I'm happy to bring you the latest and best posts from the @ecoTrain! It's interesting how our themes change and evolve as new passengers come and join us. The synchronicity is lovely to see, with several of us writing on uncommon topics at the same time.
There is always something for everyone here, so I encourage you to scroll down and check out the one(s) that you like. One of the great things about @ecoTrain is that we try to help each other meet like minded people and gain followers. So, if you like any of our passengers don't forget to Follow Them! It's all too easy to miss posts, and so following is the way to make sure you catch new posts on your Feed.
Happy Reading! ;-)
Spring Fever!!!!
Springtime in the Tropics We don't really have spring here. Of course technically we do have spring, but the change is not what most people would recognize. We have the rainy season and the dry season. Generally the rainy season goes from mid May or early June to late December. And the dry season goes from early January to mid or late May. We have coolish nights from October to February or March. Our temperature ranges are super mild, so we note the changing seasons in other ways, mostly the coming and going of the rains. Always a little concerning when the puddles on the road get so close to the river.
Happy New Year!
Yesterday was both Chinese and Tibetan New Year! While they are both lunar calendar based, they don't always happen on the same day. While the Chinese New Year always happens on a new moon between January 20 and February 20, the Tibetan New Year can go later, even into March. They both always happen on new moons.
In the Chinese zodiac, we have just entered the year of the Dog. The Dog is loyal, conservative, just, and quiet. The celebration of the New Year goes back to an ancient story of a village being terrorized by a monster on a certain night each year. One year the villagers got smart and decided to hide away, but one fellow decided to hang back and battle....
A simple guide to Steemit for new users. (In conversation with 
)
Starting out on Steemit can be a confusing and daunting prospect for many newcomers. My friend 
What are the main factors in determining the sound of a guitar?
People often ask me how this or that will effect the sound of a guitar. I explain that it's not an exact science and because there are so many variables it's almost impossible for anyone to know for sure. With that in mind, I came up with this simple diagram which describes some of the factors which effect a guitar's sound and to what extent.
Dark themes in folk music .. A homeschool lesson
It was a cold, dark and stormy night, my love was far away. We were huddled around the fireplace to keep warm, my two youngest children, myself and the two house cats. Rain was lashing against the window panes, the wind howling through the gaps and blowing in gusts down the chimney from time to time, filling the room with smoke. I was playing the guitar, feeling kind of dark and distant, I was playing 'The Bows of London' as I sometimes do, when a certain mood takes me.
Only the day before, their mum had warned me to be more careful about discussing dark, adult themes with, or in front of the children. It's something we both do and is sometimes hard to avoid. Kids ask questions. They overhear stuff. They want to know what's going on as much as anyone else does. Even more so, because it's all new to them still. The mysterious ways of the world. Life.
How Positive Stereotypes can Make Life Difficult
Being surrounded by scores of stereotypes is not easy and I think a lot of you can relate to that.
'Boys do not cry'
'Girls should only cook'
'You are a woman, you do not need to think about going to space.'
'Why do you want to learn how to cook, you are a boy?'
I have heard and experienced these stereotypes way too many times in my life. And not just these, but the ones that remind you of how a certain ethnicity is dumb or unfaithful and how silly you are if you are native to a certain region have made me go crazy as well. However, that's not what I'll be talking about today. Today, I will be sharing my two, rather twenty cents on how difficult your life can become because of some positive stereotypes.
How to Fight Against CPS and Make 
Grow- A Cause Started by 
and 
I came across @familyprotection and the amazing work it is doing about some months back and I was really amazed as well as pleased with the work it is doing. Services like CPS do not function like they do in the U.S., U.K. and other developed countries. In fact, there isn't a proper government run CPS here. Before I became aware of the harms CPS is inflicting on people and their families, I used to wish for such agencies to function here because there are some kids who need to be rescued from toxic guardians and need to be better taken care of here. However, after becoming aware of the true picture of CPS, I was appalled to my core and was happy that such service isn't here because that means that kids from loving families and guardians wouldn't be taken away from them.
