Top 5 Ways to Combat Sadness

Life is so unpredictable and most of the time things happen against us.This is an article by Jeff Cohen to overcome our sadness and help ourselves to lead a better life.

One moment your face is beaming with a ray of happiness and then the next day you suddenly feel weak, with low energy, and unable to accomplish anything. If you are experiencing the latter, then you are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Long ago, the feeling of sadness was closely associated with changing seasons. The transition from summer to winter to spring leads to mood swings. A person switches starts off with a happy mood then becomes depressed and tense.
No person is immune from feeling sad, men or women, young or old, rich or poor, people will always experience sadness.

Here are five helpful tips that can help you combat sadness:
1. Soak up the morning light.

2. Avoid too much alcohol or caffeine.

3. Get regular exercise.

4. Eat lunch outside.
5. Eat foods containing the amino acid trytophan.

To Read more about this article do click here.

How to overcome Homesickness

In this busy world most of us are away from our family for improving our career opportunities.Not all are attached to family, but I bet all will feel nostalgic at some point during this journey.Homesickness is not an emotion for us to be ashamed of.You must feel proud that you are associated with a wonderful family and you miss their love and affection.Here is an article on how to overcome homesickness.Hope this is helpful for a lot of people out there missing their kith and kin.

Sometimes you just want to get away. Your older brother and his friends are constantly camped in front of the TV, your baby sister won't stay out of your room, and you want some time to yourself.

But when you get it - maybe at a friend's house for an all-weekend DVD marathon or on spring break at Disney World - you're surprised to find yourself missing the chaos at home a bit.
What's that all about? Believe it or not, you're feeling homesick.

The Deal With Homesickness
When you're homesick, you might feel nostalgic for familiar things like your family, friends, pets, house, or neighborhood. You can miss something as simple as your bed or the tree outside your window.
Homesickness isn't only for kids: Practically everyone feels homesick from time to time, even adults. Teens might get homesick when they leave home for the first extended period of time, like during a vacation with a friend's family or a summer job as a camp counselor. Going off to college is another common trigger.

Why Do I Feel This Way?
Familiar surroundings, people, and routines provide people with a sense of security and comfort. In a new place, you may find yourself missing the comforts of home and loved ones. Those homesick feelings are completely normal.

Tips for Dealing With Homesickness
Luckily, homesickness is usually mild and doesn't last long. And there are things you can do to make sure it doesn't spoil your fun.
Try a trial run.

Bring something that reminds you of home.

Call home when you can.

Do something you enjoy.
Talk to a friend, ideally someone who's going through the same experience you are.

Write in a journal.
Stay active.

Review your expectations.
Talk to an adult.

Almost everyone has felt homesick at some time. Remember that there's a good side to homesickness, too: It means you have family and friends worth missing and a place you want to return to when your adventure away from home is over. To read more do visit http://www.kidshealth.org/

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.

Emotional intelligence tests are very effective tools that can help people demonstrate how aware they are of their own weaknesses and character traits.Although most people claim to be knowledgeable about all aspects of their lives, they are often clueless as to their emotional intelligence. Additionally, it is easy to point out the character flaws and weaknesses in other people but people generally fail to look deep inside themselves to find the flaws within.

It is so important for people to have and to be aware of their emotional intelligence but it is very rare to find someone who actually is.Emotional intelligence in conflict situations can help people deal with struggles and difficult situations in life but often people lack the insight to see inside themselves. An emotional intelligence assessment and exercises can help people get the proof they need to become more self-aware so that they start working on self-improvement.

These tests give guidance as to what specifically needs improvement or which traits need to be acquired to make the person improve and become better. When people are given a clear direction about what they should be working on, it makes self-improvement much less of a daunting task. Being aware of one’s emotional intelligence helps people lead more productive and more fulfilling lives and it can help them have better and stronger relationships.

Emotional intelligence exercises can help people deal with challenges in life and with daily interactions and relationships, making life better and more fulfilling. Emotional intelligence means that people will be able to detect the emotions and feelings of himself and of other people.
Having this skill is very effective in allowing people to know how to deal with many situations in life, such as during conflict. Understanding the other person’s side and viewpoint can help avoid conflict or can help end a disagreement with both parties feeling assuaged and cared about.

Even though emotional intelligence can be learned about by reading, special emotional intelligence exercises can help people work on acquiring this asset in a more tangible and real way.Respecting others is an effective emotional intelligence exercise because it allows on to put himself in another person’s position. It also helps reduce conflict and makes a person more understanding.

Being aware of the names of feelings can help one identify his emotions so that he can channel them more effectively. Another exercise is learning how to take the energy that certain emotions bring. For example, one who feels anger should use emotional intelligence exercises to help him deal with the energy that the anger brings. Once the energy is directed elsewhere, for example into a productive activity, he has used his emotions in as industrious and constructive way instead of allowing it to have destructive effects.

An essential aspect of emotional intelligence tests is that it allows people to become much more self-aware and they can therefore become more responsible for their own actions. This means that instead of blaming others for his mistakes and for things that go wrong in life, a person with emotional intelligence will look internally and will find his own flaws and will work on them.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Monroe Techniques for Astral Projection

Every one will want to experience the 'Astral Travel' but it requires practice for some while few can do it very easily. Below is a technique suggessted by Scott Rogo, prentice Hall Press in his book 'Leaving The Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection'.

One of the chief barriers people learning to project face is fear. Many are afraid that they may die, or be harmed in some way as a result of their projection. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Cantebury Institute, renowned for its occult studies, executed an experiment in projection involving over 2,000 people. None of them were hurt in any way by this, and now, three years later, none have complained of any newly arising problems.

Once you are aware that you cannot be harmed by projecting, you should begin monroe's techniques, step by step.

Step one:

Relax the body. According to Monroe, "the ability to relax is the first prerequisite, perhaps even the first step itself" to having an OBE. (out of body experience) This includes both physical and mental relaxation. Monroe does not suggest a method of attaining this relaxation, although Progressive Muscle relaxation, coupled with deep breathing exercises (inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3.... until 50 or 100) are known to work well.

Step two:

Enter the state bordering sleep. This is known as the hypnagogic state. Once again, Monroe doesn't recommend any method of doing this. One way is to hold your forearm up, while keeping your upper arm on the bed, or ground. As you start to fall asleep, your arm will fall, and you will awaken again. With practice, you can learn to control the Hypnagogic state without using your arm. Another method is to concentrate on an object. When other images start to enter your thoughts, you have entered the Hypnagogic state. Passively watch these images. This will also help you maintain this state of near-sleep. Monroe calls this Condition A.

Step three:

Deepen this state. Begin to clear your mind. Observe your field of vision through your closed eyes. Do nothing more for a while. Simply look through your closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you. After a while, you may notice light patterns. These are simply neural discharges. They have no specific effect. Ignore them. When they cease, one has entered what Monroe calls Condition B. From here, one must enter an even deeper state of relaxation which Monroe calls Condition C-- a state of such relaxation that you lose all awareness of the body and sensory stimulation. You are almost in a void in which your only source of stimulation will be your own thoughts. The ideal state for leaving your body is Condition D. This is Condition C when it is voluntarily induced from a rested and refreshed condition and is not the effect of normal fatigue. To achieve Condition D, Monroe suggests that you practice entering it in the morning or after a short nap.

