How the Ancient Maya civilization cultivated organic crops using herbal medicine to combat pests

Friday, July 08, 2016 by: Isabelle Z.

Tags: natural pesticides, Mayans, agriculture

(NaturalNews) With such widespread use of pesticides on crops throughout the world, and 

the insistence of Big Agri and some farmers that its products are necessary for successful 

crop cultivation, one might start to wonder exactly how people managed to grow enough food 

to survive before this relatively modern poison took root.

Some clues can be found in the agricultural methods used by the Mayan people. Ancient 

Mayans viewed corn as a gift from the gods, and great care was taken in its cultivation. As 

a result, corn has been considered one of the most successful and effective self-sustaining 

cultivation systems on the planet for thousands of years.

The knowledge gleaned from millennia of experience could be used to help with growing 

organic crops today. The Yucatan Times reports that one of the keys to their success is 

their extensive knowledge of "photoperiods," which are the times of day when the plants 

are exposed to sunlight.

By taking into account the solar and lunar seasons, as well as these photoperiods, better 

blossoming can be achieved, thereby spurring better yields of vegetables and fruits.

Natural pesticides taken from herbal medicine

Moreover, the Mayan culture boasts a very thorough knowledge of herbal medicine. This is 

something that is not only applied to natural healing, but also to pest and fungus control on 

crops.

For example, the neem tree (Azadirachta Indica) has a lot of applications. This fast-growing 

tree can reach as tall as 20 meters, and its leaves can treat a host of diseases. Cholesterol, 

hypertension and diabetes are just a few of the illnesses it can help with. It also boasts 

antibacterial qualities, which means it can help with skin issues and can even help rid the 

body of impurities.

Its uses in crop cultivation are every bit as impressive. In fact, it has proven to fight one of the 

most dangerous threats to the cultivation of produce: the white fly.

Up to 90 percent effective

Neem is remarkably powerful when it comes to controlling insects, with one of its components, 

azadirachitin, believed to be as much as 90 percent effective in pest control. This chemical can 

be found not only in the leaves of the tree, but also in its wood and seeds. It does not cause 

instant death like chemical pesticides. Instead, it repels insects and serves as an antifeedant, 

essentially causing the insects to prefer starving to death over eating the plant that has been 

treated with neem. If they eat it anyway, the neem will have a contraceptive effect, thereby 

interrupting their life cycle by ensuring they do not lay eggs.

Plants that have been treated with neem are safe for beneficial insects like butterflies and bees, 

and insects must actually have fed on the plant tissues in order to be affected.

Another benefit of using neem is that it is biodegradable, which means it will break down quickly 

and easily. Unlike chemical pesticides, it does not harm birds, mammals or earthworms.

Neem's insecticide action can replace the use of pesticides and chemicals, ensuring that the 

produce is not contaminated. The Mayans combine this with their mastery of soil preparation 

and composting to yield impressive results.

Mayan researcher and culture expert Caamal Itza believes that this traditional knowledge 

should be disseminated and preserved in order to help promote food production methods that 

are kinder to the environment.

As the demand for organic produce continues to rise, now is an excellent time for some of these

 methods to garner a closer look. After all, why would anyone in their right mind want to buy 

produce that was doused in chemicals known to cause cancer, when they could choose options 

that were grown with natural pesticides?

Sources include:

TheYucatanTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

Learn more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/054596_natural_pesticides_Mayans_agriculture.html#ixzz4DxTjtpVT

Alkaline Diet - How Can Alkaline Diet Transform Your Health

The diet of our ancestors is completely different from what we are so accustomed to these days. With the advancement of technology, the types of foods we consume are dragged along. A trip to the grocery store will shock you with aisles and aisles of processed food items and animal products. You will not have a hard time finding fast food when eating out as practically every corner of the street has one.

Even fad diets are partly to blame, for introducing a whole new eating habit, such as high-protein diets. In the recent years, consumption of animal products and refined food items has increased, as more and more people leave out the daily supply of fruits and vegetables in their diet.

