CAN'T MISS THIS!

As usual, please click on the image for it to make sense! Gisela Wielki is a Christian Community priest who has been visiting us for 7 years! Imagine that. She has enriched our personal journeys a thousandfold. If you're raring to explore new roads this year, this would be a great place to start. See you there.

Cellercise!

Shortly after I turned 40 (there, I said it), I decided I wanted something more from my workouts, and I was no longer interested in spending hours in the gym. I wanted to make sure that whatever it was I was doing, was working on my insides as well. That's when I ran into an aunt who introduced me to the Cellerciser.

Yes, it looks like a simple mini trampoline, the kind you can purchase off Toby's, but this is not a toy. You bounce on the toys and you'll feel what I mean--and not in a good way. The Cellerciser is pricey if you think of it as just a mini trampoline, but when you consider what it does for your cells and then compare it to your gym fees, it begins to feel like a great deal.

I was immediately drawn to this because it's exercising down to your cells, hence its name. When you bounce (this foldable and very portable rebounder comes with a dvd, book, bar and carrying case), you are working out not just your body, but giving your cells a great boost (there's a science to this that is explained in their website, but I won't even attempt that here). It's like doing lymphatic drainage everyday. And the beauty is you don't have to spend hours on it. 10 minutes a day, minimum, is enough.

I no longer have the patience to spend hours in the gym. I workout at home now with my rebounder, different dvds and all the nature around me. I enjoy walking around my neighborhood when I can. As I get older, I appreciate my senses getting a good workout as well. I have my Cellerciser in my room facing the garden, I don't have to spend hours on it, and I know that every minute I spend on it is great for the health of my cells. That, plus my super supplements, is really all I need.

If you want to know more about the benefits of rebounding on the Cellerciser, visit the site here. Rica Villalon is the local distributor of the Cellerciser and though I make absolutely nothing from her, I've sent many people her way because I believe that workouts should do more than make you look good.

So, start 2010 on the right track. Cellercise!!

*photos courtesy of Rica Villalon

EFT SEMINAR. SIGN-UP NOW!

EFT seems to be one of those modes of healing that belongs to the realm of "medicine of the future". I had a private session with Caroline Rhodes, a Hong Kong based practitioner, who has been practicing EFT for 8 years, and I came out of it understanding certain patterns about my life. She led me safely to the root of certain issues that were affecting my health and, therefore, the health of my children. Caroline is really a very special woman--gentle, kind, and compassionate -- and brings 25 years of experience in other healing modalities as well.

For some ailments, EFT can bring instant relief. During the workshop, we were able to heal ourselves of food addictions in a matter of minutes. It really works. (I don't dream about bread anymore!) Other issues might take more time, though Caroline herself shared a lot of remarkable stories about healing tumors, trauma, cancers and other serious illnesses.

If you are looking for a healthier way of healing and are ready to go down the path of your emotions, this is for you. It's great that Archie and Lingling King have made this possible. Sign up now and heal yourself and your family.

Please click on the image to make it readable. :)

MAMOO

FE CRUZ DONOVAN 12.1.1921 - 12.6.2009

I wanted to write something about Mamoo on December 1, the day she turned 88, but I didn't realize until then that my scanner wasn't working. I had to wait for D to fix it for me. Then I had to figure out how to crop it--I know, I know, I'm just not a techie. It just takes me longer. But when I had the photo cropped and ready to go, it was past the date. On Sunday, she crossed over and now here we are.

This is how I like to remember my grandmother--happy, surrounded with color and just plain beautiful. The Alzheimer's took that away, so I'm happy that she's free of the physical sheath that seemed to be more of a prison these last few years. Seeing her--even just thinking of her--was always a source of pain and anguish. But now that she's gone, I find myself remembering all the wonderful times, all the silly things she was always doing to make us laugh, everything she taught us (from crocheting, sewing, cooking, etc.), did for us--there was so much.

I know it's personal, but I want her to have her place here in cyberspace, and in all the places and spaces of my life.

This is how I like to remember her.

ARE WE AFRAID?

Are we afraid of what it will mean for each of us if a leader of integrity and vision--yes, VISION--is elected? Sometimes I feel like it's so easy for us to claim it as the future we really want, but when it comes down to making it happen, we can't, because it means the entire landscape of our lives will change. Wala nang palakasan, diba? Lahat pantay-pantay. Baka wala na ang mga VIP lines, baka wala ng relevance ang pagka-who's who mo. Let's face it, everyone has someone they can run to, to make things move forward a little, and we all rely on that more than we care to admit. And that is why old politics continues to reign in this country. So many people have too much invested in it. The murky part of our identities are so mired in it.

