"Politics is your spirituality demonstrated" - Neale Donald Walsch

Recently we sent out an interview that has done very well. More than 20,000 of you downloaded the audio, and on top of that, more than 16,000 watched the YouTube intro video below.

Given that one of the most critical US elections in history is only a few days away, every American's vote is going to be a highly important one.

Hence, we were wondering what your thoughts on Neale's ideas are. It was obvious that he endorsed Obama, but the question is: do you agree with this?

Now, regardless of who you're going to vote for, tell us what issues concern you the most in this coming election. Tell us why you agree or disagree with Neale.

You can download Neale's FULL INTERVIEW HERE.

Your comments will be forwarded to him.

Leave them below.

Sex. We think about it a lot, but we rarely talk about it. Most of us are pretty darn shy when it comes to discussing what happens between the sheets (or wherever else we might be having sex). It’s really too bad, because it’s the most natural thing in the world. Yes, sometimes the primary purpose is procreation, but the act itself is also important – as a source of pleasure and to deepen the connection we share with our partner.

Sex is also good for us. Good sex promotes health and well-being, boosting chemicals in the body that protect against disease. Research also shows that sex can help ease joint and muscle pain, combat depression, promote heart health, and lengthen the life span. (Be sure you’re having safe sex, though!)

Regrettably, we often feel we don’t have the time or energy for sex, let alone good sex. In fact, at least one third of American couples experience a lack of sexual desire. Not surprising given the stress we confront daily and the pace at which we move through our day. We’ve got so many commitments – work, family, community activities, sports, etc. – that sex is an afterthought. And when we do have sex, it can become rather mechanical. Our bodies are going through the motions, but our minds are somewhere else and our hearts aren’t open.

Obviously people have unique needs when it comes to sex – more passion, more variety, and perhaps just more sex, plain and simple. One of the key needs that surfaces, though, is the need for intimacy – to feel connected physically and mentally (and even spiritually) to one’s partner. But achieving a deeper level of intimacy is often blocked by our being uncomfortable with sex, not trusting ourselves and/or our partner, and not letting go.

To increase the quality of one’s sex life Kali Munro, individual and couples therapist, recommends:

1. Asking For What You Need. If you don’t let your partner know what you want, he or she is going to have no idea what gives you pleasure. You leave them guessing. Your partner might be thinking they’re giving you the greatest pleasure in the world, meanwhile this technique could be making you uncomfortable or even causing you pain. This is a frustrating situation. You’ve got to speak up. Next time you’re having sex, try asking for what you want. Or give gentle feedback about what they’re doing and guide them towards what you would enjoy. When giving feedback the key is to be positive and communicate from a place of kindness. Launching into a major critique while you’re in the middle of being intimate is a surefire way to kill the mood and create resentment and bad feelings. If you need to stop and talk about how you’re feeling, do so. Also be sure to ask what they would enjoy as well!
2. Talking About Sex. Being able to talk about sex, both inside and outside the bedroom, is important to any relationship. If you’re shy about discussing sex, especially while you’re having sex, tell your partner another time. You can even make a date to talk about sex. Bring ideas, fantasies and books about sex to the date. This ‘meeting’ doesn’t have to be serious. It can be fun and sexy. Over a wonderful dinner and a bottle of wine, you and your partner can open your hearts and minds to the topic.
3. Starting and Stopping Sex. For the individual who feels uncomfortable on the receiving end of sexual pleasure, try starting with just a little and stop. Talk about it. Discuss what feels OK and good. Then try a little more. Remember to breathe. Take a break again. Keep going this way with your partner. Receive a little each time and then increase the amount of time each time. By going slowly, stopping and starting again, you can increase your comfort level with the focus being on you. Both of you need to be patient, as this may take some time, but the level of trust and comfort that is built is well worth it in the long run.
4. Letting Go. The act of letting go is critical during sex, especially for women wanting to achieve orgasm. Most people are so controlled and tense in their day-to-day lives. This type of energy works against reaching the highest heights of pleasure during sex. If you’re not relaxed and open, it’s difficult to have an orgasm, especially for women. To practice letting go, you might want to start by finding opportunities to let go outside of sex. Start small. Dancing is a great way to let go. It gets you into your body and out of your head. During sex, if you notice yourself tighten up, stop right there. Be aware of that feeling for a moment, breathe, relax, and then continue if you want to. Don’t try to push on while you’re tense. You also need to let go of the goal of having an orgasm. Orgasm-oriented sex can be stressful and limiting. Aim for pleasure-oriented sex and the rest will follow.

