Dinner and the movies ­ it’s THE essential date. No matter how big a meal you’ve eaten you simply can’t resist stopping by the concession stand and taking in snacks to watch the movie. Although we are all aware that the snacks available aren’t the healthiest ­ not many of us are aware of just how bad they can be for you.

In fact many of the most popular movie snacks contain cancer causing agents that have the potential to do serious damage to our long term health. Below are eight of the worst snacks readily available and regularly consumed at the movies.

Hot Dogs

Two words: processed meat. The hot dogs you can buy at the cinema are very rarely fresh, organic and locally produced!

In the main they are processed meats, pumped with chemicals to prolong their shelf life.

In fact, the world health organization discovered that eating just one small hot dog a day increased your likelihood of cancer by 18%. Continue reading →

The reason we’re here, the reason the world exists, is a question humans have been trying to answer for thousands and thousands of years. Until the birth of modern science, with evidenced ­back theories coming to fruition, communities of people had their own ideas as to how the earth, the universe, and humanity came about.

These stories were passed from generation to generation, rich tapestries and explanations for why certain things are the way they are today. Native American communities had their own unique stories, based in nature with natural and animal imagery at their cores. Their culture grew to appreciate and respect the very land on which they lived.

Here are the creation myths from 4 tribes. Each tribe does have more than one creation story, and many variations on each one, so here we look at just one from each, and have turned to the most widely known versions.

Apache

In the beginning, there was nothing. Only darkness everywhere. Suddenly, a thin disc appeared in the darkness and within the disc sat a small bearded man, Creator. As though waking from a nap, Creator rubbed his eyes and when he opened them again and began to look around him, he began to create streaks of light in all directions.

He rubbed his hands together and from them dropped a little girl, Girl-­Without-­Parents. He then rubbed his sweating face and hands and there stood Sun ­God, repeating this one more time to create Little Boy.

Next, he created Tarantula, Big Dipper, Wind, Lightning-­Maker, and Lightning­ Rumbler. The four Gods, shook hands mixing their sweat together, and as Creator rubbed his hands together combining all their sweat, a brown ball, the size of a bean, dropped from them.

He kicked it and it expanded, each of the Gods took turns kicking the ball which got larger and larger, and then Creator told Wind to blow it up further. Next, Tarantula spun a black cord, attached it to the ball, and crawled out to the East, pulling as hard as he could. He repeated this with a blue cord to the South, a yellow cord to the West, and a white cord to the North, expanding the Earth more and more. Continue reading →

The food we eat daily fuels us and gives our bodies the energy they need to function on a day­ to­ day basis. If you have a penchant for pizza and pasta, or can’t resist a muffin, you might actually be harming your body due to the wheat you’re consuming.

Celiac Disease 1% of the American population has been diagnosed with celiac disease, a hereditary autoimmune condition that causes adverse reactions to gluten in food, damaging the small intestine. However, a huge 83% of those with the autoimmune disorder are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, so have no idea.

Other Issues With Wheat

Even if you don’t think you have celiac or a gluten intolerance, you might find that you start to fair better after cutting them from your diet anyway. Wheat has been linked to acne, headaches, and even the acceleration of the aging process, so reducing your intake, if not cutting it altogether, might do you a world of good.

Finally, most foods containing wheat have been processed in some way. Pastas, breads, pizzas, cereals have all been made with a heady mix of chemicals and additives which prolong their shelf life, make them taste a certain way or look a certain way, but certainly won’t do you any good.

The Trouble with Rice

White rice isn’t necessarily terribly bad for you, the main issue, is that it is pure carbohydrate (unless fortified with extra vitamins) and has almost no micronutrients, so ends up just being a filling, calorie ­loaded component of your meal. Additionally, each grain of brown rice is protected by a ‘shield’ that gives it its color, but is full of potentially toxic compounds.

Continue reading →

While awakening and opening the Third Eye is no easy feat, the mind­ altering and consciousness ­expanding benefits make it worthy of diligent spiritual dedication. Known the increase clarity, concentration, intuition, imagination, and even psychic awareness, the Third Eye bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual world.