Step Four:

Enter a state of Vibration. This is the most important part of the technique, and also the most vague. Many projectors have noted these vibrations at the onset of projection. They can be experienced as a mild tingling, or as is electricity is being shot through the body. Their cause is a mystery. It may actually be the astral body trying to leave the physical one. For entering into the vibrational state, he offers the following directions:

1.Remove all jewelry or other items that might be touching your skin.
2.Darken the room so that no light can be seen through your eyelids, but do not shut out all light.
3.Lie down with your body along a north-south axis, with your head pointed toward magnetic north.
4.Loosen all clothing, but keep covered so that you are slightly warmer than might normally be comfortable.
5.Be sure you are in a location where, and at a time when, there will be absolutely no noise to disturb you.
6.Enter a state of relaxation
7.Give yourself the mental suggestion that you will remember all that occurs during the upcoming session that will be beneficial to your weel-being. Repeat this five times.
8.Proceed to breath through your helf-open mouth.
9.As you breath, concentrate on the void in front of you.
10.Select a point a foot away from your forehead, then change your point of mental reference to six feet.
11.Turn the point 90 degrees upward by drawing an imaginary line parallel to your body axis up and above your head. Focus there and reach out for the vibrations at that point and bring them back into your body. Even if you don't know what these vibrations are, you will know when you have achieved contact with them.

Step five:

Learn to control the vibrational state. Practice controlling them by mentally pushing them into your head, down to your toes, making them surge throughout your entire body, and producing vibrational waves from head to foot. To produce this wave effect, concentrate of the vibrations and mentally push a wave out of your head and guide it down your body. Practice this until you can induce these waves on command. Once you have control of the vibrational state, you are ready to leave the body.

Step six:

Begin with a partial separation. The key here is thought control. Keep your mind firmly focused on the idea of leaving the body. Do not let it wander. Stray thought might cause you to lose control of the state. Now, having entered the vibrational state, begin exploring the OBE by releasing a hand or a foot of the "second body". Monroe suggests that you extend a limb until it comes in contact with a familiar object, such as a wall near your bed. Then push it through the object. Return the limb by placing it back into coincidence with the physical one, decrease the vibrational rate, and then terminate the experiment. Lie quietly until you have fully returned to normal. This exercise will prepare you for full seperation.

Step seven:

Dissociate yourself from the body. Monroe suggests two methods for this. One method is to lift out of the body. To do this, think about getting lighter and lighter after entering this vibrational state. Think about how nice it would be to float upward. Keep this thought in mind at all costs and let no extraneous thoughts interrupt it. An OBE will occur naturally at this point.

Another method is the "Rotation method" or "roll-out" technique.

When you have achieved the vibrational state, try to roll over as if you were turning over in bed. /do not attempt to roll over physically. Try to twist your body from the top and virtually roll over into your second body right out of your physical self. At this point, you will be out of the body but next to it. Think of floating upward, and you should find yourself floating above the body. Monroe suggests you begin with the lift-out method, but argues that both are equally efficacious.

If, you want to learn more on these techniques, I recommend purchasing 'Leaving The Body', by R. Scott Rogo. It contains another eight or so techniques. Not all techniques work for everyone, but chances are you'll find one that works for you in this book.

Astral Projection - An interview with Jerry Gross (Part II)

Jones: Are there any dangers people should be aware of?

Gross: When you do this consciously, there is no danger in it. One thing I'll say, you must develop your thinking skills, and know what you want and where you want to go. The only dangerous part of it, is if you practice it while you are taking in drugs or alcohol. Remember back in the sixties when people were taking the drug called LSD, and they had some bad trips? They ended up in the lower astral. I'm trying to teach that you can have full control of what you are doing. I would suggest if you like to drink or take drugs that you not try it.

Jones: What else can you do when you leave the body?

Gross: That is entirely up to you. You must know where you are going. You cannot just leave your body and have no destination, because you'll bounce around like a rubber ball. Remember, you are controlling yourself with your thoughts, so if you think of California, you'll be there. One of the most important things I like to teach people in my workshops is how to use their minds to astral project. The best thing I can say is to learn to control yourself, so you'll go where you wanted to go. When you first start out this might happen for awhile, but after you get full control of it, you'll realize someone else is watching you, a teacher or guide. They'll contact you then and let you know it's time for you go on, and learn.

Jones: How would the average person know if this is for real? Is there a way to prove it, and have you ever been asked to prove it?

Gross: In my workshops, I teach you to astral project by having you sit in a chair and go out and turn around and look at yourself. If you are lying in bed, you can rise up, turn around and look at yourself lying on the bed. You'll have proof enough when you are able to look at your physical body, from outside of it. I've been asked to prove this many times, in radio shows, and at the Whole Life Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center where I traveled astrally from St. Paul, Minnesota to Los Angeles and moved a box they had set up on the stage for me. Once you learn how to do this you'll have proved this to yourself, and that's why I call my little group, Search and Prove. I want you to prove this to yourself for that's the ultimate proof. Don't take my word for it, prove it to yourself.

Jones: Are certain kinds of people more inclined to develop this ability than others?

Gross: I would say some learn faster than others. I had one lady who took two years before she finally succeeded. The most important thing is to keep a positive mind and know you can do this, because as soon as doubt comes into your mind, you won't be able to do it. The negative is taking over then. So it's important to keep an open, positive mind that you can do this. It might take a little time, but it will happen. I like to think about people going on a diet. They get real enthused about it at first, when they've lost a couple of pounds. All of a sudden it gets hard to lose, and they give up. It's the same way with astral projection. If things don't happen right away, some people give up.

Jones: Does daily lifestyle make a difference in being able to project?

Gross: No. If you have a normal lifestyle, you shouldn't have any problem.

Jones: If people have the inherent ability to do this, why is it that so few can actually do it?

Gross: As I said earlier, they lost it when they were young. They must learn how to bring the ability back again, because everyone can do this. We all do it when the physical is asleep. So you must learn to do it while you are sitting in a chair, awake or lying on a bed. You must learn to allow the subconscious to take over, and not let the physical mind control you.

Jones: Some people have dreams of flying. Where they actually out of their bodies? How can you tell the difference between dreaming and actually being out of the body?

Gross: Usually when people dream of flying they are out of the body, because this is the way you get around. If you ever wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning with a jolt, this is the astral body returning to the physical. Usually your dreams are in the beginning of your sleep cycle at night, and those dreams are nothing more than an accumulation of your thoughts during the day. If you wake up in the morning and remember your dream real well, it is usually an astral body experience; so keep track of these clear dreams, for they are lessons for you. It might not make much sense at first, but later on down the road, it will all come together for you.

Jones: If you could give one piece of advice to people who are astral projecting, what would it be?

Gross: The main thing is to start remembering your dreams and have a pencil and paper next to your bed, or a tape recorder. Another piece of advice I'll give you is, right before you go to sleep at night, say to yourself three times, I will remember, I will remember, I will remember. From that point on, within about two to three weeks, you are going to start remembering everything that happens to you while the physical is sleeping. Actually, the best piece of advice I could give, is to come to a workshop, because we really do have a lot of people who have good experiences at them. The workshop is the best way I know to teach anyone to do this, because I am able to spend a lot of time with the participants. We practice different techniques from 9:00 in the morning until sometimes 11:00 at night. By the end, they have good experiences, and I find this with all my workshops.

Jerry Gross holds workshops on astral projection in the United States and abroad. For further information on his work, visit his website at www.searchandprove.com. You may also call 612-436-8505; write Search and Prove, Box 311, St. Paul Park, MN 55071; or send e-mail to Rgross6162@aol.com.

Astral Projection - An interview with Jerry Gross (Part I)

Everyone can have an out-of-body experience, says expert Jerry Gross - in fact, you probably have. In this interview, Gross explains OBEs, what happens and how to begin your adventure.

When noted out-of-body teacher and practitioner Jerry Gross wants to travel long distances, he doesn't bother with the time and expense of catching a plane. He just uses a different kind of plane, and travels there astrally - unless, of course, he is teaching one of his many classes and workshops on astral projection, also known as OBE or out-of-body experience.