It comes as no surprise why, these days, many are suffering from different types of allergies, bone diseases, heart problems and many others. Some health experts link these diseases to the type of foods we eat. There are certain types of food that disrupts a certain balance in our body that, during such instance, health problems arise. If only we could modify our eating habits, it's not unlikely that prevention of diseases and restoration of health is achieved.

The Importance of Alkaline

Our bodies need to maintain a healthy and steady alkaline to acid ratio, which is signified by the pH level of our body. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, and anything lower than 7 is considered acidic. Processed food items, meat and meat products, sweets, and some beverages and condiments generally produce excessive amounts of acidity in the body.

Acidosis, abnormally high acidity level in the blood and other tissues of the body, is the one thing that several different diseases have one thing in common. And many health experts believe that acidosis is responsible for a lot of fatal diseases that many people are afflicted with these days.

Alkaline, on the other hand, naturally occurs in the body to neutralize excess acidity in the body, which is its main role. However, alkaline also becomes depleted at times are especially when there is too much acid it needs to get rid of, and we do not consume foods that replenish our body's alkalinity.

Maintaining a Healthy pH Level

As mentioned earlier, acidosis leads to many health-related problems. Dangerous levels of acid get to circulate in our body and break into tissues and organs when not properly neutralized. To prevent this, one must see to it that a healthy pH balance in the body is maintained. And to offset the excessive amounts of acid is to increase your body’s alkalinity.

Determining whether or not your pH levels are prevalently alkaline may be done with easy-to-use pH level strips which you can purchase in drug stores or medical supplies stores. There are pH level strips meant for testing using your saliva, and there are those for using your urine.

Basically, a saliva pH level strip will determine how much acid your body is producing; normally it’s between 6.5 and 7.5 throughout the day. While a urine pH level strip will tell how well you excrete excess amounts of acid; you should get between 6.0 and 6.5 in the morning and between 6.5 and 7.0 at night.

The Dangers of Excessive Acid

If you constantly experience exhaustion, headaches and having frequent colds and flu, then that could be it – you have high acid levels in your body. But the ill effects of acidosis in the body don't stop there; you might be surprised at the wide-ranging types of diseases you could get with dangerous levels of acid in your body.

Depression, hyperacidity, ulcer, skin dryness, acne and obesity are some of those linked to excessive acid levels in the body. Then there are those that are more serious such as joint diseases, osteoporosis, bronchitis, frequent infections and heart diseases.

Even if you begin to take medications for these illnesses, the symptoms may be masked, but they will still continue to affect your health as you are not attacking them from their roots. No matter what medications you take – pills, anti-inflammatory and the like – your body will only become more acidic because of these medications.

Alkaline Diet Approach

To get to the roots of these health problems, the bodies pH level must be brought back to normal. There are alkaline foods that can help replenish the depleted alkaline levels in the body while neutralizing excess amounts of acid. Through an alkaline diet, sufficient amounts of alkaline are re-introduced into the body, thus bringing back the pH level to predominantly alkaline.

So how do you incorporate an alkaline diet into your eating habits? First, you can start by cutting down your intake of processed foods. These type of foods contain chemicals that only increase the acidity of your body ones that are digested. Second, steer clear of meat and meat products, dairies and alcohol. Third, load up on fresh fruits and vegetables, as they naturally are high in alkalinity.

Even acidic fruits like oranges and lemons become alkaline after they have been digested and absorbed by the body. As a general rule, 75% of your daily food consumption should consist of alkalizing foods. The more alkaline foods we provide our bodies with, the more efficient the neutralization of excess acids will be.

Discover how you can kick start alkaline diet at Emma Deangela's site at
http://thealkalinediet.org/go.php?offer=awkie&pid=1 or Subscribe to her Newsletter


   

5 Ways to Stop Absorbing Negative Energy from Others

Anna Hunt, Staff Writer
Waking Times

With empathy, the ability to recognize and feel other people’s emotions, comes the disadvantage of also absorbing the suffering and negativity of the others around you. When this occurs, your ability to function at your best can be significantly impacted. Even a person who is not so empathic can be affected energetically when around negative or dramatic people.

