Month: July 2014

When it comes to protecting earth's natural resources, we all have to do our part. And as technology becomes more advanced, it may help us work our way through the planet crisis.

With this in the forefront of their minds, an Arizona State University graduate and professor launched a social media app aimed to inspire people to take action to improve the conditions of planet earth. 

The app is called "eEcosphere," and it encourages collaboration between individuals on everything from heavy climate change topics to sustainability tips. More specifically, eEcosphere enables people to share and comment on one another's suggestions on articles like "how to do your laundry better" and "3 ways to reduce your impact when eating out."

"Sustainability is a human challenge," George Basile, co-founder of eEcosphere and a professor at ASU's School of Sustainability, told Arizona Central News. "It's a human problem. The social feature really builds on the idea of helping people, thereby helping global challenges."

The eEcosphere app lets you exchange action-worthy ideas with your friends and adopt the ones that connect with you. It can even help develop and materialize ideas by linking one another with the resources and people that can make it happen. The app also partners with business, sustainable operations and government entities to enrich content. 

For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided information about flowers specific to each region, so users could figure out what to plant in their areas.

Andrew Krause, app co-founder and an ASU graduate, said his goal is to disseminate information on environment friendly concerns that can allow people to do things in their everyday routine – which often add up being the most impactful – more sustainably.

He said climate change is a pervasive issue for everyone, especially the Millennial generation. That's why Krause figured the technological platform of an app would be suitable. 

Ilchi Lee, an advocate of a sustainable world, couldn't agree more with Krause's principles. Lee constantly drives home the point that we are all part of this world together – and we are all earth's citizens. When it comes to climate change and lack of natural resources, the boundary lines between communities, states, countries fade away. There is only one group, and that is us. 

Many people are looking for energy methods for healing. 

A simple touch from one person to another has been shown to promote a sense of trust and teamwork, but there is a little-heard of practice that incorporates the sense in a different way. It's called healing touch. 

Like many others, Anita Kiger, from Dover, Delaware, needed a change when she reached her mid 50s. She had constant back and neck pain and longed for new inspiration. 

She found it only 15 minutes away from her house at a meditation studio. From licensed professionals, Kiger started receiving healing touch, which combines meditation with physical touch to focus on parts of the body that are stressed or in pain. 

The method, a relaxing, nurturing energy therapy, helps bolster well-being by massaging energy into the body. In this way, the physical touch stimulates blood flow, playing a role in delivering essential nutrients to the area in pain. 

"When you're sick or in surgery or there's some kind of illness going on there, energy fields are out of balance," Dr. Frances Zappalla, a pediatric cardiologist certified in integrative medicine, told Delaware Online News Journal.

Although Zappalla said she was skeptical at first, after working with a number of patients with such healing touch practices, she said she sees real benefits. 

Zappalla emphasized the importance of the connection between the mind and body. Similar to practicing meditation and striking yoga poses, healing touch reduces blood pressure and heart rate. However, unlike these practices, healing energy has not been measured quantitatively in a reliable way, according to the University of Minnesota.  

There have been countless studies done on regular meditation benefits and the stress relief provided by yoga practices, but healing touch has not had a large body of research for proper testing. 

A big reason why integrative medicine might be effective in general relates to lifestyle choices, the cardiologist said. Healthy eating and mindfulness play a big role – instead of reaching for a cheeseburger, opt for the chicken salad, and instead of concentrating on negative thoughts throughout the day, try to harness uplifting experiences and positive self-reinforcement. 

Ilchi Lee, a master of meditation and The New York Times best-selling author, explains that every individual should find a relaxation technique that works for him or her. According to ancient Chinese practice, the body is made of channels, like veins, through which energy flows. When these channels become blocked from things like an injury, exploring healing treatments with yoga and meditation can prove instrumental in tearing down the energy blockades to feel like yourself again. 

As The New York Times best-selling author and acclaimed philosopher, Ilchi Lee has been frequenting Kerikeri, the largest town in Northland New Zealand.

In June, Lee visited Kerikeri for the second time, and he plans to return for a three-month-long stay. He says that Kerikeri, with Rainbow Falls, the friendly people and the peacefulness, is a magnet for meditation.

Of course, setting has a lot to do with mindful meditation. Reaching a sense of calm is given a big helping hand from the soothing, relaxing environment in which one practices. Kerikeri, a subtropical paradise, aptly fits the bill.

The 63-year-old South Korean has followers from all corners of the world. He combines the Korean Taoist tradition, known as Sun Do, with neuroscience and environmental wisdom, and he has written 36 books, many of which have been translated into several languages.

Becoming a Fun Person
All of us have gone through the struggle of figuring out who we really are and what we want to do with our lives. For Lee, becoming happier all starts with living in the here and now, and embracing life for what is rather than what it appears to be on the surface.

When you look at someone you think is fun, what characteristics do they have? Outgoing, generous, adventurous? No matter your personality, Lee says, you can become a "fun" person – someone who makes their existence beautiful.

"Becoming a fun person isn't hard to do," Lee told the New Zealand newspaper Stuff.co.nz. "Right now, at this very moment, change how you smile, how you speak, how you walk and how you breathe. Practice it every day, in every moment. Smile, talk about good news, walk with a spring your step and breathe."

From Struggle to Success
As a child, Lee grappled with the problem of attention deficit disorder. When he was a teenager he turned to the martial art taekwondo to help ease his restless mind. Although he initially didn't pass his college entrance exam, Lee ended up graduating with a degree in clinical pathology and opening a clinical pathology practice. Through meditation, Lee was able to fight off the problems of ADD, and he began to teach methods of meditation to classes gathered in a community park.

The classes were the starting point of a lifelong journey, as Lee has since opened hundreds of Dahn Centers in South Korea and the U.S.

When the entrepreneur visits places like Kerikeri, he sees a human potential that transcends national boundaries. One of Lee's biggest messages is that we should all consider ourselves citizens of the earth. Lee believes that peace can only be achieved if humanity gives up nationalistic identities and becomes more self-sufficient in health care. Instead of over-relying on pharmaceuticals and specialized health care, we should rediscover the natural means of health maintenance.

Lee notes that our minds are the driving force of our happiness. We have a lot of external and internal noise – people telling us one thing, and our minds telling us another. Get rid of the cluster and fill it with good news. Through meditation, we can learn to work with our minds instead of against them and form relationships between one another to build a stronger future.