According to Gross, the ability to leave the body has been with him since childhood. Yet, rather than regarding this as a special gift, he believes that this is an inherent ability that can be developed by anyone. In the following article, Gross discusses the out-of-body experience with freelance writer and former workshop participant Sandy Jones.

Jones: What is astral projection? How would you describe it?

Gross: Astral projection is the ability to leave your body. Everyone leaves their body at night, but before they do leave, they have to put the physical mind to sleep. Most people don't remember this, but when the physical mind is asleep, the subconscious takes over, and this is usually when you do your astral projection. In other words, everybody does it, but they just don't remember doing it.

Jones: What is your earliest recollection of doing this? What was it like?

Gross: I can remember doing this clear back to when I was about four years old. I never lost the ability to astral project, and kept it throughout my whole life now. Everyone is born with this ability. If you think back, you can probably recall having dreams of being somewhere, but as you got older, you lost the ability. What I'm trying to teach is that you can do this at will.

Jones: In those days, astral projection was almost unheard of. Did you ever tell anyone about it? How did they react?

Gross: It was strange for me because at that age, I thought everybody did it. I used to talk about it, until it kind of got out of hand, and when I started getting into trouble with it, I went to my grandmother, who could do it too. She told me not everyone could do it, so it would be best not to talk about it, and to come to here if I wanted to talk about it. So throughout all my life, most of my experiences with astral projection were kept a secret, except for her.

Jones: These days, with the many publications on near-death experience and related topics, the concept is not so unusual. Is this experience the same as what is described in the near-death experiences?

Gross: It's not quite the same, because when you astral project, you don't have to go through the white light, or a tunnel. When you project, you usually go right where you would like to go, right away. Remember this, when you're out of the body, there is no time or no distance. Everything is right here, now. Astral projecting is a little different than the death experience, because in the death experience, you are getting ready to leave the body for the last time. During the death experience, a person sees the white light, and there is usually someone there that you know, waiting for you. When you astral project, you decide where you want to go.

Jones: When you leave your body, what happens to the physical body?

Gross: When your physical body sleeps and the astral body leaves, the physical body just rests. No harm can come to you through this.

Jones: What do you do when you leave the body?

Gross: I go to the astral plane and communicate with my teachers, I visit other places and other dimensions, and I visit my loved ones who have left the earth plane. There are many things you can do once you develop this skill.

Jones: It has been said that there is a silver cord attached to the body, and that this cord could be severed when you astrally project, thereby making it impossible to come back to your body. Is there a danger of this happening?

Gross: Absolutely not. The silver cord is connected to you when you enter the physical body for the first time, and it is not cut again until you leave for the last time. If this were possible, that you couldn't get back to the body, it would happen to you at night when you do leave the body. There is no danger in this; it is a gift given to us to learn how to use.

To be continued...

Astral Projection and Astral Travel

Has anyone of you experienced astral travel? I have heard a lot of stories about them and they truely are fascinating. I wonder how only few people get to do this astral travel. But after analysing and reading a lot of articles related to this I came to a conclusion that everyone does astral travel but only few are able to relate them and understand them.

HOW TO ASTRAL TRAVEL

Astral projection is a form of out of body experience that sometimes occurs during lucid dreaming during deep meditation or at times of crisis. The soul moves into an astral body (or "etheric double"), which moves free of the physical body in a parallel world known as the astral plane. Astral Travel is spoken about in may mystical texts and has more recently been studied by scientists investigating reports of people who have has a near death experience.

ASTRAL TRAVEL CLAIMS

During an astral voyage, communication with other astral projectors is claimed to be possible. Of interest is the work of Robert Monroe who founded the Monroe Institute and published several accounts of his experiences of astral projection including "Far Journeys". Robert Monroe developed a method he calls Hemisync to induce mental states that are favourable for projection.

ASTRAL TRAVEL ATTACKS

Sometimes the astral traveller reports being attached to his/her physical body by a silver umbilical cord. Pets have been said to react in a frightened manner, and some claim seeing an astrally projecting person's spirit as a coloured beam or shot or light darting around the room.

ASTRAL TRAVEL & ASTRAL PROJECTION DREAMS

From Craig Hamilton-Parker's Book Psychic Dreaming: Out-of-body dreams, in which you "float" up and look down upon yourself or upon another location, are a form of psychic dream. Some psychics claim they visit other actual locations, often ones that they've never seen. Travelling out of the body is sometimes called Astral Projection.

Frederik van Eeden presented one of the first studies of out of body dreams to the Society of Psychical Research in 1913. Van Eeden had already presented evidence for lucid dreams in which the dreamer becomes conscious while the dream is taking place. He told the society that his own lucid dreams were often preceded for several nights by dreams of flying. Sometimes these lucid dreams included apparent clairvoyantly received information that could be verified later. In other instances he believed he left his body.

In one instance while 'flying' he dreamed that he would be robbed of a large sum of money, a predicted event that was to take place soon afterwards. Of great interest to Van Eeden was when he noted that sometimes he would dream of lying on his stomach when in reality he was lying in bed and on his back. If he allowed himself to wake slowly he would experience the sensation of slipping from his 'dream body' that was lying face down into his actual sleeping body.

Depending upon the person, the appearance of the 'dream body' ranges from a gossamer-like form to an exact replica of the physical body. Having the ability to project consciousness can open up many interesting opportunities to the dreamer. Some claim to be able to travel to remote locations. They claim to be able to walk the beaches of Hawaii, explore the ancient pyramids of Egypt or even have a free ticket to the moon.

Craig's Astral Projection Experience
I have had many of these experiences myself but have found in most instances that it is hard to maintain consciousness for long periods of time. My own experience is one of projecting my awareness rather than a dream body. Nonetheless on occasions I have looked down at my sleeping body from the ceiling and have sometimes awoken with clear memories of having visited a remote location. Many people report having these experiences during puberty.
At first the experience of being without a body is frightening if you have never heard about astral projection. It is natural to assume that you are dead and panic sets in. The result is usually a quick return to the body. A quick return is sometimes accompanied by sensations of a jolt to the physical body accompanied by a loud band and a flash of brilliant light. Once the initial fears are overcome astral travel become natural and is not accompanied by any negative sensations.

I will be posting more on astral travel.Keep watching!

Difference between Nightmares and Night terrors

Only very recently I came to know the difference between a Nightmare and a Night terror. Though both have a common word 'Night', but they are very much different from one another. They form a very important study material when dealing with dream analysis and I thought it would be really useful and interesting to share it with you. There are many sources to find more about this topic but I am quoting here one from 'Sleep Disorders Blog'.

There is much difference between nightmares and night terrors and there is a difference in the way of handling by the parents or caretakers.

A nightmare is an unpleasant or scary dream. Many of them are unaware of nightmares and children experience more frequently than adults. Children experience them from time to time. One out of four children experience nightmares more than once in a week.

A child wakes up after a nightmare and is often distressed and you cannot comfort a child after nightmare.

Night terror is not a dream but is a partial awakening from sleep with unusual behaviors such as screaming, mumbling or kicking. The child may be sweating or breathing fast during a night terror. Night terrors occur within two hours of sleep after a child goes to sleep.

Night terrors are harmless and each event will end in deep sleep. A child will not wake up with night terror even though he or she may have their eyes open. They are not completely awake and cannot recognize or communicate with you.

Children may oppose going back to sleep after a nightmare because they are afraid. Nightmares always occur almost in the night during the light stages of REM sleep. children usually remember a nightmare.

Children will settle down quickly after a night terror. You have to stay with them until they go back to sleep. Night terrors are usually completely forgotten. The main cause of night terrors is overtiredness of your child.

The cause of nightmares may be due to the worries your child is having. Separation anxiety may be another cause of nightmares.