Why is it so Hard to Apologize for Your Own Wrongdoings??
'I wanted to say something.. erm.. I don't know how to put it into words.. I feel like.. I think I am.. I wanted to say that.. I shouldn't have done that.. I am.. ermm... I am sorry...'
I have never really choked when apologizing to someone, but yeah sometimes it is difficult to really bring yourself to apologizing to someone. As a child, I never really had any problem with apologizing to someone. In fact, I found it something quite easy to do...
Anger in Your Liver | Herbal Capsule Recipe for Holistic Health
I was so happy to find so much interest in our article on making your own herbal capsules! It makes me smile inside to hear so many of you intent on taking care of yourselves through the empowering process of as @harvardhomestead put it, health sovereignty!
I was curious if I should follow up with a specific recipe and @jayna expressed her interest and so here is one I am currently taking.
Today I want to share with you a recipe that I have been using for the past couple months that directly supports the liver (and therefore the blood, digestion, and endocrine system as the liver feeds the blood and processes excess hormones).
Chanting to Calibrate Our Lives | Remembering That All Life Is Sacred
In a world with all the busyness, materialism and EMF pollution (electromagnetic frequencies), it can be a challenge to really honor and focus on the divine aspects of existence. Chanting is a great way to do this.
As we wrote about earlier, we committed to a 40 day mantra and meditation practice. Synchronistically @eco-alex wrote about chanting and meditation soon after we began and we are pleased to see more content on the topic being created and shared. We’ve been chanting the short form of the Gayatri mantra and meditating twice daily for 32 days. This only takes an hour total but WOW, what a good use of an hour!
The First Domestic Earthship in the UK receives an official NEGATIVE Carbon Footprint! Mind Blown
Two years ago I volunteered on the first Earthship building the UK that was built as a residential home and met domestic building regulations. This build was initiated and led by first time self builders Heidi Pavlou and her Husband Savas Pavlou. They were both committed to the Earthship approach, so much so that they sold their home to finance the build and lived with their parents and in a small tent whilst they built. I have great respect for them, not least because of their conviction and dedication to completing the job with very small budgets. They worked with volunteers and low paid workers for much of the grunt work, and I was very happy to assist them in the early stage of the build.
Bone broth hack: Cheap bonebroth in 5 minutes
It sounds too good to be true right? That's what I thought when I came up with it! But it's actually a worthy substitute to making bone broth which takes hours and hours of cooking, a lot of ingredients and a lot of gas. You can buy ready-made bone broth but that costs an absolute fortune. And when traveling you want to keep up your good habits of healing your gut and stomach lining without spending that absolute fortune, because you want to safe money for buying souvenirs or ice cream right?
New beginning: Ice Fortress Fight and jumping above the fire to celebrate spring arrival as well as new life path
Ever since I grew enough to understand rituals and their mining I was fascinated by them. I remember reading “The little mermaid” story and spending hours thinking about how a witch would know what exactly to give to the mermaid so her tail would turn into feet? A separate character that attracted my attention was Baba-Yaga - Russian folk tales character. And how did this old ugly lady manage to fly on a broomstick and send curses to all? It seemed that they would know somehow a ritual or formula which brings magic into the world.
I grew up and started travel a lot being even more interested in other rituals and ceremonies I get to know - from the Ashrams of India to the Amazon forests, from remote villages in the heart of the Altai region in Russia to sacred mountains and enclosed settlements across the world. Life gave me many incredible opportunities to encounter what was of great interest to me.
Learn to see anew: my journey into complete darkness in Singapore
I'm sitting on a bench in Singapore. There is the life full of colors blossoms around me. There is a woman with a child going across the street. She wears a bright pink skirt and her child is dressed in white and blue. There are trees around me - their trunks are dark brown with lush and so bright green leaves. The ice cream shop nearby is decorated with balloons of every possible shape and color. I catch a smell of food from a nearby stall selling food. I feel the roughness of the road under my foots. I feel myself as if someone just turned on all of my senses on the full mode and I am able to see, feel, smell, hear the way I have never experienced before.
