by admin | May 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
Introducing one of my great loves; Velki. Velki is clever, humble, patient, aware and super present. He never assumes anything other than that he will be loved and deserves the best. If there’s a primo sunny spot he’ll choose it to lie in. If there’s some action that interests him going on, he’ll choose to take part. If he’s not interested, he’ll not apologise. He knows who he is and never lets his ego get in the way of being real. He practices gratitude daily. No matter how hungry, he’ll always stop before eating to give me a quick leg rub as a thankyou for his meal. His attitude of gratitude comes from a big open loving heart and creates abundance in his life. He knows stillness, he knows play and he’ll defend himself valiantly when needed. Velki has been my teacher for 11 years and I love him dearly. Velki gives direct Heart chakra activation! The fourth chakra. Sanskrit word for this chakra: Anahata. Colour: Green. Element: Air Physically, the fourth chakra is located at the heart, lungs, arms, hands, thymus gland. Key words for this chakra: LOVE & COMPASSION. WE INSTEAD OF ME. EXPRESSION THROUGH giving and receiving love without agenda; Feeling balanced and at peace; Experiencing the infinite potential in each moment. SIGNS OF IMBALANCE IN THE FOURTH CHAKRA: Neediness – loving with agenda. Fear of rejection Wary of love/closed to love. Struggle to trust. HOW TO KEEP THE FOURTH CHAKRA BALANCED: Place your hands over heart and breath into the heart (front and back of the heart). Relax into this space like a lounge room...
by admin | May 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
There are countless cultures and markets selling and telling us who to be and how to think. We adopt those to a point; to negotiate and communicate effectively and practice a degree of learned diplomacy to navigate through life. But how often to we stop to ask how we truly feel about something? If we were to remove all the ‘shoulds’ from our thoughts would our actions change? What if we were to answer to no one, only ourselves. Would we make the same choices? A great deal of our niggly “what if’s?”, uncertainty, shame and disempowerment come from not giving voice to what we truly believe, deep down. Having an opinion and being confident to stand behind that is reflected in the strength of our third chakra, the navel chakra. While the second chakra allows us to feel and connect on a very visceral, human, physical level and the heart chakra connects us on a universal, compassionate, love space –The third chakra is our earth life-line. The charge from which we plug in and operate as a conscious, physical, human, functional shiny bright individual. Sanskrit word for this chakra: Manipura. Colour: Yellow. Element: Fire Physically, the third chakra is located at the navel centre. The digestive system, pancreas, adrenals. Key words for this chakra: I AM. I CAN AND I WILL. Expression through drive to achieve goals. Knowing you are. Without need of the approval of others. Personal power SIGNS OF IMBALANCE IN THE THIRD CHAKRA: Feeling powerless and withdrawn. Victim mode. Indecisive. Uncertain about opinion. Lack commitment. Overly concerned by what others think of you. More so...
by admin | May 9, 2013 | Uncategorized
Sensitivity Sensation Sex Food Creativity At last! A cookbook created by Sandie – our amazing chef who has cooked the most delicious, organic, nutritious, creative meals on our Bliss Retreat weekends away. Her book is a thoughtful, love-filled, generous offering of nourishing and simple-to-prepare meals; “Three Bowls, Recipes for nourishing, simple & delicious food”. Get a copy posted out by emailing sandie.yoga.shiatsu@gmail.com for details. $25 plus $3 postage. This brings me to the second chakra. The second chakra is all about pleasure, physical sensation and emotional sensitivity. One way to nurture and experience the second chakra is to indulge the senses in good food (thanks Sandie). When the second chakra is balanced, we can enjoy and experience our physical, sensual, creative selves without self-criticism or guilt. We relate to others openly, without the need to control, making honest and fulfilling connections. MORE ABOUT THE SECOND CHAKRA: Sanskrit word for this chakra: Svadhisthana. Colour: Orange. Element: Water Physically, the second chakra is located at the lower abdomen, genitals, womb. Key words for this chakra: SENSITIVITY & SENSATION. Expression through physical movement, sexuality, creativity and taste. The experience of empathy and those feelings we get about something or someone. Relationships – with others and with ourselves. Emotional connection/attachment to another. Surrender control/merge with other(s). This chakra is blocked by self-criticism and guilt. SIGNS OF IMBALANCE IN THE SECOND CHAKRA: Low confidence and self worth. Lonely/needy. Excessively emotional or repressed emotions (or both). Jealous. Withdrawn. Rigid / controlling. Struggle to express creatively HOW TO KEEP THE SECOND CHAKRA BALANCED: Move the body – specifically move, stretch, open the hips....
by admin | May 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
Our base chakra is our foundation. Our connection to the earth. A strong, clear base chakra means our feet are firmly planted on the ground. Sanskrit word for this chakra: Muladhara. Associated colour: Red. Element: Earth The base chakra resonates with all our instinctual concerns – survival, belonging, safety and security – that we will have food to eat and a safe home to live in with others around us who will look out for us. Physically, the base chakra is located at the the base of the spine and travels through the legs and feet. This chakra is associated with the kidneys and adrenals. The kidneys are often associated with the emotion of fear and the adrenals are actioned with the fight or flight response (more info). SIGNS OF IMBALANCE IN THE BASE CHAKRA: Energy deficient: A tendency to dissociate with the physical body. Removed from reality and living in our imagination. Ignoring practicalities. Feeling anxious, disconnected and like we don’t belong. Excessive energy: Being overly concerned with security and safety (counting every cent and hording things for safe-keeping are signs of an out of balance base chakra). Not coping with change and limiting experiences due to fear and rigidity. HOW TO KEEP THE BASE CHAKRA BALANCED: GET GROUNDED. Get into the body. Get a massage. Dance. Have a bath. Tapping the body with flat hand. Get into nature. Go outside and be in the elements. Garden. Walk barefoot on the grass. Walk on the heels (not high heels, your own heels 🙂 ). Breathe into the base of the spine. Visualise growing roots like a tree, right...
by admin | Apr 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
“The most important decision we ever make is whether we live in a friendly universe or a hostile universe.” Albert Einstein. Could it be that living an uplifting life is as simple as projecting our minds in the direction of that uplifting life? There’s ample encouragement out there for positive thinking, using affirmations and generally creating the life you want by thinking good thoughts, right? However, to make that positivity and those affirmations believable (meaning you believing you when you say your affirmation) we need to understand the workings of the mind. Quite simply, unchecked, the mind is like a lawless megalomaniac. Full of desire. Demanding immediate satisfaction. To support it’s cause, it makes things up, convinces you that something is real and then abandons you once it changes perspective. The mind is a magnificent vehicle for thought processing. We can see the mind as a giant, endless labyrinth of thoughts drawn from feelings, memories and fantasies. Yogi Bhajan refers to this labyrinth of thoughts as ‘mental intrigues’. The intrigue being a thought that leads you down a path and into a whole world of possibilities that may or may not be real. Once we accept that our thoughts are not a reflection of who we essentially are and more a result of a labyrinthine, unchecked mix of all we have seen and heard, we can let go of resenting unhelpful thoughts and start practicing non-attachment to those thoughts. AIM: DIRECT YOUR THOUGHTS TO WORK IN YOUR FAVOUR. Marianne Williamson gave a wonderful metaphor for shifting perspective and projecting a more positive outlook: “Sometimes you get rid of a tape...