Understanding the Power and Energy of the Third Eye There are seven energy centers in your body – each aligning along your spine that correspond to different parts of mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

The Third Eye is directly related to the 6th chakra – the psychic chakra, located in the middle of the forehead just about the brows.

Biologically associated with the “pineal gland,” that is responsible for the production of the serotonin derivative melatonin, the Third Eye is activated when exposed to light.

Referred to as, “the seat of the soul,” where mind and body meet, the Third Eye is responsible for expanded state of consciousness, similar to a psychedelic experience.

While the Third Eye is largely left dormant and unexplored by the general population, its long list of benefits makes it worthwhile spiritual journey. Contrary to popular belief, activating one’s

Third Eye has be unprecedented to bring about tangible and practical benefits, like:

1. Concentration

2. Perspicuity

3. Bliss

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What colors you surround yourself with speaks volumes about the person you are, even though you may not realize it. Haven’t you noticed that we are all attracted to certain colors, while we shy away from others? Well, some people believe there are very good, yet unconscious reasons for that. 

One of those people is the famed psychic and ‘sleeping Prophet’, Edgar Cayce. Even though he lived more than a century ago, Edgar Cayce knew things about the past, present and future that no man could have known without special abilities.

Each one of his abilities is worthy of a full article in itself, so I won’t delve into them today. Chances are, you probably already know if Edgar Cayce anyway, so I’m just going to discuss what he claimed he learned about Colors while he was accessing the Akashic records. 

By the way.. If you don’t know what the Akashic records is, here is a Spirit Science article on the subject.
(3 Steps to Understanding and Accessing the Akashic Records)

One of the last books Edgar was working on before his death was a book on Colors and the Human Aura. Edgar could see colors of energy around people, and he believed each color he saw represented an aspect of that person, among other things. Here is a small excerpt from his essay:  Auras, An Essay on the Meaning of Colors

“.. What do auras mean to the majority of people, who cannot see them,” you ask? Well, the majority of people do see them, I believe, but do not realize it. I believe anyone can figure out what another person’ aura is in a general way, if he will take note of the colors which a person habitually uses in the matter of clothing and decoration. How many times have you said of a woman,

“Why does she wear that color? It does not suit her at all.”How many times have you said, “How beautiful she looks in that dress. The color is just right for her. She was made to wear it.” In both cases you have been reading an aura. The first woman was wearing a color which clashed with her aura.

The second woman was wearing a color which harmonized with her aura. All of you know what colors are helpful to your friends, and bring out the best in them. They are the colors that beat with the same vibrations as the aura, and thus strengthen and heighten it. By watching closely you can even discover changes in your friends as they are reflected in a shift in the color predominating in their wardrobe.”

Fascinating information to ponder, eh? Continue reading →

Jordan Gaines Lewis, Pennsylvania State University

Anyone who knows me also knows that I have a huge sweet tooth. I always have. My friend and fellow graduate student Andrew is equally afflicted, and living in Hershey, Pennsylvania – the “Chocolate Capital of the World” – doesn’t help either of us.

But Andrew is braver than I am. Last year, he gave up sweets for Lent. I can’t say that I’m following in his footsteps this year, but if you are abstaining from sweets for Lent this year, here’s what you can expect over the next 40 days.

Sugar: natural reward, unnatural fix

In neuroscience, food is something we call a “natural reward.” In order for us to survive as a species, things like eating, having sex and nurturing others must be pleasurable to the brain so that these behaviours are reinforced and repeated.

Evolution has resulted in the mesolimbic pathway, a brain system that deciphers these natural rewards for us. When we do something pleasurable, a bundle of neurons called the ventral tegmental area uses the neurotransmitter dopamine to signal to a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens.

The connection between the nucleus accumbens and our prefrontal cortex dictates our motor movement, such as deciding whether or not to taking another bite of that delicious chocolate cake. The prefrontal cortex also activates hormones that tell our body: “Hey, this cake is really good. And I’m going to remember that for the future.”

Not all foods are equally rewarding, of course. Most of us prefer sweets over sour and bitter foods because, evolutionarily, our mesolimbic pathway reinforces that sweet things provide a healthy source of carbohydrates for our bodies. When our ancestors went scavenging for berries, for example, sour meant “not yet ripe,” while bitter meant “alert – poison!”

Continue reading →