Absorbing other people’s negative energy can be just as toxic on a person as ingesting unhealthy food, and perhaps even more noticeably draining. Thus, learning how to stop this from happening can be a valuable skill. Here are five methods that you can use so you absorb less negative energy from others around you.

1) Be Selective About the People You Allow into Your Life

You have to come to terms that not everyone will like you, and you don’t have to become friends with everyone that you meet. You do not need to pressure yourself into befriending everyone you meet, either at work, though existing friends, or via your kids. Of course you want to be polite, but trust your intuition when meeting new people and don’t ever feel like you need to spend time with people just because you’ve come to know them by association.

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Furthermore, if you find yourself often needing to vent about a person, have a friend that is consistently negative about life, or feel like someone in your life is regularly taking advantage of you or is unkind to you, then perhaps it is time to create some distance. Some friendships or relationships are just not good for you, and you have to be able to accept that. Once you do, you can let go of the friends and acquaintances who dump their negativity on you.

Learning to let go and saying “no” to people who do not deserve your time and attention allows you more time for the ones that do, including your family and YOURSELF.

2) Don’t Try Please Everyone

We all have only so many hours in one day, so be selective about who receives your time. Don’t waste it on people who don’t seem to care about you, give you a hard time, or are overly critical of you. Just as you won’t like certain individuals, there will be some that don’t like you or do not treat you kindly.

Focus on developing relationships that seem to thrive naturally, versus working on getting people to like you who naturally don’t gravitate to you. The latter will not only leave you drained, they will probably affect how you perceive yourself.

3) Beware of Energy Vampires

As already mentioned, you may have existing friends that are always negative about life, but consider that some people are can be even more toxic. These types could be dubbed energy vampires because they suck you dry of all positive energy and leave you with all their negativity. That is what keeps them going.

Beware of energy vampires who always use negative words and dump negative emotions onto you. Notice which “friends” use pessimistic language or treat you like a soundboard for their negative feelings. You are likely absorbing all of their negativity every time you see them.

This doesn’t mean stop being there for a friend in need, but pay attention to the ones that take advantage of a kind ear or are inclined to always use negative language. Let them know how you feel about all the pessimism. If these “friends” don’t understand that they are draining you, then perhaps they are not really your friends.

READ: Science Explains How Complaining is Negatively Altering Your Brain

4) Be Responsible for Yourself

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You are the only person that has control over how you feel. In any situation, you have the choice of how you react and what you do. Some say it takes years of training to control your feelings, but it all starts with awareness, which you can practice right now.

Taking responsibility for yourself means that you have to start becoming aware of how you feel when certain people are around you. And then are not afraid to take action. If you spend time with someone who makes you feel bad or leaves you drained, it is time to create some distance between you and that person.

Don’t be a victim, because you have the power of how you experience life. You will absorb more goodness and less negativity if you really reflect on how people, places and situations make you feel, and then take action to change what does not serve you.

5) Spend Time Alone

For some reason the Western society has come to denigrate personal characteristics such as introversion, shyness, timidity, etc. However, time alone, and the personal discovery that happens during this time, can be quite healing and regenerating.

For some, solitude is quite difficult as it is a time when a person starts to really look at what’s happening with their own self. Yet it is necessary if you are to cultivate the awareness you need to identify when you absorb negative energy and who in your life is an energy vampire.

Remember simple tools such as breathing slowly, quiet meditation, reading a good book, and spending time in nature. They are all available to you so you can enjoy solitude. Use these tools when you are ready to take action to rid yourself of unwanted energetic toxicity and reinforce yourself for yet another day.

About the Author

Anna Hunt is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com and an entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in research and editorial writing. She and her husband run a preparedness e-store outlet at www.offgridoutpost.com, offering GMO-free storable food and emergency kits. Anna is also a certified Hatha yoga instructor. She enjoys raising her children and being a voice for optimal human health and wellness. Read more of her excellent articles here. Visit her essential oils store here.

