MyLifeYoga

In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering dog. It had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had clearly been abused.

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a greyhound female, to the nearby animal sanctuary.

Geoff and the other sanctuary staff went to work on the dog with two aims: to restore it to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved.

They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.

But the dog had other ideas. No one remembers now how it began, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn’t matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, probably, even a rhinoceros, Jasmine would peer into the box or cage and, where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.

Geoff relates one of the early incidents. “We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when they arrived at the sanctuary and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them.” Continue reading →

What’s the point of a lawn other than it is a pretty carpet that you have to spend money on to maintain and mow? Many are seeing the futility of this and are turning to what is being known as “edible landscaping”. They are tearing up their lawns and replacing it with vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Besides being healthy it also helps saves money. A $100 worth of seeds and supplies can save you upto $1500 at the grocery store. Sales of vegetable seeds are up 40% as this trend is catching on in the US. It seems that we are coming a full circle back to the time when people used to grow at least some portion of their own food.

More info:
Edible Landscaping pioneer Rosalind Creasy
Edible Landscaping on National Garden Association Website

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Zach Bonner shows that if you want to go out and help others there are no real barriers except believing yourself and believing that it is possible to make a difference. For Zach age was no bar, nor was lack of resources. He did not let anything stop him and has now become an inspiration for the rest of us. Watch this powerful story and pass it on.

Related Links:
Now a movie based on his story.
Continuing story.

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Paramahamsa Yogananda’s younger brother once asked him a question regarding meditation. He confessed his difficulty in clearing the mind of thoughts and finding one-pointed focus while meditating.

Yogananda did not answer the question directly but asked his brother to bring him a glass of water and some mud. He then poured the mud into the glass of water and stirred it till it became uniformly muddy.

“You see that the water is muddy, but can you see individual particles of dirt?” Yogananda asked.

“No,” replied his younger brother.

“Now wait for a while,” Yogananda responded.

After some time the mud settled down and individual particles could be seen floating in the water.

Then Yogananda explained, “Many thoughts are constantly vibrating in our consciousness. So much so that we are unaware of the barrage of thoughts whirling in our mind. When we sit to meditate we find our mind clouded with this restlessness. Soon individual thoughts stand out, like the particles of dirt settling out of the water. But just because you now become aware of these thoughts, don’t think you are becoming restless! Many people give up at this stage thinking that they are not succeeding in their meditation. Wait patiently. Continue to meditate. In time all thoughts will settle and your consciousness will clear of all restlessness.”

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