Conference hydra::dejavu

  I can sincerely recommend the books of Idries Shah on the Sufis, and
  also a notesfile on our very own network: MUNSBE::GOD_CALLING.

  Peace be with you.

    A couple of things that have been useful for me.  Shortterm try
    the Bach flower essence mixture called RESCUE REMEDY.  Very good at 
    calming the nerves and bringing peace of mind.  
    
    Longterm you might try studying A Course in Miracles.  If it seems 
    to difficult at first, you might want to read any of Dr. Gerry
    Jampolsky's books which are based on A Course in Miracles.  A good
    one to start with is Love is Letting Go of Fear.
    
    I also highly recommend any books by White Eagle.  I know many 
    people who have found his little book The Quiet Mind to be a life
    saver.  A few women I know carry it with them at all times!!! 
    
    Wishing you well...
    
    Ro
                                   

    
    I'll second the Bach flower remedy.  However, I don't know much about
    it, and get my supply from another DEJAVUer anyway, so someone with
    more information and expertise might wish to provide it here, or 
    contact you offline.
    
    Cindy

    
    Regarding diet - this plays a big part in wellbeing - immediately cut 
    out any sugar and caffeine, if you haven't already.  Eat only healthy 
    foods.  
    
    Try exercising too - walks are great.
    
    Take a multi-vitamin - CVS puts out a fairly balanced one in a green
    label called "Multivitamins and Minerals".
    
    Cindy
    

Cathy. Perhaps, what is happening is that you
are noticing your moods more. This can easily when
your meditation is changing you. Don't worry, just
go on meditating, and *being aware* of yourself.

When aware of your anger, don't immediately try to
avoid it. Just breathe in and out gently and stay with
it. Say, "I am aware of my anger" and stay with it.

In this respect I recommend a book called
"Peace in Every Step" by Thich Nhat Tanh (spelling?
Bruce please help!).

Changes are often...uncomfortable. ;-)

John D.

    Cathy,
    
    Face every tense situation with a beautiful thought.  See topic 1462. 
    Breathe deeply with your stomach.
    
    relaxing_hugs, 
    
    Girish

>               <<< Note 1497.4 by CGVAX2::PAINTER "Celebrate!" >>>
>    Take a multi-vitamin - CVS puts out a fairly balanced one

  Generally excellent advice, Cindy, but I wonder if pills aren't
  basically poisons, being made of natural and synthetic compounds in
  concentrations millions of times what occurs in nature. I've gotten
  very leary about "modern technology" in my old age :-).

    re: .7, Mike,
    
    I think I know what you mean about unnatural concentrations of
    nutrients.  Then again, for many, our lives are pretty speciallized
    and away-from-nature already, maybe the same technology that
    takes away nature but makes life convenient can put a little back in 
    some limited sense.  The Enriched_White_Bread school of thought, I guess.  
    Two equal and opposite wrongs adding vectorially to make a neutral.  :-)   
    
    Is there a historical or other link between the GOD_CALLING conference and 
    the literature of Idries Shah;  the two sources you recommended ?
    
    								todd

    I've been drinking alot of coffee lately!  Maybe that's what's doing
    this.  I've been joining the girls 'upstairs' from me for chats and
    coffee - at night.  I've never done this (coffee at night) before and
    have been doing it for about 3 weeks now.  Plus I've been smoking!  The
    diet itself has been better/healthier.  I had been 'sick' for about 9
    months - it was first diagnosed as a sinus infection but month after
    month it wasn't going away, I have permanent hearing damage and they
    changed the antibiotics on me 4 times!  I lost 25 pounds (into a size 3
    now!) and trying desparately to gain it back!
    
    My girlfriend read my cards last night.  She confirmed the fact that I
    need to 'get in touch with myself' - my higher conscious and the fact
    that I wasn't is what is holding me back from - basically, LIFE.  She
    said that I was divided into too many directions and that I needed to
    meditate/concentrate on ONE 'goal/outcome' for now.  The fact that I'm
    not aiming for one thing is the reason why my energies are so very low. 
    She also said that it seems there is someone holding me back from
    getting in touch with myself and that I needed to resolve this problem
    and move along!  Turns out my husband does not believe in meditation,
    thinks it's some kind of 'magic' stuff that weird people get involved
    in.  We also have a 14 month son so it's hard enough to grab some time
    to meditate.  And with Bob home all the time too, I don't know how I'm
    going to establish a routine.  It seems like a catch-22!!  It's like
    I'm tring to build a car from the very first nuts and bolts!  There are
    so many parts to figure out WHERE they go THEN put them there!!  
    
    As far as the book suggestions, I've already got 3 books sitting on my
    table at home that I was instructed to read from our marraige
    councelor.  We've had two weeks to read them and here it is, 5 days
    left and I haven't even picked one up yet!  Hard to believe I'm
    drinking all this coffee and still have no ambition....
    
    Cathy
    =:*

    
    'Weird' - reminds me of a fellow I met on a temporary work assignment a
    few weeks ago.  He said he'd seen my name in a conference, but couldn't
    remember where.  I replied, "DEJAVU perhaps?", and he replied, "Oh -
    that's right - you must be one of those weird people."
    
