Seeking and Finding Wholeness

An Oxygen Poll Reveals Young Women’s Conflict Between Inner And Outer Beauty

On March 24, 2009, Oxygen Media released a study, conducted by TNS, into the minds of women (18-34) and their personal relationship to outer beauty versus inner beauty.

The study interviewed more than 2,000 women. The study covered five themes in women’s lives – appearance, fame & fortune, friendships, relationships and current events/finance.

Here are some of the results that I found interesting:

Nearly 25% of women would rather win “America’s Next Top Model” than the Nobel Peace Prize.

88% of women would give up their cell phone, jewelry and makeup to keep a friendship.

26% of women said they would make their best friend fat for life, if it meant they could be thin.

22% of W18-24 who consider themselves attractive would rather lose the ability to read than lose their figure.

91% of W18-34 would rather live a long life and lose their looks than die young and beautiful

41% of W18-34 would be okay knowing they were chosen for a job on looks alone

50% W18-24 would marry an ugly man if he were a multimillionaire

78% of W18-24 think Cybersex is cheating,
80% of W18-34 think it’s cheating

66% of W18-24 values their hairstylists over their tax accountant, 70% of W 18-34 say their hairstylist is more important

Find more on this:
http://www.nt2099.com/J-ENT/news/american-entertainment/nearly-25-of-women-18-34-would-rather-win-americas-next-top-model-than-the-nobel-peace-prize-but-75-would-shave-their-heads-to-save-a-stranger/

If you are looking at studying hypnosis or hypnotherapy in Minnesota here’s a list of local programs and a little bit of info:

2) Dynamic Minds Hypnosis, run by Susan Just. Her site is www.dynamicmindsinc.com. She teaches the 5-PATH methodology and is the representative of the Banyan Institute in MN

Banyan: http://www.hypnosiscenter.com/certified-professional-hypnotherapy-instructors.htm
Banyan Hypnosis Center for Training & Services
2565 Highway 10 Northeast
Mounds View, MN 55112
(763) 785-3390

3) Slack & Young Institute of Hypnosis http://www.susanslack.com/

4) The Meta Institute http://metainstitute.com/hyp_final2.html
They are accredited by the American Institute of Hypnosis. I never heard of this institute, doesn’t seem as famous as the rest found here

5) Roy Hunter Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy http://www.royhunter.com/training.htm – is this in MN??

If you’re looking for any school program in the US, I am pretty sure that you’ve been exposed to many internet ads (while browsing the Internet for school), magazine ads and even TV ads for all sorts of study programs, certificates and even graduate degrees. The question that comes to mind rather quickly is “How do I know the school I’m looking at is not just a diploma mill?”

Well, there are many things you could do, first start with accreditation, make sure they are accredited regionally or by the state, or other accrediting agencies.

Regional accreditation is the strongest, better accreditation. National accreditation is also strong. Programmatic (specialized) Accreditation can be trust worthy but perhaps not in all cases. Your local state university is regionally accredited.

Regionally accredited schools are predominantly academically oriented, non-profit institutions. Nationally accredited schools are predominantly for-profit and offer vocational, career or technical programs.

Knowing about all these accreditation levels, from the national, regional to state and programmatic, I would seriously discourage enrolling in any school program that is not accredited by at least one of these levels.

What is regional accreditation?

A few but well known regional accreditation agencies exist in the US. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one example; WASC offers accreditation to schools that offer the capacity to maintain educational and financial stability and to offer educational services effectively and of a sufficient standard.

Here is a list of accrediting agencies:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Jean Avnet Morse, President
3624 Market Street, 2nd Floor Annex
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 267-284-5000
Fax: 215-662-5501
E-mail: info@msche.org
Web: www.msche.org

New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASC-CIHE)
Barbara E. Brittingham, President / Director of the Commission
209 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
Phone: 781-271-0022
Fax: 781-271-0950
E-mail: CIHE@neasc.org
Web: www.neasc.org

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

The Higher Learning Commission (NCA-HLC)
Sylvia Manning, President
30 North LaSalle, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312-263-0456
Fax: 312-263-7462
E-mail: info@hlcommission.org
Web: www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
Sandra E. Elman, President
8060 165th Avenue, NE, Suite 100
Redmond, WA 98052
Phone: 425-558-4224
Fax: 425-376-0596
E-mail: selman@nwccu.org
Web: www.nwccu.org

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Please visit this page http://www.wholenessblog.com/related-links/hypnotherapy

If you know me you’d know that I enjoy browsing through people’s biographies, education, field of work and authored works. As I read about people that interest me for whatever reason I will share with you their biographies here. Here is the first of these Biographies.

