Heart or brain - who is your decision maker?

I am the type pf person who thinks with her heart. Always had very good intuitions, strong gut feelings and made decisions quickly, based on the impulse I felt from inside. I hardly ever regretted decisions and I don't change them easily. As a performing musician, yoga and meditation lover, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to explore areas of our mind and heart where not many people dare to go. It can be an exhilarating and out of body experience to go so deep in existence. I could not even write: into our heart, into our soul, into our body or into our mind because this is something else. It is truly the essence of who we are as human beings. When we are in that place, we are centered, we fly, we are light, we know what is right and we follow our dreams and anything is possible. The energy and the charge we have is unbelievable and is unlimited source, we don't know normally. Once you experience this feeling and get to this place in yourself, you know that in our normal, daily life we run on a fraction of our potentials. Just as we know that we only use a fraction of our brain capacity.
During the years I have refined these intuitions and used them in so many situations that I perfectly can rely on them in any situations, under any circumstances. I have tested them in no risk situations and with people where I went against my gut feelings so that I can really see if they were right. Just to double check my feelings I went through the thinking procedure and reasoned for and against a certain decision. The end result was always the same because I have already made my decision. 
Your mind is a TOOL you can choose to use any way you wish. The thoughts you use create the experiences you have. However, you are much more than your mind. You may think  that your mind is running the show but that is only because we have been conditioned and trained to think in this way. You can also un-train and re-train this tool of yours.

One of the primary researchers in the field of heart and brain connection is Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., Director of Research at The Institute of HeartMath, located in Boulder Creek, California. McCraty found compelling evidence to suggest that the heart’s energy field (energetic heart) is coupled to a field of information that is not bound by the classical limits of time and space. This evidence comes from several rigorous experimental studies that investigated the proposition that the body receives and processes information about a future event before the event actually happens. One of these studies, conducted at the HeartMath laboratories, showed that both the heart and brain receive and respond to pre-stimulus information about a future event. But even more surprising is the finding that the heart seems to receive the intuitive information before the brain. They also found that study participants in a positive, emotion-driven, coherent state prior to the experimental protocols proved to be significantly more attuned to the information from the heart than those who were not in such a state. This suggests to McCraty that the heart is directly coupled to a subtle energetic field of information that is entangled and interacts with the multiplicity of energetic fields in which the body is embedded—including the quantum vacuum.
After deep reflection, McCraty’s continuously evolving vision took the concept of coherence and energetic fields to the macro level of the planet—and the very edge of science. “Coherence,” he says, “is a state of energetic alignment and cooperation between heart, mind, body, and spirit. In coherence, energy is accumulated, not wasted, leaving you more energy to manifest intention and harmonious outcomes.”
Enjoy this amazing video on the connection between the heart and the brain.

HOW A PASSWORD CHANGED ONE MAN'S LIFE FOR THE BETTER

I had to share with my readers this, I loved it so much! It might work for you too!

“How could she do something like this to me?” said the voice in my head, over and over.

It was 2011 and I was stuck in middle of a pretty bad depression due to my divorce.

Thankfully, I think I was smart enough (and had great people around me) so I managed my way out.

One day I walk into the office, and my computer screen showed me the following message:

“Your password has expired. Click ‘Change password’ to change your password.”

I read this dumb message in my mind with angry grandpa voice:The darn password has expired.

At my workplace, the Microsoft Exchange server is configured to ask thousands of employees around the planet to change their passwords. Every 30 days.

Here what’s annoying: The server forces us to use at least one UPPERCASE character, at least one lowercase alphabetic character, at least one symbol and at least one number. Oh, and the whole thing can’t be less than 8 characters. And I can’t use any of the same passwords I’ve used in the last 3 months.

I was furious that morning. A sizzling hot Tuesday, it was 9:40 a.m and I was late to work. I was still wearing my bike helmet and had forgotten to eat breakfast. I needed to get things done before a 10 a.m. meeting and changing passwords was going to be a huge waste of time.

As the input field with the pulsating cursor was waiting for me to type a password — something I’d use many times during every day — I remembered a tip I heard from my former boss.

And I decided: I’m gonna use a password to change my life.

