ArmchairTraveltoHealthePlanet.com

Banning the Burqa

HealingTraveler — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:43:17 +0000

      Should the burqa be banned? Is it a symbol of religious freedom, or a shackle of slavery? At its core, the burqa is based on a negative view of women – the belief that female sexuality is so dangerous and potentially evil that womens’ bodies should not be seen. In many Islamic communities, women who wear modern clothing are condemned as evil temptresses who dishonor the men who “own” them, and invite-even deserve-rape and assault. Isn’t our responsibility to protect women greater than our responsibility to protect the freedom of those who choose to veil? We are seeing the power of an image – a symbol, evolve before our eyes.
       The war in Afghanistan, with its many casualties among troops and civilians, grows increasingly unpopular in the US and in Europe. Can American and NATO forces stem the spread of the Taliban? The recent 10,000+ WikiLeaks documents paint a grim picture. What would happen if US and NATO forces departed? Clearly the vacuum would be filled by militant extremist elements of the well organized Taliban. Women would again find themselves in the horrible conditions they were experiencing before the American invasion, and the Hazara in the highlands of central Afghanistan would most likely again become the victims of Taliban genocide (because they are Shi’ites). Yet the war itself brings civilian casualties, which fosters opportunities for militants to recruit relatives of the victims. Is there anything effective that western democracies CAN do?
      Banning the burqa is one step some European nations (Belgium, France) are taking, to make a stand against the spread of militant fundamentalist Islam, to preserve the secular nature of their societies, and protect the rights of women. IF this is accompanied by outspoken messages on the part of Islamic moderates, or Islamic secularists such as those in Turkey, opposing the spread of fundamentalist practice, then banning the burqa will be an important step in turning the tide of abuse against Islamic women. everywhere, eventually even in fundamentalist strongholds like Pakistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
     What will be most effective to de-popularize jihadism??? We can help shape the meaning of a symbol in our collective consciousness by speaking out, and by supporting moderate and secular Muslims who speak out, such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Infidel. More about her in my next post…

Imagining….cleaning the oil spill

HealingTraveler — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:55:54 +0000

There is a fertile connection between imagery for healing and imagining creative solutions – one nourishes the other. My previous post on the oil spill featured joining in with the Grandmothers of the planet in imaging a net of light around the oil spill that would contain and transform it. Now, creative ideas for doing just that are emerging. This is the noetic (Mind) consciousness process that fosters creative solutions.

One solution that shows great promise, and is being investigated by BP and the army corps of engineers, is technology promoted by Kevin Costner. (David Foster, National Review Online) He has invested 24 million dollars in large centrifuges that separate oil from water, at a reported rate of 200 gallons per minute, with a 97-99% water purity. It would of course require hundreds of these to clean up the mess in the gulf, but at least they would not do further damage to the marine environment, other than marine life scooped up that were already dead or badly injured from the oil. This is preferable to the Russian solution of nuclear blasts. Between 1966 and 1981, the Soviet Union detonated several controlled nuclear blasts to bury leaking oil wells under rubble, but of course this added radioactivity to the mess.

When we use imagery to align ourselves with heart and mind and spirit and Higher Power (God, the Universe, All That Is – call it what you will) we appeal to Nature to help us. Nature/Higher Power responds with avenues of solution if we are open to exploring the intuitive possibilities which arise. One of the ways Nature has offered to help clear the oil spill is through “Alcanivorax borkumensis.” These are oil-eating microbes that occur naturally in water. Gathered into high concentrations, they are used to clean municipal waste and jet oil fuel spills. They might help clean up oil soaked beaches and tidal areas.

While outrage over BP negligence appears more than justified, it does nothing to solve the problem. Sure, BP deserves to go out of business paying off claims. But if BP goes bankrupt, thousands of BP employees in the US lose their jobs, retirees in Britain lose their pension money, and very quickly there is no more money to pay off claims. A more useful investment of our energy is in using our imaginations to draw in solutions, then empowering those solutions at every level, from supportive imagery to talking solutions on the net to conserving fuel and supporting the politics of alternative fuels and voting with our ballots and our dollars.