About Peter Russell M.A., D.C.S., F.S.P.

1) From: http://www.peterrussell.com/pete.php

Peter Russell is a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, of The World Business Academy and of The Findhorn Foundation, and an Honorary Member of The Club of Budapest.

At Cambridge University (UK), he studied mathematics and theoretical physics. Then, as he became increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the human mind he changed to experimental psychology. Pursuing this interest, he traveled to India to study meditation and eastern philosophy, and on his return took up the first research post ever offered in Britain on the psychology of meditation.

He also has a post-graduate degree in computer science, and conducted there some of the early work on 3-dimensional displays, presaging by some twenty years the advent of virtual reality.

In the mid-seventies Peter Russell joined forces with Tony Buzan and helped teach “Mind Maps” and learning methods to a variety of international organizations and educational institutions.

Since then his corporate programs have focused increasingly on self-development, creativity, stress management, and sustainable environmental practices. Clients have included IBM, Apple, Digital, American Express, Barclays Bank, Swedish Telecom, ICI, Shell Oil and British Petroleum.

His principal interest is the deeper, spiritual significance of the times we are passing through. He has written several books in this area — The TM Technique, The Upanishads, The Brain Book, The Global Brain Awakens, The Creative Manager, The Consciousness Revolution, Waking Up in Time, and From Science to God.

As one of the more revolutionary futurists Peter Russell has been a keynote speaker at many international conferences, in Europe, Japan and the USA. His multi-image shows and videos, The Global Brain and The White Hole in Time have won praise and prizes from around the world. In 1993 the environmental magazine Buzzworm voted Peter Russell “Eco-Philosopher Extraordinaire” of the year.

2) From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Russell

Peter Russell M.A., D.C.S. (born May 7, 1946) is a British author of ten books and producer of three films on consciousness, spiritual awakening and their role in the future development of humanity. He has designed and taught personal development programs for businesses, and been a popular public speaker.

Early Life and Education

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As part of my graduate school (education/life planning) search methodology (view here) I am reading about people that work / or write in areas that I find interesting. You can find a list (a work in progress) of these people in the people index (view here)

I have completed or worked on the majority of the phases identified in the search methodology, namely phases 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The two remaining phases that need more time now are phases 2  (Research the Bios of authors, professors, practitioners, and researchers that work in the fields that interest me) and 3 (recommended/ accredited programs by organizations, associations, accreditation orgs that interest me).

As part of phase 2, I am now looking at biographies. I will start by posting an article about Peter Russell, he is one of these authors that interest me. Stay tuned.

Later on I may post articles on organisations that interest me, you can find the organisations that interest me in the Related Links page (view here)

Hypnosis is a state of relaxation with a state of heightened awareness all induced by nothing more than suggestion. It is perfectly normal and natural. In fact, hypnosis is a state so natural that every one of us uses it sometime every day without even realizing it.

When we daydream we are experiencing a mild hypnotic trance. ‘Motorway hypnosis’ is a term coined for those periods when we drive somewhere and cannot remember it. That’s a form of hypnotic state. This is how you tend to feel whilst in hypnosis. It is very pleasant, relaxing and extremely comfortable. It’s an altered state of awareness. Many people would liken it to a ‘mental massage’.

The theory behind hypnosis is that we have one brain but two minds – one conscious and the other unconscious. Every day after we wake up, we begin running programs stored deep in our unconscious mind – this is the mind that remembers all the automatic stuff like riding a bike/driving a car, how to make yourself feel good OR bad. This ’storage area’ is much bigger than the mind you are using to read this now.

They work together; so that when you are driving and your conscious mind suddenly switches to something bothering you [a coworker, a big presentation/fear of height]; your unconscious mind carries on driving until you arrive at your destination or your conscious mind resumes driving, not remembering how you have just driven. If something dangerous had presented itself you would have avoided it.

These running programs, once formed, have an amazing capability for producing the same results, over and over again. Whether they are good for you or bad! Hypnosis gives you the tools to make these programs work FOR YOU!

A hypnotic state is not is sleep, it is not unconsciousness. Nothing can be done to you without you allowing it; you won’t be made to bark every time you pass a dog or cat. For hypnosis to work you must want it to happen, expect it to happen and most importantly allow it to happen.

Some people question if they are in a trance because they don’t experience a mystical transcendental journey; the truth is the depth and state of trance is different for everyone.

