How do you react when faced with hardship? Do you struggle through it? Give up? Try to avoid it? According to psychologists, much of how a person addresses challenges is based on their personality.

There are four main divisions of people’s personalities according to the Myers-Briggs theory. These divisions have four subcategories as follows:

The Four Personality Types

1. Analysts

Analysts have an inquisitive but practical mind. They hold intelligence in the highest of esteem and pride themselves on their logic. Overall they see reality as it is and use their strong intuition to accomplish their goals.

2. Diplomats

Diplomats are empathetic visionaries with a knack to understand links and patterns. They have good core values and hold a specific dislike for conflict and criticism.

3. Sentinels

Sentinels are known as ‘model citizens’ but can also be exceptional leaders. They are hardworking, responsible, and loyal to people and their principles regarding tradition and structure.

4. Explorers

Explorers are creative optimists that love spontaneity and living in the present. They enjoy using the five senses to experience new things and are always ready for action.

Personalities in Practice

A survey was done with 20,978 participants. Each one answered ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with the following statement: “You tend to give up on pursuits if they are too challenging.”

Results showed that 30% of Analysts agreed with the statement, 36% of Diplomats agreed, only 21% of Sentinels agreed, and (at the highest), 37% of Explorers agreed.

Strategies to Overcome Struggles

There are various ways to cope that are individual to your personality type.

Tips for Analysts

Analysts tend to rely on themselves to confront a problem whether it’s with relationships or business. Sometimes they will force themselves to complete a task because they feel that incompletion is equal to incompetence.

Analysts like to solve their challenges by creating a sensible plan to conquer them. When such a method doesn’t work, depending on the hardship, they are at risk of falling into despair. Continue reading →

Oh how we love our transformational festivals!

For so many of us they have guided and shaped chapters of our lives, inspiring us, exposing our souls to new truths, to incredible workshops, art, beloved friends, community and deeply moving music that stays with us throughout the year. They are called transformational festivals for a reason, because when you come to one you leave changed. And yet the transformational festival scene is also going through its own metamorphosis. There are many of us who have been forged by this culture that are starting to recognize certain patterns and trends within the scene that no longer serve our highest alignment or excitement.

Whether it’s the stress packed, pressure cooker, blood sweat and tears style of event production in this current model, the abuse of alcohol, the amount of over stimulation, lack of rest or the heavy environmental impact; many of us are feeling it’s time for a change. I believe that this change is a natural evolution for our culture as we move towards a new story together.

This evolution is not about making anyone wrong for their choices, it’s really about following the highest excitement of creating something that will serve the future generations of our planet, have a more sustainable initiative and build systems that are a holistic win win for everybody. It’s about harnessing our collective energy  in a direction that can have a higher impact on shifting our planetary paradigm and begin to anchor a new cultural narrative.

 Image Source: Tribal Alliance

As the title of 2016’s Lucidity Festival’s proclaimed “Cross Roads” this year, it certainly was the perfect name for where we find ourselves now as a culture, and really as a planetary culture. With some of the most clear signs, significant changes and alarming statistics happening in our world, from the environmental, to the political arena, and economics; across the board times are changing rapidly. Continue reading →

Many of us have been stuck at a crossroad, wondering if things will ever work out. Susan McFadzean sums up her collection of questions which helped her determine what is acceptable, where things are going and whether to stick around. The following summary is a reference of her own life – spiritually, mentally and physically.

“I think that everyone should have their own set of deal-breaker questions that they at least consider from time to time, especially when they are in a new relationship. These are like the alarm bells of time wasting in relationships—a way to see whether you’re in it for the long haul or will you be unwilling to get past these things once the honeymoon phase is over.” – Susan McFadzean

The first and foremost deal breaker – Does the person want pets? Do they like pets?

“Animals are quite literally one of the most important things in my existence so it’s safe to say they will always be around. If he doesn’t like animals and wouldn’t consider changing his mind, I’d say long-term that might be a deal breaker.” Continue reading →

Chances are, like most people you still use store-bought toothpaste. Maybe you’re informed enough to know that they contain chemicals like fluoride, SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate), artificial sugars like aspartame, etc that aren’t good for you. Some even have tiny bits of plastic call ‘microbeads’ that are wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems. If you already avoid brands with these horrible ingredients (like Crest, Colgate, Sensodyne) then good for you! If not, then you really need to read this.

You should also know that certain brands we once thought were safe can also have some of these chemicals in them now. Burt’s Bees is one example. Tom’s of Maine is another, after it was bought out by Colgate and they sneakily started putting chemicals like SLS in their product. That’s why many people are starting to make their own toothpaste at home. And why not? If it’s good for your health then it’s certainly worth it! Here are 6 important reasons why we feel it’s best to make your own toothpaste with coconut oil.

1. No Harmful Chemicals

Of course we had to start with the chemicals. It is, afterall, the main reason we’re avoiding store-bought toothpaste to begin with. Out of all the chemicals in conventional toothpaste, Fluoride is probably the worst. Sodium Fluoride is a toxic industrial waste product from the aluminum and fertilizer industry that is a poison to your body even in trace amounts. It is NOT the same as calcium fluoride which is found in water naturally.

Another dangerous chemical in conventional toothpaste (such as Colgate Total) is an antibacterial chemical called triclosan, which has been linked to concerns over antibiotic resistance and endocrine disruption. Continue reading →

Do you bite your nails? If so, do you bite them all or just certain ones? There are many reasons scientists have tried to explain nail biting, but have you heard what chirology (palmistry) says about it? Well, we’ve found a brilliant palm reader named Jessica who may be on to something. Here’s what she would tell you if she was doing a palm reading for you. 

It’s not often that I do readings for people who bite their nails. That’s because in chirology biting your nails shows that you have inner resistance to personal growth. So people who munch away at their fingertips might be unconsciously stunting their own growth, and they tend to be less likely to seek counsel from others.

When someone with bitten nails does come for a reading, we first discuss the obvious meanings associated with nail biting such as stress, tension, anxiety, that things feel out of control and worry is their middle name. Then we look a little deeper to try to identify the significant issues of their life where they could do with some help, where there is inner turmoil, each of which fall into categories of our five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether.

First we discuss which nail you favour and which takes the most punishment. If you bite your middle (earth) finger more than any other, your problem may lie in the realm of the physical (earth).

Continue reading →

‘If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.’

The words above were written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great environmental American writer. They capture perfectly the wonder we all feel when we look up at the night sky. Light pollution means that many of us who live in cities and suburbs are unable to see this nightly majesty in its full splendor.

There are, however, places on the planet that are lit up by the stars each cloudless night and allow us to wonder at the unimaginable vastness of the universe. The ten locations on this list are some of the most magnificent places on the planet to lie back and gaze at the heavens.

NamibRand Nature Reserve – Namibia

Camping out in the desert of Namibia is guaranteed to be an unforgettable experience. Amongst the sand dunes live leopards, hyenas, and giraffes, but it is the endless 360-degree view of the night sky that will live forever in your memory.

When the dark sky association was founded in 1988 to fight light pollution, they bestowed the honour of the first Gold Tier dark area to NamibRand Nature Reserve.   Continue reading →