Creating Peace Within, Peace on our Planet

HealingTraveler — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:22:52 +0000

Does your life seem to have a flood of new or more intense complications lately? This solstice late spring-summer period is a time of particularly intense astrological stress as Saturn and Uranus are in opposition: old forms are breaking up amid great resistance and new forms are trying to emerge. We can see this in oil spill crisis, crises in Korea, Iran, Israel and elsewhere, as well as in our own lives.

Here is a great resource for helping us Armchair Travelers:

“Join the Global Coherence Initiative Steering Committee member, Deborah Rozman, Ph.D. and Institute of HeartMath Education Program Developer, Jeffrey Goelitz, M.Ed. for this timely Webinar: Finding the State of Ease to Create Flow set for 11 a.m. – 12 noon and 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. PDT Wednesday, June 30.

In this Webinar Deborah and Jeffrey will talk about how people are commenting on how they are overloaded with too much to do and anxiety about the future. There is a “state of ease” that each of us can access to help release emotional turbulence and help maintain coherent alignment between our heart, mind and emotions. Learning to access our personal space of “inner-ease” can be done with minimum practice and in just a little time. When operating in an ease-mode, it’s easier to choose less stressful perceptions and attitudes and re-create “flow” in our daily routines” www.glcoherence.org

Check out my book, Armchair Travel to Heal the Planet, for lots more resources.

Imagery to contain the oil spill

HealingTraveler — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:04:55 +0000

Although anger at BP may be justified and they should be held accountable, we can all do an important part in helping our planet cope with this mess. One approach is to use the preparation methods described in my book, Armchair Travel to Heal the Planet, and then focus on the image of the NET OF LIGHT as described in grandmothersspeak.com This consists mainly of uniting with loving hearts everywhere and holding the image of a net of light surrounding and gathering in the oil spill, using forces from the mineral kingdom to offset the damage, healing the marine life, birds, plantlife and people affected. Anchor the net of light deep in the crust of the earth, to stop the flow of oil from its source. Calmly and lovingly return everyone and everything to balance. It takes only a few minutes a day in multiple minds and hearts to create ripples that will have a significant effect. Let’s all do our part!

Rebirth: Poland Is Born and Grows Fast

HealingTraveler — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:46:48 +0000

       Just back from visiting Poland and Russia, I am amazed at the difference in these countries from what I saw in 1970. At that time there was an active black market in Poland – our guide knew all the prices in black market currency rather than official zlotys. But in 1978, a Polish pope was elected. John Paul II declared that “the virtue of politics is to serve man.” The Poles regained a sense of dignity and identity.
      Then the government announced steep increases in food prices and there were widespread shortages of food as the Poles saw trainloads of food grown in Poland being sent to Russia. There was a strike in the shipyard of the northern city of Gdansk, quickly suppressed by the government, which called the strikers bandits. Martial law was declared in 1981, ostensibly to keep the Soviets from invading after the riots in the Gdansk shipyard. The situation became barely livable for awhile in the 1980s. I talked to 30-somethings who could remember their families sharing “line duty”. Family members would take turns waiting in long lines outside shops, hoping to buy some cheese or a bit of meat or a few vegetables. They might wait all day, only to return home empty handed. Much of their daily life was spent in lines as shortages deepened. Strikes spread through the country and an active underground press kept the Solidarity movement informed. In 1978 the Pope visited his native country which inspired and galvanized the people. By 1989 the strikes were so widespread and so crippling to the country that the government did not have enough troops to shut them down – and it was doubtful at that point that Polish troops would have fired on their own people. The government negotiated with Lech Walesa and the Solidarity leaders, and a representative government was born.
      The Solidarity movement toward representative government spread to Hungary, the Berlin Wall came down and nation after nation declared their independence from a collapsing Soviet Union. Today Poland is a thriving country belonging to NATO and preparing for full partnership in the European Union. So many times we see a process of deterioration and breakdown that leads to breakthrough and new life, new forms. We can keep aware of this process as we watch current global hotspots, and envision the new democratic political bodies that can emerge from today’s areas of crisis and collapse.
       Witnessing with a vision of positive outcome IS Armchair Travel to Heal the Planet

