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Is Overwashing Created by Vested Interests?
The skin is the New York City of organs. Some of the locals, like the natural oils, are homegrown; others, such as the good bacteria, immigrated in. The skin is dirty, but it needs to be. Otherwise, the inhabitants couldn't coexist. Sterilizing the skin with disinfectants and heavy soap strips away the well-balanced community, leaving the skin irritated, cracked, and even prone to infection and cancer. And yet, people continue to overwash.
It isn't surprising that no one wants to smell bad. But it is interesting that nearly everyone is willing to put their skin health at risk to avoid emitting an unpalatable odor. Such uniformity suggests that this isn't just a matter of preference, but instead, a biologically-driven behavior. If a person smells like a bag of egg salad left in the sun during an Alabama summer, their smell is a little disgusting, and we would like to stay away from them, regardless of how perfect and beautiful their skin might be. In other words, bad odors can trigger disgust, which can powerfully influence our behavior. Disgust is activated by the Behavioral Immune System (BIS). In the landmark paper "The Behavioral Immune System (and Why It Matters)," Mark Schaller and Justin Park — experts in disgust and evolutionary psychology — describe the BIS as "behaviorally analogous to the classic immune system": both systems detect cues that indicate the presence of potential disease-causing threats, and both systems trigger a response to protect the host from those threats. Whereas the classic immune system possesses an arsenal of cells and proteins to protect the host, the BIS deploys disease-relevant emotional and cognitive responses. Indeed, people who more easily feel disgusted are less often infected, suggesting that avoidance behaviors are effective. However, BIS responds to an overly general set of cues, which can result in aversive responses to things (including people) that pose no actual threat of pathogen infection. Thus, we shun and stigmatize people who not only potentially carry biological disease, but also those who violate the social conventions that we perceive as threatening. In other words, we might be disgusted by a person with a foul odor because they potentially carry infectious disease, but also because they smell different than society expects. So, if disgust is supposed to protect us from disease, and if overwashing can cause disease, why aren't we disgusted by overwashing? One reason is that skin diseases are often visual in nature, and visually-induced disgust is not nearly as powerful as odor-induced disgust when it comes to influencing our behavior, according to previous research. And that is because smell is processed differently than other senses. Scent molecules are initially detected by receptor neurons in the nose. These neurons send information about these encounters first to the olfactory bulb, a brain structure about the size of a marble located above the nasal cavity. Unlike our other senses, olfactory nerves do not proceed to the brain's thalamus, the region responsible for creating a conscious understanding of sensory information. Instead, information from the olfactory bulb takes a direct route to a tiny area of the brain called the amygdala, where emotions are processed, and then to the adjoining hippocampus, where learning and memory formation take place. This results in an intimate connection between scents, memories, and emotions (such as disgust). Because of this direct route, we have an immediate, visceral reaction to odors. Such a visceral reaction, however, can also cause problems, especially in a society that is over-obsessed with cleanliness. It is good to rinse off sweat and dirt, but a little body odor is normal and carries no risk of infection. Our disgust over body odor is largely conditioned into us, in no small part by the commercial health and beauty industry, which has successfully convinced us that natural body odor is a sign of poor health. That is, the reason we overwash, despite the risk to our skin health, is that we are more worried about the consequences to our social health than to our biological health. QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: The amygdala is sensitized and over-reacted from emotional and environmental stress. Calm down this area of the brain with Clean Sweep Clearing Spray. It harmonizes chaotic energies in spaces that lead to stress. |
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Becoming An Authentic Person
 In an attempt to define authenticity, psychologists in the early 21st century started to characterize what an authentic person looks like. They settled on some criteria: An authentic person is supposed to be self-aware and willing to learn what makes them who they really are. Once an authentic person gains insight into their true self, they will aim to be unbiased about it – choosing not to delude themselves and distort the reality of who they are. After deciding what defines the true self, the authentic person will then behave in a way that is true to those characteristics, and avoid being "false" or "fake" merely to please others. In most recent work on the subject, this traditional definition of authenticity might be falling short.