What does it mean for us, individually, if someone of integrity holds office? Are we ready to let things go for the NEW stuff to come through? Because it won't happen on its own. We have to make space for it--in our thinking, in the way we live, the way we will eventually vote. I hope it will mean we are all forced to be the change we keep praying for at last, that what comes out of our mouths today as platitudes soon translate into courageous action. Because what I'm seeing now, especially in that sorry realm of politics, is we're not ready for something new AT ALL, no matter how violently we shake our fists in the air, no matter how many times we rally, no matter the tears we keep shedding.

What I keep seeing is old stuff. People keep claiming they're bringing in new politics, but their approach is old--money, celebrities, that oh-so-TRAPO-tone, speeches full of fervor but also overflowing with mindsets from the past. We keep responding to something we've seen before because it feels comfortable, but is that what our country needs?

I've never been interested in politics. Each time I watch anything that has to do with it, I mostly recoil at the antics, but I am paying close attention because I feel my country is so painfully effed-up and the only way to bring it back on its feet is for each of us to to break open our thinking, the way we never have before. We have to put sentiment aside, let go of emotions that no longer serve us and approach the next elections with an openness we've never had before.

I have my candidate, but I still listen to what the others have to say and try to stay objective because I owe my country that much. To the very end, I will keep myself open to what might be emerging. I owe my country my informed choice. I will not vote based on anything anyone says. Surveys do nothing for me. Noise, glamour, glitter, bejewelled and coiffed supporters do not sway me. I will continue to listen to each candidate (except for the criminals, fyi) and vote out of my conscience.

I know, people like to think I'm impractical, a dreamer, a tree-hugger and just plain old crazy. (YAY!) But just think about where everything you're seeing in politics today has brought us. Where has machinery brought us? Money? Winnability? Topping the surveys? Any standard of the past we keep looking for, for that matter, can no longer apply. Just look at where we are and see why we need to choose our candidate in a way we never have before. Before we ridicule or cancel them out, let's ask ourselves the hard questions.

Remove the word IMPOSSIBLE. Block all outside influence. Listen to yourself. Conquer your fears and go for gold. If we want new politics, we have to be clear about what we mean and be ready for everything that needs to change in our lives today.

AGAINST PARALYSIS

Before the massacre, I had a few ideas for new entries for this blog. After it happened, I felt suddenly paralyzed. Every topic seemed irrelevant and trivial. There are no words.

I've read many articles since, pausing to read the names of the brutally murdered. It is a list I looked for. Each time a name rolled off my tongue, I imagined the horror of their deaths, and what those last few minutes of their lives must have been like. After I read the last name, there was a knot in my belly. I made a conscious decision not to look at the photos that have been circulating online, not just because I know I will not be able to handle it, but because I feel like it's one thing I can give them--their privacy and my respect.

Does that sound weird?

I've seen some photos because I had no choice; they were splashed on the front page of my newspaper. When I look for news updates, there they are. But I will not look for them and I've avoided links that I know contain more graphic photos. If that happened to me--God forbid--I wouldn't want everyone to look at me. That is all I can give them now--my prayers and respect.

There will never be words to make sense of all those lives so brutally cut short because it will never make sense. Life goes on, on one level, and I realize that this kind of evil must be countered with all expressions of life. So I will continue to put all my thoughts here--trivial as they may seem--because I refuse to let the evil get to me and weigh me down. I won't let it take over.

We all grieve. This tragedy, made more despicable because it was wrought by (in)human hands, is one of many we have already endured as Filipinos. But we cannot let this evil win. Like everyone else, I will follow this story and write what I need to write, say what I feel I can say. Beyond that, I will vote for people whom I know stand for true change--people who will make sure that deep, positive, life-affirming changes can finally take root in this country. I will not be swayed by surveys or sentiment. I will behave in a way that will bring this country forward--in thought, word and deed, as upright as I can manage--because I know that's what it will take to wipe out the evil that continues to damage the Filipino soul.

In the meantime, I will not be paralyzed. Evil cannot win.

*Thanks to whoever created the image.

Maguindanao