Helping your child during a night terror:

1.Help your child to go back to sleep and don’t try to awaken your child. Whenever your child experiences a night terror turn on the lights and soothe him so that he will not be confused.
2.Hold your child to feel better and don’t shout as your child may become more upset.
3.Protect your child from injuries as he may fall down a staircase, or break a window and gently take your child back to the bed.
4.Overtiredness is the main cause, so prevent tiredness and make sure that he goes to bed early.

Visit the doctor:

1.When the night terrors happen continuously for seven nights.
2.If the child is drooling, stiffening or jerking.
3.If the terrors are happening during second half of the night.
4.If the night terrors are happening for half an hour or more.

Helping your child during nightmare:

1.You have to reassure and comfort your child.
2.Protect your child from watching horror movies and shows in television.
3.Talk to your child at daytime about the bad dreams he had at night.
4.After the nightmare, let your child go back to sleep.
5.During bedtime, talk to your child about happiest things and funny things.
6.Leave your child’s bedroom door open to overcome the fear.

Visit the doctor:

1.When nightmares are happening more often or becoming worse.
2.If the fear interferes with day time activities.
3.If nightmares are disturbing your child’s sleep and ability to function

Brain Teasers and their answers

This post contains the brain teasers and their answers.

26Sept'07 Teaser:

You have been promoted to pet detective while Ace Ventura guides some tourists on a safari. From the following clues, you must figure out who is the owner of each pet, and where the pet got lost.
1.A rabbit and a dog are two of the lost pets.
2.The pet lost in the garden is owned by Mary.
3.Robert does not own a dog.
4.John's pet was lost in the woods.
5.The cat was not lost in the woods or in the park.

Answer:

I. Read the complete problem:

Get a general idea of the problem. Here we have 3 owners, 3 pets, and 3 locations. You are being asked to match each pet with an owner and a location. A 3×3 table, also called a logic matrix, can be used to organize this information.

II. Make a list of the members of each category:

Owners: Mary, Robert, John

Pets: rabbit, dog, cat

Places: park, garden, woods

III. Start filling the table with information from the clues.
The clues may provide direct or deduced information and can be processed in any order. We start by putting the owner names in the top row. Here, we start with clue number 2:

2. The pet lost in the garden is owned by Mary.

Owners Mary John Robert
Pets
Places garden

5. The cat was not lost in the woods or in the park.

Therefore, the cat must have been lost in the garden.

Owners Mary John Robert
Pets cat
Places garden

4. John's pet was lost in the woods.... and, therefore, Robert's pet must have been lost in the park.

Owners Mary John Robert
Pets cat
Places garden woods park

1. A rabbit and a dog are two of the lost pets.

3. Robert does not own a dog.

This means that Robert owns the rabbit, and John must own the dog.

Owners Mary John Robert
Pets cat dog rabbit
Places garden woods park

Congratulations! You now qualify as a pet detective.

20Sep'07 Teaser:

At an eBay auction, a woman's ring and a filigree jewelry box with a hand-painted ceramic top are on sale for $200.00 Dollars. The jewelry box is valued at $190.00 Dollars more than the ring. How much is the ring worth?

Answer:

If you said $10.00 Dollars, you are wrong! It is not that simple.

This is a problem that requires setting up two equations with two unknowns to find the answer.The box (B) plus the ring (R) cost $200.00 Dollars:

B + R = 200

The jewelry box is valued at $190.00 Dollars more than the ring, i.e., the price of the box (B) is equal to the price of the ring (R) plus $190.00 Dollars:

B = R + 190

Now we can substitute the right side of the second equation in the first equation and solve for R.
R + 190 + R = 200

2 R = 200 - 190

2 R = 10R = 10/2R = 5

The ring is worth $5.00 Dollars.

The price of the box is $190.00 plus $5.00, which is $195.00 Dollars, and the box plus the ring add up to $200.00. So, everything checks out.

18Sep'07 Teaser:

A chicken farmer has figured out that a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half. How many hens does the farmer need to produce one dozen eggs in six days?

Answer:

This is a classic problem that many people get wrong because they reason that half of a hen cannot lay an egg, and a hen cannot lay half an egg. However, we can get a satisfactory solution by treating this as a purely mathematical problem where the numbers represent averages.

To solve the problem, we first need to find the rate at which the hens lay eggs. The problem can be represented by the following equation, where RATE is the number of eggs produced per hen per day:

1-1/2 hens × 1-1/2 days × RATE = 1-1/2 eggs

We convert this to fractions thus:

3/2 hens × 3/2 days × RATE = 3/2 eggs

Multiplying both sides of the equation by 2/3, we get:

1 hen × 3/2 days × RATE = 1 egg

Multiplying both sides of the equation again by 2/3 and solving for RATE, we get:

RATE = 2/3 eggs per hen per day.

Now that we know the rate at which hens lay eggs, we can calculate how many hens (H) can produce 12 eggs in six days using the following equation:

H hens × 6 days × 2/3 eggs per hen per day = 12 eggs

Solving for H, we get:

H = 12 /(6 × 2/3) = 12/4 = 3 hens.

Therefore, the farmer needs 3 hens to produce 12 eggs in 6 days.

17Sep'07 Teaser:

A fruit vendor bought 100 pounds of berries for $2.00 per pound and expected to double his investment by selling the berries for $4.00 per pound at an open-air market. The vendor only managed to sell 50 pounds of berries the first day and he sold the remainder on the second day. The fresh berries had a content of 99% water, but because of the hot weather, the berries dehydrated and contained only 98% water on the second day. How much profit did the vendor make?

Answer:

The decrease of water content from 99% to 98% may seem insignificant, but it reduces the weight of the fruit by 50%. The 1% decrease in water content of the fruit should not be confused with a 1% decrease of the total amount of water, which would indeed be small.The cost of the berries is: 100 pounds × $2.00/pound = $200.00

The first day sale of berries with 99% water is: 50 pounds × $4.00/pound = $200.00. The vendor covers his cost on the first day, but does not make a profit.
On the second day, the berries have a water content of 98%. The weight of the dehydrated berries can be calculated as follows:

The leftover 50 pounds of berries with 99% water have 1% of non-water components which weigh 0.5 pound (50 pounds × 1/100 = 0.5 pounds).

When the berries dehydrate, the weight of the non-water component is still 0.5 pounds but it now comprises 2% of the total weight of the dehydrated fruit with the other 98% being water. The weight, W, of the dehydrated fruit can be calculated as follows:

0.5 pounds = W pounds 2% 100%W = (0.5×100)/2 = 25 pounds

What used to be 50 pounds of berries with 99% water content are now 25 pounds of berries with 98% water content.

The second day sale of berries with 98% water is: 25 pounds × $4.00/pound = $100.00. The profit is the total sales ($300.00) minus the cost ($200.00). The vendor had a $100.00 Dollar profit. The loss of water is also a loss of profits. This is why supermarkets spray water on fresh vegetables and keep produce refrigerated.

13Sept'07 Teaser:

A valuable painting was stolen from the Liar's Club, but the police are having a hard time identifying the culprit because every statement made by a member of the Liar's Club is false. Only four members visited the club on the day that the painting was stolen. This is what they told the police:

Ann: None of us took the painting. The painting was here when I left.

Bob: I arrived second. The painting was already gone.

Chuck: I was the third to arrive. The painting was here when I arrived.

Tom: Whoever stole the painting arrived before me. The painting was already gone.

Who of these four liars stole the painting?

Answer:

Since every statement is false, let us convert them into true statements, and number each statement:

Ann: 1) One of us took the painting. 2) The painting was gone when I left.

Bob: 3) I arrived first, third, or fourth. 4) The painting was still here.

Chuck: 5) I arrived first, second, or fourth. 6) The painting was gone when I arrived.

Tom: 7) Whoever stole the painting arrived after me. 8) The painting was still here.