However everyone can experience a hypnotic state, be it at varying levels, and thus everyone may benefit from hypnosis.

Hypnosis is effective in all areas of self improvement, in overcoming fears and phobias, in assisting in health and well-being as well. It can be very successful changing habits, overcoming anxiety, losing weight, defeating depression, to name a few of its applications.

Hypnosis has been used for centuries, and millions of people have been helped in many different ways. It’s also said to be an excellent way of relaxing.

I listened to a radio interview recently and found some of the aspects that the guest speaker discussed agreeable. I noted quotes below from the interview that I liked and wanted to share with you:

On Remote Viewing, in a radio interview with Coast to Coast with Art Bell, Stephan A. Schwartz said:

[Remote viewing is a] learnable skill, like a kind of modern mental martial art or mental yoga; its an ancient one [found] in the shamanic traditions all over the world.

All over the world, there are traditions of training people to be able to use this use this aspect of consciousness to open themselves to it, its like learning to play tennis basically, there is nothing supernatural or weird about it, it its not anomalous.

All these words [that] people use, anomalous, wired, I don’t even like the word psychic, its just non local consciousness its something we all have by reason of being living organisms.

It’s your birth right as a human being

This ability is always present because it a function of being a living organism

In Stephan’s opinion, phenomena like remote viewing, intuition, telepathy ad others are all basically non local consciousness or non local awareness.

Listen to the whole interview here

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I have been researching clean drinking water; after a number of months of research, I am convinced the only water anyone should drink is distilled water. I am looking at building my own water steam distiller, since I rather not buy one for $100 + My distiller will run on ‘any’ heat source, which may come in handy when camping (or when there is no electricity).. I discuss these here:

Checkout this discussion: Is There Any Good Water To Drink Out There??

Find out how to buy or build a distiller and share your ideas here: Water Distillation at Home

I will soon share my design and resutls.

Watch the Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires documentary now online for free

Summary

Running time: 59 minutes (Watch Now Online)

Watch Trailer:

Watch the trailer for the documentary entitled “Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires” below.

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Find the documentary “Oceti Sakowin:The People Of The Seven Council Fires” on PBS, Find pictures and listen to music:

http://www.aptv.org/schedule/nolaschedule.asp?NOLA1=OCET

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I just thought this info was interesting. I will post it without comment.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — That very large majorities of the American public believe in God, miracles, the survival of the soul after death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Virgin birth will come as no great surprise. What may be more surprising is that substantial minorities believe in ghosts, UFOs, witches, astrology, and the belief that they themselves were once other people. Overall, more people believe in the devil, hell and angels than believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll(R), a new nationwide survey of 2,126 U.S. adults surveyed online between November 10 and 17, 2008 by Harris Interactive(R).

Some of the interesting findings in this new Harris Poll include:

– 80% of adult Americans believe in God – unchanged since the last time we asked the question in 2005. Large majorities of the public believe in miracles (75%), heaven (73%), angels (71%), that Jesus is God or the Son of God (71%), the resurrection of Jesus (70%), the survival of the soul after death (68%), hell (62%), the Virgin birth (Jesus born of Mary (61%) and the devil (59%).

– Slightly more people – but both are minorities – believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (47%) than in creationism (40%).

– Sizeable minorities believe in ghosts (44%), UFOs (36%), witches (31%), astrology (31%), and reincarnation (24%).
Differences between Catholics and Protestants
There are no significant differences between the large percentages of Catholics and Protestants who believe in God, miracles, heaven and hell, that Jesus is the Son of God, angels, the resurrection of Jesus, the survival of the soul after death, the Virgin birth and the devil.
However, Catholics are more likely than Protestants to believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (by 52% to 32%), ghosts (by 57% to 41%), UFOs (by 43% to 31%), and astrology (by 40% to 28%). Protestants are slightly more likely than Catholics to believe in creationism (by 54% to 46%).

Which Religious Texts Are the “Word of God”
Slender majorities of all adults believe that all or most of the Old Testament (55%) and the New Testament (54%) are the “Word of God.” However, only about a third of all adults (37% and 36%) believe that all of these texts are the word of God.
Interestingly, only 26% of all adults believe that the Torah is the word of God, even though it is the same as the first five books of the Old Testament. Presumably many people do not know this.

Religiosity and Religious Practice
Less than a quarter of Americans describe themselves are “very religious.” However, a large majority (68%) describe themselves as either very (23%) or somewhat (45%) religious.
A quarter (27%) of adult Americans claim that they attend church once a week or more often, compared with 36% who say they attend less than once a year or never (18% each).