3 LIFE CHANGING SKILLS YOU CAN MASTER IN JUST 3 MONTHS

DAN FRIESJULY 5, 2016

A renowned French composer once wrote, “The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”

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But this is the nature of life isn’t it? 

We learn new things as we go on, developing new skills and good habits (while dropping bad ones), and if we’re really eager to learn, we pick up skills along the way that we never envisioned having — and some of them turn out to be profoundly useful, even life changing.

Do you find that you have both the time and space in your life to hone a new talent, perhaps learn a profitable new skill? 

Well, the following are 3 skills that you may be able to try out this year, if only to find out how much more your brain can accommodate in the way of capacity and aptitude.

And who knows, you just might make something serious out of it.

1. Do you have stories or ideas that you’d want to share with the world? 

Blogging offers you a platform to connect with people on a more personal level, to build brands and even grow a business, without having to take courses or leave your house/office. Start an auto blogging program.

There’s no telling where blogging might lead you. Some of the most successful individual bloggers started with little except a free WordPress platform and a wild imagination. 

Are you teetering on the edge of blogging, but not sure where to start? Welcome to the club.

Every new blogger hesitates.

The only way to learn about successful blogging is to just take the plunge and learn as you go (and create good, original content).

You might be surprised by how many people show support by signing up to see your posts — perhaps even purchase products. 

Anything is possible if you commit.

2. Learn Spanish

Did you know that over 500 million people around the world speak Spanish? 

Just think of the opportunities this brings for travel, experiencing different cultures, enjoying a variety of entertainment, tasting new food, and finding new work. 

What would happen if you learned to speak the language? 

The Hispanic population is spread out all across the world, accounting for over 30% of the U.S. population, with people of all creed and from all corners of the world. There hasn’t been a better time to learn Spanish.

Today, there are countless apps, websites, and even supplements that make language-learning fun and easy.

In addition, Spanish language is one of the easiest to learn, with a 90-day course encompassing just about every relevant sound, inflection and cultural reference needed to feel at home in any Spanish-speaking country.

How do I get started? 

There are all kinds of apps and courses that offer language coaching to everyone from beginners to native speakers. 

But the easiest and most fun way to learn a new language is to completely immerse oneself into it by visiting and interacting with people who speak that language. 

Do you want to take time away from it all — work, home, responsibilities, etc. — or do you simply want to learn Spanish and the Spanish way of life? 

Just book a flight and go live where they speak it exclusively, and see how quickly you go from ‘estudiante’ to teacher and you will have plenty of fun along the way.

3. Take up photo and video editing

Take a look at the world we live in today: the online world is entirely visual. On every platform from YouTube to Instagram to Snapchat, we have become addicted to pictures and video. 

We expect some form of visual appeal from just about everything we encounter online (apps, games, social media platforms), and anybody looking to make a career from it has only to download video and photo editing software and start to play with it.

Where do I get started?

Photo editing is extremely prevalent today and all that’s needed to start is a firm understanding of photo-editing software like Photoshop, Corel, and Serif. 

Once you acquire the skills, the opportunities are endless. And just the same, video editing presents all kinds of opportunity to market and sell products, services, and build a personal brand online. Learn how to Edit Video 

Video editing software like iMovie and Final Cut pro are available online and they offer tutorials for new users to master and apply their own skills for a wide variety of applications. 

Remember, all these tools are available for free online, but what’s going to help you stand out from the crowd is a steadfast determination and desire to learn.  

That way, you can make something of your new skill once 3 months have passed.

What other things do you think you can do exceptionally, if you applied yourself for just three months?

Take up your new engagement with all the passion that you muster and it will open new doors for you, even beyond paving a new career path — it could present the beginning of an entirely new life for you.

5 NOTEWORTHY MORNING RITUALS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

DANIELLE FAGANJULY 6, 2016

The way you spend your first hour of waking up will make or break the rest of your day. If you find yourself shuffling about in the morning, rushing to get through breakfast and flying out the door to work, you might want to consider changing things up.