According to statement #7, Tom is not the thief. #8: Since the painting was there when Tom arrived, he could not have been the last to arrive. Tom must have gone there first, second, or third. #6: The painting was gone when Chuck was there, so he didn't arrive first. #5: So Chuck got there second or fourth. #4 and #8: As two other members (Bob and Tom) arrived to see the painting, Chuck didn't get there second, either. So Chuck arrived fourth. #3: This means Bob arrived first or third. #2: Since the painting was gone when Ann left, she didn't arrive first. Otherwise, no member after her would have seen the painting. So Ann went there second or third and Chuck arrived fourth. But since two other members (Bob and Tom) saw the painting when they arrived, Ann didn't go there second, either. So Ann arrived third. #3: Therefore, Bob arrived first, and Tom arrived second.

In summary, Bob arrived first. Tom got there next and the painting was still there, so Bob was not the thief, and neither was Tom. When Ann arrived, the painting was still there, but it was gone when she left. So Ann was the one who stole the painting. Chuck arrived last and discovered that the painting was gone.

12Sept'07 Teaser:

At a bar, there is a bucket containing ice, some of which has melted. A bartender gets an ice cube weighing 20 grams from the ice bucket and puts it into an insulated cup containing 100 grams of water at 20 degrees Celsius. Will the ice cube melt completely? What will be the final temperature of the water in the cup?

Answer:

First of all, you have to know that the ice in the bucket has a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius. How do we know this? The Celsius temperature scale is defined to be 0°C when ice is in thermal equilibrium with water, and 100°C when water is in equilibrium with steam. An ice bucket does not provide extra cooling, it just maintains ice at its equilibrium melting point temperature.

The Specific Heat (Sh) of a substance is the amount of heat required to change the temperature of 1 gram of the substance by one degree Celsius. By definition, the Specific Heat of water is 1.0, and this amount of heat is called a calorie. A kilocalorie is 1000 calories, also called a "Calorie" with upper case. The Calories in nutrition labels are kilocalories.

Additional heat is required to change the state of a substance from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas. This is called the "latent heat". Water is in thermal equilibrium with ice when it freezes at the same rate that the ice melts. The heat for melting or freezing water, also called the Heat of Fusion (Hf), is 80 calories per gram at 0°C, which is the equilibrium temperature. In other words, it is necessary to add 80 calories of energy to melt one gram of ice at 0°C. Conversely, it is necessary to remove 80 calories of energy to freeze one gram of water at 0°C. The heat for boiling or condensing water at 100°C, called the Heat of Vaporization, is 539 calories per gram, although this is not relevant to our problem. The following graph summarizes the effect of energy on the temperature of water in its solid, liquid, and gaseous phases.

The problem can be solved by breaking it into smaller pieces. The amount of energy needed to melt the ice is Wi×Hf, where Wi is the weight of the ice. In addition, the 20 grams of water obtained from the ice must be heated from 0°C, which is the temperature of the ice, to the final temperature Tf.

Where does the energy for melting the ice come from? Since the cup is insulated, the heat has to come from the 100 grams of water at 20°C. The amount of heat required to melt the ice and to increase the temperature of the resulting water to the final temperature is equal to the heat lost by the 100 grams of water. This can be expressed by an equation:

Wi×Hf + Wi×Sh×(Tf - 0°C) = Ww×Sh×(Twi - Tf)

WhereWi = weight of ice = 20g

Hf = Heat of fusion = 80 calories/gram

Ww = weight of water = 100gTf = final temperature,

Twi = initial water temperature = 20°C

Sh = Specific Heat for water = 1.0 calories per gram per °C

Substituting the values we get:

20×80 + 20×1×(Tf - 0°C) = 100×1×(20°C - Tf)1600 + 20Tf = 2000 - 100Tf120Tf = 400Tf = 400/120 = 3.3°C

The final temperature is 3.3°C. If we had had more ice or less water, there would not have been enough energy in the water to melt all the ice. Once the temperature of the water reaches 0°C, no more ice can melt.

How much ice could be melted by 100 g of water at 20°C? Using the equation above, where the final temperature is 0°C and the weight of the ice is unknown, we have:

Wi×80 = 100×1×20 The maximum amount of ice that could be melted is:

Wi = 2000/80 = 25 grams
If the amount of ice exceeds 25 grams, the remainder will just float in 125 grams of water at 0°C.

11Sept'07 Teaser:

A bear walks south for one kilometer, then it walks west for one kilometer, then it walks north for one kilometer and ends up at the same point from which it started. What color was the bear?

Answer:

The bear was white because it was a polar bear. The only place on earth where a bear can go south, west and north equal distances and end up where it started is the North Pole.

10Sept'07 Teaser:

There are twelve identical-looking balls, but one is either heavier or lighter than the other eleven. How can you determine which is the odd ball and find out whether this ball is heavier or lighter than the others using only three weighings with a balance?

Answer:

Label the balls from 1 to 12 to identify them.

Weigh 1, 2, 3, 4 against 5, 6, 7, 8:
I. If they balance, 9, 10, 11, 12 contain the odd ball.

Weigh 6, 7, 8 against 9, 10, 11.
a..If they balance, 12 is the odd ball. Weigh 12 against any other ball to discover whether it is heavy or light.
b..If 9, 10, 11 are heavy, they contain an odd heavy ball. Weigh 9 against 10. If they balance, 11 is the odd heavy ball, otherwise the heavier of 9 and 10 is the odd ball.
c.If 9, 10, 11 are light, we use the same procedure to reach the same conclusion for the odd light ball.

II.If 5, 6, 7, 8 are heavy, either they contain an odd heavy ball or 1, 2, 3, 4 contain an odd light ball.Weigh 1, 2, 5 against 3, 6, 10.
a.If they balance, the odd ball is 4 (light) or 7 or 8 (heavy). Weigh 7 against 8. If they balance 4 is light, otherwise the heavier of 7 and 8 is the odd heavy ball.
b.If 3, 6, 10 are heavy, the odd ball can be 6 (heavy) or 1 or 2 (light). Weigh 1 against 2. If they balance 6 is heavy, otherwise the lighter of 1 and 2 is the odd light ball.
c.If 3, 6, 10 are light, the odd ball is 3 and light or 5 and heavy. We thus weigh 3 against 10. If they balance, 5 is heavy, otherwise 3 is light.

III. If 5, 6, 7, 8 are light we use a similar procedure to that in II.

7Sept'07 Teaser:

An investor trading through a discount stock broker that charges $10.00 Dollars per transaction bought 200 shares of Vola Tile Corporation at $50.00 Dollars per share. The stock quickly increased in value by 50%, but then lost 40% of its value. The investor sold the stock. How much money did the investor gain or lose?

Answer:

The cost of 200 shares at $50.00 Dollars each is $10,000.00 Dollars.

The 50% gain on $10,000 is $5,000, making the new total $15,000.00 Dollars.

The 40% loss on $15,000 is $6,000, reducing the total amount to $9,000.00 Dollars.

This is a $1000.00 Dollar loss, plus $10 Dollars for the Buy transaction, and $10 Dollars for the Sell transaction.

The investor lost a total of $1020.00 Dollars.

It seems counterintuitive that the investor should lose money when the percentage of the loss is less than the percentage of the gain. However, the percentage of the loss is calculated on a bigger amount than the percentage of the gain.

6Sept'07 Teaser:

My sister has six red stamps and three blue ones. In her collection, seven stamps are from Mexico and six stamps are from France. One stamp is purple and it is not from Mexico or France. Two of her Mexican stamps are red and one is blue. Two of her French stamps are blue and three are red. How many stamps does she have?

Answer:

She has a minimum of 15 stamps.

Mexico: 1 blue, 2 red, 4 unknown color

France: 2 blue, 3 red, 1 unknown color

Unknown country: 1 purple, 1 red

... and for all we know, she might also have 2 green stamps from Germany.