To learn more about how to improve the quality of your sex life, check out the following websites:

• Sexual Health Network
• Re-defining Monogamy
• Healthy Place

Understandably, sex is a topic many find difficult to talk about, but please be brave and let us know if you have any valuable approaches that have helped you achieve greater intimacy. It’s high time we converse frankly about sex!

We all admire creative individuals, whether they’re artists, writers, architects, entrepreneurs, or scientists, but we fail to value creativity and the creative process in our educational system. Creativity is seen more as a gift rather than something we’re all born with that needs to be nurtured and developed.

Schools currently reward the children who can quickly follow tried-and-true solutions to problems and memorize with the greatest diligence. Through school and parenting, children become conditioned to fear being wrong. Children learn to find the ‘right’ answer as fast as possible and become increasingly hesitant of approaching problems in novel and creative ways. Moreover, the more obviously creative subjects--art, music and dance, for example--are little valued compared to the ‘serious’ subjects, namely math and the sciences. In short, school is anti-creative.

This is unfortunate because creativity is a hot commodity. Think about the business leader who creatively works with the dynamic tools of business--capital, people, markets, and ideas--and is able to successfully reorganize them in new and different ways. Creativity is a valuable attribute (and one that employers are willing to pay for). It is also skill or trait that is few and far between. This is not because only a handful of people are inherently creative; it’s because our creativity is not encouraged. Our educational system puts a low priority on children’s ability to approach challenges from a mindset of curiosity, adventure, experimentation, and risk.

The benefits of supporting creativity in children are significant. One study found that pupils who had the opportunity to work with creative individuals, such as writers and fashion designers, were better behaved and honed such skills as improvisation, resilience and collaboration.

Creativity is also necessary in today’s world, which is changing at an unprecedented speed. The amount of information teachers can pass on to children in the time they're at school is very limited. At the same time, access to all kinds of information has become incredibly easy.

Today, it’s not what is taught that matters, so much as making sure children know how to learn and innovate.

All over the world, businesses have repeatedly expressed what they expect from their work force. The new requirements are:

• Flexibility and creativity in the ways in which one thinks
• Being able to deal positivity with change (practically and emotionally)
• Confidence in knowing how to learn

To find out more about how to inspire children to become independent learners and creative thinkers, please visit INSPIRED LEARNING.

Listen to a funny and inspiring talk given by Sir Ken Robinson on the importance of nurturing creativity.

We all want to achieve financial freedom, but so few of us do. We live well beyond our means, purchasing fancy cars, big homes, designer clothes, and tropical vacations that give us short-term gratification. We generally fail to manage our money and put off investing in our long-term financial future. We’re absurdly short-sighted when it comes to our finances.

So, the next question is how much should we save and invest? A common rule of thumb of the financially secure--those with sizable nest eggs--is 25% of pre-tax income for the first 20 years of full-time work. After this period, you can live luxuriously without saving and watch your nest egg grow.

Dr. Bradford D. Smart, a world-renowned management psychologist, asks us to imagine a husband and wife, both managers at a fast food chain. Let’s say they each earn $50,000 per year, a little over the median income in the United States. Now suppose they each put aside $12,500 per year (for a total of $25,000), and they have been saving like this since they were 20 years of age. They chose to invest conservatively and managed an 8% return.