It was obvious that I couldn’t focus on getting things done with my current lifestyle and mood. Of course, there were clear indicators of what I needed to do — or what I had to achieve — in order to regain control of my life, but we often don’t pay attention to these clues.

The author, who changed his password...and his life.

Mauricio Estrella

The author, who changed his password...and his life.

My password became the indicator. My password reminded me that I shouldn’t let myself be victim of my recent break up, and that I’m strong enough to do something about it.

My password became: “Forgive@h3r”

I had to type this statement several times a day. Each time my computer would lock. Each time my screensaver with her photo would appear. Each time I would come back from eating lunch alone.

In my mind, I went with the mantra that I didn’t type a password. In my mind, I wrote “Forgive her” every day, for one month.

That simple action changed the way I looked at my ex wife. That constant reminder that I should forgive her led me to accept the way things happened at the end of my marriage, and embrace a new way of dealing with the depression that I was drowning into.

In the following days, my mood improved drastically. By the end of the second week, I noticed that this password became less powerful, and it started to lose its effect. A quick refresh of this ‘mantra’ helped me. I thought to myself “I forgive her” as I typed it, every time. The healing effect of it came back almost immediately.

Can password therapy really improve your life?

One month later, my dear exchange server asked me again to renew my password. I thought about the next thing I had to get done.

My password became: Quit@smoking4ever

And guess what happened. I quit smoking overnight. This password was a painful one to type during that month, but doing it helped me to yell at myself in my mind, as I typed that statement. It motivated me to follow my monthly goal.

One month later, my password became: Save4trip@thailand

Guess where I went 3 months later. Thailand. With savings.

So, I learned that I can truly change my life if I play it right. I kept doing this repeatedly month after month, with great results.

Here are some of my passwords from the last 2 years, so you get an idea of how my life has changed, thanks to this method:

Forgive@her (to my ex-wife, who started it all.)

Quit@smoking4ever (It worked.)

Save4trip@thailand (It worked.)

Eat2times@day (It never worked, still fat.)

Sleep@before12 (It worked.)

Ask@her4date (It worked. I fell in love again.)

No@drinking2months (It worked. I feel better.)

Get@c4t! (It worked. I have a beautiful cat.)

Facetime2mom@sunday (It worked. I talk with my mom every week.)

And the one for last month:

Save4@ring (Yep. Life is gonna change again, soon.)

I still anxiously await each month so I can change my password into something that I need to get done.

This method has consistently worked for me for the last 2 years, and I have shared it with a few close friends and relatives. I didn’t think it was a breakthrough in tiny-habits but it did have a great impact in my life, so that's why I'm sharing it with you. If you try it with the right mindset and attitude, maybe it could help change your life, too.

Oh, and remember: for added security, try to be a bit more complex with the words. Add symbols or numbers, or scramble a bit the beginning or the ending of your password string. S4f3ty_f1rst!

Mauricio Estrella

TODAY contributor

THE BIRTH OF DYNAMIC STEREO IN VENICE 1550-1650

The city-state of Venice was the trading and cultural centre of Europe, and optimised the spirit of the age: boundaries between sacred and secular, Church and State, nobleman and peasant, were blurred. The head of state, the Doge, was elected rather than born to the job, and he presided over both the spiritual and political affairs of the city. Much of the ceremony attached to the job took place in the basilica of St Mark or nearby, and music played an important role in these public functions. 

And what a gorgeous music it was! Andrea Gabrieli (1510-85) hit upon the idea of combining choirs with groups of instruments (cornetts and sackbuts), producing a sumptuous sound that matched the opulence of the time perfectly. Placing more emphasis on the richness of harmonies than the interplay of the different voices, he simplified the polyphonic style, giving the music a sense of grandeur. Most dramatically, though, he experimented with the spatial possibilities of St Mark's, using a device called antiphony: placing different groups of performers in various places around the church to give a stereo (or even quadra) effect. Listen to Maria Stabat Ad Monumentum, a 6 recorded in St Mark's.

St Mark's Basilica

One of the reasons antiphony caught on in Venice was architecture of St Mark's. Its huge interior was acoustically between suited to chordal than polyphonic music, and included various ideal places for choirs and instrumental ensembles. Music came to the audience  from all directions -organ galleries, balconies and platforms round the altar area - and the effect was shattering. 

