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The Grave Digger.

The MegaFood Difference

Whole-food Supplements for Beginners.

Awaken Your Inner Artisan

by Amritakripa Watts-Robb

Britannica online describes art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others." An artisan is one who has developed such a skill, and the idea of skill itself suggests a proficiency that has been developed through training or experience over time. Clearly to become an artisan, skilled enough to create a product of quality, has required a valuable investment of time and energy.

MegaFood Artisan Powders

What does it mean to be an artisan or a company dedicated to quality? How do artisans thrive given our current obsession as consumers with getting more for less? As a company committed to making whole food supplements, from scratch in small batches, MegaFood has always been an artisan company ahead of its time! Supplements which are made purely with isolated vitamins are a lot easier and a lot cheaper to make than those using concentrated whole foods. That makes them undeniably more attractive to companies as a business proposition.

So what is it that drives companies to break out of the mold, and to go beyond the lowest common denominator of expectation? What is it that distinguishes the artisan from the manufacturer? I like to think that the seeking and producing of quality goods reflects our essential need to express beauty; stemming from a true desire to be of service and an inherent need to be at ease with ourselves – the desire to go to sleep at night knowing that we have truly done our best to create real value. In the health food industry that feels like an especially appropriate aim – after all, to be at ease implies the absence of disease.

No doubt there are challenges associated with producing a premium quality product – not least the increased need for education. As an individual or a smaller company, how does one’s voice get heard in the vast marketplace, especially when time and resources are limited? Fortunately, one of the great blessings of this time is that we now have a substantial resource at our disposal – we have the internet. We have the possibility of connecting with millions of like minded individuals, sharing our information and supporting one another in spreading the word. This is indeed a wonderful time to be able to communicate and cooperate and we are grateful for our grass roots community on line.

To demonstrate our support for true craftsmanship we will use our blog to feature the words of other artisans. Elena Ray and Karyn Robinson are two artisans in their own right – each specializing in her own unique form of creativity and business – they will be contributing their thoughts and inspiring ways to nourish your life. We hope that sharing the ideas and poetry of others who are lovers of craftsmanship will bring you food for thought. We encourage you to check out the work that they are doing and draw inspiration from them to stimulate your own inner artisan.

Reflecting on Holistic Practice

by Elena Ray

Body is earth, formed from earth elements. We are nature, unfathomable, and have the potential to express all that that is. In the dual pulse of receiving and releasing, our breath embodies the basic truth of all life. Life is movement and constant change. Unimpeded movement becomes a dynamic stillness which sustains a holistic creativity perfectly exemplified in the vitality of undisturbed wilderness.

Mind is intelligence; what we are, and knowable to us in the flow of information coming from all that exists. An overactive grasping to what is inadvertently channels our creative energy into fixed mind states. The various practices of meditation have been developed to address this dilemma of self determination and restore us to our true flowing state of source.

Spirit is energy, life force, the mystery. Through the impossible act of completely defining it, we have, over the course of civilization, built a labyrinth of sacred doors to the intimate knowing of the incomprehensible.

This Art: "All Is Well" Elena Ray © 2010. Ink brushed outline over teapot photograph printed on Asian paper with brushed chinese character for "All Is Well" with acrylic and ink stained collaged paper details. Collage. 7" x 11" I will be offering this collage in the True World Art Gallery show "Sacred Connections" opening March 6th through the end of April, 2010. To inquire contact bonnie@trueworldgallery.com

The Breathing Excercises of Yoga

by Marlize Joubert

The word Pranayama consists of two parts; prana and ayama. Ayama means to stretch or extend, and describes the action of pranayama. Prana refers to that which is infinitely everywhere also referred to as energy. With reference to us humans prana can be described as something that flows continuously from somewhere inside us, filling us and keeping us “alive" it is vitality. We create more prana in our beings by doing pranayama exercises in yoga. Pranayama exercises we do by playing with our breath. Someone who is troubled, restless, confused and ungrounded have more prana living outside of his body than inside. When we have too little prana inside the body we can feel restricted or stuck in our lives and can show up as a lack of drive or motivation to do anything. If all the prana lives within our body, we can be free from all this suffering, feel more peaceful and well balanced. Our state of mind is closely linked to the quality of prana living within us. Because we can influence the flow of prana through the flow of our breath, the quality of our breath influences our state of mind and vice versa. Whatever happens in the mind influences the breath. As yogis our goal is to reduce the amount of prana outside of the body, and do pranayama exercises and yoga to cultivate more prana living within. This will create less suffering and move us towards pure happiness in our hearts. Whenever you feel stuck in your life, stressed out, or ungrounded, bring your awareness to your breath, take a few deep breaths. This will be the first step towards calming the mind down. Then learn a few pranayama practices and start 5 minutes a day. This practice is much more powerful than the asana practice most of us do in the Western World. Remember, breath is healing, breath is balance, breath is life, breath is everything. Without breath there is nothing.