Product Description

Qualities: Self-control and Moral Vigor

Message of Self-Mastery: Calmness of the mind; synchronicity of body/mind/spirit; sense of well-being and order; to avoid “burning the candle at both ends”; balance; moderation; wholesome sexuality; for being a sensitive partner in an intimate relationship.

Pattern of Disharmony: Over-indulgence in food or other substances/activities; immoderation, causing minor to serious damage to body, mind, or nerves; sexual excess in thought or action; making wrong choices from the power of past habits; discontentment; uneasiness; for anger connected with sexual issues; frustration.

AFFIRMATION

I am the master of my destiny! With calm power I stride toward the horizon to final victory!

POSITIVE EXPRESSIONS

NEGATIVE CONDITIONS

POSITIVE APPLICATIONS

Almond is the essence for self-control in all parts of our lives. This quality, unfortunately, is not a high priority in our culture where consumerism and materialism are so seriously valued. And yet what a priceless tool for well-being is discipline! Self-control means, simply, that we consider a choice of action rather than being bound to a reactive mode by the subconscious mind.

Almond, then, gives us greater awareness in our choices. In the relationship arena of sexuality, our self-control is a gift we can give to our partner. Sex has two distinct purposes — procreation, and communicating love. With Almond’s attitude of “how can I serve you” instead of “what’s in this for me,” the sexual act becomes purified of self-seeking and self-gratification, and thus infinitely more beautiful and fulfilling. We are not body-bound slaves to our senses, says Almond- we are Spirit.

Almond also encapsulates the quality of moral vigor and stimulates that same quality within us. Do you want the power to rebound vigorously from every setback in life? To live more in your center? Don’t think of the crunchy quality of the nut but of the soothing, spiritual influence of the oil pressed from almonds.

And what of stress from the sense that there are not enough hours in the day-don’t we all have twenty-four? In the positive Almond state, we are able to view our time differently-to be more in the present moment, calmly completing each task. “I took Almond for tension that created pressure and tightness in my diaphragm,” Ursula said. “In thirty minutes, it was gone.”

Robert, too, shared a helpful Almond story: “1 recently had to go to the dentist to have an area worked where a filling had fallen out. I took almond and did the affirmation. I noticed I was able to relax deeply while in the chair. Though the area being drilled was sensitive from an exposed nerve, I was able to remain calm and detached from the sensation.”

Almond is also an excellent remedy for dancers. Yogic tradition speaks of being ”centered in the spine,” that place in the astral body from which our energy radiates. Dance, when most beautiful and pleasing to the eye, emanates from that center. Here is Sita’s testimonial after an East Indian dance performed on three consecutive nights:

“I felt a lot of anxiety before dancing. I didn’t know the right thing to do in order to help myself stay centered, so I started taking Almond a week before the performances. It was an incredible experience how much it helped me, first to be focused on everything that I did. I saw that I was doing everything I needed to do, but not from an emotional state-more coming from my spine. This helped me to feel what it is like to be ‘in the spine.’ The day of the first performance, I was very centered. I didn’t have any anxiety. I was even surprised-the last time I’d had so much fear. My hands and feet had been very cold and I had stomach pains. Taking Almond is like a magician giving you something. Every time I took it, it transformed me. Almond helped me to do a perfect job, a perfect performance.”

NEGATIVE INDICATIONS

The negative Almond state is that spread-too-thin feeling, as though there is never enough time. When no matter how much we accomplish we can’t quite get the job done, it is time for Almond. Tension typically sets off a predictable chain reaction of progressively less productivity that can backslide into a state of complete frustration. Almond, through the quality of calmness, allows us to focus on one thing at a time-and before long a whole stack of incoming work has moved into the outgoing file!

As previously mentioned, Almond also addresses the subject of human sexuality. When the loud hormones of adolescence begin to speak, and any time thereafter when sexual energy seems uncontrollable, Almond may be of benefit. (Please note that Almond falls in the Spectrum’s third Quadrant of drive tempered by self-control, rather than in the second Quadrant of fiery youth where it would not yet have reached a deeper maturity.) One study after another reveals that adolescents in the United States are having intercourse at earlier ages than ever before. Sexually transmitted diseases, some with death as a contraindication, run rampant. The federal centers for Disease Control and Prevention have documented a rise in AIDS cases from 49,016 in 1992 to 103,500 in 1993-a 111 percent increase. The issue of sexuality in our era covers the entire gamut from creating to destroying human life.

Consider, too, the exploitation of this powerful drive through the media. Even ads for items as innocuous as soda pop are unmistakably sexually charged. Constantly bombarded both visually and aurally, what are we to do? Add to this phenomena a diet loaded with preservatives, pesticides and artificial stimulants that play havoc with the sex nerves, and it is clear that we are being overstimulated and encouraged in the direction of excess. Almond is a healthy counter-attack to these detrimental outer stimuli.

No, Almond does not weaken, repress or annihilate sexual energy; rather, it allows us to transmute this powerful force. With this essence, one might say that instead of being driven by our sex drive, we become the driver, through consciously exercising self-control. Sexual energy being our creative force, we might choose to reroute that energy into athletics or creative pursuits, such as painting or the performing arts. Whether in a relationship or single, young or old, Almond provides us with a deeper understanding of sexuality as pure energy at our disposal.

ESSENCE ENHANCERS

Allow more time than needed to finish projects in order to avoid feeling rushed by deadlines.

Give yourself a five-minute neck and shoulder rub, finishing with a full minute on your scalp-or enlist the help of a friend.

Do the following breathing exercise three times in succession, three times a day: inhale with two quick inhalations, the second deeper than the first, until the lungs are completely filled. Exhale in the same manner: twice strongly, until the lungs are fully emptied.

Spend a full day or longer in complete silence without speaking. Observe the changes in your energy flow from this practice. When nerves in the tongue are activated through movement, restlessness is created in the brain.

Go dancing, dance in your home or enroll in a dance class. Become aware of the energy in your spine through practicing this art form and consciously direct it inward and upward. Repeat the Almond visualization daily.

VISUALIZATION

It is a perfect day for a short walk and your third day on vacation. The worries and responsibilities of work, home and family all seem dreamlike now, as though they belonged to someone else. Breathe in the fresh morning air as you leave your little cabin in the woods and walk toward the creek bed. Nighttime, you notice, has receded, lifting itself layer by quilted layer, off the earth’s shoulders. An Indian summer day, it is already warm and promising to grow hotter.

A thick scattering of bright orange poppies blankets the field. Drink in this color through your eyes, your hands and the pores of your skin. Feel it warming you, healing you and bathing your cells in a pure ray of orange light.

Continuing on your walk, you approach a swirl of fallen tree limbs covered with moss. Take off your sandals and run your toes through the velvet greenery. Now, sit near the creek where the water splashes over rocks and crags. Breathe this sound into your ears, your lung, and every cell in your body. Allow it to wash away all tension, leaving a flowing stream of calmness in its wake. Replace any thoughts of excess with moderation; any overindulgences with self-control.

Having bathed your senses in the pure orange light, consciously withdraw from them-first from sight, then sound, followed by taste, touch and smell. Imagine that you are retreating into the core of your being You are being recharged, renewed and reawakened in the vast store-house of energy that is your truest reality.