“The reality consists only of now the present moment. It has nothing to do with the past and nothing to do with the future. It is so concentrated in this moment that if you can be in this moment, all that you are seeking and searching will be fulfilled. This moment is the door to the divine.” ~ Osho

By now you’ve probably heard the phrase “being in the now”. Although it seems pretty self explanatory and simple to do (because the “now” moment is actually the only moment that we ever can be in, technically), this is something that many of us still struggle with. Ironically, the fact that we need to be told to be in the one place that there ever is to be in, speaks volumes of our species. But, hey, we’re getting there, right?

So if we need to be told to live in the now and that means that most of us are not living in the now moment, then where exactly are we? In our thoughts about the now, of course. Or, our thoughts about the “now” that happened two years ago, or the “now” that happened two hours ago, or even the “now” that may or may not happen five years from, well, now. For many, an entire life can happen all inside of their head.

From Ancient India, Egypt, Persia to European countries, essential or aromatic oils have been used for thousands of years for their physical, mental and emotionally- elevating properties. Extracted through cold pressing or a careful steam distillation process, essential oils are powerful healers. Each fragrance works uniquely on different parts of the physical and emotional body.

Since direct application may cause irritation, a few drops of any essential oil must be diluted with a carrier oil for application. Carrier oils are organic vegetable oils derived from the fatty parts of particular plants, seeds and nuts whereas essential oils are distilled from bark, root, leaves of a botanical. You can use them in your bath, as incense, for massages or for direct application on cuts and bruises. Here is a list of the top 8 most healing essential oils:

1) Sandalwood
It is especially used during watchfulness and grounding meditations. Associated with the Crown and Root Chakras, it’s the perfect oil to use when you’re feeling a little out of your body. It helps with restlessness, insomnia, panic & anxiety, fear and inner unity & acceptance.

“Enlightenment is bringing a state of meditativeness into the smallest acts of your day to day life in it’s expression of grace, harmony, balance, beauty, each and every movement of the body, each and every act… do it totally perfectly, harmoniously, with your total attention and love and you will see that your deepest center starts connecting to each and every act of yours. This is how you bring the Buddha to your life.” ~ Osho

Ok, so we’ve all heard by now that we should be meditating. Doctors and medical professionals in the west are now recognizing it for it’s healing properties and calming effects on the body. However, what many people may not know is that you don’t actually have to “meditate” to meditate. Meaning… you don’t technically have to sit cross legged, with palms facing up chanting “ommmmmmm” in a room of complete silence in order to get the health benefits of a meditation practice.

This is good news for a lot of people, especially since a big part of the population have either never tried meditation, because it still just seems too weird, or have tried it and were able to do it for a minute or two before their pesky little mind stepped and said, “ok, this is getting too weird/boring/out there…. I need to stop.” So don’t feel bad if you are part of the population that doesn’t seem to be able to grasp this whole meditation thing.

“I teach you the Overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him?… Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman –a rope over an abyss. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.” That’s repeated for affect. The human condition is not, nor has it ever been, a fixed state. It is perpetually evolving, even when it seems to be at rest, even when it seems to be stagnant. We are not the be-all-end-all of human evolution. There will always be a next step, a next level. And it is up to us, to a certain extent, if that next level will be healthy and robust or unhealthy and weak.

The Übermensch, or overman, is Nietzsche’s multicultural vision of human excellence, his meta-ontological elite. On an individual level, the overman is the healthy and robust adaptation of a person who consistently practices the art of self-overcoming. Such an individual has learned how to translate their multi-fractured self into a multifunctional force of nature. Self-actualized, fully individuated, and doggedly able to adapt and overcome the path toward enlightenment, these masters are prepared to take on all comers.

“So, spine is one dimension of you, which determines which direction you go. How your spine is functioning; how the energies in your spine are functioning right now determines almost everything about where you go.” ~ Sadhguru

The seat of major energy meridians, chakras and neurons, the Spinal cord defines the quality of our lives. In a mother’s womb, the spine is the first thing that is formed and then the body, limbs etc takes root.

From a physical point of view the spinal column is an important channel for all the bodily stimuli that are transferred via the nerves to the brain. It is part of our central nervous system along with the brain. But also on a spiritual level, the spine is the source of all our energy. It is where the three major energy channels or nadis in our body lie.