29Aug'07 Teaser:

Three students checked into a hotel and paid the clerk $30 for a room ($10 each). When the hotel manager returned, he noticed that the clerk had incorrectly charged $30 instead of $25 for the room. The manager told the clerk to return $5 to the students. The clerk, knowing that the students would not be able to divide $5 evenly, decided to keep $2 and to give them only $3.

The students were very happy because they paid only $27 for the room ($9 each). However, if they paid $27 and the clerk kept $2, that adds up to $29. What happened to the other Dollar?

Answer:

The students have paid $27 and have kept $3 for themselves and that adds up to $30. Not a real puzzle... just a mistake in math! You cannot tally the clerks total twice, it's already included in the $27 the students have paid. The equation is incorrect...if they paid $27 and the clerk kept $2...then that does not add up to anything.

As far as the students are concerned, they paid $27 and received $3 change which adds up to $30, but the $27 Dollars obtained from subtracting $3 from $30 is just the result of a calculation and not an accounting of the real money. The confusion about the $2 Dollars kept by the clerk can be avoided by tracking down the real money.

27Aug'07 Teaser:

A scientist is experimenting with bacteria that are one micron in diameter and that reproduce by dividing every minute into two bacteria. At 12:00 PM, he puts a single organism in a container. At precisely 1:00 PM, the container is full.How big was the container?

Answer:

The number of bacteria in the container is 2n where n is the number of minutes elapsed. The full container has 260 (two to the sixtieth power), or approximately 1.153×1018 bacteria. Since one micron (one millionth of a meter) is 1×10-4 centimeters, each bacterium occupies a volume of about 1×10-12 cubic centimeters. Multiplying times the number of organisms, we conclude that the container had a capacity of 1.153×106 cc or 1,153 liters. The container was slightly bigger than one cubic meter.

260 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976

24Aug'07 Teaser:

A scientist is experimenting with bacteria that are one micron in diameter and that reproduce by dividing every minute into two bacteria. At 12:00 PM, he puts a single organism in a container. At precisely 1:00 PM, the container is full.At what time was the container half full?

Answer:

The container was half full at 12:59 PM. When the bacteria doubled in the next minute, the container became full.

23Aug'07 Teaser:

A chicken farmer also has some cows for a total of 30 animals, and the animals have 74 legs in all. How many chickens does the farmer have?

Answer:

This is a typical algebra problem with two unknowns, and we need to have two equations to solve the problem. Let X be the number of cows, and Y the number of chickens.The number of cows plus the number of chickens equals 30:
X + Y = 30

Since cows have four legs and chickens have two legs, we can also have an equation for the number of legs.
4 X + 2 Y = 74

Rearranging the first equation we get
X = 30 - Y

Substituting X in the second equation gives us
4 × (30 - Y) + 2 Y = 74120 - 4 Y + 2 Y = 74-2 Y = 74 - 120 = -46Y = 23

The farmer has 23 chickens. (and 7 cows).

22Aug'07 Teaser:

At a party, everyone shook hands with everybody else. There were 66 handshakes. How many people were at the party?

Answer:

With two people (A and B), there is one handshake (A with B).

With three people (A, B, and C), there are three handshakes (A with B and C; B with C).

With four people (A, B, C, and D), there are six handshakes (A with B, C, and D; B with C and D; C with D).

In general, with n+1 people, the number of handshakes is the sum of the first n consecutive numbers: 1+2+3+ ... + n.

Since this sum is n(n+1)/2, we need to solve the equation n(n+1)/2 = 66.

This is the quadratic equation n2+ n -132 = 0. Solving for n, we obtain 11 as the answer and deduce that there were 12 people at the party.

Since 66 is a relatively small number, you can also solve this problem with a hand calculator. Add 1 + 2 = + 3 = +... etc. until the total is 66. The last number that you entered (11) is n.

21Aug'07 Teaser:

You have to measure exactly 4 liters of water, but you only have a 3-liter bottle and a 5-liter bottle. How do you do it?

Answer:

1.Fill the 3-liter bottle and pour it into the empty 5-liter bottle.

2.Fill the 3-liter bottle again, and pour enough to fill 5-liter bottle. This leaves exactly 1 liter in the 3-liter bottle.

3.Empty the 5-liter bottle; pour the remaining 1 liter from the 3-liter bottle into the 5-liter bottle.

4.Fill the 3-liter bottle and pour it into the 5-liter bottle. The 5-liter bottle now has exactly 4 liters.

Here is another way to do it

1.Fill the 5-liter bottle and pour water from it into the 3-liter bottle until it is full.This leaves 2 liters in the 5-liter bottle.

2.Empty the 3-liter bottle and pour the 2 liters of water from the 5-liter bottle into the 3-liter bottle.

3.Fill the 5-liter bottle again.

4.Fill the 3-liter bottle from the 5-liter bottle. Since the 3-liter bottle had 2 liters of water, only one liter is transferred leaving exactly 4 liters of water in the 5-liter jug.

20Aug'07 Teaser:

The grandson is about as many days old as the son is in weeks. The grandson is approximately as many months old as the father is in years. The ages of the grandson, the son, and the father add up to 120 years. What are their ages in years?

Answer:

Let G, S, and F represent the ages in years of the grandson, the son, and the father, respectively. Since a year has 365 days, or 52 weeks, or 12 months, the problem can be represented by three equations with three unknowns:

365 G = 52 S (The grandson is about as many days old as the son is in weeks)

12 G = F (The grandson is approximately as many months old as the father is in years)

G + S + F = 120 (The ages of the grandson, the son, and the father add up to 120 years)

Because the grandson's age is G = F/12, the son's age can be represented in terms of F by substituting:

S = (365/52)×GS = (365/52)×(F/12)

The third equation can now be represented with only the father's age as an unknown:

F/12 + (365/52)×(F/12) + F = 120

Multiplying by 12, we get:

F + (365/52)×F + 12 F = 120×12

20 F = 1440

F = 72

G = F/12 = 6

S = (365/52)×6 = 42

The father is 72, the son is 42, and the grandson is 6 years old.

10 Tips to Boost Your Positive Energy

Knowing that positive energy can do miracles in our life, its high time that we take control and generate more positive energy. I am sharing the 10 tips to increase the positive energy generation quoted by Larina Kase.

Wouldn’t it be great to pop out of bed in the morning, have flowing energy throughout your day without any caffeine or candy bars, accomplish everything you want, and feel great? For most people this would be a dream—we could all use more energy!

I’ll share with you 10 simple tips to boost your energy each day. The key is consistency. You need to do these things regularly to feel the cumulative effects.

1. Plan important activities when you have the most energy.

This is one of my favorite tips. Plan your schedule around your energy level. Choose activities and projects that are naturally energy producing at your low points in the day. If you drag in the morning, plan one of your more enjoyable activities first thing. It may take some time to transition your schedule but it will be worth it!

2. Do the work you love.

Nothing is as energy increasing as passion and enthusiasm. If you have no interest in your work, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever have optimal energy. This doesn’t mean that you must love everything you do but at least some of it must utilize your natural talents and interests.

3. Boost your energy by getting regular exercise.

This certainly does not come as a surprise to you. You know that you exercise makes you feel good and boosts your energy. You just need to do it—regularly.

4. Know your personality style.

Your personality determines what is energy draining or producing for you. If you’re naturally an introvert you typically recharge by quiet time on your own. If you’re naturally an extrovert, you typically gain energy by social time with others.

5. Eat right and watch your energy soar.

This is another one of those tips that you already know but, if you’re like most people, probably aren’t doing. A diet rich in complex carbohydrates, protein, and fiber will help you sustain energy and avoid the sugar roller coaster that you get when you eat sugary snacks.

