7 weight-loss tips that work

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There seems to be a new message from the weight-loss industry every day. People are confused. Should you cleanse, go gluten-free or drop all grains to get the needle on the scale to go down?

After more than 12 years in the field as a nutritionist, I’ve found there are key steps that can help you achieve your goal weight quickly and healthily. Whether it’s five or 50 pounds, here are some tips to consider.

1. Water is a game changer. If you feel you’ve tried every weight-loss program and are still not losing weight, examine your water intake. Ideally, you should be drinking two litres of water each and every day. (Herbal tea counts; coffee does not.) It’s extremely hard to lose weight efficiently if your body is dehydrated.

2. Diet drinks are not so diet. I cannot tell you how many times I meet with a client who has 10 to 15 pounds to lose and is drinking two to three diet sodas per day. Research shows artificial sweeteners can promote fat storage and increase your body mass index. While some people drink diet sodas to curb a sweet tooth, it’s not a habit that will produce positive effects. Instead of drinking diet drinks, substitute water with lemon, sparkling water and sweet herbal teas, such as berry and cinnamon tea.

3. Supper is supplementary. Most people start their day off well, only to finish it not as well. In order to “hit it out of the park” with your weight-loss results, make supper your lightest meal of the day. As the saying goes, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.”

Of course, there will be times where you go out for dinner or enjoy a larger meal in the evening. However, keeping your evening meal on the lighter side for five days out of the week will ensure the pounds on the scale drop. Enjoy a dinner of protein and vegetables drizzled with some healthy fat.

4. One cheat does not blow the entire deal. Many feel if they cheat on their diet, they’ve blown the entire thing and may as well throw in the towel and binge. This is the opposite of what you should do! If you do have a cheat meal or drink, simply compensate by doing an extra workout, eating light the next day, dropping your grain or increasing your water intake.

5. Food and emotions go hand in hand. How you eat is a reflection of how you feel. If you’re using food to numb an emotion, soothe or self-sabotage, it’s time to make peace with it. Keeping a food journal to track your food intake and emotions will help you to discover the “why” behind what you’re eating. Until you get your behavior under control, plan out all your meals. Similar to the way you would lay your clothes out the day before, plan the food you’ll be eating and stick to it!

6. Nutrient-dense, lighter-calorie food goes a long way. When you’re hungry or on the verge of a food binge, opt for calorie-light, nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables or pureed vegetable soups. Red pepper slices, baby carrots, cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes can help fill you up.

7. Follow the five-year rule. Before you join a weight-loss program, ask yourself the very important question, “Can I see myself following a version of this program for five years?” If the answer is no, don’t do it! The one thing the body hates more than being overweight is gaining and losing weight routinely. Chronic yo-yo dieting is a one-way ticket to excess weight and a sluggish metabolism. When picking your weight-loss program, make sure it’s one that can be followed long-term. If the diet is overly restrictive and impossible to follow for a long time, chances are you’ll lose the weight, only to gain it back.

Top 10 Foods To Gain Muscle Mass

1. Lean Beef

This should be a staple of your diet if you want to gain muscle mass. Lean beef is loaded with all sorts of things conducive to muscle growth, including iron, zinc and B-vitamins. More importantly, it provides your body with high quality protein (not all proteins are equal), and a high level of amino acid that works with insulin to promote muscle growth. For those who are trying to lose weight, this should come as great news – a 3oz serving of lean beef provides roughly the same amount of protein as 1.5 cups of beans, but at half the calories.

2. Skinless Chicken

Like beef, chicken is an excellent source of high quality protein, which is important for muscle maintenance and repair, bone health, and weight maintenance. And of course, there are so many ways you can cook and prepare chicken. Go down to the store and you can easily find chicken meat cut into single serving sizes that can be seasoned and quickly cooked.

3. Cottage Cheese

Not many people know this, but cottage cheese is almost entirely pure casein protein. Casein is a slow-digesting protein, which means it is perfect for muscle maintenance. This is useful especially for people who have no choice but to go long periods without eating. Cottage cheese is also an excellent source of vitamin B12, calcium, and other important nutrients.

4. Eggs

Eggs contain high quality protein, nine essential amino acids, choline, the right kind of fat, and vitamin D. They provide the most value for your money. And eggs are not harmful for your health, as numerous studies have already shown.

5. Whey Protein

There is a reason why whey protein supplements are the most popular supplement in the fitness industry: they provide a fast and convenient source of protein at an affordable price. Bodybuilders normally use them when they wake up, right after their workout, and mixed with some of their meals. For the rest of us, a scoop in our shakers right after our workouts  can be very effective for muscle mass gains. It’s important that you still get high quality protein from whole foods, and use whey protein as a boost.

6. Tuna and Other Fish

Fish are high in protein, low in fat, and rich in omega-3 fatty acids. The omega-3s are essential because they aid in fat loss  and ensure the proper function of your body processes , such as your metabolism.

7. Oatmeal

Oatmeal is an great source of carbohydrates due to both its low glycemic index (GI) value  and the fact it is minimally processed. The benefits of a low-GI diet include:

  • Better micronutrient profile and more fiber
  • Increased satiety
  • Decreased hunger
  • Lower subsequent energy intake (second meal effect)
  • Fat loss

In short, low-GI foods can enhance fat loss for those looking to lose weight, and provide a constant source of carbs for muscle preservation.

8. Whole Grains

Whole grains digest more efficiently and provide more nutrients than refined grains. This promotes sustained energy levels and overall health. In particular, brown rice can help boost your growth hormone levels, which are critical for encouraging lean muscle growth, fat loss, and strength gains.

9. Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of antioxidants, which are essential for the healthy functioning of your immune system. They also provide tons of other nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. Finally, your body requires the fiber these fruits and vegetables provide to aid in proper digestion and nutrient uptake.

10. Healthy Fats

I know the thought of consuming fat makes some of you shudder, but good fats are essential for muscle growth. In fact, they play an essential role in hormone production (testosterone and growth hormones), which helps drive muscle growth and strength gains. In addition, fats are needed for many important maintenance functions. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the good fats. You can find them in salmon, other fishes, nuts, leafy veggies, oils such as flaxseed, avocados, and seeds. They are also all rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

The 6 Rules of Gaining Muscle Mass

The 6 Rules of Gaining Muscle Mass

Here’s the frustrating truth: Most guys spend their entire life going to gyms, performing endless reps and sets, and never gaining more than a few pounds of muscle. You sacrifice sweat, invest in hustle and for what? Yeah, good health — that’s great. But if you’re like me, you also want results you can see.

Eventually many guys end up wondering, “Is my body just not designed to add size?

I tried my own personal experiment to build as much mass as possible in one month. The result: I gained 20 pounds in 28 days.

I learned what it takes to add size — no drugs, no cheating, no gimmicks.

I did this to help all the average guys out there, guys just like me. The ones that are tired of being frustrated, misled and unable to make any changes that they can see. And as a former skinny guy, it was further proof that anyone — with enough patience and effort — can change their body.

If you want to add some mass to your body, or just make sure that you’re not wasting your time with your training and diet plan, here are six lessons that will help you avoid your common frustrations.

RULE #1: Eat More Calories Than You Burn

This might seem obvious, but when you’re trying to add mass, you need to eat more. If there’s a consistent theme in the struggle to gain weight, most people just don’t eat enough. Keep in mind that everyone’s body is different, so there’s no hard-and-fast rule on how much you need to eat. But most people eat for the body they currently have. When they eat “a lot,” that’s just compared to their current weight. If you want to gain more size, you have to be thinking about what it would take to fuel the body you desire.

So eating “a lot” for your size will undoubtedly leave you at your size. You need to push the limits and find ways to take in more calories. Remember, you’re trying to change the way you look and push past a weight that is easy for you body to maintain. What’s more, you’re trying to add muscle that might be stubbornly resisting all your efforts.

The best approach is finding an eating strategy that makes it easier to take in more calories. This might mean eating more meals. It might mean eating less often but taking in significantly larger meals. That’s what I did. I only ate 3 times per day, but I ate a lot at each meal.

Sometimes you might need some simple tricks to add calories. This could be adding 1-2 tablespoons of oils (like Udo’s oil) to meals, or adding a few extra tablespoons of nut butter after you’re already full. But if you’re trying to gain weight and your not seeing any changes, start eating more. It’s a simple idea, but one that can be difficult to achieve because it’s an uncomfortable process. Hang with it, and your body will eventually adjust — both with the “ease” of eating more and the changes you’ll see.

RULE #2: Double or Triple Your Protein Intake

If there’s a type of food you want to eat more of, your top choice should be protein. Most guys don’t eat enough protein. That’s because there’s a variety of myths out there that will have you believe that you can only digest 20 to 30 grams of protein per serving. Or that you need to eat lots of small doses of protein 5 to 6 times per day. The result is that you feel like you’re getting enough protein, but you’re actually falling short of your goals.

If you want to boost how much protein you’re eating, understand that you can take in more than 20 to 30 grams per serving. And then focus on eating two to three times more protein, in general. If you’re already taking in about a gram per pound of your body weight, you don’t need to triple that amount. But just like calories, you want to eat for the body you’re trying to build. So add more protein as part of your effort.