A Note on the Methodology Used and How It Affects the Results
Other research has shown that when replying to a question administered impersonally by a computer, people are less likely to say they believe in God, or attend Church services when they really don’t. It is generally believed that surveys conducted by live interviewers tend to exaggerate the numbers of people who report the socially desirable, or less embarrassing, behavior, and that the replies given to an online survey such as this, are more honest and therefore more accurate.

Methodology
This Harris Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States between November 10 and 17, 2008 among 2,126 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
J35171  Q956, 961, 1340, 1545

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
Harris Interactive Inc. 12/08
SOURCE: Harris Interactive Inc.

Harris Interactive
Corporate Communications
585-272-8400
press@harrisinteractive.net

I used multiple resources and created a comprehensive wellness tracker work sheet that you could use to track everything related to your wellness (physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, etc..). I put this in a PDF format here for anyone to download free of charge. No registration required, simply right click and save the file.

Click here to download the Complete Personal Wellness Tracker

I had a few nutrition classes over the years, I also have a few books that had sheets you could use to track food intake. The problem with these sheets is that they don’t track enough. A person is not just what s/he eats, we are complex (emotional, mental, spiritual, etc..) beings and there are a lot of (inner and outer) environmental variables that effect us.

One day at a physical therapy meeting, the physical therapist suggested I track my food intake to find what is causing my migraines. He suggested using a tracking sheet very similar to the one I am giving away here. He then made a comment that these sheets only track food intake, so they ignore many other things.

It felt as if he read my mind. I took that thought and did the research, comparisons, and came up with this tracker sheet that will help you track way more than just food intake. It tracks many variables that ultimately have an effect on your overall wellness.

You now can keep track of your expectations, emotions, sleep, mood, weather, physical exercise, plus more.

This sheet is self explanatory, I hope that no instructions are needed. My only instruction to you is to remember this sheet is a self-help tool. Use it for your own benefit, no one will read it so don’t worry about spelling and neatness, this is for you only, to help you track variables that may be effecting your wellness. As long as you can make sense of your notes then you’ve been successful in tracking the variables.

There is no such thing as a perfect tracking sheet. This one is a general attempt to facilitate to the needs of many. You now have to take it and personalize it. If you have something you want to track that is not on this sheet, simply write it in, any white space will do, the margins and bottom part of the sheet are god spots for these additional notes.

Once enough data has been collected you could reflect back at the notes, and see patterns, find behavior, thoughts or actions and what effects they produce.

Your feedback is important, this is not the first version, and will not be the last. If you want to ad a variable to track please let me know. I am working on the next version and will publish it once it’s completed.

I give this away to you, asking for nothing, sending you wishes of well being.

Stay well.

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I took all the philosophy books off the shelves and am now reading and browsing through them. I also continue to research online, and read wikipedia pages on philosophers. I am enjoying this research a lot. I just wish I had more free time.

This article contains links to useful websites.

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Most holistic dentists prefer to extract a tooth than to do a root canal mainly because they believe root canals are never a 100% sterile and bacteria left behind could flourish if your immune system is compromised. My (non-holistic) dentist said that 95% o root canals are successful, this leaves 5% of root canals to fail. If they fail, an infection can occur at the bone structure that may not be easily detectable.

I found that not all holistic dentists have this position, almost none of the traditional dentists prefer extraction over a root canal. Over 95% of root canals are successful. So many people have had root canals, multiple of them. These root canal procedures are done routinely and safely. However, just because every body else is doing something doesn’t mean that it’s the best choice. For instance, take drinking pop, or using cell phones, eating fast food, eating lots of meat, smoking, getting drunk, need I continue?.. Many people take actions that negatively impact their well being for whatever reasons, be it lack of information, disinformation, ignorance, lack of interest, etc…

Here, in trying to decide if root canals are good or bad, IMHO (In my humble opinion), we are faced with a lack of information, making deciding what’s best a little tricky. I shared what I know here and ask you to contribute what you know so we can all benefit.

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CSA is a socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. It is also a method for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful, small-scale closed market. CSA’s focus is usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables, sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs and even milk or meat products in some cases. A variety of production and economic sub-systems are in use worldwide.

How The CSA System Works

CSA generally is the practice of focusing on the production of high quality foods using ecological, organic or biodynamic farming methods. This kind of farming operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders—resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer relationship. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is willing to fund a whole season’s budget in order to get quality foods. The system has many variations on how the farm budget is supported by the consumers and how the producers then deliver the foods. By CSA theory, the more a farm embraces whole-farm, whole-budget support, the more it can focus on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or financial loss.

In its most formal and structured European and North American form, CSAs focus on having:

• A transparent, whole season budget for producing a specified wide array of products for a set number of weeks a year;
• A common-pricing system where producers and consumers discuss and democratically agree to pricing based on the acceptance of the budget; and
• A ‘shared risk and reward’ agreement, i.e. that the consumers eat what the farmers grow even with the vagaries of seasonal growing.

Individuals, families or groups do not pay for x pounds or kilograms of produce, but rather support the budget of the whole farm and receive weekly what is seasonally ripe. This approach eliminates the marketing risks and costs for the producer and an enormous amount of time, often manpower too, and allows producers to focus on quality care of soils, crops, animals, co-workers—and on serving the customers. There is little to no loss (i.e. waste) in this system, since the producers know in advance who they are growing for and how much to grow, etc.

Some confusion about the CSA system has arisen as some CSAs are less whole-budget, whole-farm oriented and have more the character of subscription farming. This kind of arrangement is also referred to as crop-sharing or box schemes. In such cases, farmers often simply set the weekly prices and retain a high level of risk, marketing costs and so on. Thus there is an important distinction between the producers (farmers, gardeners, etc.) selling shares in the upcoming season’s harvest or selling a weekly subscription that includes x, y, z amounts of produce. In all cases, participants contribute a pre-agreed amount (sometimes an equal amount, sometimes variable) and in return receive a weekly harvest.

Some farms are dedicated entirely to CSA, while others also sell through on-farm stands, farmers’ markets, and other channels. Most CSAs are owned by the farmers, while some offer shares in the farm as well as the harvest. Consumers have organized their own CSA projects, going as far as renting land and hiring farmers.

Typically, CSA farms are small, independent, labor-intensive, family farms. Many CSAs practice ecological, organic or biodynamic agriculture, avoiding pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.

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I came across a website today that uses Google maps and allows you to search for all the near by cellular, paging, microwaves and other antennas and towers.

Cell Tower

If you have any concerns about EMF, radio waves, micro waves, wifi, cell phone signals etc, take a look at this site to know what exists right in your back yard. I found 40+ towers and 300+ antennas in my 4 mile radius environment.

I highly recommend this website, it’s very eye opening. The site will show you existing registered and non registered towers along with future towers and other antennas. Not all towers are created equal nor are all types of wireless signals. This website just gives you a broad idea on what’s out there. If nothing else, you can have some fun using the tower and antenna maps, and perhaps try to go and find these towers and antennas once you’ve located them on the Google map.

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I’m listening right now to “Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn” I’m on the first CD. I’m very impressed. I will write back when I’m done listening. I also have a lot of commentary on the ideas in these CDs.

Have you listened to this CD?

I visited my holistic dentist last week in order to get some x-rays taken and ask about removing an older amalgam; while I was there I was given a book titled “Dentistry Without Mercury” by Sam Ziff and Michael Ziff.

I have not read this small book yet but intend to in the future. I also have a lot of research done on the effects of mercury and why mercury amalgam are bad for you and should be taken out ASAP. It is unbelievable how many of us have toxic amalgams in our mouths.

The Dentist will remove my amalgam and use something else. They also found another area that needs work, a pretty large (in my opinion) decay in one tooth. It is funny how I had jaw pains but did not attribute that to my teeth needing work; I just ignored and never was ‘aware’ of my mouth and teeth even when there was pain. I plan on being more aware of my body including my teeth. Stay tuned, there’s more to come on this.

Here’s this book on amazon:

This article is a product review for a guided imagery CD called “Relaxation & Wellness” by Belleruth Naparstek that I purchased from Health Journeys. Catalog ID: 2135

This CD is good for for people experiencing stress, to help with general anxiety, to promote a feeling of peace, and heigten the feeling of love and safety.

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What is that tingling, electric, goosebumps-y sensation that some experience?

In this blog entry I talk about my experience with this sensation. This is not a new sensation but I recently experienced it in abundance.

Throughout my life I had felt tingling waves that went inside of my body and spread on the surface of my skin while meditating or praying, especially when in deep relaxation or concentration. When this sensation is on the surface it is accompanied by goose bumps that swarm the skin and traverse the body in waves. When inside the body, this sensation is like a cloud of charged tingling particles. I found it possible to direct this cloud of sensation with concentration. Does this sound familiar?

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Moved here (click here):