6. Keep the big picture in mind.

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment of stressful situations and feel exhausted. If, however, you remember the big picture including why you’re motivated to achieve your goal or why the small stuff isn’t that important, you’ll feel energized.

7. Drink water.

One of the most common causes of fatigue is dehydration. We often mistakenly assume that we’re hungry but the fatigue culprit is often thirst.

8. Celebrate and reward achievements.

The more you focus on your achievements, both large and small, the more success focused you will become. This will help you achieve more and all this achievement is sure to boost energy.

9. Avoid energy-vampires.

You know these types of people. Just being in their presence seems to drain your energy in the blink of an eye. Use assertiveness skills and limit your time with them.

10. Take physical and mental breaks.

Monotony is exhausting. Periodically give yourself a break by a few moments of mindless activity and quick stretching exercises or walking.

If some of these tips stand out to you as more energizing or practical, select those and focus on implementing them consistently. You’ll get and keep your energy flowing.

Mind and Brain Relationship

There are many people who still don’t know if mind and brain are same. When we talk we refer mind as heart, something which has a feeling; where as brain is like an organ which helps you take decision without getting influenced by emotions. But then, are brain and mind different? This is a million dollar question.

People have tried to prove this scientifically and also philosophically. Still there are people who find it heard to believe that mind and brain are different. If you ask me, I would safely say 'I don’t know'. It can be same or different.

With this question in mind when I was searching for answers I came across many articles, theory which contradicted one another. There were many interesting articles that I found in the internet.

Here is one of them, really interesting theory. Have a look and let me know what you feel.

Mind and Brain Relationship

Overcome Frustration with your MIND!

Hi people...I know it’s been long time...Now that I'll be able to share with you my views on a regular basis let me start with frustrations...


We all know frustration is a slow poison. Once we open our door for it to join our life, it'll become the master and you'll loose every beautiful second of your life. Everyone gets frustrated at one point of time. Usually when we reach your saturation point in any activity that we are forced to do. Frustrations can happen at work, at home and even with our relationships.

Why do we get frustrated?

It’s very simple. When something happens continuously in a way against our thoughts! We generally expect a lot from our life. We want to be rich. We want to have all the luxuries in life. We want our love. We want and want many things in life. When our wants turns us down, we feel frustrated and lose hopes and there’s the starting of our end!

Our thoughts are the key factor for our frustration. When we realize this, we can surely overcome them with the help of our THOUGHTS!

Now, what can frustrations do to us?

What the heck! What can they do to us? We can't leave them unnoticed. We can't let them rule us. On doing so we will loose ourselves. We will be hypnotized by them. We will never in our life again know what is Happiness, what is Laugh, what is love, what we can achieve, our talents etc. It'll keep you arrested in a witch’s world...here I mean bad witches! We will not be able to take proper decisions. Ultimately we will not have fun! Before we even realize that we are trapped we will have lost half of we precious life.

How to overcome frustration?

Frustrations are nothing but our own thoughts. We are the owner of our thoughts. We can do miracles. The only cure for your frustration is YOU and ONLY YOU! Your thoughts. Do not ponder on thoughts that give you the negative energy. Do not waste your time thinking about the past mishaps or past worries. Past is Past. You can't change it. Also do not involve your thoughts more towards your future. Live you’re present. Try to change your attitude. Love your surroundings. When you are able to control your thoughts and focus them on one single motto you will surely achieve it in no time. The thoughts will create a positive energy which will help you to achieve your goals. When things start to happen in the way you want it, I bet you will never get frustrated in your life.

Also personally, I request you to meditate in a very peaceful, sielent place in your home. During this time, the most important thing is you need to concentrate on the thoughts which flow in your mind. Focus them on your immediate goal. Keep on chanting what you want daily at the same time and at the same place. And before you even realize the positive energy would have been created and would have started to work for you. Good luck!

How to meditate?

Before starting meditation, ideally we need to take care of a few things:

- a quiet place (using music is nice for relaxing, but not really meditation), switching off the phone will help.

- make sure you are not too tired, early morning is generally said to be the best time.

- sit comfortable; most people like a cushion under their behind, the room is best not too warm or cold.

- wear loose, comfortable clothing.

- try to create continuity in time and place to become habituated to the circumstances of meditation.

The Body:

- keeping the back straight, in whichever posture you meditate is most essential.

- try to be comfortable and physically relaxed, and avoid moving too much.

- keep the head straight, slightly bent forward, keep the teeth slightly apart, the tip of the tongue against the upper pallet.

- the eyes are best kept half-open (without really looking), but many beginners find that too distracting and close them.

- the shoulders should be relaxed and the hands can be put in one's lap.

- the legs can be in the full lotus (which not many Westerners manage), but also simply crossed.

In fact, other positions like sitting on one's knees or on a bench are good as well. If all of these are too difficult, you can also use a chair, but remember to sit only on the front half of the seat, not leaning against the back rest to avoid a bent back, and keep the feet flat on the floor. Keeping the knees warm may help to avoid numbness of the legs.

- try belly-breathing; not breathing with the chest, but from the navel.

- always remember that the posture should enhance meditation, not be an obstacle!

The Buddha even taught one of his disciples who had many problems with his posture to lie down with his back on a bed, and then he quickly made progress; however, most people tend to fall asleep - so it will not be suitable for everyone...

The Mind:

- be relaxed but at the same time awake and attentive: finding your balance here is not easy!

- be a careful observer of your own mind and thoughts; sometimes called the 'little spy inside':

How to control anger

1 Give Yourself Permission to Express Anger.

Our society does not allow us to express strong emotions. We are taught to hold in our emotions from the earliest age. This can have a profoundly negative effect on our overall health. It’s not wrong to express anger, fear, sadness, rage. In fact, it is healthy to release these emotions regularly. What’s wrong is when we hurt someone in the process. It is preferable to find safe ways to dump the negative feelings.

2 Combine Mental and Physical Effort.

Mental therapy alone may be extremely helpful for anger release, but it can only take you so far. Similarly, the physical act of doing exercise can help many people let off steam, but it may not remove deep-seated anger. The most effective process is when you can combine both the mental and physical effort. This is when you do a particular physical activity along with the mental intention of releasing the anger. Please see the next step for specific examples of how to combine the mental and physical effort to help release your anger. In each example, don’t just pound pillows, or rip paper, but REALLY FEEL the heavy anger emotion with it’s full intensity WHILE you do the physical activity. This is so important and will assist you to finally RELEASE the anger energy so that it won’t come back. You may have to do the process repeatedly because it releases layer by layer and it is doubtful that you will get to all of it in one session. There are many studies recently showing that doing this type of activity can MAKE someone more aggressive. This is a complicated issue. Let’s say that the type of people who hold in their anger their whole life NEED to learn to become more aggressive in order to become balanced. It is important to learn how to not be a doomat and have people walk all over you. It is important to speak up for what you believe and not take garbage from everyone. So, indeed, if this behavior makes a person RELATIVELY more aggressive, it is in the vein of becoming whole, and that is a good thing! If you are already an explosive person who throws temper tantrums and becomes violent, then this approach is not appropriate. This recommendation is more appropriate for the “quiet anger” that a person keeps inside for many years. This is the anger that causes physical illnesses, sleep disturbances and other stress-related conditions. Getting the anger out in these cases is extremely therapeutic.

3 Never Hurt Others in the Process.

Give yourself the opportunity to express anger in a safe way, without hurting anyone else. Most people will benefit by having a private room to pound pillows with their fists or legs, or with a plastic bat. Some people may prefer ripping pages of paper, screaming, throwing plates (old ones). Many people find it helpful to use anger-release music as a stimulus or catalyst for this process. Remember, NEVER hurt yourself in the process and never aim your anger literally at another person. What is important here is your expression of the negative emotion, NOT who receives it. If the anger (or other emotion) is traced to a specific individual, some people have found it helpful to have a symbol of this person at which they can direct the anger. This could be an enlarged photocopy of a photo on a piece of paper which you then scribble-over, tear, burn, or otherwise destroy. Be open to discovering your own dynamic anger-release method.