RULE #3: Eat Mostly Nutrient-Dense Whole Foods

One of the biggest mistakes when trying to gain weight is eating the wrong types of food. Gaining weight can be hard for some people. (And yes, people that struggle to lose weight do not want to hear about your “difficulties” stuffing your face, but both can be equally challenging.) When you hit that wall, your first instinct might be to eat the most calorically dense foods possible. Scarfing down pizza and donuts might help you gain weight — but not the type you want.

Remember the goal is mass, but more muscle and less fat is what you want. So you’ll want to eat foods that are dense in calories — think steak and potatoes — as well as foods that have nutritional value and will help with digestion, like greens and sauerkraut.

While you will have more room to take in extra calories, if those calories are all from the bad sources you will grow — in all the wrong ways.

RULE #4: Do Compound Exercises in The Gym

A quick look at my workout  should reveal something very important: the workouts were not overly complicated. I hit the exercises that worked the greatest number of muscles. Moves like squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press and rows. Add in some “isolation” exercises to train your vanity muscles, and you have the perfect plan.

Don’t over-complicate your training with endless exercise changes. The fastest way to gain size is to become better at a few exercise and lift more weight. Your body will grow. Trust me. Which brings up another important rule.

RULE #5: Lift Heavier Weights

There is a place for higher reps in any program. In fact, I incorporated some on my “conditioning” days. But training heavy plays an important role in your ability to grow. That’s because focusing on heavier weight increases your strength. And as you increase your strength, you can use more weight for more reps. And as your total work capacity increases (amount of weight you use multiplied by the number of reps you perform), you are able to add more mass.

You’ll want to be smart about your approach. The downside of heavier lifting is that it can put you at a greater likelihood of injury. So doing a proper and thorough warmup, as well as several work-up sets, will ensure that you body–and your muscles, tendons, and ligaments–are prepared to add more weight, become stronger, and stay injury free.

RULE #6: Get 7+ Hours of Sleep Every Night

Two simple reasons why you want to make sure to prioritize sleep:

  • Sleeping enough helps your body build muscle
    – Not sleeping enough makes it harder to build muscle

When you get enough sleep, your levels of growth hormone increase. This is a natural hormone that plays an important role in muscle growth and recovery. When you don’t sleep enough, another hormone–cortisol–is increased. This stress hormone makes it harder for you to gain muscle. In fact, research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who don’t sleep enough not only lose weight, they also lose muscle.

Your goal should be to prioritize your rest just as much as your meals and workouts. It’ll ensure that all your hard work won’t go to waste.

By following these guidelines, you’ll be avoiding some of the most common mistakes that make gaining size seem impossible.

Vegetarian diets almost twice as effective in reducing body weight, study finds.

weight loss

Dieters who go vegetarian not only lose weight more effectively than those on conventional low-calorie diets but also improve their metabolism by reducing muscle fat, a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition has found.

Losing muscle fat improves glucose and lipid metabolism so this finding is particularly important for people with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, says lead author, Dr. Hana Kahleová, Director of Clinical Research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC.

Seventy-four subjects with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to follow either a vegetarian diet or a conventional anti-diabetic diet. The vegetarian diet consisted of vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits and nuts, with animal products limited to a maximum of one portion of low-fat yoghurt per day; the conventional diabetic diet followed the official recommendations of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Both diets were restricted by 500 kilocalories per day compared to an isocaloric intake for each individual.

The vegetarian diet was found to be almost twice as effective in reducing body weight, resulting in an average loss of 6.2kg compared to 3.2kg for the conventional diet.

Using magnetic resonance imaging, Dr. Kahleová and colleagues then studied adipose (fat-storage) tissue in the subjects’ thighs to see how the two different diets had affected subcutaneous, subfascial and intramuscular fat (that is, fat under the skin, on the surface of muscles and inside muscles).

They found that both diets caused a similar reduction in subcutaneous fat. However, subfascial fat was only reduced in response to the vegetarian diet, and intramuscular fat was more greatly reduced by the vegetarian diet.

This is important as increased subfascial fat in patients with type 2 diabetes has been associated with insulin resistance, so reducing it could have a beneficial effect on glucose metabolism. In addition, reducing intramuscular fat could help improve muscular strength and mobility, particularly in older people with diabetes.

Dr. Kahleová said: “Vegetarian diets proved to be the most effective diets for weight loss. However, we also showed that a vegetarian diet is much more effective at reducing muscle fat, thus improving metabolism. This finding is important for people who are trying to lose weight, including those suffering from metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes. But it is also relevant to anyone who takes their weight management seriously and wants to stay lean and healthy.”

Why our brain cells may prevent us burning fat when we’re dieting

A study carried out in mice may help explain why dieting can be an inefficient way to lose weight: key brain cells act as a trigger to prevent us burning calories when food is scarce.

“Weight loss strategies are often inefficient because the body works like a thermostat and couples the amount of calories we burn to the amount of calories we eat,” says Dr Clémence Blouet from the Metabolic Research Laboratories at University of Cambridge. “When we eat less, our body compensates and burns fewer calories, which makes losing weight harder. We know that the brain must regulate this caloric thermostat, but how it adjusts calorie burning to the amount of food we’ve eaten has been something of a mystery.”

Now, in research published in the open access journal eLife, a team of researchers has identified a new mechanism through which the body adapts to low caloric intake and limits weight loss in mice. Mice share a number of important biological and physiological similarities with humans and so are a useful model for studying how our bodies work.

The researchers tested the role of a group of neurons in a brain region known as the hypothalamus. These ‘agouti-related neuropeptide’ (AGRP) neurons are known for their major role in the regulation of appetite: when activated, they make us eat, but when fully inhibited they can lead to almost complete anorexia.

The team used a genetic trick to switch the AGRP neurons ‘on’ and ‘off’ in mice so that they could rapidly and reversibly manipulate the neurons’ activity. They studied the mice in special chambers than can measure energy expenditure, and implanted them with probes to remotely measure their temperature, a proxy for energy expenditure, in different contexts of food availability.

The researchers demonstrated that AGRP neurons are key contributors to the caloric thermostat that regulates our weight, regulating how many calories we burn. The findings suggest that when activated, these neurons make us hungry and drive us to eat — but when there is no food available, they act to spare energy, limiting the number of calories that we burn and hence our weight loss.

As soon as food becomes available and we start eating, the action of the AGRP neurons is interrupted and our energy expenditure goes back up again to normal levels.

In addition, the researchers also describe a mechanism through which AGRP neurons regulate their activity by detecting how much energy we have on-board and then controlling how many calories we burn.

“Our findings suggest that a group of neurons in the brain coordinate appetite and energy expenditure, and can turn a switch on and off to burn or spare calories depending on what’s available in the environment,” says Dr Blouet, who led the study. “If food is available, they make us eat, and if food is scarce, they turn our body into saving mode and stop us from burning fat.”

“While this mechanism may have evolved to help us cope with famine, nowadays most people only encounter such a situation when they are deliberately dieting to lose weight. Our work helps explain why for these people, dieting has little effect on its own over a long period. Our bodies compensate for the reduction in calories.”

Dr Luke Burke, the study’s first author, adds: “This study could help in the design of new or improved therapies in future to help reduce overeating and obesity. Until then, best solution for people to lose weight — at least for those who are only moderately overweight — is a combination of exercise and a moderate reduction in caloric intake.”


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by Jill Corcoran

I have been doing a lot of first 10 pages critiques lately, and I find myself writing…START YOUR STORY and ACTIVATE YOUR STORY on almost 100% of the manuscripts. Choosing where to start you story is so very important in grabbing your reader and willing him to keep reading, captivating him so he cannot put your book down.

Unfortunately, so many writers start in the wrong place. They start in what seems to me like they are talking to themselves, working out what is happening or who their characters are or what the back story is and putting that in the first chapters rather than starting where the book needs to begin. Starting right before everything changes for your main character.

Right before? Yes, I know you have heard so many times to start in the action, to start at the moment your character’s life is about to change, but by doing this we often do now know who your character is so we don’t care that their life is changing. We don’t care about who they are or what is their peril.

Don’t start by describing what is going on. Don’t start by having your main character ‘think’ about/tell us about all that is happening in their life. Don’t start with shot from a gun, waking from a bad dream, dialog of people fighting, random thoughts from your character that does not activate your plot and bring the character and the reader into the character’s world. Don’t write a passive, telling, descriptive beginning.

START YOUR STORY. Show your character in his world, interacting with other characters that give us a glimpse into who your character is, what problem is he facing and why this problem means something to him, and to us the reader.

In one of my favorite books, Gayle Foreman’s IF I STAY, Gayle does not start the book at the moment of the car crash. We first see the family together, we actually fall in love with the main character and her family so when the car crash happens, we are devastated along with the main character. Gayle starts the first line of the book with an intriguing sentence….a sentence that activates us to pay attention to this first meeting with the main character’s family. That foreshadows the doom and gloom to come:

Everyone thinks it is because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that’s true.

And then we are back in her world.  A world where the main character is not telling us what is happening but shows us through other characters’ actions and dialog, as well as her own.

Look back at the first pages of THE HUNGER GAMES, SPEAK, LOOKING FOR ALASKA, DRAMA QUEENS IN THE HOUSE, STARGIRL, SWEET EVIL the list goes on and on.

These are captivating beginnings that establish voice, character, plot, setting without plunging us blindly into the ‘problem’, the ‘crisis’. They also do not bore us with little details that talk down to the reader to make sure they are going to ‘get it’, that make sure the reader knows everything they need to know so they can follow your story.

Often you have to finish your book so you can rewrite/re-envision your beginning. Often you have to toss out your first couple of chapters. Do not mourn those lost words.  Thank them for helping you get started, for helping you understand where you book is going, for activating you to write rather than spend your years like so many wannabees saying I have a story I want to write but I just don’t know where to start. Congrats. You started. You got to the end. Now rewrite that beginning. Activate your story.

by Jill Corcoran

What makes a book sell to a publisher, and sell-through to readers? It is NOT how fabulous your website or blog is. It is NOT how many facebook or twitter friends you have, how many publishing links you forward or put on said website, blog, facebook and twitter. It is not how much editors and agents like you, though being a pain in the arse will NOT help you in any way, shape or form.

What sells a book is THE WRITING coupled with an ORIGINAL, COMPELLING CONCEPT!

You have heard that great writing will rise to the top and find its way. Yet we all know that not all great writing sells. There is marketing and sales to contend with, and even in my  short years of agenting I have had quite a number of books that editors loved and sales and marketing told them that it would sell, but just not enough....and the books are still not published. Breaks my heart. Breaks the editors' hearts. And oh, the author. So very unfair. BUT, publishing is a business and fair is not the leading part of the equation here.

But couple GREAT WRITING with an ORIGINAL AND COMPELLING CONCEPT and you are 75% there. The rest is luck, timing, bizarre unknown factors that none of us understand but we kill ourselves trying to, and kismet. When HARRY POTTER, TWILIGHT, WIMPY KID, 13 REASONS WHY, etc were brought to acquisitions meetings and given the green light, publishers made an educated guess that these books would sell. They make those educated guesses on other books (and in some cases pay big advances and pump marketing dollars into them) that are equally fantastic but for some mysterious reason never find their audience. I worked in marketing for a couple of decades and this is just how it goes. What made the Pet Rock, Silly Bands, Chia Pets, Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear Soap, etc sell? Don't know.

Is it all word of mouth? Is it superior product--maybe yes in books, but in Pet Rocks?

So let's talk about 'superior product in books'. In my opinion, the ORIGINAL, COMPELLING CONCEPT outweighs mediocre writing, but the better writer you are (LEARN YOUR CRAFT!) the stronger CAREER you will have as a writer be it traditionally published or self-published.

And to the self-published, $0.99 sales price may get you a heck of a lot of first time readers (if you are so lucky) but if your writing is crap, who the heck is going to buy your second book? Let me quote my friend and 80+book author Kathleen Duey: Almost no one expects musicians to get good on an instrument without years of lessons, books, years of practice. There is a similar learning curve for writing. (read full post here)

So, my advice to writers other than the all important LEARN YOUR CRAFT---

1. Brainstorm concepts and pitches before you commit to a new book.

Even if you love your your new idea....write 10 more to get your creative juices going and see if you can come up with something better and/or improve on your original idea.

Brainstorming without self-criticism is an excellent way to unearth your creativity.

2. If you have a critique group/agent--consider picking the 3 that you most want to work on and share it with them to see if you are on track to writing something truly original and compelling.

3. Find the manuscript voice you want to work with. This is not Author Voice--Author voice is your unique voice that permeates all your work, this is the Manuscript Voice--the tone you want to tell this particular story in.

4. Write 3 chapters in your chosen Manuscript Voice and see if it is working. Share it with your critique partners, and, if you have this kind of relationship, with your Agent. While these first chapters may end up in the dumpster as many first chapters do, it is the tone/ characters/ setting/ concept/ freshness/ uniqueness that must shine through. Sometimes we come up with an amazing concept but we just cannot write an amazing manuscript to do the concept justice. I find this all the time in queries....amazing concepts with pages that are not compelling. If you cannot write to the chosen concept, pick another one. You have a list of 10+. Or brainstorm again.

5. Be absolutely mindful of every character you choose to put in the book. Why are they there? How do they move the story forward? What is interesting about them that will make a reader care about following them from page to page to page? What would make a reader demand book 2 and 3 because they can't bear to say goodbye to these characters? This is a must even for stand-alones. Don't you love that feeling when you slow down at the end of a book because you just don't want it to end?

6. Plot the heck out of the book. If you are a pantsers (as opposed to an outliner), no problem. Just make sure you go back through one full revision with the plot in the forefront of your mind asking How can I make this book UNPUTDOWNABLE?


Jodi-Anne’s books and ebooks now available

JMS books Gold Buddha

These two channelled books contain insights on the healing journey that we are all on. We are all learning to love and accept ourselves, to let go of past hurts, and live in the NOW. We are all opening up to love, to feeling our emotions fully, and taking the risk to be seen, heard, and loved as our authentic self.

It feels vulnerable to risk showing who you truly are, to let go of your defence mechanisms and image, to say “This is who I really am. These are my strengths, my weaknesses, my fears. I’m not perfect, I’m human and I’m doing my best to be a healthy, happy person”. These books contain some of the tools I’ve used along the way in my healing journey. I hope you find them useful.

CoverThe healing journey demystified’ is my healing journey, along with advice on how to proceed through the many layers of emotional density, armouring, and protection mechanisms that form when you have suffered a challenging start to life. It also contains a summary of the stages of healing from child abuse and examples of actions you can use to heal.

‘Advice from a higher Source’ contains 85 answers to questions I’ve asked about life. The answers are channelled, downloaded from the Universe/God/Life/Whatever you want to call it. They are loving messages of support to help us through the challenging moments that we face. I’ve asked questions such as ‘How do you heal from the past and enjoy life?’, ‘What is our purpose?’, ‘How do you recognise when a relationship no longer serves you?’, ‘How do you accept the now, and not focus on past or future as the source of happiness?’ ‘Why do we have to go through so much pain?’ and many, many others.

CoverI randomly open it each morning and read the answer I’ve opened to. It amazes me how it is always the one most relevant to how I’m feeling at that time. This book gives us hope and understanding of what is occurring and why. It helps us to see the bigger picture unfolding on Earth, as we all consciously evolve into loving, heart-felt human beings.

Both books and ebooks can be purchased online at – (To purchase in your country’s currency, once the link opens, go to the top of the page and choose the flag symbol for your country 😊😊😊)

Happy reading, many blessings, Jodi-Anne

How to accept where people are at?

Are you struggling to accept someone’s choices or journey? Here is a blog I channelled on ‘How to accept where people are at’.

Amongst your community there are many people with low levels of awareness, that does not make them wrong or less than you or others who are more aware of life and the larger reasons for it. All beings are exactly where they need to be for their evolution and growth. All are awakening and becoming conscious at the rate that is best for them.

Some who appear less conscious, actually are highly evolved beings who have chosen particularly hard life paths to attempt to master a particular skill. You cannot tell someone’s level of awareness by looking at them or analysing them with your mind. You can only glimpse it through your heart, through witnessing their heart in action, their vibration, their kindness to other beings.

Those who are lofty in knowledge are not necessarily living that knowledge. They may know what it means to be aware, conscious, God-like beings. This does not mean they do it, be it, breathe it – have embodied it. They will in time. Often gaining a lot of knowledge occurs because there is deep pain to be released and they are avoiding feeling and releasing it, by staying stuck in their heads, not in their bodies where the pain is located.

In time when they are ready they will drop down into the pain, feel it, release it and balance back up. Everyone does this when they finally feel safe enough, loved enough and trusting enough that they will cope and come out the other side.

It takes time to build emotional awareness and ability to feel what is truly going on inside, to drop down and listen, to feel into that inner silence and allow forth that which needs your presence and allowance to surface, to enable your freedom once it is released.

To do it sooner than you are truly ready for just results in fear, results in retraumatisation and disillusion. To push too far before you have the ability to process it safely harms the body, as you reattach to the emotion and the story, instead of just witnessing it and letting it go. People need to learn these skills first, learn how to sit in the pain and not own it, just let it float by. They need to learn to trust life to hold them, care for them and provide for them. This only gets learned through experience of synchronicities and life’s majestic gifts, when things happen unexplainably showing you there is a bigger plan unfolding and you are just one small part of that.

People cannot be told about this and embody it, they have to experience it and it takes time. This is why you can plant seeds of awareness, but can’t make them blossom. Life will do that and it takes each plant a different amount of time, water, love and growth to do it.

So as an educator or helper the best thing you can do is share your story, your experiences of the mysteries of life to give another hope, inspiration and a little more faith and trust. Then let go, let life lead them forth and provide them with their own miracles, to open their hearts and let them heal. You cannot make it happen. You cannot rescue or fix anyone. God will do it perfectly at the right time for that person. So do not lose sleep worrying about others or trying to figure out how to help them realise the truth or release their pain. Life will do it, life will guide them forth.

The best you can do is vibrate in as close a state of love and acceptance as you can, then your energy will help uplift theirs and hold the space for their awakening to life and its larger mysteries. Just love and accept them and know they will be led forth to their magnificence when the time is right. Blessed BE, Amen.

By Jodi-Anne (27 September 2016).

White Angelica Essential Oil

White Angelica was the very first Young Living essential oil I owned. I got it many years ago to wear when I was going to be in crowds, as it is frequency protects against negative energies and helps to create a feelng of wholeness and sacred connection. Being an empath I used to feel people’s emotions strongly and could be exhausted by being in the energy of large numbers of people. This oil is also extremely supportive when you are walking through many emotions, many struggles, and many pressures. It is the companion of those struggling to rest peacefully. A release for grief.

💐 White Angelica essential oil blend has a sweet, warm, and floral fragrance, with a combination of exotic essential oils from around the world in climates such as Madagascar, Italy, France, Egypt, Bulgaria, Somalia, Canada, and Australia. White Angelica combines 10 of Young Living’s 100 percent pure essential oils, including Bergamot, Myrrh, Geranium, Ylang Ylang, Melissa, and Rose. This floral, harmonizing blend may enhance the appearance of skin and can be added to Young Living’s ART Light Moisturizer to enjoy its skin-beautifying benefits but is most often used for its incredible emotional support.

😍 Apply to the wrists, over the heart, or add to the diffuser as needed when struggling with negative emotions, carrying the weight of others, and processing grief or disappointment. Excellent for children who struggle to verbalize their feelings and tend to process through nightmares.

+The companion of those struggling to rest peacefully.
+Emotional support
+A release for grief.

Ways To Use:
Diffuse throughout the day.
Wear on wrists and chest.

Sacred Mountain essential oil

I love that I was using this oil while up at Mount Remarkable in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It truly is a sacred mountain and this oil helped me to relax, unwind and rejuvenate while there. Below is a description of Young Living’s Sacred Mountain essential oil and what is assists with.

Sacred Mountain is a blend of Ylang Ylang and conifer oils (Spruce, Balsam Fir, and Cedarwood–some of our beloved tree oils!!) that evokes the sense of sanctity found in nature and promotes feelings of strength, empowerment, grounding, and protection when diffused.

The 3 conifer oils have been traditionally used by Native Americans symbolically to represent the umbrella they create in protecting the earth and bring energy in from the universe. At night, animals in the wild lie under conifer trees for their protection, recharging and rejuvenation the trees bring to them.

This emotional support oil is sure to become a favorite – diffuse it or apply topically, or even with some epsom salts in the bath!! Here are some great times to consider using Sacred Mountain:

+ Fear of failure/empowerment: We are our own worst enemy. Fear of failure oftentimes prevents us from moving forward. Sacred Mountain can help empower you to take that first step.

+ Public speaking/strength: A very common fear and one that is not easily overcome. Sacred Mountain can help you get the courage you need to take that stage with more confidence.

+ Social situations/strength: if you get anxious in social situations then Sacred Mountain (combined with Valor for an extra punch) can help with overcoming fears and putting yourself out there more.

+ Loss of a loved one/strength: When a loved one passes, the whole family grieves. Be the support your family needs while managing your own grief as well.

+ Resisting temptations/empowerment: What tempts you? Sugar? Smoking? Gossiping? Sacred Mountain can shore up your defenses and allow you to strengthen your resolve.

+ Controlling emotions/grounding: You can’t always control how you feel, but you can control how you act on your feelings. Using Sacred Mountain may help give you that pause you need to evaluate a situation differently.

+ Dealing with conflict/empowerment: Conflict is never easy and never comfortable but sometimes it is very necessary. Sacred Mountain can help you steel your resolve for that conversation no one wants to have.

+ Self care/strength: Sometimes, especially as women, we struggle to put our own needs first when we really need to. Sacred Mountain can give you the emotional strength to take care of yourself without feeling guilty.

+ Leadership/empowerment: Give your confidence the boost it needs to be a more effective leader.

+ Asserting oneself/strength: Sometimes letting others know that you are displeased is a very uncomfortable thing to do. Let Sacred Mountain help you get the courage you need to speak up.

Seriously–this oil is a powerhouse of emotional support! It’s one of those oils that I never allow myself to be out of because I use it and rely on it so much!

What is suicide? How best to help someone feeling suicidal?

Suicide is a way of escaping emotional pain that has become too strong to bear. The person is overwhelmed by life and unsure of how to cope or what to do. They sense it would be easier to leave and return into nothingness. They may or may not be aware that to do so is to return to God, to unconditional love and support that is available to all of us while still in the body.  We can access this support by asking for it. That is what prayer is – you are asking for love and support to help you through tough times.

Each can pray easily just by asking “Lord, please help me to overcome my burdens and release them at a rate my body can handle. Please help me find the strength to carry on, the humility to ask for and accept help, and the humbleness to sing your praises. Thank you Lord for your help and support. Please hold my hand as I walk forth on this journey which feels too much for me right now”.

Anyone can pray. If you don’t feel comfortable asking Jesus, ask Mother Mary, God, The Universe, Mother Nature. It matters not who you ask, but that you do ask. Ask and you shall receive. Listen quietly within to hear the answer, to feel the support and gain the insight and clarity you need.

Many people when they hit rock bottom do so because they feel alone, lost, abandoned, disappointed with life, they feel it is meaningless, that there is no point going on. You can help someone in such a state by loving and accepting them, by doing fun things together, even if it is just watching cartoons, sitting in nature, massaging their feet, eating cake, having a laugh. You want to lighten their spirits in whatever way will work.

Just telling them how much you care and would miss them helps, but it also creates a pressure, a feeling of guilt for the person and this isn’t helpful. They are already burdened enough without adding more for them to feel bad about.

It is more effective to say “I love you and I see you are struggling to stay here on Earth. I respect your right to choose to leave or stay. I hope you choose to stay because I do love you, value you and want you in my life. However, if you feel you must go I will accept your choice. It will be hard, but I will honour you and your life and remember you fondly. I will make something good out fo it, even if you can’t at this stage. Know you have had a beneficial impact on me, you have helped me in so many ways, just by being my friend/family member. We have shared so much and I thank you for that. I hope we get to continue sharing life together, but if not I respect your choice and I will look upon you fondly and hold you in my heart. You are very special to me and always will be, no matter what you choose”.

This makes it clear that they are loved, wanted, cherished and respected. That is what the person is longing for to feel connected, valued, heard. They don’t want to be lectured at, rescued or made to feel guilty. They don’t want to be called selfish or broken / damaged / worthless, they are already feeling that.

By respecting their choice you are giving them permission to make a change in their life. They may have been feeling weighted down by life and now you are helping them to see they have choices, more choices than they realised.

Don’t ask too much of them. Let them be, send love regularly and hold them in your heart. Pray to the angels to take care of them and let go of trying to figure it out / control it. You can’t. You simply can’t. If the person chooses to die – it is their choice, not yours. If it is their destined time to go, you can’t stop it. If it isn’t they will stay regardless of what you do.

Remember to honour yourself and your family throughout all of this. Be there for them too. It is a big ask for all involved, as everyone’s emotions and hurts will be triggered. It leads to lots of growth in all who are affected, if they truly allow themselves to feel their pain and listen to their hearts.

Life is not easy. We all go through our ups and downs. Know that suicide is just another way to die. It is not a particularly bad sin or problem. The person will still be welcomed and loved by God. They will find peace and healing on the other side and they will get to return to Earth and try again. They will reexperience a similar situation, so they can play out an alternative outcome. This can occur many times, until the person finds a way to cope, survive and thrive. It is part of their soul’s evolution and expansion.

So do not judge another who suffers. Don’t fear they will go to Hell and be punished. Don’t sacrifice yourself and your needs trying to rescue them. They need to feel empowered, not weak. They need to know they have choices, rights, etc, so that they can have a sense of power. Find what brings them joy, what they love and do that – be it a hobby, gardening, travel, etc. Find ways to help lift their moods and bring joy into their life. These are the best things you can do.

And know that if you lose patience, if you get frustrated and angry, if you explode at them about it all, that’s okay too. Just apologise afterwards and explain how hard it is for you to watch them in pain and how you wish you could take it away. Tell them how much you worry and that you know it doesn’t help, but it’s hard not to do. Show kindness to yourself and them. It helps more than you know. Blesed BE. Amen.

By Jodi-Anne M Smith (22 November 2017).

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How to focus on the goodness in your life and stop complaining?

It is human nature to notice what you do and don’t have, to see what others are doing and compare that to what you see in your own life. But everyone is here to have different experiences. You get exactly what you need for your personal growth, healing and evolution of your Spirit, your consciousness. Nothing happens by accident, it is all purposeful – serving a positive purpose to assist you in your awakening.

When you notice undesirable elements in your life, you do so to be triggered, to feel and release emotion, to heal, to motivate you to take action to change it, if you so desire. Many of you however, choose just to grumble about your life, to feel stuck, lost and focused on complaining about what is wrong. This lowers your vibration, your vitality, it flattens and deadens you. It leads to stagnation and decay. It is the road to depression and sadness.

Instead, when you notice yourself starting to feel flat, negative, sad – stop and rest. Acknowledge a part of you is tired, lonely, scared, angry – whatever it is. Send love to that part of you, knowing that it needs your love, your acceptance, and your attention. Showing care to that part of yourself, will help it to feel better and will boost your energy levels back up.

This  type of subpersonality or inner child work is so important, because it is they who are upset, not you. The Adult part of you is fine, able to make decisions and choices, able to focus on the now and flow with what is. You just have to be able to access the Adult part of you to stay in or return to balance. The Adult trusts, is resourceful and capable. When the Child takes over it feels moody, lonely, it can be negative or pessimistic, but all it is really wanting is some love, to play and have fun, to cuddle a teddy or dog, to be seen, heard, listened to and valued. Then it will let go of its sad or angry or disappointed, hurt or betrayed feelings and focus on enjoying life. It wants to have fun, not wallow, but it needs help to move out of its emotional ruts and tantrums. Send love, talk to and listen to its needs.

The Child is within us all, the younger parts of ourselves, that hold the memories of all that we have been through, that hold our hopes and dreams that we formed in our younger years. They take stock of what was, is and will be. They think they know what is going to happen, based on what has happened, but life is constantly changing. There is always room for growth, for new things, to enter as you clear out the old and make space vibrationally for higher vibrating energy to enter your field. The more you clean out the old, the more new energy and stuff – manifestation can occur.

Life is always moving you forward in a positive direction, but you have to feel and release the buried trauma, emotions, defense mechanisms and controlling energies in order to receive the new. So you will go through challenges to trigger you, to help you release, so you can get your new desired items / way of being in life. It is a cleansing process that has to occur.

If you find yourself stuck in the mire of it all, take some deep breaths, comfort your inner child and choose to rest, to honour your needs for sleep, food, nurturance, fun. Honour where you are at and you will help your body to shift out of that energy, that mood and allow your vibration to rise above it. Don’t keep pushing on or dragging your feet until you are totally exhausted or sick. Listen to your body and its needs. Listen, respond and heal, and you will feel so much better.

You have what you have to help you heal. As you heal what you have will change. So it doesn’t matter if you have what you want right now, because it will shift. Focus on the journey, on enjoying each moment, on allowing your life to progress and advance. Don’t stay stuck, wallowing in what is. Release it and trust what is to come, for it is good indeed. Blessed BE, Amen.

By Jodi-Anne M Smith (9 November 2017).

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How to move out of survival and live?

Many of you who have had deep pain and hurt in your younger lives have learned to survive by doing whatever is necessary to get through your day. You work, you smile, you help, you laugh and you hide away at home when you can because that feels safe. In essence you are still expecting attack and you work hard to avoid it. Your focus is on getting through each day without attack, with minimal dnager, conflict and abuse. You collapse at the end of the day exhausted, satisfied to have survived and to have gotten through relatively unscathed.

In doing this you are simply surviving each day, you are not enjoying your life very much or creating what you really want. You are not living your authentic self, you are using a range of cover ups and defense mechanisms to protect your vulnerable, scared child. That feels more important than having fun, socialising. This is true for many of you.

There are others who are also just surviving, but they focus on pleasure and not much else. They have given up trying to achieve anything or to be successful in their chosen path. They have given up on their dreams believing it isn’t worth the effort to pursue them. They settle for comfort food, alcohol, drugs, sex and a simplistic, hedonistic life, without contributing very much to society.

There are many survival patterns, underneath them all is pain, pain waiting to be felt and released, so you can step up and show your true self to the world, so you can enjoy life and contribute to the welfare of all by shining your light brightly.

You do not need to stay hidden, small to be safe. You don’t need to keep yourself small, stuck to feel like you have no control, no choice, no option. You do have options. Every day, every hour, every minute you are making choices affecting your health and wellbeing. You choose to do nothing or to sulk or pout or be angry or disappointed or to feel hopeless, like there’s no point trying. You choose to repeat the same mundane day over and over – go to work, eat, sleep, wake up, repeat over and over. You choose to numb out and watch TV or to eat or drink or whatever method you use to escape your dissatisfaction with your life. You are choosing to be stuck, to be a survivor or victim of life and your experiences.

You could be choosing to do something new, to try a new hobby, to connect with people and do activities, to have fun and socialise. You can choose to do study to work towards a career change or to volunteer at a nursing home or food shelter or other act of service, which not only helps others but results in you feeling better about yourself and your life. There is so much you could choose to do, but you have to choose it. You have to action it, take the risk for things to change.

Don’t let your life slip away. Take charge and live it. Flow with what life brings you, the ups and the downs, and make the most of it. When you get triggered or you get insight into your defense mechanisms, your pain, work through them to heal them and free yourself up. You don’t have to stay stuck in the old patterns and pain – free yourself and live.

It is time to have fun, to be free, to shine your light, to do what you missed out on, to experiment and discover what you enjoy in life. It is time to LIVE, choose it and the Universe will help you do it. CONNECT with nature, with yourself, with others. Let yourself be seen, heard, supported and loved. Let the goodness in, it is all around you, waiting for you to open your arms to receive it. It is time, it is overdue, it is banging on the door hoping you will hear it. Step up, speak up, live your life and let go of the old ways. It’s time to live more fully, not just survive. Blessed BE, Amen.

By Jodi-Anne M Smith (23October 2017).

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Disease as a chance: every symptom and disease has a message

This is a brilliant article explaining how Family Constellations work and providing examples of the powerful healing and insight that clients receive from doing a constellation.

If you would like to experience this in real life I am holding a Systemic Family Constellation Workshop 28 Oct in Meadows, South Australia. For details click here.

Do we need to forgive?

Many people say that to have peace we need to forgive those who have hurt us, to let go of the pain and any resentment, judgement, hate or anger we may feel towards the other person. It is true if we hold onto these emotions we are keeping our self stuck in the energy of the past events and keeping it alive in our body. By focusing on the “wrong doing” we keep our self reliving it and replaying it in life, as we attract in other similar situations – in a subconscious attempt to heal the wound.

If we have formed beliefs that the world is dangerous or people can’t be trusted or everyone’s out to get me, then we live life with that viewpoint. Our eyes can’t perceive all the data that is there when we look at a scene. Millions of bits of information is sent to our brain which filters it based on our beliefs of what is most vital for us to see for our survival, our well being. So if we are locked in fight or flight or trauma from the past with beliefs that we are in danger all the time, then that is what the data gets searched for and we only see that subset of infomration about the scene we are viewing. We don’t notice the beauty, the love being shown between people or animals and their owners, etc, we just see the potential dangers, threats and situations to avoid in order to best protect our self. It is a self protection mechanism called a ‘negativity bias’. It is an evolutionary tool, a mechanism that makes sense biologically to keep us alive.

The sad part is that if you have those type of negative beliefs or buried trauma inside your body you miss out on seeing and feeling all the goodness in life that is their waiting for you to see it, to let it in, to trust and believe it is possible, that you deserve it and to accept it. You are worthy of good things, of fun, of love, of laughter and joy. You are worthy of wealth, abundance of food, shelter, clothing, health, etc.

The world is abundant, there is goodness out there, all around us, we just have to do the work to heal our programming – our negative beliefs and to shift out the pain and trauma in our bodies so it knows the war is over and can relax and start to enjoy life more.

If you are holding on to a grudge about what has happened to you or onto what you have missed out on because of your experiences – then you are keeping yourself caught in that dynamic of feeling bad, victimised, empty of joy and vitality. You are punishing yourself with your choice of thoughts and actions that will result from that level of thinking.

Forgiveness is not about letting go of wrongdoing, it is about realising that whatever has happened in your life has happened and accepting it and getting on with your life to let more goodness in. You accept what is and turn towards life, to focus on the now and what is to come, instead of being turned away from life focused on the past, entangled with it and missing out on your now. Focus here, now and move forward, you can do it. It is a choice you have to choose to make.

Many people hold on as they think it is punishing their parents or those that hurt them. They don’t want to let them off the hook, but doing this just keeps you caught up in the pain. You need to choose to let it go for your own sake, so you can move on and enjoy life. Your parents may not have been perfect parents, but they did what they could for you with the knowledge and emotional maturity they had. They too may have been suffering and caught up in the pain of their past.

Family Constellations shows us that when people are entangled with ancestors and the traumas or unfinished business within the family system, their energy is literally stuck there in that event or with that ancestor who may have been rejected, died young or suffered some tragedy that wasn’t spoken about or fully grieved. That stuck energy, that trauma occupies their energy, they are bound to it, turned towards it, enmeshed with it and literally unable to look away and focus on their now.

If your parents were entangled in the past in this way, they simply could not focus all their energy on being present with you, giving you the love and nourishment that children desire, hunger for. They literally were not available to live their lives fully and you missed out on their attention, the full connection with them that you wanted. They too missed out on being fully present in their life and on being an attentive, loving parent with their children. They missed out too.

See how the trauma continues down the line. If you judge your parents and turn away from them, reject them, assume you are better than them or know more than them – then you too turn away from being present fully in your life. A lot of your energy is caught up with your past and what you missed out on, on the pain and disappointment or anger over what happened. You say no to them and in essence no to life. You stop letting whatever goodness they can give you in. When you have kids they too will feel the lack of your presence and feel like you are not fully present or available for them. They too will feel they have missed out and they may judge you and turn away as they get older. The pattern repeats unless you heal the trauma, so that all who are entangled can finally let it rest and turn to focus on their own lives, to live them fully, joyously, focused on creating and accepting the goodness of life.

Family Constellations can help to untangle the traumas and past hurts, it can help free everyone involved, so they can focus on the now and enjoy it.

Your parents didn’t deliberately hurt you. If it seemed like they did, this was just their pain seeping out, being projected onto you. They too have wounds from their childhood and from their ancestors which they carry. They too are burdened and lived out all this pain the only way they knew how to do so. The result was what you experienced as their child. They didn’t have the tools to do it differently. Now we can. Now we can set ourselves and them free, to enjoy life more fully.

Do the work to heal and let go of the pain, accept what happened and see your parents for who they truly are, and thank them for your life. Focus on the goodness they gave you and let it in. Even if there was trauma and abuse, they gave you life and that is a great gift. Accept that and honour them for that.

If your parents are still alive and you interact with them, let yourself receive their love in whatever way they can show it to you. They may not be able to express it, but perhaps you can see it in their gestures, their gifts, their contact with you and wanting to spend time with you, their compliments or money or food – whatever it is, let them give to you, let yourself receive the goodness, love and energy from them, so that your cup is filled, so that you are nourished and can live your life from a place of fullness, not emptiness, barrenness, darkness.

If your parents are dead or are not able to give you love then you can visualise receiving the love and goodness from them and from other relatives who you may have had more positive interactions. Recall positive times and relive those memories, anchoring in the fun, the love, the goodness. See those ancestors around you in Spirit, supporting you, encouraging you, cheering you on as you live your life.

Let the goodness in. There is much waiting for you to receive it, but to do so you have to let go of the old emotions and traumas, so your arms are free to receive the new. You can do it! You can do it for yourself, for your children, for your family. All will benefit when you heal and let go of the past burdens that you have carried. The whole family system is affected when a member of it chooses love and does the work to heal. It is a true gift that you can give to yourself and your family, so all can live more peacefully.

Forgiveness is not about right or wrong, about who did what and atoning for it, making up for it. It is simply about accepting what occurred and healing the wound so you are free from the pain. It takes effort to heal and become free. Simply saying “I forgive you” does nothing, very little. It actually has a negative effect because in essence it is a judgement on the person and their action. It says “I know you should have done better, but you didn’t, and I begrudgingly accept that and I will forgive you because I am a better person, a bigger person than you”. See the judgement in this, feel how it stops the flow of love.

It is like putting a boulder in the river, disturbing the flow of life force energy from your ancestors, your parents, to yourself. It is like you are trying to politely cover up something that is disgusting and pretending it is no longer there – like putting a white cloth over the top of some vomit or dog poo. It still stinks, it is still there, but it appears to be gone, buried, hidden. You then tiptoe around it, trying not to look at it or step in it, but it is still there, just waiting to be seen, festering, decaying and having a negative impact on your vitality.

You are not bigger than or better than your parents. They are the BIG ONES and you are the LITTLE ONE. They came first, they gave you life and the life force flows from them to you. If you resist them, you resist life. Let the life force flow to you unhindered. It is not about forgiving them, it is more like accepting them for who they are and letting them stand there with no judgement or condemnation. Just let them be who they are and thank them for what they did give you. Anything they couldn’t give you, you can get from elsewhere. You can make something good out of what they gave you, make something good out of your life and the opportunity presented to you. In this sense forgiveness is about peace, acceptance and harmony, and restoring these to the family system for the wellbeing of all. Blessed BE, Amen.

By Jodi-Anne M Smith (21 October 2017).

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What to do when you feel broken?

There are days when you wake up and feel broken, like it is all too hard. Sometimes these will be rare and sometimes common. It just means you are in a process of change. Old muck is surfacing to be released – old pains, fears, doubts, disappointments and hurts. When this occurs it can feel like nothing is changing and life won’t get any better, but it already is better. You are just releasing the old, to see more clearly.

Your lives are okay as they are, it is your judgement of them that creates the pain. There may be things you would like to have change, this will occur in time, but dwelling on it, getting upset, angry or depressed about it, doesn’t resolve it in anyway. Feel and release the emotion, then take steps to create what you want – action is needed for change to manifest. Action on releasing your hurts, altering your thinking and action to change your every day habits and behaviours. If you always do what you have always done, is it surprising that you get the same outcome. Change is inevitable, it will come in small or large ways, chosen or forced on you by life events.

If you are feeling low, broken, sad, angry, hurt, know your body is asking for your attention, for your help to clear out the old and refill your body with lighter energy, a higher vibration outcome for all concerned.

If you are feeling so flat that you can’t be bothered doing anything, accept that and rest. Don’t fight it. If you are feeling lost and confused, wait for clarity, pray for guidance, meditate. There is no point trying to make a decision, it is not the right time. Wait for clarity to dawn, then act.

You can take baby steps towards improving your life, but in reality your life is okay, it is the way you are thinking about it, judging it that is causing you stress and anxiety. So what if you don’t love your job or you are alone or your friends don’t treat you the way you would like. Are you treating yourself kindly? lovingly? Work on your self first, on self love and when you anchor that in, you will see more goodness in the world and attract it in.

If you are exhausted, recovering from illness or a disappointment in life, of course you are going to feel flat. Don’t judge it, fight it, resist it. Accept it and honour your body’s needs. If it need rest, then rest. If it needs nourishment then eat some yummy, feel good, hopefully healthy food. If you need some fun, have it, even if it is just reading a comic or watching TV or chatting to a friend on the phone.

Do what you need to do to let your vibration rise and for you to start to feel better. A bath, a walk on the beach or out in nature will help wonders. Soothing music, candles, aromatherapy – lots can be done to life your mood simply and cheaply.

It is not always going to feel like this. Your body is processing past hurts and issues that you are remembering. If you are doubting your abilities, don’t wallow, find a way to build your skills if that is the issue, or to practice what you are concerned about, so that you feel more confident doing it. There’s always a way forward, you just have to be prepared to take it.

Choose kindness to yourself and others, and know that there is support around you at all times. Seen and not seen, physical and non-physical. There are beings of light watching over you, encouraging you, caring for you, holding your hand from afar. You can call on them, your ancestors and others who have passed over to assist you, support you, to hold you while you are feeling vulnerable. There is lots of support out there. Reach out for it when you need it and give it when you are feeling better. Everyone has their ups and downs, know it is just a phase and choose peace. Don’t fight against what is, just ease your way forward, helping your body in whatever way it needs. So be it. Amen.

By Jodi-Anne M Smith (14 October 2017).

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Wallet Hacks

4 Different Budgeting Strategies to Try This Year

I've tried many, many different budgeting strategies, budgeting apps, and budgeting programs. (It's just one of the perks or sometimes one of the drawbacks of being a financial writer obsessed with finding the best budgeting system out there.)

I've learned that finding the right budgeting strategy for you really depends on your goals, your stage in life, and whether or not you need to change your habits. So, below I've listed four different budgeting strategies to try this year with an explanation of who they might serve best.

The Cash Envelope System

The cash envelope system is an old classic. There's a reason so many people use it or have used it before.  With the cash envelope system, you do most or all of your day to day spending with cash. You can set your monthly bills, like your mortgage, car insurance, and more to auto deduct.

However, everyday spending like groceries, eating out, clothing purchases, and more come from your cash spending.

The cash envelope system is good for these situations:

I used the cash envelope system with great success when my husband and I lived abroad in Grenada, West Indies. For three years, I took cash out of the ATM at the beginning of the month and used it to pay for all of our bills.

Grenada has a very cash-based economy, though. I paid for our apartment rent with cash. I paid for my long term car rental with cash. And, I paid for everything else with cash, including dinners out, fun activities with friends, and more. There just wasn't someone with a card reader on the island willing to take a credit card so you could buy a coconut!

These days, I have two kids, mounting financial responsibilities, and seemingly endless amounts of unexpected expenses. So, I don't use a cash envelope system anymore. Instead I use my debit card all month, but I make sure I have all the money I need for the month before it starts using YNAB.

The “You Need a Budget” System

You Need a Budget, also known as YNAB, is a budgeting system that you use online with your phone or your computer. Much like the cash envelope system, you decide at the beginning of the month how you want to spend your money. That's why I sometimes call this budgeting system the “One Month Ahead” system too.

Once you sync your bank account, YNAB tells you what you have available to spend. Then, you allocate that amount to your budget categories. With the cash envelope system, you can move cash between envelopes if you're running low. However, with YNAB, you do all of this digitally.

For example, I knew I had to get the headlights on my car fixed. I allocated $200 towards that expense, which I thought was more than generous. It turns out, the repair cost me $389! I was very much not expecting that. Luckily, instead of feeling guilty, I simply moved money from my “fun money” and “babysitting” categories and put it into my car repair category.

Sure, this means I don't get date night this month, but that's #adulting for you.

Keep in mind that YNAB does require a monthly fee. However, I've used a ton of budgeting systems, and I tend to get irritated when the app is free but full of ads. So, I'm happy to pay $7 a month for my YNAB subscription, but if you don't want to pay that, here are four YNAB alternatives.

The 50/30/20 Budgeting System

The 50/30/20 budgeting system (one of our first money ratios) at its core is advice on how to split up your earnings every month. This plan suggests that you spend 50% of your take home, after tax pay on needs. Needs include your mortgage payment, your bills, and even the minimum payments on your credit card (since it could hurt your credit if you fail to pay them.)

Then, 30% of your take home, after tax pay should be used on wants. For example, a need might be a new winter coat, but a want might be a new purse that you saw in the mall and absolutely love. Wants would also include new throw pillows, your gym membership, and dining out – basically, anything that isn't imperative.

Lastly, 20% of your take home pay should be used for debt repayment and saving. So, if you're in credit card debt, you can use this 20% to pay above the minimum. You can also use it to create an emergency fund or save towards future goals, like an engagement ring, wedding or retirement savings.

You can use the 50/30/20 in conjunction with budgeting software or budget apps. I personally don't use this because my husband and I are aggressively paying back his medical school loans. This takes up about 35% of our budget each month and so the ratios don't work for my personal situation. However, they could be a good guideline for people who are looking to start a budget and want to know roughly how it should be allocated.

The Multi-Bank Account Budgeting System

Many different folks have been writing about the benefits of budgeting using multiple bank accounts. Jim has written about using them as banking firewalls to protect your secure accounts from the less secure ones. Others have written about having a dozen savings accounts, before simplifying their finances.

I have to say, at first I thought this was overkill, but I understand it better now. These bloggers are using their bank accounts like digital envelopes. Instead of using one bank account and allocating money to each category like I do in YNAB, they are instead finding discipline through having completely separate accounts.

For example, one blogger wrote about how they have a separate debit card just for dining out. Every time they go out to eat, they use only that card. That really prevents them from overspending. Another great idea was having a separate account for large expenses that come infrequently like property taxes or the car insurance bill every 6 months. This helps them to get a substantial amount of money out of sight and out of mind until they need it.

Ultimately, there are many different ways to budget your money.

What type of budgeting strategy do you currently use?

Have you always used that strategy or have you switched for various reasons?


Japanese Beetle Population Reduction

The Japanese beetle population has been on the rise the past few years thriving on desired plant vegetation from perennial flowers, to ornamental trees.The Japanese beetle has also been a problem as of late with turfgrass, causing smaller irregular patterns of dead grass in lawns all the way to huge sections of turf that need to be completely renovated.

What they do:
The beetle emerges from the ground in late June/early July and immediately begins to feed in large numbers on anything from large trees such as Lindens, Birch, and apple trees, to small annuals and perennial flowers. The damage can be catastrophic,killing the entire tree,landscape,or lawn.

While feeding in large numbers, the beetles are constantly mating and reproducing eggs to lay into the ground.A“second generation” sometimes emerges in late August/early September to reinforce the damage already caused by the first wave.

What to do?
The Greener Blade is now offering a way to control the Japanese beetle from destroying your landscape plants, trees and turf by applying a granular insecticide.The insecticide will help kill the larvae underground, preventing them not only from damaging your lawn, but keeping them from pupating into beetles and destroying your landscape trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetable gardens.

We recommend at least one application of insecticide in the month of May.This will greatly help control the population. If you had a very large infestation last year, we recommend at least two or three applications. For heavier infestations we recommend a May application and two follow-up applications taking place in July and August. This will greatly target the 2nd generation and put a good dent towards the next years generation as well. After the insecticide is applied, it is vital to water the product into the ground so the active ingredients get to the larvae.We recommend two-20 minute intervals over a two day span. Because these beetles have the ability to fly, we also recommend letting your neighbors know about your efforts to help reduce the population. The greater the effort in your neighborhood the greater the chances of success you will have in controlling them on your property.

Post Emergent Control:
We recommend spraying your trees and desired shrubs every 1-2 weeks to keep them from feeding on your vegetation.All nurseries and hardware stores carry a product called Sevin. Sevin containers can attach to the end of a garden hose and can spray down your trees in a minimal amount of time.They can spray upwards of 30 feet in distance and will last around 4 to 6 weeks per container depending on how many plants you are treating. Sevin creates sort of a transparent “chalky”barrier around the leaves of your desired trees,plants,and shrubs keeping the Japanese beetle away for an extended period of time.


IPS officer in HC against govts selection process for UN

New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) A serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer has moved the Delhi High Court alleging that the Centres procedure for nominating cops to the United Nations Civilian Police (UNCIVPOL) was "unfair" and "arbitrary".

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and C Hari Shankar issued notice to the central government and sought its response on the plea by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer in Rajasthan Police.

The senior IPS officer has alleged that the selection process for nominating candidates to the UNCIVPOL is unfair as officers lower in rank to him were being selected without giving any reason for such decisions.

He has contended that the government was duty bound to act fairly and select officers in the order of merit and not arbitrarily.

In his plea filed through advocates Amita Kalkal and Siddharth Jain, the IPS officer has said that he had appeared in and cleared all the tests set by the government for selection to UNCIVPOL.

However, when the orders for a UN mission were issued, his name was not there and those lower in rank to him were selected, the officer has contended in his plea and added that he was also ignored for other UN missions.

He has also alleged that his various representations to the government went unheeded.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on July 5 when the government has to explain how it arrived at the merit list for the UN mission. PTI HMP PPS ABA SMN

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Mediation Reviews

“John did an outstanding job mediating a complex and highly contested medical negligence case. He was thoroughly prepared and was very effective working with the clients/counsel to obtain a resolution. One of the best, if not the best, mediators I have worked with in 38 years of practice.”

John Holschuh

“John Alton did a tremendous job as a mediator in a significant personal injury case. John was extremely well prepared for the mediation. He seemed to know the case as well as the attorneys handling the case. He worked diligently with both sides and helped us reach a settlement in spite of several complicating factors. I am confident that everyone involved came away satisfied that John handled the mediation without any bias for or against either party. He spent the time and effort with both sides to bring the case to a satisfactory resolution. I would recommend John to mediate any major or complex personal injury, professional negligence, or product liability case. ”

Michael Rourke

“This was my first experience working with John as a Mediator. I could not have been more pleased with the insight and amount of effort John put into this matter. The issues in the case presented some unique challenges and although the case did not resolve at the initial, formal mediation, John remained actively involved with the parties for well over one year and through his efforts, was finally able to get all parties to agree upon a global settlement that made sense for everyone. He will certainly be on my (very) short list of preferred mediators going forward.”

David R. Grant

“John is always well prepared and works incredibly hard to achieve a fair and just settlement for all parties involved.”

John A. Lancione

“Mediation with John Alton is more than a legal process. It\’s a human experience. John is skilled, principled, and effective and I recommend John without any reservation, whatsoever.”

Steven M Goldberg

“Defendant agreed at the very last minute to mediate. I recommended John Alton as the mediator – defense counsel agreed. One reason I wanted John is that I felt the need for someone with significant trial experience in major cases on both sides of the fence. My client’s spouse was a business lawyer and I felt he would either take over the negotiations or look to someone stronger (and independent) for guidance. John has a background that impressed the client and provided that strong guidance throughout the course of the day. They came to trust his judgment.

After a long day of negotiations we appeared to be at a serious impasse. After some discussions John was able to craft a mediator’s proposal which he submitted to both sides. Without John’s input and guidance during the long day of mediation, plaintiffs likely would have rejected it outright. We were very happy when the defendants also accepted the proposal. My clients sent me an email saying my choice of John as the mediator was “brilliant”.

I’ve always had high regard for Mr. Alton’s legal talent. I was extremely impressed with his ability to “read” the room, both rooms, and develop the rapport and insight needed to guide this difficult case (with a problematic cast of characters) to a reasonable resolution. I would certainly highly recommend John as a mediator in a difficult case.”

Attorney for a party post-mediation

John Alton is an ideal mediator for complex personal injury and medical malpractice cases because of his extraordinary experience with both sides of these cases. He is a consummate professional and gentleman and I strongly recommend him.

Martin F White

“I had a very contentious case. Our client had significant injuries. The defendants felt they had a winner of an argument to prevent liability entirely – possibly even to win on summary judgment. I recommended John Alton to the defendant as a Mediator and the Mediation proceeded with cross motions for summary judgment pending. As a highly skilled trial lawyer John was able to cut through the arguments, assess the risks as a true litigator, assess the needs of the parties, and make recommendations that worked. Without John we would not likely have resolved the case. With John we were able to reach a compromise that both sides could live with. I highly recommend John Alton as a Mediator!”

Steven Magas

“In 35 years of practice, John was in the top 5 mediators I have worked with.”

Kevin McDermott

“Mr. Alton did a great job on a case I really didn’t think would settle, but with his assistance did. I put him up there with the top few mediators in the state.”

Sky Pettey

“Well prepared for the mediation and took the necessary time to work through all of the issues to get the parties to reach a settlement.”

Tom Prislipsky

“John is an outstanding mediator. He is always extremely well prepared. He handled a lot of important matters with the parties well in advance of the mediation. He stuck with it until the case was settled. John it top notch. Highly recommend.“

Jessie Reiter

“John is an outstanding mediator.”

William Davis

“Have Worked With/Against John For Over 35 Years. Top Notch Professional. Great Mediator. Highly Recommend.”

Jeffrey M. Lewis

“John did a fine job as a mediator particularly in your preparation, and I will not hesitate to recommend John”

Attorney for a party post-mediation

“John is an exceptional mediator. I have used him a number of times and always found him to be insightful, fair, and committed to the process.”

John Reagan

“John is an extremely hard working mediator who values a successful resolution. John pushes both sides in an effort to bring the matter to settlement without further litigation time and costs. I strongly recommend John as a mediator for personal injury cases.”


Marcahuasi Research Data

If it is the case that there exist geometrical relationships between certain structures, this fact would support the hypothesis that there has been human intervention in Marcahuasi. Considering that there may be such relationships we organized three expeditions to the plateau in July, 2014, June, 2016 and August 2017. These efforts yielded useful information geo-referencing monuments and markers, determining lines of sight (orientation) (Tables 1 and 2) and confirming the geological data available on the rock composition of the plateau (see Discovery section).

At Marcahuasi we can distinguish a minimum of four types of stone structures, aside from the Inca-period barracks and funerary chullpas. We have geo-referenced many of these, particularly in the north side of the plateau. Table 1 provides their geographical coordinates, lines of sight and other data. Note that the names used here are those used by the discoverer of Marcahuasi or by the villagers in San Pedro:

  1. These are the most easily recognized and in fact are what attracts visitors to the plateau. They are scattered throughout, but the majority are located on the northwest side. Examples of the monuments are the Peca Gasha (Monument to Humanity, Figures 1 and 2), the helmet (Figure 3), the knight (Figure 4), the philosopher (or Easter Island head, Figure 5), the llama (Figure 6) and many others (see Portal 1).
  2. Reliefs and engravings. These are geometrical figures or other features carved on stone, they do not necessarily depict personages. The Infiernillo (Figure 7), the Mayoralas (Figure 8), the walls of the amphitheater (Figure 9), the lined stone (Figure 10) and the chessboard (Figure 11) are examples of such items.
  3. These are stones of varying size which rest upon or to the side of each other, such as the Indian’s head cover (chullo, Figure 12), the man next to the hill of sights (Cerro de las Miradas) (Figures 13 and 14), the shoe (Figure 15) and the dolmen in the amphitheater (Figures 16 and 17).
  4. These single stones are very difficult to describe. Generally polymorphic, not taller than two meters, often located near monuments and apparently cemented over flat stone surfaces. They differ more than resemble each other, so it may appear somewhat arbitrary to class them as a type of structure, except that once geo-referenced as discussed below, they fall into certain patterns. Figures 18-24 depict markers M-1 to M-6 and M-10.

We will focus on the north side of the plateau, the area studied in greatest detail and in which most of the monuments, carvings, dolmens and markers are found. Near the Peca Gasha (Figures 1 and 2) are located the north altar (Figure 25), the African lion (Figure 26), scarface (Figure 27) as well as a minimum of seven markers (M-1 to M-6 and M-10).

A quick examination of the lines of sight (LOS) reveals that more than a third of structures that can be assigned LOS (Table 1) exhibit angles that are multiples of 90 degrees! This is unlikely to be a coincidence. In the case of the Infiernillo it is perfectly oriented at 0 degrees south and 360 degrees north. The circle of 360 degrees which we have used for centuries may have also been used on the plateau.

Reviewing the data from the 2014 expedition (Table 1) and using GoogleEarth, we find that markers M-3, M-4 and M-5 are laid out on a straight line (Figure 28). The same can be said for the altar, the half-rock, M-3, M-2, scarface and the turban (M-6).

These are not all – as shown in Figure 28, we can see other lines formed by the lion, M-4 and M-2; M-5, M-1 and the turban (M-6), as well as north altar, M-4 and M-1. Thus there are several alignments involving three to six points. Many of these lines intersect at M-4 (Figure 28).

In an attempt to understand the possible significance of such a geometric arrangement, the theory proposed by R Bauval (see Bibliography) comes to mind. Bauval proposes that the three main pyramids at Giza represent the stars in Orion’s belt, the constellation of the hunter.

Ancient cultures were very attentive to happenings in the heavens, in part to maintain a viable agricultural calendar, but also in order to predict catastrophes from signs in the heavens. Perhaps the latter reason was the more important one as described by W Sullivan (see The Secret of the Incas in Bibliography).

Could it be the case that at Marcahuasi an ancient people was able to translate what they saw in the sky into a pattern on the ground? After several attempts to relate the lines formed by the various monuments and markers to known constellations of the southern hemisphere, we found that there appeared to be an exact correlation with one of the most well-known group of stars, the Pleiades. These play a very prominent role in the mythologies of cultures as different as the Zuni of New Mexico, the Polynesian and the Greek (see bibliography).

The stars we cite below are identified by their Greek names and their magnitude (the lower number represents greater brilliance). With the data from the 2014 expedition (Table 1) we were able to assign four of the brightest stars:

Marker M-4 = Alcyone (2.9)

Marker M-1 (very near Peca Gasha) = Atlas (3.6)

Altar (north) = Electra (3.7)

African Lion = Merope (4.2)

Figures 29 and 30 represent the points cited superimposed on two images of the Pleiades seen from north and south.

Since five of the Pleiades are easily visible without magnification we were missing Maya (magnitude 3.9). Teygeta, another member of the cluster is rarely visible without a telescope and Asterope and Coeleno not at all. According to the position of Maya in the actual constellation it should be found in Marcahuasi to the southwest on a line with Alcyone (M-4), M-3 and M-5, an area that was not geo-referenced during the 2014 expedition.

In 2016 we obtained the data necessary to locate and identify Maya with marker M-10 (Figure 31, Table 1).

Wikipedia – Theory of the relationship between the Giza pyramids and Orion

The Orion correlation theory was first put forward by Robert Bauval in 1983. One night, while working in Saudi Arabia, he took his family and a friend’s family up into the sand dunes of the Arabian desert for a camping expedition. His friend pointed out Orion, and mentioned that Mintaka, the dimmest and most westerly of the stars making up Orion’s belt, was offset slightly from the others. Bauval then made a connection between the layout of the three main stars in Orion’s belt and the layout of the three main pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex. He published this idea in 1989 in the journal Discussions in Egyptology, volume 13. The idea has been further expounded by Bauval in collaboration with Adrian Gilbert (The Orion Mystery, 1994) and Graham Hancock (Keeper of Genesis, 1996), as well as in their separate publications. The basis of this theory concerns the proposition that the relative positions of three main Ancient Egyptian pyramids on the Giza plateau are (by design) correlated with the relative positions of the three stars in the constellation of Orion which make up Orion’s Belt— as these stars appeared in 10,000 BC.

Their initial claims regarding the alignment of the Giza pyramids with Orion (“…the three pyramids were a terrestrial map of the three stars of Orion’s belt”—Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods, 1995, p. 375) are later joined with speculation about the age of the Great Sphinx (Hancock and Bauval, Keeper of Genesis, published 1996, and in 1997 in the U.S. as The Message of the Sphinx). According to these works, the Great Sphinx was constructed c. 10,500 BC (Upper Paleolithic), and its lion-shape is maintained to be a definitive reference to the constellation of Leo. Furthermore, the orientation and dispositions of the Sphinx, the Giza pyramids and the Nile River relative to one another on the ground is put forward as an accurate reflection or “map” of the constellations of Leo, Orion (specifically, Orion’s Belt) and the Milky Way respectively. As Hancock puts it in 1998’s The Mars Mystery[8] (co-authored with Bauval):

…we have demonstrated with a substantial body of evidence that the pattern of stars that is “frozen” on the ground at Giza in the form of the three pyramids and the Sphinx represents the disposition of the constellations of Orion and Leo as they looked at the moment of sunrise on the spring equinox during the astronomical “Age of Leo” (i.e., the epoch in which the Sun was “housed” by Leo on the spring equinox.) Like all precessional ages this was a 2,160-year period. It is generally calculated to have fallen between the Gregorian calendar dates of 10,970 and 8810 BC. (op. cit., p.189)[citation needed]

The allusions to dates circa 12,500 years ago are significant to Hancock since this is the era he seeks to assign to the advanced progenitor civilization, now vanished, but which he contends through most of his works had existed and whose advanced technology influenced and shaped the development of the world’s known civilizations of antiquity. Egyptology and archaeological science maintain that available evidence indicates that the Giza pyramids were constructed during the Fourth dynasty period (3rd millennium BC[9]), while the exact date of the Great Sphinx is still unclear. Hancock does not dispute the dating evidence for the currently existing pyramids, but instead argues that they may have been an architectural evolution of sites whose origin and cultural significance dated back some eight thousand years before the current monuments were built —since the Orion correlation theory claims they are oriented that way—which, it is implied, provides further evidence for the influence of astronomical, mathematical, and historical knowledge that might not have been passed down to the pyramids’ builders.

Wikipedia – The Pleiades

Pleiades as calendar, in history and in modern science. Historically, the Pleiades have served as a calendar for many civilizations. The Greek name “Pleiades” probably means “to sail.” In the ancient Mediterranean world, the day that the Pleaides cluster first appeared in the morning sky before sunrise announced the opening of the navigation season.

The modern-day festival of Halloween originates from an old Druid rite that coincided with the midnight culmination of the Pleiades cluster. It was believed that the veil dividing the living from the dead is at its thinnest when the Pleaides culminates – reaches its highest point in the sky – at midnight.

On a lighter note, the Zuni of New Mexico call the Pleiades the “Seed Stars,” because this cluster’s disappearance in the evening sky every spring signals the seed-planting season.

In both myth and science, the Pleiades are considered to be sibling stars. Modern astronomers say the Pleiades stars were born from the same cloud of gas and dust some 100 million years ago. This gravitationally bound cluster of several hundred stars looms some 430 light-years distant, and these sibling stars drift through space together at about 25 miles per second. Many of these Pleiades stars shine hundreds of times more brightly than our sun.

Sullivan, William. The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy and the War Against Time (Crown Publishers), 1996