Learn Meditation

Choose a quiet place. You can cross your legs (like a traditional Buddha) or sit in a chair. The key is to keep your back straight to stop your mind from becoming sleepy.

Allow your eyes to close naturally and focus on your breathing, without actually trying to control it. Breathe in and out through the nostrils and become aware of how the air feels as it enters and leaves your body.
At first, your mind will be full of jumbled thoughts and it may feel like things are getting busier. In fact, you are increasing your self awareness and noticing how many thoughts you really have. Avoid the temptation of following your thoughts as they occur. Stay focused on your breath going in and out of your nose.
If you realize your mind has wandered, bring it back. If you keep this up for 10-15 minutes, you will achieve a quiet state of mind. Your thoughts will be clear and lucid, like a calm lake that has not been disturbed for a long time.

Stress and Insomnia

from http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/stress-and-insomnia

I have a stress-filled job, and I also have periodic bouts of insomnia. Could there be a connection between the two? In a word, yes. Not all insomnia is due to stress, but people who are under considerable stress can have insomnia. In the case of insomnia related to stress, alleviating the stress should alleviate the insomnia. Stress causes insomnia by making it difficult to fall asleep and to stay asleep, and by affecting the quality of your sleep. Stress causes hyperarousal, which can upset the balance between sleep and wakefulness. Nevertheless, many people under stress do not have insomnia.

How can I know if my insomnia is the result of stress, or something else?

As with any symptom, an important question to ask is "when did it start?" Does the sleep problem come and go with the occurrence and disappearance of stress or does it persist through all the permutations of one's life? That is, is it situational? Also it is helpful to clarify what one means by stress. For example, are you frequently anxious whether or not you are under unusual stress? Is it hard for you to "wind down" at the end of the day? Are you frequently infuriated? Or do you feel depressed? If you feel "blue" much of the time, your problem may be a mood disorder, more than a problem with stress.

What then should I do to help my insomnia?
No matter what the cause of your insomnia, it's important to get on a good behavior program—one that pays attention to periods of relaxation. I suggest three steps:

•First, set your bedtime and your wake-up time according to the number of hours of sleep you are getting currently. For example, if you are sleeping only five hours a night (even though you usually plan to spend eight hours in bed), set your sleep time for that amount. Then gradually increase the amount of time allotted for sleep by 15 minutes or so every few nights. The idea is to "squeeze out" the middle of the nighttime awakening and gradually increase the amount of sleep you will get during the night.

•Spend some time "winding down." A person with insomnia needs a "buffer zone," a period of time to allow the activating processes in the brain to wind down to allow the alerting mechanisms to decrease their activity so that the sleep systems can take over. I suggest that you start winding down two hours before bedtime. Stop all work and end phone calls to family and friends, as often they are activating. Watching television is all right in the evening. However, an hour before bed, I recommend reading or listening to music.

•Finally, focus on conditioning yourself for different sleep behavior. Insomnia is painful for people—it can take control of their lives. When someone suffering from insomnia walks into their bedroom, they often feel anxious, uncomfortable and tense, as they know from their experience that they might spend the night tossing and turning. They need to set up a situation so that they like going to their bedroom. The bedroom should be visually pleasing and very comfortable. One should use the bedroom only for sleep, sex, and changing clothes, pleasant activities, and if awake in the night should leave the bed and bedroom and spend "unpleasant" times awake in another room. "Waking" activities such as working on the computer, talking with one's partner, talking on the phone and watching TV should take place out of the bedroom

Lucid Dream Therapy As A Treatment For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder:

The Stigma Surrounding Dreams
Danya C. MacKean
Augustana University College
or go to http://sawka.com/spiritwatch/mackean.htm
A paper submitted to Dr. Jayne Gackenbach as part of the course requirements for Psy 473 (Sleep and Dreams), April, 1997

The stigma that has accompanied dreams into our century can be thought of as quite unfortunate. In our society, dreams are often thought of as unimportant or as "pure nonsense."(Gackenbach, 1997.) This stigma accompanies all types of dreams, including lucid dreams. There is a very small body of research that indicates the possible therapeutic uses of lucid dreaming. We can see how hard it would be for our society to accept this kind of therapy if they view the key element, dreaming, as "pure nonsense."(Gackenbach, 1997.) Society needs to change the attitudes around dreaming due to the possible benefits that dream therapy could have on problems such as post traumatic stress disorder. I plan to demonstrate the benefits that lucid dream therapy could have for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and show why society needs to embrace all types of dreaming as an important and useful human resource.