His nephew Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554-1612) carried on the family tradition and published music by both of them, including canzonas (ensemble pieces in the new style) and sonatas (pieces to be played, as opposed to cantatas, pieces to be sung), and also a new form which he called concerti. These instrumental works, with contrasting groups of instruments) for example strings and bass) holding a kind of dialogue, were the ancestors of modern concerto which contrast a solo instrument with the full orchestra. A recording of his Magnificat a 14 with incredible sound effects. Just imagine hearing it live in a church with great acoustics! 

Goodbye Renaissance, Hello Baroque

The emphasis on contrast and harmony, rather than polyphony, marked the end of the Renaissance period in music, and foreshadowed the next era - the Baroque. 

The composer who bridged the gap between Renaissance and Baroque, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) ended up in Venice as Maestro di Capella (Master of the Chapel) at St Mark's Basilica following in the Gabrieli's footsteps. But the century started with a literally dramatic development - opera. 

A short video with Monteverdi's Missa in Illo Tempore 

Science versus religion

Outside Venice, the Church wasn't yet quite so tolerant of new ideas. Science contradicted traditional teachings, and people like poor old Galileo Galilei were hauled up in front of the Inquisition for their 'heresies'. Nevertheless, although the simplification of polyphony smacked of humanism, it did make the service accessible to punters...

Collector's items 1900-1967 Hungary

Nationalism didn't really get going in Hungary as quickly as elsewhere - unless you count Brahms and Liszt and their Hungarian dances and rhapsodies. The Habsburg Empire ruled over the territory until 1918, and Viennese influence was strong, but many Hungarians had a powerful sense of national identity. A couple of young composers met up in Budapest just after the turn of the century, and discovered they both wanted to write in a truly Hungarian style, incorporating folk song into their music. So, Bela Bartok (1881-1945) and Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) set out together to collect songs systematically, using the latest recording techniques.

What they found was a source of material richer than they had hoped for: not the gipsy violin music of the city cafes, but real Magyar (Hungarian in Hungarian) peasant music, and lots of it. As first they restricted themselves to Hungary, but their later field trips extended into neighbouring Romania, Transylvania and Slovakia. The travelling came to end with the First World War, but they had already built ip impressive catalogue and established themselves among the first ethnomusicologists (great word meaning people who study music of various cultures).

They also took an interest in what was happening in the contemporary classical scene, studying composers as diverse as Richard Strauss and Debussy, and integrating elements of their styles into their own music too. By 1910 when their first string quartets were premiered, they had developed a distinctive modern Hungarian sound.

Kodaly restricted himself to Magyar folk music, using tunes he had collected as themes in his work, and established himself as a truly Hungarian composer at around the time Hungary gained its independence. Bartok, however, spread his net wider and took the process further. He drew on sources from all over Eastern Europe, and even Turkey and North Africa, and his research into folk music whetted his appetite for exotic scales and modes. Not content with merely quoting or imitating, he tried to capture the essence of his findings by detailed analysis and reconstruction, adding his own personal slant. He was not only meticulous in his work, but also reserved and introverted ( a quality that was refreshingly unlike his contemporary, Stravinsky) and this shows in his music.

Okay, he could, when he wanted, write exuberant  dance-inspired music for orchestra, and his three stage works are at times violently expressive, but even when writing on a large scale he tends to be rather broodingly introspective. He was more comfortable with piano and chamber music, where especially in the six string quartets, he emerged as one of the giants of music in the twentieth century.

You will enjoy Kodaly. Everybody does. Especially the orchestral music. The suit from his opera Hary Janos is fun and so are the Dances of Galanta, Dances of Marosszek and the Peacock Variations. For the more serious side, the two string quartets, or the glorious Psalmus Hungaricus.

Bartok's last work, the Concerto for Orchestra is one of my favourite and it is probably the most approachable, but give the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta a try too. And there is always the opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle, the ballet The Wooden Prince or the mime drama The Miraculous Mandarin. But the best stuff, in my opinion, is in the six string quartets, the three piano concertos and the amazing Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.  The Nine Splendid Stags, in English, originally titled The Cantata Profana, is an amazing legend. On this recording Bartok himself telling the story in Hungarian before the music starts. 