    I smiled politely.  First dingbats, now weird people.  (;^)
    
    Anyway, Cathy - yes, those are the signs of depression.  First give up
    the coffee, or only drink one cup per day, then give up the cigarettes
    too.  Your body is giving you definite signals.  After this, then begin
    tackling the next problem.
    
    Cindy

    
    Re.7
    
    Mike,
    
    A good portion of our food is basically poisons.  The vitamins I
    recomended don't have a lot of junk fillers in them, and when I began
    taking vitamins 7 years ago, I felt better than I ever had previously.
    
    Cindy

    Just pick one thing at a time, You're already doing a great job,
    give yourself credit and continue. You've started meditating, your
    taking an overview and asking for assistance. If you focus on one
    thing at a time, alot of the other little things that seem to be
    driving you crazy will resolve themselves.
    
    Terry

  Re Todd (any connection between GOD_CALLING and Idries Shah?): none
  that I'm aware of. They both appeal to me, and seem to me to say many
  of the same things, though in totally different idioms. Both provide a
  source of spiritual inspiration, for good times and bad.

  Re pills in our diet, it's true that a poison-free diet is nearly
  impossible, but my opinion is that the applicable principle in this
  matter is "two wrongs don't make a right".

    Cathy,
    
    Sometimes the hardest thing to do is _nothing_.
    
    Stay aware of what you are feeling.  
    
    Is it OK to feel what ever it is you need to feel? 
    
    It is very difficult TO BE different.  Just know that
    you are not alone.
                           
    It will get better.
    
    Peace,
    Janet

    Cathy,
    
    Having just gone thru something similar myself, I would agree with
    Cindy and correct all the obvious medical/food related problems first
    and then work on the mental/emotional/meditational aspects.
    
    An extra factor in your case is the taking of antibiotics. While these
    are often necessary you should think about compensating for their bad
    side effects. I think they leach out the vitamins so you will need more
    over and above your normal requirements. They also kill off a lot of
    the naturally occurring flora (?) in the stomach and are often
    associated with the onset of Candida Albicans which is also responsible
    for odd mood changes amongst other things.
    
    Anyway some of the things in the recipe for my recovery was:
    NO sugar, yeast, vinegar, alcohol, coffee, teas.
    I took Garlic, vitamins, "good" flora, Rescue Remedy, Passiflora.
    
    Exercise - started regular workouts.
    Lots of sleep. (I needed it - see above!)
    
    Some mind exercises including observation of negative emotions.
    
    
    The above was oriented to candida which may not be your problem but I
    certainly would not do anything but think soothing thoughts when you
    might have a fairly easily corrected food-related problem. Fix the
    body first, then the emotions and the mind; particularly as some
    emotional states are directly related to "junk" in the body.
    
    Good luck and don't give up,
    Dave

    One of the side effects of antibiotics is to kill off all of the
    bacteria that live in your gastro-intestinal tract these are not
    harmful and tend to stop other bacteria from setting up shop.
    
    This is slightly dangerous because when you stop and you get
    re-colonised you may get the wrong type. 

    The solution to this is simple, eat yogurt.
    
    Jamie.

    Re. .17
    	Yes, eat yoghurt. But make sure that it's got 'live' culture in it.
    	Get it from a whole-food shop, not your average supermarket.
    
    Re. various
    	Having been heavily into Carl Rogers recently I agree with the
    above remark about doing nothing. Real Change doesn't come about by
    trying to change. It comes about through Real Acceptance of what you
    are; warts'n'all. Then this 'tendency towards self-actualization' takes
    over and ... you change
    
    Unconditional Positive Regards  8-}
    
    Brian

    If you don't like yogurt or fear eating food from health shops then
    your doctor can prescribe a pill containing live lactobacillus which is
    the same animal. At least then you know they came from a good home.
    
    Jamie.

    We choose to change, I think... just like we choose everything else.
    
    Mary

    Having been away from Dejavu for some time now, it feels kind of good
    to be back.
    
    Cathy,  it sounds like you could be suffering from depression or
    possibly gearing up internally for a change.  I used to be a 
    chronic-depressive, and in fact was told by one therapist that
    I would always suffer depressions.  Eventually, though, I learned how
    to use meditation to help undo them.  Meditating once or twice a day is
    all very good, but the problem is that it doesn't always help you when 
    you are feeling the anger or sadness.  Frequently, the anger is really
    sadness that you are projecting outward in order to not feel the pain.  
    
    What I started doing was, when I was feeling angry or depressed, take 
    a moment right then to meditate.  I sit, quiet my mind, allow myself 
    to feel the feeling, and then ask myself what it is that is really 
    bothering me.  Without fail, the answer bubbles up to my consciousness. 
    Sometimes, there is something that I can do about it.  Other times,
    I can't change the situation -- at least right then -- that is
    bothering me.  But, by knowing what it is and having allowed the 
    feeling, I find it much easier to tolerate until I can change it, or
    accept it if its something I simply can't change.
    
    Mary