Lucid dreaming has been noted in history numerous times. Aristotle mentioned lucid dreaming (LaBerge, 1988.) Even the philosopher Thomas Reid spoke of using lucid dreams to control his nightmares (LaBerge, 1988.) Some have disputed lucid dreaming and said that there is no such thing. Green and McCreery offer an explanation for the dispute: "If people doubt lucid dreams they do so because they have never experienced one." (1994, p.5.) This is an interesting argument and quite possibly true. Stephen LaBerge explains why some dispute lucid dreams and why this dispute is faulty: "One might object that lucid dreamers are simply not attending to the environment; rather than being asleep, perhaps they are merely absorbed in their private fantasy worlds. . . . . . .if subjects claim to have been awake while showing physiological signs of sleep (or vice versa), we might have cause to doubt their subjective reports."(1990, p.111.) The question that now must be raised is: what is considered to be a lucid dream?

As defined by Green and McCreery "Lucid dreams are those in which a person becomes aware that he is dreaming." (1994, p.1.) Despite the exclusive language, this is a clear and simple definition. Those who have had a lucid dream but are unfamiliar with the terminology could easily recognise their dream as "lucid." Hobson outlines some possible characteristics of lucid dreams and lucid dreamers: "(a) that lucid dreamers will frequently awaken from REM sleep once dream consciousness is achieved and (b) that lucidity will be easiest to induce at times in the night when the system is likely to be changing from REM to waking." (1990, p.38.) This quotation makes lucid dreaming sound quite disruptive to sleep. It is perhaps a relief that LaBerge says "Lucid dreaming is normally a rare experience." (1990, p.109.)

I propose that lucid dreaming has a connection to the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, however before addressing this issue we must outline a definition of post traumatic stress disorder. In Appendix A there are two tables outlining various aspects of post traumatic stress disorder. The first is taken from Ursano, Fullerton and McCaughey (1994, p.9) and the other is from Scurfield (1985, p.233.) In the first table there is a mention of dreams being a symptom of post traumatic stress disorder. This obviously means dreams of the trauma and these dreams are often of a disturbing nature. Kramer gives a definition of what would be considered "disturbing": ". . .our criteria for a disturbing dream: Troubling contents lead to an awakening associated with negative affect and the recall of a prior troubling dream." (1990, p.191.) Other general symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder listed in the tables include feelings of fear, guilt and detachment.

There are many varied ways to treat and provide therapy for post traumatic stress disorder. The literature indicates that early post trauma intervention and debriefing seem very effective. "Several studies, however, provide a rational for early intervention and delineate its optimal timing and its target population. The first line of evidence concerns the pathogenic effects of the secondary stressors that may follow the trauma itself. . . . Interventions which reduce these secondary stressors may improve the long-term outcome after traumas and disasters." (Shalev, 1994, p. 203.) Shalev also mentions several debriefing techniques such as: Task-oriented debriefing, Historical group debriefing and Psychological group debriefing (1994, p.204-209.) Debriefing is said to have positive effects because it possibly addresses both the emotional overload and the impaired psychic structures, which Shalev explains is the psychological foundation for post traumatic stress disorder (1994.)

Even though disturbing dreams are said to be a symptom of post traumatic stress disorder, the treatment is non-dream oriented. This is logical because physical problems can be treated in non-physical ways and vice versa. What is illogical is that dream oriented treatment is not considered. This could be simply an oversight, but it could also be an indicator of the aforementioned stigma surrounding dreams. Dream therapy is not a new phenomenon but it seems unfortunate that it is popular within only select circles or therapists. Lucid dreams could be an important tool for the recovery of post traumatic victims and it is unfortunate that a stigma could be the preventing factor surrounding this type of therapy.

