Sunrise Ranch Permaculture Design Graduation Slideshow
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Amazing Photo of Sunrise Ranch
4 Psychological Reasons to Spring Cleanse Yo Body!
On Monday night my house was the site for a fabulous start to a group cleansing week. Thirteen friends gathered to learn from our friend Alexandra about the importance of cleansing and a raw, alkaline program she designed. We’re now connecting through a Facebook forum about our experiences eating mostly vegetables for at least 7 days. We’ll meet back together in a week. There are many physical benefits of an annual/semi-annual cleanse like this. Here are some of the psychological benefits I’ve been experiencing:
1. Need vs. Want
Perhaps the most profound thing I’ve learned in the past and am remembering through this cleanse is how much I eat is based on need and how much is based on want. It is unsettling for me to get really clear about how much I eat because I’m bored, upset, or simply in the habit of doing so. But fasting or cleansing will bring that realization on pretty quick. You see that you can survive, and thrive really, on something as simple as salads and good fats and you realize how complex and excessive what you typically consume is. It is a gift, but I also feel angry and sad about my typical habits. I’m having an experience of repentance, what Wikipedia defines as: “a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged.” I need to ask my body for forgiveness, because it doesn’t need or want much of what it has received. My experience is that my body is a pretty forgiving thing when I make positive changes.
2. My Body is My Temple
Whether cliche or not, this statement is certainly not the generally-held principle guiding our society’s relationship with food. And it should be! Food is the offering we bring to our temple. I believe that in my head but there’s something that doesn’t register in my body and my behavior. During this cleanse, I commit to seeing my body anew as a temple. If we saw our individual bodies as temples we would see this planet as a temple also. It’s hard to have one vision of reality without the other. The vessel, the context we are in, is always a temple if we treat it as such.
3. Food as Love
Food is fun, it is creative, it is communal. Once I understand what my body needs to sustain itself, I can also wisely give it what it wants to enjoy itself. We are here on earth to experience pleasure and fulfillment. Breaking bread together is one of our best ways of doing that. Cynthia Stadd at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating has taught me in her day long workshop that one of the biggest problems in our society’s relationship with food is that we feel so much shame for what we eat. That creates health problems and psychological stress. I have to choose what I’m going to eat and enjoy it, not turn what could be a pleasurable moment into an hour of guilt. When I recreate my diet (including more grassfed beef and less gluten) after this week, I want to not take it so seriously that I take the fun out of my food. I want to enjoy my life and the friendships I nurture over a feast at my dinner table. I want to treat myself to pizza or ice cream on occasion. And in it all, to know that the most important nourishment I give myself is intangible.
4. Change is Easier with a Buddy!
It makes such a difference that my husband and 11 other friends are doing this at the same time as me. Change is hard. And having support and a group to be accountable to can be the deciding factor in a success. What kind of change are you trying to make in your life? Find people who are excited about that too and get them on board with you. Make agreements, have weekly check-ins, however you can create a support system for yourself. The world is not going to shift its paradigm based on one person’s leadership; we know increasingly that this is a collective movement. So find those who are passionate about transformation and do whatever repenting, forgiving and loving you need to do, Together!
What are your experiences with cleanses? Please comment on some emotional benefits you’ve received from fasting or cleansing.
Helena Barrera
Raised in New York and Connecticut, Helena is a graduate of the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies in Redlands, California. Her self-designed emphasis was: Facilitating Personal and Organizational Transformation. Her Masters is in Business Administration with a concentration in non-profit management. Helena lives in Denver with her husband and works for Sunrise Ranch. Her passion is to provide settings where people can know and express their creativity, power, and unique spirit—in a spiritual seminar, an office meeting, or around her dinner table. Visit her blog on practical spirituality.
Evolution in Consciousness
by Larry Pearlman, host of the radio show “Evolution in Consciousness”, premiering Jan 20th on contactalkradio.com
2012 – The Mayan Calendar – Age of Aquarius – Passing through a cosmic cloud
However you want to look at it, the fact is that mankind is on the brink of the most impactful shift in human history since Adam and Eve vacated the Garden of Eden (or tadpoles grew legs and walked on to the land if you prefer that theory). Acknowledgement of global warming and our part in causing that is a symptom of this change. Recognition that WE – human beings – are strongly contributing to the extinction of species from the planet at an alarming rate is another symptom. Peak oil is another. Economic collapse is another. In fact, you have to be unconscious or in deep denial to NOT see that this planet is heading toward an enormous transformation.