Welcoming New Steemians To This Great Platform
Steemit is such an amazing platform that has created a huge global community.
It continues to bring together so many different people from all over the world, from all different walks of life.
It is a true representative of the great diversity we have on this great planet.
I continue to learn so much from everyone's blogs and to be truly inspired. It has had such a huge positive impact on my life.
I have connected with so many amazing people and made many friends.
How we Made Money living our Nomadic Life
Choosing to live this way, living in a small space means not really having many material possessions.
My partner and me never wanted our children to be registered beyond their birth, so being able to receive payouts from the government was never an option for us.
We also do not want any hassle with regards to how we choose to raise our children.
We really only buy things that we need, which with a family of 2 girls (at the time of living in our bus) was food and fuel to allow us to move.
This post is about our time travelling around France in our bus, although we did continue to fund our lives in this way in other countries as well.
It was not always easy, but we were free to roam and be together with our children.
Dear steemians, Can you help a brother out?
Recently I've been chilling around, not doing much work. I came to the decision to give myself some self-time. Its been almost one month now and I'm doing some small amounts of work to get by.
I'm a bit stuck on something, so if I can have your feedback at the end of this Article it would mean a lot to me <3
I did this in order to align myself towards something I really want to do in life. Of course, that something is related towards income, not that I want it to be, rather it is necessary. Heck if I could go to Tibet and be a monk I'd do that but I don't envision that as a life goal.
The thing is that I'm looking for a job opportunity if it can even be named as such.
And these are my two options at the moment being.
Herbal Allies: Passionflower 'Passiflora' -One of my favorite herbs!
One of the most intricate and unique flowers I have ever seen, this worldly vine is also medicinal!
I have known Passionflower Vine since childhood, my mother always grew it, and it always blooms on my birthday in late summer. So I have called it my birthday flower.
Passiflora has over 550 species growing all over the world in South America, North and Central America, Asia and Oceania. The photo above is from our plant; after a day or so of blooming the flowers begin to fade.
We have a few vines here at our farm that have grown quite large. Every summer they are covered with these ornate, beautiful flowers. They have a delicate, unique and very pleasant fragrance, the type of flower you just press to your nose and don't want to take it off.
New at our Farm for 2018: Crypto as Accepted Payment Method!
This week one of our farm's CSA customers bought their 2018 share with Litecoin!
I remember these particular customers mentioning crypto to me last summer and I was of course, interested, but hadn't learned much about it, or how to use it. With joining Steemit in December of 2017 as many of you know, I gave myself a crash course in crypto, STEEM, Steemit, etc. and here I am!
London Tribes Unite to Sing and Drum for Love - Reclaim Love 2018, Piccadilly Circus, 17th Feb 2018
Wow.... what an incredible event happened yesterday in central London!!! The London Shamanic, Hippy and Rastafarian Alternative tribes united to share and celebrate LOVE in front of thousands of curious onlookers...
I felt called to attend, for some reason, and I didn't know what to expect... What I found was such a strong oasis of life force energy blasting out delicious love vibes in the middle of the dense, heavy vibrations of a super crowded junction in UK's famous metropolis on a Saturday evening!
Diary of A Free Spirit Ep. 4 - How I Ended Up Being a Law Student
Before going further into my story, let me introduce you to some essential facts that led up to this monumental day.
This episode follows up on Diary of a Free Spirit Ep. 3 - The Day That Changed My Life
It hadn't been an easy job getting admitted into the reputable King's College London.
As its name reveals, this university was quite majestic. The requirements were stringent. The students were the crème de la crème. The expectations were dauntingly high.
Post Meditation Retreat: Reflections on The True Self Emerging (Part II)
On the other side of nothing, there is everything...
And, indeed, everything is what I found when I plunged into the abyss of nothingness...
In this article, I will continue sharing how my five-day silent meditation retreat has impacted my life. If you missed it, here is the first part of this account: My First Meditation Retreat: What Happened When I Gave Myself the Gift of Silence (Part I)
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