Healthy Living-Simple Tips Music
8
"Do you wish to know if a
kingdom is well governed,
if the morals of its
inhabitants are good or
bad? Look to the music that
is current there."~Confucious
The Music that Defines Us
by Empress Ashaki
It's extremely rare that I go a day without music; it's like breathing for me. I listen to all kinds of music and I love hearing new music. I am, however, very careful of the music I choose to listen to because I am aware of the power music has. In the past, I loved any song with a good beat, especially if it had good bass and I could dance to it. As I grew, I began to listen to the lyrics more closely and as a result, a lot of music has been eliminated from my listening experience.
Although I wasn't paying much attention to the lyrics before, they were penetrating my subconscious and they didn't always have a positive effect on how I viewed myself or the world. Music is powerful enough to change one's mood, thinking, and characteer.I imagine that music is not only a refelection of our society, but we are also a reflection of our music. Music is history, and it will mark the times in which we live. What do we want future generations to know about us?
As the world is on the precipice of big change, a shift if you will, I think it's time to have a collective shift in consciousness. We will explore the many different offerings of conscious music worldwide in an attempt to change our collective consciousness into one of peace, love and hope.
-Letting children help prepare meals is great for creating healthy eating habits while improving self confidence and self esteem.
-Being outdoors is not just good for children to get exercise. An article by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang for "The New York Times" suggests that children's lack of exposure to natural light is partially responsible for the rise in myopia, indicating that such exposure ensures that the eye's lens maintains the proper distance from the retina for optimal vision.
-Participating in multiple leisure/recreation activities lowers blood pressure, lowers stress hormones and creates smaller waists.
-Doing nothing: In Buddhism, the ideal person has nowhere to go and nothing to do. To achieve this state of freedom and serenity, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to cultivate aimlessness. In our productivity-obsessed society, we tend to devalue the practice of aimlessness. Often, it's such a low priority that we don't truly rest until we've burned out completely.
Use a weekend do nothing; no housework, bill paying, or even surfing the net. Take a walk, read a book, or take a long bath. After practicing a few lazy hours, you will start to feel the vitality return to the rest of your days. Just relax and be.