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If you find that you don’t have a lot of time in the morning, try getting up a little earlier and including a healthy morning ritual which can help bring energy, vitality, productivity, and mental and emotional balance to the rest of your day. Below I’ve written 5 morning rituals that I use to help set a positive tone for the rest of the day:

1. Ease Areas of Tension

As soon as you wake up, get out of bed and go to a comfortable chair or couch. Sit upright and notice how your body feels. Focus on areas of your body which are tight, sore, or tender. Don’t fight the discomfort, just notice it. Then direct your breath to one area of pain at a time. Send ten breaths to each area of discomfort.

If you notice that your aren’t in a good mood, focus on your feeling. Notice where you’re feeling the emotion in your body. Is it in your shoulders? Your stomach? Your back? Don’t fight the mood. Just notice it. Then send ten breaths to that area. Once that area feels clear, check in again to see if the mood has passed.

This tension “check in” can be as long or as short as you need it to be.

2. Mindfulness

A simple Google search will turn up hundreds of studies that illustrate just how positively meditation can affect the body and mind. From increased grey matter in the brain to reducing pain, to boosting feelings of wellbeing, meditation seems to have it all. An early morning meditation can assist you with setting the intention and tone for the rest of the day. I’ve included a morning meditation video below that is intended to help you clear the mind, boost productivity, and energize the body.

3. Sun Salutations

Sun salutations are a series of super simple yoga poses. A yoga teacher once said to me, “Five sun salutations in the morning will change your life.” At the time I thought she was being overly dramatic, but after implementing them in my morning routine I noticed a huge different in the way I felt. I remember going to see my massage therapist after just two weeks of morning sun salutations and (without telling him about my exercise change) he commented on how there was significantly less tension in my back.

4. Qi-Gong

Qi-Gong (pronounced chee-gong) is a Chinese system of physical and breathing exercises. Adding a simple ten minute Qi Gong routine to your morning can help improve bone health and quality of life, lower blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, and boost cognitive performance. The exercises in the video below are simple and easy to do.

5. What do you want to feel today?

Set your intention for the day by expressing to yourself what feeling you’d like to experience throughout the day. What do you need more of? Happiness? Fulfillment? Love? Fun? Visualize yourself feeling that emotion for a few minutes. You don’t have to know how you will create that feeling. Just visualizing it is enough. Simply notice the shift in your mood after the exercise then go about the rest of your day.

I hope these tools have helped you. If you have any morning rituals that help you feel great for the rest of your day, post them in the comments below!

6 THINGS BOTH PARTNERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO

6 THINGS BOTH PARTNERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO IF THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS A HEALTHY ONE

DANIELLE FAGANJULY 4, 2016

Romantic relationships mean different things to different people. On the one hand, they can be one of the most satisfying and fulfilling endeavours we ever undertake, while on the other hand, they can leave you feeling completely depleted and heart broken.

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Although the spirit is not something that can be broken, there are certain experiences that can make you feel as though you are broken and depleted. There are also certain partners that can uplift, empower, and inspire you. When you choose a partner that creates chaos and drama in your life, you are choosing to allow that partner to be the focal point of your day.

If you’ve ever been in a toxic relationship, you know that it takes a lot of time and energy to maintain. In some cases, it takes a lot more energy from you than it gives. So, it’s important to recognize that when you have a toxic partner (or friend) in part of your life, you are agreeing to spend a great amount of time and energy on that person — and the challenges that come with them — rather than on yourself.

When you have a partner that uplifts and supports you and challenges you to grow, your relationship becomes about self-betterment instead of self-depletion.

Own Your Happiness

One of the most common relationship traps that I’ve found myself in on multiple occasions is to expect your partner to make you happy — or anyone else. We put a ton of pressure on the people in our lives when we do this and it’s simply unreasonable.

No one is “supposed” to make you happy. You are.

Make time to do the things you love. Make time to spend with those you love. Choose the career that fits you because people rarely say, “Stop making me happy, make yourself happy instead.” It takes someone who already owns their happiness to say something like that and mean it.