In 20 years, at an 8% ROI, they’ll have $1.1 million. Even more exciting is the fact that they can now let this money grow without additional savings from their salaries. Their nest egg will double every 9 years, totaling $2.2 million when they're 49 years of age. If they don’t touch it until they are 67, they'll have $8.8 million.

The fact is most people don’t think long-term. By living lean for the first 20 years of saving, they can now spend a lot while their nest egg grows and grows. Most of their friends who start saving at 40 will never catch up. The fast food managers won’t get to lead flashy lives between the ages of 20 and 40, but once they reach middle age they’ll have the satisfaction of financial freedom.

The majority don’t save early. They figure out the magic of compounding when they’re about 45 and realize it’s too late to let the money earn money for 30 or 40 years. Realizing that they’re never going to catch up, they crank up their ambition and aim for the job with the highest salary (and the longest hours). Meanwhile, their friends (with lower salaries) who have been steadily saving get to kick back in their later years and watch their money grow.

Right now you’re probably thinking this is all very well – in theory – but we’re in the middle of an economic tailspin. Yes, the market is down, way down (40% since the beginning of the year), but it won’t be like this forever. People need to think long-term – 10 to 20 years into the future.

People also need to read Warren Buffet’s op-ed piece for the New York Times where he talks about how he is personally buying up American stocks. Lots of them. A simple rule dictates Buffet’s buying: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” He rightly points out that investors should be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions, but explains that fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense.

The big take-away point here is to think long-term--to start saving and investing early and to take advantage of the investment opportunities presented by the downturn in the market. Today most people are digesting their daily dose of media panic about the market and failing to see the big picture.

Are there any ‘big picture’ thinkers out there who would like to share their thoughts on investing?

How often have you sat at your desk, piles of folders stacked around you and dozens of unopened e-mails lurking in your inbox, and felt like hiding in a bathroom stall or sprinting out of the office because you literally don’t know where to begin with all the work you have to do?

Sooner or later most people suffer a bout of work paralysis. This causes people to feel anxious and helpless and often leads to a nasty case of procrastination.

Over the last 20 years David Allen has worked with over a million professionals in hundreds of organizations worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies and U.S. Government agencies, to help them tackle the issue of getting things done. He is THE productivity guru. He is the author of two best-selling books: Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity and Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life.

David Allen can help YOU manage your work flow and get things done.

According to Allen, there are five discrete stages we all need to go though as we deal with our work (regardless of the setting): We 1) COLLECT things that command our attention; 2) PROCESS what they mean and what to do about them; and 3) ORGANIZE the results, which we 4) REVIEW as options for what we choose to 5) DO.

The majority of us can stand to significantly improve our handling of each one of the five stages.

The quality of our work flow is as good as the weakest link in the five-stage chain. Things go sideways when part of the process breaks down. For example, some people might be superb at collecting things, but fail to process or decide what action to take. All links must be integrated together and supported with consistent standards. Many people get stuck because they try to do all five phases at once, which causes a meltdown.

1. Collect. In the first stage, you need to collect all incoming items into ‘containers’ that hold these items until you have a few moments to decide what they are and what, if anything, you’re going to do about them. There are various collection tools out there – both high-tech and low-tech – that you can use: a physical in-basket, e-mail, electronic note-taking devices, etc. To ensure this phase is working properly, you need to test it against three requirements: 1) Is every open loop in your collection system and out of your head?; 2) Do you have as few collection containers as you can away with?; and 3) Do you empty your containers on a regular basis?
2. Process. In this stage, you need to evaluate every item that lands in each of your containers. When something lands in one of your containers, you first need to figure out what it is. The next question is to find out whether or not it is actionable. The answer is either yes or no. If ‘yes’, you need to determine 1) what ‘project’ or outcome have you committed to?; and 2) what’s the next action required?
3. Organize. After you’ve processed everything, you need to categorize and file the items. For non-actionable items, Allen suggests that categories include trash, incubation tools and reference storage. For actionable items, you will need a list of projects, storage or files for project plans and materials, a calendar, a list of reminders of next actions, and a list of reminders of things you’re waiting for. Allen also points out that all these organizational categories need to be contained in some form.
4. Review. You need to be able to review the whole picture of your life and work at appropriate interval and levels. Normally, this should be done on a weekly basis. This is an opportunity for you to scan all the defined actions and options in front of you, thus increasing the efficacy of the choices you make about what you’re doing at any point in time. It also gives you a change to ensure that your mind is clear and that all the loose strands of the past few weeks have been collected, processes and organized.
5. Do. The fundamental purpose of this workflow management process is to facilitate good choices about what you’re doing at any point in time. Now it’s time to rely more on your intelligence, practical thinking and intuition. If you’ve diligently collected, processed, organized, and reviewed all your current commitments, chances are you have a pretty solid idea of what you should be working on at any given time.