Many see this as apocalypse – the end of the world. And, depending on how things go, it could be. But just as the Mayan calendar is often misinterpreted as predicting the end of the world (it actually just predicts the end of the era defined by time and space), apocalypse is also misinterpreted as the end of the world. The actual meaning of the word, apocalypse, is “a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted.”
What has been hidden from the majority of mankind for thousands of years is mankind’s true identity and purpose. And where has this vital secret been hidden? Not on the highest mountain, or deep in the ocean, or buried under the Sphynx in the desert. No – this “secret” was never intended to be a secret at all. It is present within every person who has ever walked the earth. It is present in me and it is present in you. Why has it not been popularly known? Because it has been buried by the “veil” mentioned above – the layers of falsehood and misconception accepted and perpetuated by generation after generation. Oh, there have been many down through the ages who have lifted the veil for themselves and they have been venerated – Abraham, Issac, David, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Mahatma Ghandi, Lao Tzu, Chief Seattle, and others. All of them attempted in their own ways to SHOW the way so that others could come out from under the veil but none were successful in lifting that veil for mankind as a body.
Today we see an evolution in consciousness coming to the fore. We are approaching critical mass – the number of people necessary to do what none of the great spiritual leaders of the past were able to do by themselves – transform the planet. It is not necessary that all 7 billion (or is it 8 by now?) of us have this shift in consciousness. Just as a ship’s rudder is a small component of the ship but determines what direction it moves, it only takes a relatively small component of the earth’s population to determine the direction of mankind and the planet. How many people? Some say 144,000. Personally, I don’t know what the number is but I do believe that we are approaching that number.
Read magazines, watch movies, listen to the radio, surf the net and you will hear the voice of this spiritual rudder everywhere. One such place is a new radio show I have the privilege of hosting. It is called “Evolution in Consciousness” and I will be interviewing people from all walks of life who are, in their own way, helping to lift the veil so that mankind may choose to accept our true identity – the Divine presence – here to steward the planet and bring Heaven on Earth. This show is part of the “What We Need to Know” series every Thursday at noon MST on ContactTalkRadio.com
The Premiere Show-Jan 20th!
David Karchere and Daphne Bramlett
Your host, Larry Pearlman, will set the foundation of what this show is about by exploring the meaning of “Evolution in Consciousness” with his guests, David Karchere, Director of Sunrise Ranch, and Daphne Bramlett, Manager of Guest Services for Sunrise Ranch. Join them as they consider what is happening at this time of history that is changing the very nature of life as we know it and how you can play a part in this historic outworking
Listen Live at Noon MST every 3rd Thursday
Click on the LISTEN NOW button
Call in with your comments and questions: 1-877-230-3062
Your Host: Larry Pearlman
Larry Pearlman is a personification of the evolution in consciousness that recognizes that spirituality and the material world are not mutually exclusive. While working 32 years in corporate America, Larry also offered spiritual perspective in study courses. In addition, he has taught courses in “The Art of Creative Living” and serves as a faculty member for “The Opening” – an 8 day experiential class in discovering your full potential. Larry hosted a radio show, “Opportunities”, in Phoenix emphasizing participation in the business world from a higher state of consciousness. He recently served in the Peace Corps in Ghana for 27 months and currently resides at Sunrise Ranch.
Top 5 Reasons to Live in Intentional Community
Ever wondered why someone would want to live in a community like Sunrise Ranch, or the many other communities and eco-villages around the world? This way of life isn’t for everyone, but many of us find it really rewarding, fun, and transformative. Over 8,000 North Americans live in intentional communities. Here’s my top 5 reasons for being at Sunrise, my community in Colorado.
1. To be Surrounded by Conscious People:
Whenever you make choices about how to live your life, it’s supportive to have others around you who are making similar choices. Living with conscious regard to spiritual, environmental, and holistic health is not a mainstream practice. Many find that to lead an alternative lifestyle takes support and agreement from a community dedicated to that. There are a lot of diverse perspectives on how to translate that intention into practical living, but holding the common purpose to “do your best” makes a profound difference. Healthy community isn’t about all seeing things the same, but committing to care for the earth, other people, and ourselves in the living of our everyday lives, however that shows up for us individually.
2. To Develop and Grow Personally:
Living and working with the same group of people gives us the opportunity to be more aware of our own personality—the strengths and the challenges. Many communities will also have specific times to do emotional work, either in a group or with a coach. At Sunrise we have a coaching program, transformation groups where people can check in about their learning curves and victories, and we use ShadowWork techniques to facilitate emotional breakthroughs.