Armchair Healers Can Strengthen Our Security Pt 2

HealingTraveler — Sat, 29 May 2010 15:26:29 +0000

Another way Armchair Healers can help promote safety from terrorist threats:
We can empower moderate Muslims to speak up with a definition of Islam as peaceful – and a clear call and expectation for the expression of Islam to be peaceful. This would mean an outspoken clarification that people who advocate or engage in any attacks on civilians are criminals whose actions do not represent Islam, no matter what labels they give themselves. The quiet majority of Muslims agree with this, although they may object to political policies they see as unfair to Muslims, for example, the treatment of Palestinians. Our security depends in part on the good will of this quiet majority, who have eyes and ears closer to the radical extremists, and who have passed on many vital warnings about individuals. Why have they not spoken out more until now? There are certainly struggles going on within Islamic communities as to how best to live out Islam in a modern world and a secular society, and how to express solidarity with the Palestinians. And our Muslim neighbors also fear the radical extremists. We can understand their hesitation to speak out, but the attempted bombing in Times Square along with the shooting at Fort Hood may help them realize that silence is not a safe alternative.
Where we do hear Muslims speaking out for peaceful political expression rather than criminal violence, we can multiply their voices by quoting them often on social media sites. Please send me links to any of these you find and I will pass them along to other sites.

What Armchair Healers Can Do to Ward off Terror Attacks Pt 1

HealingTraveler — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:20:42 +0000

The Times Square would be bomber raises a question: what can Armchair Travelers do to help ward off attacks and keep us safe?
First, it is good to remember the law of attraction: What you dwell on, you energize and activate, making it more likely to come about. If we dwell on fear of attacks, we increase the likelihood of attack, because our fear empowers and emboldens the attacker. That doesn’t mean we should ignore the possibility of attack, but rather dwell on the idea and image that we are safe and secure. Security forces operate best when they do a job of verifying security – looking around a location, checking documents, etc, expecting all to be in order and verifying that everything is in place. “Verify” means to see that something is true – which helps to bring about its truth. This means being alert, observant and confident. We live in an open society, so security forces function most effectively if all of us citizens extend the eyes, ears and hands of security personnel. That means we become observers, noticing our environment, developing a sense of what to expect when everything is in place. Then, if something catches our attention, we can observe it more closely and report it to security forces. We can do this with a spirit of confidence, a spirit that expects all of us, citizens and visitors, to act respectfully toward one another, and expects that all of us working together can nullify any threat. On the outside this might not look very different from distrustful, anxious surveillance, but there is a world of difference. Our health is adversely affected by high levels of stress hormones when we are suspicious observers; our blood circulates freely and we feel “in the flow” when we are confident observers. And we generate good vibrations in our fellow citizens, so they are more likely to want to join in the effort of positive security building. Many plots are foiled by tips. Rather than depend on government machinery to do all the surveillance, together we can experience greater community involvement, which is the best basis for true security.

Contagious Words and Images: Chinese Children

HealingTraveler — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:27:24 +0000