Listen to a talk by David Allen on GETTING THINGS DONE for Google.

Some foods are just better for you than others. For many years, nutritionists and health professionals have been heralding the benefits of foods such as broccoli, spinach, apples, and tomatoes. These well-known superfoods are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, and many people have actively tried to increase their consumption of these foods.

But there are other superfoods that are equally beneficial that you might not know about.

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has identified a number of these foods. They’re easy to find in your local grocery store, but chances are you're not eating them on a regular basis.

Adding the following superfoods to your diet is an excellent way to increase your nutrient uptake and spice up your diet.

1. Beets

Jonny Bowden encourages us to think of beets as red spinach. Just like spinach, this vegetable is one of the best sources of folate and betaine – nutrients that work together to lower your blood levels of homocysteine, an inflammatory compound that can damage your arteries and increase your risk of heart disease.

How to eat: Take a fresh, raw beet and grate it over your salad. Not only is it healthy, but the crimson color adds a splash of color to your meal.

2. Cabbage

One cup of chopped cabbage has just 22 calories, and it’s loaded with valuable nutrients, including sulforaphane. Stanford University determined that sulforaphane boosts levels of certain cancer-fighting enzymes higher than any other plant chemical.

How to eat: Add cabbage to a burger for an extra crunch, or try making an Asian-style slaw as a tasty accompaniment to a meal.

3. Swiss Chard

Half a cup of cooked Swiss chard provides a massive amount of lutein and zeaxanthin. These plant chemicals, known as carotenoids, protect your retinas from the damage of aging.

How to eat: Chop it up and sauté it with garlic. It goes great with grilled steaks and chicken.

4. Cinnamon

This old-world spice helps control blood sugar, which influences your risk of heart disease. Cinnamon’s active ingredients, methylhydroxychalcone polymers, increase your cells’ ability to metabolize sugar by up to 20 times.

How to eat: Sprinkle cinnamon into your coffee or over your oatmeal.

5. Pomegranate Juice

This popular drink, which people in the Middle East have been drinking for decades, provides 50% of your daily vitamin C needs when you drink just four ounces. Israeli scientists also found it significantly improves blood flow to the heart.

How to drink: Have a glass of juice on its own or combine it with sparkling water.

6. Pumpkin Seeds

Eating pumpkin seeds is the easiest way to get more magnesium in your diet. French researchers recently determined that men with the highest levels of magnesium in their blood have a 40% lower risk of early death than those with the lowest levels.

How to eat: Add them to trail mix or sprinkle them over your salad.

7. Sardines

You can’t run out of good things to say about sardines: they’re high in omega-3s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese, as well as a full complement of B vitamins.

How to eat: Have them on toast, mixed with your salad, or mash them up with Dijon mustard and onions and enjoy them as a spread on crackers.

8. Frozen Blueberries

Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetable, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil. They’re chocked full of antioxidants and associated with better memory in animal studies.

How to eat: Blend them in a smoothie or combine them with yogurt and muesli.

If you’re already eating these superfoods on a regular basis, let us know how you’re integrating them into your diet!

