Tea Time with Deep Breaths

Jupiter is going to move into the constellation of Virgo (and my sun sign) in August–which is supposed to give a boost to my life for the year it’s there. (And how nice that money came in just before I wrote this–though it was long overdue for a gig in March!) Currently the sun and three planets (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter) are hanging out in my twelfth house, home of closure and the unconscious. “It is here that we stand on the precipice and determine how we will proceed.”  I’ve already signed on for some major classes and events in the month of August! Yikes! And have lately ventured into topics like marketing, which the Old Me woulda rolled her eyes at for being so… money-money.

I don’t know what I’ve become lately but the subjects I used to avoid before now look so tantalizing. (I guess it could be the expansion influence of Jupiter!)

Interesting links:

The Angry Brain: How to Help Men with Uncontrollable Tempers

No wonder they feel powerless: they’re being coerced to lay down their anger, the only weapon they’ve ever had against feelings of powerlessness. They often trace their reliance upon anger to a childhood history of danger, trauma, shaming, and pain. Anger is the emotion they can trust, the one that might keep danger at bay. As they grew up, they continued to use anger to make people they regard as dangerous back away. By the time you see them, they regard just about every person in their lives as “dangerous,” including loved ones. These men have become habitually angry. I liken their condition to the default option on a computer: their anger goes on automatically unless they consciously turn it off.

I’m still chewing on this article, and mostly agree. I also feel that anger may be the only “negative” emotion that males (and some females) learned that they were allowed, and so it’s easier to stay in the space of being angry, and the brain goes along and sets that pattern into place. The article also goes into safe places of expression, and learning trust.

It’s Weird How People Correct Me When They Think I’m a Woman

Not a weird thing for women though. It’s everyday.

New Study Finds Men Who Harass Woman Online are Literally Losers

Again not news for women, but gains traction only when verified by science! ;)

3 Reasons Why No One Should be on a Raw Foods Diet

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we believe that raw foods are too ‘cold’ — or yin — in nature and require too much energy from the body to digest. The cold, hard-to-digest nature of raw foods puts a damper on the body’s digestive fires. Overtime, this can weaken the body’s digestive system causing bloating, glassiness and poor absorption of the nutrients in foods. The body’s energy becomes depleted from having to support the weakened digestive system which results in less energy for other bodily functions such as reproductive organs.

Anyone with thyroid issues may also want to read this in full. The advice of avoiding “cooling” foods was also what I was given when I had reproductive issues; the upside of growing up Asian is knowing your “cooling” and “heaty” foods.

7 Ways Homes Kept Cool Before the Age of Air Conditioning

One of my peeves has always been how buildings now are built with air-conditioning as a matter of fact, even when it guzzles energy and contributes to the warming of our atmosphere. The smartest “energy design” for a building should be the one that minimizes the need for electricity, in cooling or heating. I think previous architects knew this better!