       The tragedy of lone men bursting into schools and hacking to death young children in China, said to be the work of copycat killers, brings before us the stark reality that words and images, especially seen on TV, can be contagious. For our own well being, for the health of our communities and our planet, and for the possible comfort of grieving families – we can benefit everyone – by realizing the potential for positive use of contagious images.
     The heart is a universal image of compassion. If you hold in your heart the image of a grieving parent, or a child whose body just had the life snuffed out of it, and you breathe comfort and tenderness into your own heart with the intention of extending it to that parent or child, you may have a resonant effect on one or more of those grieving parents or children. While you might start out with sad feelings, it is important to focus on comfort – the sadness does not help you, and you miss the positive potential of helping the parents or children by holding an energized image or feeling of comforting them.
      The truth about telepathy is that receptive people can “pick up” feelings that we have about them. You might review the research summary in my book, Armchair Travel to Heal the Planet. We intuitively know the truth of telepathic compassion expressed in our common saying “My heart goes out to them”. Grief opens some people to greater receptivity. So while the loss of those children is tragic, the outpouring of heart to heart compassion can raise us all to greater connectedness within our human family.

Summary: Christian, Buddhist and Indigenous Healing Practices for Armchair Travelers

HealingTraveler — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:00:18 +0000

In Hawaiian, Buddhist and Christian views of basic inherent goodness, we would all like to return to our core purity, but many people have gotten so lost in distorted thinking and resulting negative feelings and actions that they cannot find their way back to awareness of their own essence without some form of assistance. Once they receive that assistance through prayer, Tongen or ho’opono’pono, repeated as much as necessary to dissipate the energy of old habits of thinking and feeling, they are gradually able to return to an orientation of basic goodness. In these cross cultural views, being aware of your core purity and your connection with the Great Unity of All Creation also facilitates physical and mental health, and emotional balance and well being. This can all be implied in the word “Aloha” which translates as Love, Unity, and Divine Breath. The word is related to the Aramaic word for God that Jesus would have used: Eloha, or in other Semitic language, Allaha.

From Armchair Travel to Heal the Planet, book by Kathy Bornino. Also check out my website, http://imaginehealingandawakening.com and my wordpress blog of that name.

Part 7 How Can Ho’opono’pono and Similar Processes Work?

HealingTraveler — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:29:41 +0000

Can consciousness studies help us understand how ho’opono’pono could work to heal other people and situations? In the example of the criminally insane patients at Hawaii State Hospital, whatever is healed in one consciousness, in this case Dr. Hew Len’s, can then heal in another person who was outwardly displaying the problem, in this case, the patient. The operating principle here seems to be an extraordinarily effective use of telepathy. We are all potentially connected in consciousness, and that connection is strengthened when we target any particular recipient. If we have in mind a nameless, faceless person involved in a problem situation somewhere in the world, we can use the ho’opono’pono process to clear our own minds and hearts, as many times as we need to until we feel a clearing in our minds and hearts so there is no trace of emotional stress left within us. Then there will be a resonant effect that happens for the distant person or persons that are the target of our intentions. We work on ourselves, but the effects happen also in other people – our distant recipients – as well as ourselves.

How can this be? The healer doing ho’opono’pono sends out a message like a radio signal to the psyche of the intended recipient. The person’s individual identity may or may not be known to the healer – that is not necessary, because the thought travels by intention to the person it is appropriate for, who has longed for some help, even unconsciously. It is a message of love and a message that recognizes any hurt or any injustice the person has experienced and asks for any damage from that to be healed, so that the recipient can release negative thoughts and feelings and remember his/her core purity. As the healer also prays to release any negative thoughts or feelings within him/herself, she clears and opens a pathway between her own psyche and that of the recipient, so the recipient does not need to feel any guilt or fear from his or her own misdeeds, and is better able to remember and re-experience his own core purity, and to begin to think and feel and act from that basis. This is a specialized form of telepathy that happens: as the healer clears his/her own psyche, a resonance is set up that supports clearing and healing in the psyche of the recipient. When we remember we are all members of one human family, the ho’opono’pono formula also becomes a way of saying “Whatever anyone may have done to you, I am sorry: please forgive. Remember, we are all love.” Dr. Hew Len had never met the patients so he himself was not the person/s that had hurt or confused or misled them in their lives, but in apologizing in mind and heart to each patient, he was giving them the validation they needed to receive in order to open their hearts to his message of love, and begin to remember their own essence.