3. To Improve our Ability to Build Healthy Relationships:
Intentional communities often have agreements about how to communicate feedback and personal needs. You have to learn to state your boundaries and ask for what you want. At Sunrise, we teach Clean Talk, where we separate data from our assumptions about that data. Usually, people do not know the difference. When I practice saying “When you did (fact)…, I felt angry” instead of “You made me angry when you did that!” I know that I’m communicating cleanly. This way we don’t blame people for our reactions, but find ways to build healthy relationships through honesty and purity of heart.
4. To Reduce our Carbon Footprint:
Communities are great places to practice sustainability through agriculture, renewable energies, and sharing resources. Some things take more work, like moving water pipe lines daily to irrigate our crops. Other things just come naturally with living and working on the land, like not depending upon gas-powered vehicles for commuting or transporting all of our food. There are many eco-village communities like Dancing Rabbit where residents agree to follow ecological covenants and sustainability guidelines. At Sunrise we compost, recycle, raise grassfed beef and non-certified organic vegetables, and never use any pesticides or hormones.
5. To Have a Unique Experience of Family:
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, it was common for extended family to live close on farms. Infants and grandparents would live together and older generations passed on important knowledge and were blessed by the care given to them by younger generations. That has in large part been lost in our society. Community gives us the opportunity to be with people of all ages with a diversity of life experiences. In addition to having many different families at Sunrise who build their own family life in their individual homes, we also have the experience of being one big family. A family that shares space and resource, doesn’t always get along, and ultimately wants to work well together and create a welcoming, safe home for whoever comes here. We have picnics, game nights, dances, eat most meals together, and generally have fun!
For more information, check out the article “What’s True About Intentional Communities: Dispelling the Myths”
Have your own reasons for living in community? Post them and let people know what your community offers you!
Helena Barrera
Raised in New York and Connecticut, Helena is a graduate of the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies in Redlands, California. Her self-designed emphasis was: Facilitating Personal and Organizational Transformation: Psychology, Sociology, and Religion. Her Masters is in Business Administration with a concentration on non-profit management. Helena currently lives and works at Sunrise Ranch. Her passion is to provide settings where people can know and express their creativity, power, and unique spirit—whether in a spiritual seminar, an office meeting, or around her dinner table.
Thoughts of Blossom
Here in the farm office I’ve spent these darker months happily surrounded by colorful stacks of seed catalogs offering thousands of varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. In my dreams, I order one of everything. In my waking life I’ve settled on over two hundred varieties including seventeen strains of garlic, seventy heirloom vegetables and herbs, and thirty flowers with value in the medicine cabinet, the kitchen, and the field as pollinator and beneficial insect attractants. And if you visit the Ranch this summer, not only can you enjoy our vegetables from the kitchen, but you’ll be seeing those flowers cut and arranged in our dining hall and in our service settings, and perhaps in a wedding bouquet or two.
As I write, the seeds sit cool and dormant in our dark root cellar, alongside last season’s storage garlic, onions, and potatoes. They are light and compact, sealed in paper envelopes packed in glass jars. Their potential weighs in at thousands of pounds of raw, whole food. They are not a metaphor: they are literally our future flesh, and the story of our past. Each year, for centuries, our ancestors have nurtured these plants and saved their seed. Let me share a few varieties with you:
Fordhook Acorn Winter Squash is a rare creamy-colored baking variety introduced to Philadelphia in 1890.
Jimmy Nardello’s Sweet Italian Frying Pepper is a glossy red beauty with the honor of being included in Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste for its exceptional quality of flavor and use as a drying pepper.
Outredgeous Lettuce, a modern variety from plant breeder Frank Morton, has such vibrant red leaves that a group of botany students couldn’t identify it in the field.
Pskem River, a purple-skinned hardneck garlic variety from Uzbekistan reportedly has a flavor like the “unmistakable aroma of toasted hazelnuts”.
Henderson’s Pink Ponderosa Tomatoes weigh in at around 2 pounds, and have been enjoyed by gardeners for over 100 years. And yes, they are pink.
If you’d like to learn more, please visit our farm website for information about our internship program, grassfed beef, and public farm tours.
Sylvan Zimmerman. Sunrise Garden Co-Manager
Sylvan@SunriseRanch.org
Winter on the Farm
I am enduring Winter in a way I have never before experienced. Not because it is cold, not because it is dark, but because I am looking inward deeper than ever before. Though challenging at times, I have faith that the work I am doing this Winter will generate unprecedented creativity through me and the people around me in the coming seasons. On the farm we are busy promoting our internship program as well as our new “Farm Field Trip” program for schools. Our seeds are ordered and next on the agenda is to give some love and attention to our greenhouse so that it will be ready for planting in February!!
Patrick Padden. Sunrise Garden Co-Manager and Education Coordinator, Certified Permaculture Educator
Patrick@SunriseRanch.org
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