4 Totally Let Go, Without Hesitation.

It is also important to suggest that if you feel the need to express yourself in any of these ways, that you either are totally alone so that you don’t feel inhibited, or that you are in the surroundings of a group of people who are supportive of this type of activity. If you don’t have a private room in your house, maybe you can find a secluded area, where no one will hear or see you — even the inside of your car may work. (Don’t do any of this while actually driving!)

5 Strive to Forgive.

The final step in maintaining anger-release is to truly forgive the person who wronged you as well as to truly forgive yourself.

How do we dream?

Understanding the sleep cycle is the first important part of understanding dreams and how dreams happen. The average human being spends eight hours a day, fifty six hours a week, two hundred twenty-four hours a month, and two thousand, six hundred eighty-eight hours a year sleeping.

Sleep is thought to be made of two basic forms known as slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Humans seem to go through four really sharp stages of SWS and then enter REM sleep. The four stages plus REM are mostly happen various times every nightly sleep cycle.

While awake and alert, a human's EEGs (electroencephalograms) contain beta waves at 14-30 Hz, which is relatively high frequency and low voltage activity. When the human is resting and quiet, the EEGs have alpha waves at 8-13 Hz with slightly higher voltage. As humans begin to fall asleep, the EEGs have slower, higher-voltage delta waves, which are a large number of brain neurons (e.g., nerves) firing in unison. The myth is that we "drift off to sleep." The reality is that the onset of sleep is quite sudden. Stage ones sleep involves our breathing slowing, our muscle tone decreasing, and our body relaxing, with slow and low-voltage EEG. Stages 2-4 are notable for the person not awakening by outside push. These stages are marked by increasing frequency of delta waves, and the continued slowing of the body's functions. An exit from the pattern of Stage 1, then 2, 3 and 4 is a sign of physical and/or psychological disorder.

Rapid eye-movement sleep differs from the 4 stages of sleep. During REM sleep, EEG activity of the brain resembles the awake but resting pattern. During REM, there are no delta waves, and the voltage activity is low and fast. To an observer, a human in REM sleep's eyes are beginning to move rapidly beneath the closed lids, as if the human is watching a movie. Also, during REM sleep, there is almost a full clampdown of muscle responses of the body. The body almost seems to be paralyzed.During REM, dream activity is happening.

Dream research has tended to focus to a big degree on dream interpretation and meaning. It may be less interesting to consider how dreams happen. Recent discoveries find that dreams are neurocognitive in origin. To understand dreaming and particularly to understand dream content, it is necessary to better understand dreaming as a developmental cognitive achievement. The word "cognitive" refers to "thinking". "Neuro" refers to "the central nervous system". "Developmental" refers to the changes and maturation that occur from birth. Finally, the neurocognitive system, which is developing and maturing, suggests that there are several forebrain structures which are important to dreaming. Recent research states that the limbic, paralimbic, and associational areas of the forebrain are vital to visual dream imagery. Related research reports that dreaming is a cognitive achievement and in humans develops over the first 8-9 years of life and happens at about the same pace as other developmental areas such as cognition and language. Young children's dreams are very different from adolescent dreams or adult dreams. Until recently, dreams were believed to occur only during REM sleep. Some scientists, known as "brainstorm theorists" believe dreams may occur during Stage 2 Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (NREM). These same scientists believe brainstorm stimulation is as important to dreams as stimulation of the forebrain areas mentioned earlier in this section.

Humans usually enter REM ninety minutes into sleeping and go through Stages 1-4, plus REM, 5-6 times per night. In one year, a human could have on average 1825 dreams of which the typical human remembers only a few of their dreams. REM sleep is thought to be vital for memory and learning. Sleep, particularly REM sleep, is hypothesized to be restorative in nature. If deprived of REM sleep, humans become irritable, anxious, and depressed. When deprived of REM sleep, some humans go into "REM rebound". In other words, REM periods of sleep would occur more often and for a longer period of time than is typical. Drugs and medications frequently interfere with dreaming which suggests that there is a neurochemical relationship to dreams. Recent research is looking at the relationship between the neurochemical dopamine and dream activity. Serotonin may also have a relationship to dreams.

ESP and DREAMS

ESP, or extrasensory perception, refers to the acquisition of information without the use of any the normal five human sense organs. It is the scientific designation for psychic, intuitive, mediumistic, prophetic, and related phenomena. Related terms are telepathy, which indicates information originating from the mind of another person. Clairvoyance (literally, ‘clear seeing’), refers to psychic sensitivity (particularly) in the form of visual information. Precognition is the perception of information about future events.

In regards to mysticism, ESP is commonly referred to as the sixth sense, and can provide an individual with information about the past, present, and future. To some, such information is regarded as having originated in a second, or alternate, reality.

Paranormal dreams fall within the range of research on extrasensory perception, although the dividing line between them and normal dreams is often difficult to draw. Various distortions or displacements of details frequently occur. Also, some go unnoticed by an outside researcher or even by the dreamer. Individuals who experience paranormal dreams usually describe them as being vivid and intense. The paranormal character of telepathic and prophetic dreams is usually quite clear. Sweating and trembling often occur, the dreams produce an impression lasting for days, and they tend to be repeated.


Hallucinations, which are the least common type of spontaneous ESP, may or may not be realistic. Basically, hallucinations fall between the direct knowledge of intuitions and the pictorial knowledge in dreams. Like intuitions, they occur when one is awake, but like dreams, the information is inferred from sensory input. Hallucinations of a psychic nature can occur in circumstances that might trigger ordinary hallucinations, such as extreme stress or fatigue, but can also occur when there seems to be no particular cause. The distinguishing feature of psychic hallucination is that the information conveyed could not have come from "past memories or present inferences" (as it is believed that typical hallucinations are based on memories and other unconscious material).


Precognition - This is one of the most common types of dream ESP people talk about. Apparently, they seem to dream about an event before it happens in reality, and in startlingly accurate detail. Some do not even realize that their dreams are precognitive until the event starts to happen in real life exactly as they had in the dream. If these dreams really do predict future events, this could have great implications. It may be that they future has already been decided and that we are just following a set path in our life. There are people without a precognitive dreaming background that believe this as well, but even though it may sound a bit strange, it could confirm their beliefs if ESP in dreams in found to be factual.

Dream Psychometry - This is the most uncommon of the three areas of dream ESP. These too, are accounts that cannot be proved because they are based purely on what the dreamer experiences. Dream psychometry is gaining information about an object in your dreams of which you know nothing about in waking life. The easiest way to do this would be to take a picture of a person you don't know and think about this person before you go to sleep at night. Then, when you wake up in the morning, record your dream and analyze them for any meaning that could relate to the picture. You may even want to try this with a book, such as calculus, the night before you have a test on the subject and see if you learn anything. This is not suggested unless you have no other options, this is referred to as osmosis, when you aren't in the dreaming state.

Synchronous - These are dreams in which the dreamer encounters another familiar character in a dream, and upon awakening and talking to that person they also recount the same dream experience during the night. If shared dreams are possible, it could prove the astral projection theory that goes along with OBE's. Most people are sceptical about this idea. They cant be blamed!, that is the way we have been brought up, especially in western culture, where they do not believe something unless there is sufficient scientific evidence to back it up. We may never be sure whether any of these theories will be proven, since the study of these rare occurrences is very difficult, so the only thing we can do is keep dreaming and know what we believe for ourselves.

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