Green and McCreery say, with no ambivalence, the advantage of lucid dreams: "Release from nightmares is one of the most obviously useful applications of lucid dreaming, and it might be considered in the context of treatment for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in which the sufferer is sometimes tormented by recurrent bad dreams. . . ." (1994, p.125.) This quotation could deceivingly show us that researchers are recognising lucid dreaming as a therapeutic technique. The problem with that assumption being that Green and McCreery are in the dream field, not the field of psychological trauma. They are going to recognise the importance of dreams because they are not affected by the stigma that surrounds dreaming. The book Trauma and Disaster has no mention of lucid dreaming, so therefore the obvious connection to post traumatic stress disorder must only be obvious to those who specialise in dreams and not to those who specialise in psychological trauma. It is certainly tempting to blame a stigma for this sort of oversight on the part of trauma psychologists.

Greenpeace founders! this are my hero that i still love to share today!

There's an old joke that in any bar in Vancouver Canada you can sit down next to someone who claims to have founded Greenpeace. In fact, there was no single founder, and the name, idea, spirit, tactics, and internationalism of the organisation all can be said to have separate lineages. Here's a few facts.

zoom Don't Make a Wave Committee members and Greenpeace founders (from left) Jim Bohlen, Paul Cote, and Irving Stowe. In 1970, the Don't Make A Wave Committee was established; its sole objective was to stop a second nuclear weapons test at Amchitka Island in the Aleutians.

The committee's founders were Dorothy and Irving Stowe, Marie and Jim Bohlen, Ben and Dorothy Metcalfe, and Bob Hunter. It's first directors were Stowe, Bohlen, and a student named Paul Cote.

Canadian ecologist Bill Darnell came up with the dynamic combination of words to bind together the group's concern for the planet and opposition to nuclear arms. In the words of Bob Hunter, "Somebody flashed two fingers as we were leaving the church basement and said "Peace!" Bill said"Let's make it a Green Peace. And we all went Ommmmmmmm." Jim Bohlen's son Paul, having trouble making the two words fit on a button, linked them together into the committee's new name: Greenpeace.

Marie Bohlen was the first to suggest taking a ship up to Amchtka to oppose the U.S. plans. The group organised a boat, the Phyllis Cormack, and set sail to Amchitka to "bear witness" (a Quaker tradition of silent protest) to the nuclear test. On board were:

• Captain John Cormack, the boat's owner

• Jim Bohlen, Greenpeace

• Bill Darnell, Greenpeace

• Patrick Moore, Greenpeace

• Dr Lyle Thurston, medical practitioner

• Dave Birmingham, engineer

• Terry Simmons, cultural geographer

• Richard Fineberg, political science teacher

• Robert Hunter, journalist

• Ben Metcalfe, journalist

• Bob Cummings, journalist

• Bob Keziere, photographer

Stowe, who suffered from sea-sickness, stayed on shore to coordinate political pressure. Cote stayed behind too, because he was about to represent Canada in an Olympic sailing race. Bob Hunter would take the lessons of that first voyage forward and improvise upon them to the point that he, more than anyone else, invented Greenpeace's brand of individual activism.

The Amchitka voyage established the group's name in Canada. Greenpeace's next journey spread their reputation across the world. in 1972, David McTaggart answered an ad placed in a New Zealand newspaper by Ben Metcalfe, calling for a ship to go to Morouroa Atollto protest nuclear weapons testing there. McTaggart chose the following crew:

• Nigel Ingram, ex-Royal Navy

• Roger Haddleton, ex-Royal Navy

• Grant Davidson, a good cook

Their ship was rammed, and on his return the next year McTaggart was beaten by French commandos to the point where he lost vision in one eye. An epic battle played out in media around the world as a tiny ship challenged one of the greatest military forces on Earth.

For the next two decades, McTaggart would vie with the French government over nuclear weapons testing at sea and in the courts, and rise to the leadership of Greenpeace worldwide. At a point when separatist Greenpeace national and regional entities were taking legal action against one another, the successful businessman and athlete stepped in and settled the arguments by founding Greenpeace International.

go to http://greenpeace2020.blogspot.com/ to learn more deep