do like the heavy, glossy pages, as I think this will be a book I will read and use often, especially in the kitchen. But when so many people in the raw food movement are environmentally conscious, the amount of wasted space in this book seems to be a bad business decision. I think the size and weight of the book could be reduced enough to lower the price to $25 , which would make the book easier to sell to people on a limited budget.


All that being said, I'm still glad I bought it. I'm sure it will prove very useful. There is also a companion DVD available on Alissa's website. The price of that seems extremely high to me...$29.95! There is a discount if you buy the book with it, but again, people like me might not be likely to buy such an expensive DVD without reading the book first to see if they like Alissa's style. But having read half the book so far, I would like to check out the DVD someday, when I can afford it.


Alissa carries other products on her site, such as raw food items and appliances. Be sure to price shop, though. I think a lot of her prices seem to be okay, and she's running a really great special on the Vita-Mix right now. Her raw food forum is a great resource as well.


I haven't finished the book yet or tried any recipes, but based on the first half of the book, I'd give it at least four stars, maybe five. Definitely a great introductory book for those wanting to go raw.

UPDATE:  Some of her recipes I really like, and others I don't.  But the info and the before and afters you simply must read.  One great recipe is the regular salsa.  It's really good--even my husband likes it, and he hates fresh tomatoes.  The one thing is that the garlic is super strong to me.  Since the garlic is raw, you should keep that in mind when it's called for in recipes, and consider cutting it in half.  Or try elephant garlic, it's very mild.


 
 Note:  The first link pic is the book, the second is the DVD, and the third is another book of Alissa's.

I've Lost My Mind

Yesterday I went for my second run.  I don't know if it was my new sneakers, or the fact that I was too lazy to warm up (I know, I know, don't beat me up for it), but I was hurting as soon as I came back.  I bought Asics Kayano Gel running shoes in red.  I'm not crazy about them so far.

I know they were hurting my feet when I was standing around in them.  I don't know why, they just were.  Walking in them was fine, and running felt okay, except that I was noticing some pain in my shins.  Again, it could be the lack of a warm up.  I'm going to give them one more chance.  I hope they're okay.  They were expensive, to me, even at 50% off.

On the bright side, I actually went out walking even though I was tired, sore and REALLY didn't want to.  I had already decided not to go.  Instead, I put on those military cadence songs to motivate me, and managed to scrape up enough motivation to get out there and do 2 miles (which is all I should be doing at this point).  I was shocked to find out yesterday that a 5k race is 3.1 miles...exactly what I did my first time out the other day.   Wow!

I figure if I can do a 5k here on the mountain, I can easily do a 5k race in town on a flat surface.  There are a couple of 5k races in a month or two, and I think I will be in good enough shape to run them, or at least do half walking, half running. 

For those of you out there who haven't exercised in years (or ever), I would really encourage you to think about doing it.  I know when you're morbidly obese, just the idea of doing your daily duties can be overwhelming.  I never wanted to exercise before.  Even now, it does take effort...but not nearly as much effort as it used to.  Once I started drinking green smoothies once or twice a day, that started to change.  My energy and motivation went way up.

So just give green smoothies a try, and contemplate the possibility of starting some kind of physical activity.  I think you'll be surprised at what happens.  One reader commented that it sounded like I was losing my mind (but in a good way).  LOL.  I suppose it might sound that way.  At least, I've lost my old mind...the one that said "I can't, it's too hard, I'm too fat, nothing will ever change."  That mind is rapidly fading into the distance.  My new mind is the one that says "I can, I will, I am the master of my own destiny, everything WILL change because I deserve better, and I can do it!"



Losing your mind doesn't sound so bad now, does it?




 Update:  The Asics were awful.  I hurt myself running in them.  (Partially my fault...I should have eased myself into running, especially at my weight.)  They felt awful even just standing in them, after a while, before I tried running.  Now I know why...feet aren't meant to be cushioned and coddled.  God designed our feet well!  Now I wear Vibram Five Finger shoes, and I love them. I read about a lot of people who had problems caused by shoes, no matter what they tried, which eventually was rectified by wearing Vibram Five Fingers. Haven't run in them yet, but tons of people do, including marathoners!  They look a little weird, but are so comfortable once you get used to them, because they mimic the feeling of bare feet...except you're protected from glass and dog poop, LOL.

A lot of people use them barefoot, but I prefer to wear the Injinji toe socks with them.

Consider getting the FLOW for colder weather,

or the KSO to "Keep Stuff Out", like sand.

I have the Women's sprint:  (in black)