Have you ever found yourself trying to analyze your own thoughts or feelings about something, only to make yourself more confused? The poet Theodore Roethke once wrote that "self-contemplation is a curse, that makes an old confusion worse." And there's a growing body of psychological research supporting this idea. Thinking, on its own, is surprisingly effortful and even a little bit boring, and people will do almost anything to avoid it. One study found they'll even shock themselves to avoid having to sit with their own thoughts. This is a problem for a definition of authenticity that requires people to think about who they are and then act on that knowledge in an unbiased way. We don't find thinking very enjoyable, and even when we do, our reflection and introspection abilities are rather poor. Fortunately, new research gets around this problem by defining authenticity not as something about a person, but as a feeling. It is proposed that authenticity is a feeling that people interpret as a sign that what they are doing in the moment aligns with their true self. Importantly, this view does not require people to know what their true self is, nor do they need to have a true self at all. According to this view, an authentic person can look many different ways; and as long as something feels authentic, it is. The feeling of authenticity is actually an experience of fluency. Have you ever been playing a sport, reading a book, or having a conversation, and had the feeling that it was just right? This is what some psychologists call fluency, or the subjective experience of ease associated with an experience. In one study, we asked U.S. adults to recall the last activity they did and to rate how fluent it felt. We found that, regardless of the activity--whether it was work, leisure or something else --people felt more authentic the more fluent the activity was. It also showed that when an activity becomes less fluent, people feel less authentic. To do this, we asked participants to list some attributes that describe who they really are. However, sometimes we asked them to try to remember complicated strings of numbers at the same time, which increased their cognitive load. At the end, participants answered some questions about how authentic they felt while completing the task. As we predicted, the participants felt less authentic when they had to think about their attributes under cognitive load, because being forced to do the memory task at the same time created a distraction that impeded fluency. Research by a team of psychologists led by Daphna Oyserman has shown that people have different personal theories about ease and difficulty when carrying out tasks. Sometimes when something is too easy it feels "not worth our time." Conversely, when something gets difficult, we might see it as especially important and worth doing. This might mean that there are times when we feel particularly true to ourselves when the going gets tough--as long as we interpret that difficulty as important to who we are. Seeking fluency--and avoiding internal conflict--is probably a pretty good way to stay on the path to being true to yourself, pursuing what is morally good and knowing when you're "in the right place." QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Use the Success & Achievement Elixir and Crystal to amplify fluency, bringing about increased ease and enjoyment. |
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Cultivate Kindness With These Techniques
When you believe in someone, tell them directly. Convey your support to them. Let's say we all supported and believed in the ability of our friends and family to do amazing things. Put another way, think about how your support could drive even one person to achieve things greater than themselves. Imagine how much the world could benefit. Quite simply, a lot more. Consider kindness before you speak. When we may have something in our minds to say about someone and it isn't kind, remember to choose kindness before speaking. It is not a sign of weakness to choose kindness. It is a sign of heart. Spread kindness that you have received. When we receive kindness, we may feel special about ourselves. If you can, in some way or another, continue to spread the kindness that you have received. It would be a great way to pay it forward. Be mindful of how you treat others. Considering our closest relationships, as well as our acquaintances and others who we don't see regularly, it is important to be mindful of how we treat others because of the impact it can have. Truly being considerate can go a long way with many friendships and relationships. Don't discriminate who to be kind to. As we all know, each of us is facing a challenge, whether seen or unseen. Don't discriminate who to be kind to, despite differences. Set an example. What better of a role model to someone else than someone who is frankly, always kind. Try to set an example. Without role models who are kind, there would be less kindness to spread around. Practice good intentions. When you say something nice to someone else, remember your intention counts as well. Try to carry good intentions with displays of kindness. Kindness and good intention usually come hand in hand, but in the few cases where they could not be aligned, try to practice good intentions, like not expecting anything in return for your gesture or compliment. Feel good about it. If you have a tougher time showing kindness, try and remember to feel good about showing this side of you. When you feel good, the act will come more regularly and spread more positivity within you. Reach out when it is less likely others will. If you feel like an act of kindness might be going against the grain, try to be the first to show the niceness. It will likely be as rewarding in return. Try to be kind every day. When in doubt, be kind as often as possible, hopefully every day so that you can reap the rewards in terms of your quality of relationships and just pure satisfaction that you have spread joy to another person's life. QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Kindness springs naturally from a state of calm. Create and maintain steady, peaceful energy with the E-1 Stress Relief Formula. |
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Health & Healing Hack of the Week
Shaking
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Quantum Healer of the Week
Riana Arendse
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Company & Product News
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
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We all can agree the world could use more kindness. Cultivate it in yourself with these techniques:
This is another traditional QiGong method of getting the "chi" flowing in the body, and greatly assists the lymphatic system and blood to improve cellular function and get circulation going where it has stagnated. Simply stand, or sit, and begin shaking the arms, the legs, and torso--at whatever comfortable rate for you. Get some motion going in the pelvis and hips, as well as the mid- and upper spine and neck. Rotate the shoulders and knees and ankles, too, getting as much motion as is comfortable. This is fun to do to rhythmic music, and has a multitude of benefits, especially applied to oxygenation and overall cell metabolism. Dancing is in this category as well, so get creative and get moving! -- From
Drawing always from her direct experience, in this life and multidimensional lives as an embodiment of the Sophia Christ Consciousness, Riana illuminates the undivided nature of Life or Consciousness with great clarity and compassion. She carries sacred keys to unlock the necessary codes for the evolutionary process for individuals and for the collective. As an activator of Divine Truth and her unparalleled access to Higher Wisdom, frequencies and Codes, her passion is to teach and initiate visionaries, spiritual teachers, healers and conscious entrepreneurs into awakening and embodying their true innate Power. Through her ongoing refinement of Mastery and integration of her life's curriculum Riana has reached a level of consciousness that allows her admission beyond her multidimensional self. She operates as a pure frequency of embodied love. "My sincere wish for everyone is to experience themselves as they Truly Are, to WAKE UP and remember their divinity. And so I pose the question: Are you willing and ready to die to everything you think you know? And awaken to the knowing that who you truly are was really never born, can never really die, and is always free? Once you realize that the way things are right now is not enough or not in alignment with your soul, that there is something more, your spiritual journey has already begun. And as the doors of Perception are cleansed, everything will appear to you as it truly is, as infinite and all encompassing . You then become an embodiment of love simply because you see the oneness in everything, and everyone."
Spiritually: