Naturally Connected

2007 Lavender Festivals List

It's Lavender Festival season again!  The first U.S. festival starts in Blanco Texas on June 9.  Next on the lst are the California festivals in mid-June.  Beginning in July, there are many choices of events not only in the U.S. but also in Europe. 

Here is the updated list of events around the globe for 2007. 

Download lavender_festivals_around_the_world_2007.doc

Note:  If you would like your festival added to the list feel free to contact me. 

The Color Energies of Plants

Rudolpf Steiner and Dr. Bircher-Benner saw that raw plants contain the the direct energies of the sun in their tissues, from the process of photosynthesis.  The energetic vibrations of the plants are indicated by the colors of the plants.  Dr. Gabriel Cousens suggests that the outer color of the plant is a key to understanding and recognizing the particular light and micronutrient energies stored in a vegetable, fruit, grain or grass as it occurs in nature.  In his books Conscious Eating and Spiritual Nutrition and The Rainbow Diet he describes how each of the seven primary colors of food are associated with the colors of a rainbow, and each color relates to a specific subtle energy center in the body (or chakra) and its associated glands, organs, and nervous system plexus.  For example, the green color vegetables are high in magnesium and calcium which is beneficial for the heart.  The color of the heart chakra is green. 

Dr. Cousens further suggests that the time of day when plant foods are eaten is important.  We should eat the sunrise color (red, orange and yellow) foods in the morning to support our lower chakra systems.  Then for our later meal in the day, we would eat the blue, gold, indigo and pruple foods that support our higher chakra energies.  Examples of these foods include grains, golden fruits such as papayas and mangos, beets, purple sea vegetables, purple kale etc.  By bringing in the full spectrum of light into our systems, we are energized by the complete spectrum of light from the sun. 

This new way of thinking about the plant food that we eat is indeed "englightening." 

The Attraction of the Persimmon Tree

Before moving into the house I just rented, I had taken a friend by to see the house.  While we were pulling out of the driveway she noticed this persimmon tree that is on the edge of the neighbors property.  She was so excited that she had to go pick some of the fresh fruit for us.

Last weekend after moving all of my stuff into the house, my boyfriend and I were busy arranging furniture and boxes.  We noticed a man who was surveying the house.  Eventually he knocked on the door.  He was inquiring about the persimmon tree and wanted to know if it was mine.  He explained that in his native country the trees were much more common than here, and he was very excited to see the tree.  I told him the tree belonged to the neighbors.  He mentioned that he had knocked on their door and they were not home but he wanted to pick some of the fruit.  It just so happened that my friend who had been so excited about the tree had helped with the moving the day before and had picked some more fruit off of the tree.  I offered these to him.  He began to take out his wallet, and I thought he was going to offer me some money and I said that wasn't necessary.  He then pulled out a business card and handed it to me.  He said that he lived in the senior home down the street and asked me to let the neighbors know that he was interested in some of the fruit when I saw them and pointed out his email address on the card for me to contact him.

The title of the business card says "A Healthier, Happier and More Peaceful Life."  I have never seen a business card like that.  I reminded me of a scene from The Peaceful Warrior Movie.  Since I spent the last year focusing on the exact topics of health, happiness and the creation of peace, I know that it was no accident that he knocked on my door that day.  I will be in touch with him once I get a little more settled in.

This is a perfect story of nature playing a role in making human connections!  What a special persimmon tree. 

Happiness and Your Health

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a special this Sunday November 19th at 10:00 pm EST on CNN in the USA called Happiness and Your Health.  After writing my masters thesis on the human connection to nature and happiness, I will be interested in watching the show.

I submitted the final version of my thesis about a month ago and am still awaiting a grade.  I feel good about the work and am looking forward to sharing more of the research on this site in the upcoming months. 

Lavender Harvest Festival Season

Lavender is one of my most favorite herbs in the world.  The smell so calming and relaxing.  It makes me happy.  Not only does it have amazing healing properties, it also is a community builder during the harvest season.  Festivals can be found throughout the world.  In North America, France and the UK it festivals occur in the summer months from June-August.  The Australian harvest kicks in during December and January.  In recognition of these special events, I created a list of all of the festivals throughout the world. 

Download lavender_festivals_around_the_world.doc

Heron Dance

I just finished reading the latest issue of the Heron Dance Journal.  It includes art, interviews, book excerpts, poetry and essays.  Through words and watercolors, Heron Dance explores the human connection to the natural world and the human search for meaning. How do we live in a crazy world with peace, joy and balance? The publication proposes that some important answers lie in gratitude, generosity of spirit, a relationship with wild nature and a creative life that contributes something of beauty to the human or natural world.

Rod MacIver founded Heron Dance, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, in 1995. Rod devotes himself primarily to the art you see and to the books published by Heron Dance Press. Rod's partner Ann concentrates mostly on design and on her writing. Recently she has begun a series of workshops called "Reconnecting with Your Wild Soul – A Tender Reunion," which have brought Heron Dancers together from all over the country to explore their souls' journeys. Heron Dance employs seven people and occupies part of their house in North Ferrisburg, Vermont.

In a recent version of their email newsletter, Rod explains "Whatever you love and pour yourself into will transform you. Heron Dance has transformed our lives, given them purpose and meaning. It has called upon every ounce of our creativity, intelligence, hard work and faith."  What a lovely example of living one's life purpose in connection to nature!

Bhutan's Happiness Formula and the Environment

The BBC has an 8-minute video interview of Bhutan's Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs, Jigmi Y. Thinley, speaking about Gross National Happiness.  Thanks to Jeremy at Lifestylism for mentioning the BBC feature on Happiness. 

I have been inspired by Bhutan for many years before beginning my Masters in Environmental Security and Peace.  However, it was Minister Thinley's keynote speech at the second annual GNH Conference in 2005 that inspired my thesis research on the human relationship between the environment and happiness. I look forward to sharing more of this research in the months to come. 

The four components of GNH include sustainable economic development, environmental preservation, cultural preservation and good governance.  Bhutan is one of few global examples of a country that has made environmental preservation a top priority in its development policy.  The international development community is beginning to recognize and acknowledge this effort.  In 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck and the people of Bhutan were awarded one of seven "Champions of the Earth" by the United Nations Environmental Program. 

If you would like to see more of the beauty of Bhutan, I recommend the PBS Living Edens video Bhutan, The Last Shangri-La.  You may also want to check out the 2003 feature film produced in Bhutan called Travelers and Magicians.  It was written and directed by a revered Buddhist lama who's recognized as the reincarnation of a great Tibetan master. 

Rain + Sunshine = The Pleasure of a Rainbow

Veenhoven in his analysis of the "greatest happiness principle" explains that there are four types of satisfaction.  Passing satisfactions are called pleasures.  These are things that happen at a given point in time.  They can be sensoric.  For example, one may see a rainbow and it changes how they were previously feeling.  Part-satisfactions relate to a certain aspect of one's life.  So, a person could be happy with their personal life, but not with their career.  Top-experiences are passing, but the memory of them is so profound that they stay with you over time.  Religious writings often describe this type of happiness in terms of mystic moments or a state of enlightenment.  Finally, life satisfaction can be used to describe one's overall state of happiness, or the summary of "pleasures and pains."

I was lucky to have the pleasure of seeing a rainbow this afternoon from my porch. 

Moving on to a New Stage of Life

This morning the large baby hummingbird had flown out of the nest when I checked it.  This afternoon, the smaller one has left too.  I will miss seeing them grow each day and am appreciative to have shared their early days with them.  They were so peaceful.  Now they move on to a new phase of their life. 

The Hummingbirds

There are two hummingbirds that have established a territory around my casita.  The male has clearly established his space on the right side of the casita, where there are lots of tropical flowers, and I see him often on the same tree branch. 

On the left side of the casita there is a mother humminbird with two babies in a nest.  The nest is in a small tree that is only about 5 feet high, so I have had a rare opportunity to photograph the birds in the nest.  The first photo is from the first day I was in my casita.  It is clear the birds were freshly hatched as they had no feathers and were very tiny.  Today, nine days later, I have a new photo and you can see they have grown quite a bit.  They have their feathers and are starting to get a bit crowded in the nest.