Let Your Partner Be

Osho said, “If you love a flower, don’t pick it up because if you pick it up, it dies and it ceases to be what you love. So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.”

I love this quote because it presents an entirely different view of love. So many of us fall in love with our partners and then spend the relationship trying to change them into what we think they should be. If we maintain a stance of appreciation instead of possession then we release the responsibility of changing them. We allow them to be who they are and we give ourselves the opportunity to sit back and learn from what they have to teach us.

Enjoy The Journey

Relationships take us places. We learn from each other, get married, have kids, grow old, have new experiences and so on. But that’s the highlight reel. Relationships aren’t only about the moments that we like to share on Facebook. There are dark moments in every partnership. There are highs and lows, just like life. When we are consistently looking for the “big moments” we miss out on all of the beautiful times in between. We forget to appreciate the challenges that helped us grow into the people we are today. It’s important to remember to appreciate the journey every moment we can.

Be Vulnerable

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. After a few rough relationships, I went through a period where I retreated so far deeply away from everyone but a select few people that I trusted. I built up so much emotional baggage and I hid behind it all. Hiding behind our barriers give us the false impression of safety. In truth, there is no way to avoid pain. Even when you prevent yourself from making new, healthy relationships, you’re depriving yourself of growth, learning, and moving forward, and that’s painful too.

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After years of denying myself new relationships I realized that the pain was never the problem, it was the fear of having the same experience that was the problem. Humans are interesting creatures. We get hurt and our ego tries to keep us from repeating that same action because we believe that it will happen again in the same way.

This mechanism can be useful. For example, we usually only need to touch a hot stove once to know that it hurts, so then we don’t do it again. In the case of a painful relationship, the solution isn’t to avoid relationships altogether but to determine our feelings and deal with them appropriately. When we hide from our feelings and new experiences, we prevent ourselves from learning from them, and we often repeat the same experience. In spiritual terms, hiding from our emotions would block the heart center (or heart chakra).

If you have a blocked heart chakra, days can feel emotionally very heavy, relationships can be difficult to maintain, and it can be difficult to connect to others or be vulnerable at all. It can also make it difficult to go into social situations and meet new people. If you feel like this is the case for you, try out the mediation below; it’s specifically designed for unblocking the heart chakra of “heaviness” and opening it to new, positive experiences:

Be You

New relationships are exciting. So exciting that we can get lost in them.

There are some things that cannot be compromised.  Always be aware of your own wants and needs in addition to your partner’s.

The key to harmony is a union of two complete, independent souls walking alongside each other.

All relationships are different but these are a few of the ingredients that I’ve found I cannot go without in any relationship. I hope that you’ve found them useful and if you have any to share, feel free to post them in the comments below.

Try out my FREE 5-Day Soul Purpose Training where you’ll learn how aligned you are to living your soul purpose, how to get clarity with 5 powerful daily tools, and how to hear your soul’s language. Click here.

Leveraging Linkedin to Market

How to market on Linkedin even if you have little or no budget

LinkedIn can be the perfect marketing tool for small businesses independent professionals - if you know what you're doing.

Most people just waste time on LinkedIn - browsing randomly and sending out odd connection requests. You can do so much more, and I'm going to show you what exactly.

• Learn to attract high quality clients
• Get found by recruiters or potential business partners
• Boost your personal brand while forming valuable relationships

How to build a laser targeted connection list and do highly effective networking

You will learn everything there is to know about using existing LinkedIn Groups to connect, share and build your database. Not only that, but also how to start your very own MASSIVE LinkedIn Group in record time.

Advanced networking and connection strategies? Check. Detailed instruction on how to promote and profit from live events that build your brand - yes!

Get a steady flow interest by improving your visibility and optimizing your LinkedIn profile

Your profile is your salesperson. I'm going to show you exactly what you should do with it to get the attention of your future employers. I'll also fill you in on the secrets to leveraging LinkedIn recommendations.

Lots of little known strategies: from landing the career opportunity of your dreams to a sneaky trick for adding engaging videos to your profile.