Canberra Choral Society's history under Piroska Varga conductor 2000-2001

On a day like this!

Vital Greens is vital to your good health

There is a lot of talk about supplements. Those who like it and use it, believe in it. The medical professional seem to be divided when it comes to supplements.
Of course, there are people, who could be never convinced to take some but only believe in drugs.
Now that we get more insight into what top athletes do, we hear more about their supplementation and health regime.

I have been taking nutritional supplements for more than a decade now. I took some even before, but never felt a difference.
However, it is exactly 10 years ago now that I came across Herbalife and with that my opinion about supplements and what they can do has changed.
Since that I select very carefully what kind of supplements I take. There are better and better supplements available in the market. I know Herbalife supplements work.

Another that is innovative is Flavon Max, the Hungarian fruit and vegetable jam consistency supplements that are one of the best if not the best on the market right now. They also have been examined by the US Brunswick Laboratory to test their antioxidant power their ORAC.

The highest on the market, there is no competition right now. Flavon is like eating your grandmothers home made jam made from rare and hard to get berries and fruits and vegetables. Carefully designed to give the body the full benefit in all areas of health, there are different flavours: Flavon Max, Flavon Green, Flavon Kids, Flavon Max Plus, Flavon Protect, Flavon Active and the new one, Flavon Joy.

Another, Australian vegetable supplement that is quietly proving to be very beneficial when it comes to daily usage is Vital Greens.

Vital Greens was developed in Australia in the year 2000 by two Sydney based naturopaths. Vital Greens is an easily absorbed carefully balanced blend of essential nutrients, extracted from natural dense greens, vegetables and fruits.
With 76 ingredients in every serve, Vital Greens is an all-in-one comprehensive daily multi-nutrient. Two heaped teaspoons are loaded with vitamins and minerals, high levels of antioxidants, pre and probiotics, essential fatty acids, fibre and our uniquely alkaline pea protein – all of this to help provide your daily nutritional requirements.

Vital Greens is vegan, and is free from gluten, dairy, wheat and artificial flavours and sweeteners.

Vital Greens is available in 120g, 300g, 600g & 1kg tubs, and a 30 x 10g sachet box.Vitamin supplements should not replace a healthy diet. Do not take whilst on warfarin therapy without medical advice.
We recommend consulting with a health care professional whilst pregnant or lactating.

GREENS, VEGETABLES AND HIGH NUTRIENT FRUITS
Organic Spirulina	1000mg
Organic Apple Powder	600mg
Organic Chorella Powder	333mg
Organic Kale Sprouts	100mg
Organic Wheatgrass Powder	200mg
Organic Barley Sprouts	200mg
Acerola Fruit extract	267mg
Carica Papaya Powder	250mg
Organic Broccoli Sprouts	150mg
Pineapple Fruit Juice extract	240mg
Bilberry Fresh Fruit extract	200mg
Rosehip Fruit extract	167mg
Red Beet Powder	167mg
Carrot Root Powder	83mg
Spinach Leaf Powder	67mg
Licorice Root Powder	67mg
Wolfberry (Goji) Fruit extract	33mg
Hawthorne Fruit extract	29mg
Kelp Whole Plant Powder	8mg
ANTIOXIDANT AND IMMUNE SUPPORT
Citric Acid (anhydrous)	150mg
R,S Alpha Lipoic Acid	67mg
Astragalus Root extract	67mg
Grapeseed extract	67mg
Green Tea extract	67mg
Cocoa Bean Polyphenol extract	67mg
Rosemary Leaf extract	67mg
Beta Glucans	50mg
Reiishi Mushroom Powder	21mg
Shiitake Mushroom Powder	21mg
Resveratrol	10mg
DIGESTIVE NUTRIENTS, ENZYMES, PREBIOTICS AND PROBIOTICS
Globe Artichoke extract	500mg
Inulin (FOS prebiotics)	417mg
Ginger Rhizome Powder	67mg
Bromelain	65mg
Aloe Vera Gel	500mg
Lactobacillus Acidophilus	3.0billion
Bifidobacterium Bifidum	3.0billion
Papain (from carica papaya & pineapple)
NERVOUS SYSTEM SUPPORT
Siberian Ginseng extract	1000mg
Lecithin (95% phosphatides)	725mg
Organic Flaxseed Powder	400mg
Gotu Kola extract	67mg
Withania somnifera (Ashwaganda)	67mg
ADDITIONAL VITAL VITAMINS AND MINERALS
Citrus bioflavanoid extract	500mg
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)	333mg
Calcium (from Calcium citrate 100%)	130mg
Potassium(from Potassium phosphate di-basic)	104mg
Vitamin E(d-alpha tocopherol succinate)	100mg
Magnesium (from Magnesium citrate)	42mg
Vitamin B3 (Nicotinic acid)	18mg
Silica (colloidal anhydrous)	13.6mg
Zinc (from Zinc amino acid chelate)	10mg
Co-Enzyme Q-10 (Ubidecarenone)	8mg
Vitamin B5 (Calcium pantothenate)	3.5mg
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine hydrochloride)	3.2mg
Vitamin B1 (Thaimine hydrochloride)	2.8mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavine)	2mg
Vitamin B3 (Nicotinamide)	2mg
Pro-vitamin A (Beta-carotene)	2mg
Manganese (from Manganese amino acid chelate)	1.4mg
Vitamin B7 (Biotin)	330µg
Vitamin B9 (Folic acid)	300µg
Copper (from Copper gluconate)	225µg
Selenium (from Selenomethionine)	30µg
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)	28µg
Chromium (from Chromium picolinate)	10µg
Vitamin D2 (Ergocalciferol)	2.8µg
LIVER SUPPORT HERBS
Rice Bran Powder	310mg
Milk Thistle extract	67mg
Dandelion Whole Plant extract	33mg
Burdock Root extract	21mg
ALKALINE VEGETABLE PROTEIN
100% Vital Pea Protein Isolate	927mg
ALL NATURAL BASE
Papaya, Broccoli, Carrot, Pineapple, Natural Vanilla, and Natural Sweetener Complex (thaumatin, monk fruit, stevia, xanthan gum)

This vegetable green powder supplement has quite a nice taste, it blends very well in a shake or smoothie. I am not a choosy person and don't have much problem with flavours but some green powders and supplements test me when it comes to drinking or taking them. I have a mild seafood sensitivity and I pick right away seaweed, chlorella and spirulina or other things as ingredients. I only had a mild "dislike" feeling at the first time then I lost any sensitivity or dislike drinking my morning green shake that consisted of 250ml water, a banana, a scoop of Herbalife Formula 1 (in any flavour but I find the best the Vanilla flavour as it blends well with the greens) and a scoop or two Vital Greens.
Right after the first days I noticed that my back pain reduced and some of the joint swellings went away. I noticed an energy increase right in the first days then at the end of the first day I got a little lethargic and needed more sleep and I started to sneeze. These are my usual signs of detoxing. It did not last longer than 2-3- days and since, I am a happy user of Vital Greens!
Keeping this green shake or smoothie in your mouth and swishing it around a little revitalises the health of your gums and whitens your teeth.

When you prepare a substantial, strong shake or smoothie first thing in the morning or take it last thing at night, in the long term you will be able to manage your weight, too. Your body get the necessary mix of great nutrients and starts rebuilding, revitalising, healing and rejuvenating itself. Replacing a meal with this nutrient dense drink you increase nutrition but cut back on calories. The long term benefits of using a supplement like Vital Greens long term is incredibly good. You will notice aches and pains reduce or even go away, your nails and hair grow much faster and improve in quality and your energy level will increase. When you look at all the ingredients and variety of greens you get daily, it would be extremely hard to eat such a variety vegetables in such quantities.
Of course, good diet, eating healthy, living food can not be replaced by supplements. Supplement is a supplement, as the name says. Make sure that your daily diet contains plenty of fresh fruit, a great variety of seasonal vegetables, fermented foods, quality meat if you are a meat eater, lots of good quality fish and, most importantly, drink plenty of fresh water. Take good rest and exercise. Seek quality relationships, good friends and laugh a lot. Enjoy nature and spend as much time outdoors as possible. Live a good life!