Do you take time out each week, or even day, to do something that tickles your funny bone? Would you say you're generally happy? Would people describe you as being cheerful and having a good sense of humor?

Most people don’t ask themselves these questions, but they probably should. Each year brings fresh evidence to support the idea that thoughts, moods and emotions have an impact on the body’s basic health and healing mechanisms.

Studies show the body’s healing system responds favorably to love, hope, optimism, caring, intimacy, joy, laughter, and humor, and negatively to such emotions and states as hate, hopelessness, pessimism, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

This being the case, you’re going to want to be as positive and happy as possible. That’s a tall order - especially in these challenging economic times - but definitely something worth working on. And the upside is you’ll feel great.

It’s difficult to feel stressed or depressed when you’ve got your giggle on. So, pick up that DVD box set of your favorite comedy show. It’s actually good for you!

Dr. Paul McGhee, president of the Laughter Remedy, shows us how humor contributes to good health:

1. Muscle Relaxation. Research has shown that muscle relaxation results from a good belly laugh. Try it. Get a good chuckle going for 30 seconds and see how you feel. One study even showed that people using a biofeedback apparatus were able to relax muscles more quickly after watching funny cartoons than after looking at beautiful scenery.
2. Reduction of Stress Hormones. When you’re under stress, your body undergoes a series changes, including hormonal ones, which make up the ‘fight or flight’ response. Even though there is no physical threat to your life, your body reacts as if there were. If you’re under this stress day after day this poses a serious threat to your health. Anything that reduces that level of stress hormones in the blood on the regular basis helps reduce this health threat. Research on stress-related hormones and humor has shown that laughter reduces at least four neuroendocrine hormones associated with the stress response, including cortisol, dopac, epinephrine, and growth hormone. So, get to the comedy club once a week to unwind. You’ll be healthier for it.
3. Immune System Enhancement. For a long time, we’ve known stress weakens the immune system, but only since the mid-1980s did researchers start to study the impact of humor and laughter on the immune system. The best evidence that humor boosts the immune system comes from studies where immune system measures were taken before and after a humorous event.
4. Immunoglobulins. Most of the research to date has focused on immunoglobulin A. This is a part of your immune system which serves to protect you against upper respiratory problems, such as colds and the flu. Our saliva contains immunoglobulin A and is often referred to as the body’s first line of defense against upper respiratory viral and bacterial infections. Here is the interesting part: several studies have shown that watching as little as 30 to 60 minutes of a comedy video is enough to increase both salivary IgA and blood levels of IgA. This has been shown for both adults and kids.
5. Cellular Immunity. Several different aspects of the cellular immune system have been shown to be enhanced by watching a comedy video. B cells, which are produced in the bone marrow, are responsible for making the immunoglobulins. If you count the number of these cells in the blood before and after a comedy video, you can see a significant increase in the number of B cells circulating throughout the body. Watching a one-hour comedy also elevates the activity and number of natural killer cells, the number and level of activation of helper-T cells, and the ratio of helper to suppresser T-cells. Natural killer cells have the role of seeking out and destroying tumor cells in the body.
6. Pain Reduction. Dozens of studies have now documented that humor has the power to reduce pain in many patients. In a study of 35 patients in a rehabilitation hospital, 74% agreed with the statement, “Sometimes laughing works as well as a pain pill.” So, why is there a reduction in pain following laughter? One possibility is distraction. Humor draws attention away from the source of discomfort. The most common explanation given, however, is that laughter causes the production of endorphins, one of the body’s natural pain killers. The pain-laughter connection can also be partly attributed to the reduction of muscle tension. Even brief relaxation procedures have been shown to reduce pain, and laughter acts much the same way.

Now that you better understand the mechanisms behind the healing power of humor, I’d like to hear from YOU.

What techniques are you using to increase the amount of laughter and joy in your life? Please share how these methods are working for you, so we can all benefit from your experiences.