by admin | Feb 7, 2013 | Uncategorized
Stress and how to cope with it is one of the biggest health issues for us in our world today. Let’s look at what happens in our body when we’re stressed and how yoga can have an enormous impact on how we deal with it. When stressed, the body shifts and changes to support us to handle that stress well. We experience an energy surge, the heart rate increases, we become alert and ready to act. We think and move faster. Our sensitivity to pain is lowered and the digestive and reproductive systems slow down. All our repairing resources are put on hold and our energy is directed to short term needs. The body produces more insulin for energy, so that we can act and deal with the stressor. The body is doing a great job here of priming us to respond to a stressful situation. This is a healthy and very handy physical response to have. Following this, as the stress is eases, the body’s RELAXATION RESPONSE then kicks in. The relaxation response is a physiological shift that counters the stress response. It brings a cascade of restorative, healing processes at a cellular level. The body is restored to a state of balance. Unfortunately for many, the relaxation response is put on hold, as we continue to be faced with seemingly one stressor after another. With one stress out of the way, another comes along. Or we have one stressor on top of another stressor on top of another – and on and on! Without time to repair, our system is stretched and our resources and ability to cope is...
by admin | Jan 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
What does it mean when we vision for our selves? Creation, manifestation. The idea of seeing something ahead and laying the ground work for it to become. Planting the seed, nurturing the seed, watching it grow. There are many books and ideas around how much a role we play in designing our lives and the universe we live in. I would like to explore the concept of creation, with a big picture perspective. Big picture perspective being universal forces, laws of nature and most importantly recognising that this age is all about community and good of all not just of one. Three aspects of the universal forces: You. You and your ability to create through the power of your vision, your focus, your projection. We. All the things we do have an effect on the world around us. We’re all in this together. Recognise that the other person is you. What we see in the world, experience in the world, are all aspects within us. Transcendent. The inexplicable sense that there is an all-encompassing universal source, way bigger than the challenges and experience of our lives. In this we can know but not know. We trust through an inner knowing and a connection undefined. It can be helpful to break it down and to view life in this way, even if all three aspects of universal forces are in fact one. Remembering that in our ‘creating’ we are a player with many other factors influencing what actually happens. Alongside this, at the same time valuing and believing that we can and deserve to have a fulfilling, love-filled, full life. This...
by admin | Dec 17, 2012 | Uncategorized
It’s no longer dawning, we have arrived! We moved from the Piscean Age into the Aquarian Age on the 11th of November 2011. For the next few years we will be in a ‘settling’ stage as the world transitions into a new way of being. So, what is this new age and what exactly should we be prepared for? You will have noticed over the last few years a shift in consciousness. Like everything is speeding up. More and more people are looking for alternative ways to be and more and more people are meditating and connecting to their spirit. Yogi Bhajan said that during this time people will start freaking out. People will suffer from a thing called Cold Depression. This state is when you are so removed from your true self and so detached from spirit that you don’t really know what you truly need to be happy and you are not even aware that you have detached from the true essence of life. Many people will experience this. On the other side, this time offers an opportunity to truly tune in and connect strongly with your spirit. For those who are investing in their soul and their true inner self, the times now are better than ever for being able to access your infinite essence. A heart centred space is more easily accessible now than ever. Take this opportunity and live in light. Yogi Bhajan gave 5 sutras (or recommendations to live by) for this time. I’d like to share them with you. They’re simple and easy to use and they’ll help with living daily life....
by admin | Dec 7, 2012 | Uncategorized
I’d like to share with you a little about the workings of the mind and the way a thought is processed. To process a thought we move through three stages. These three stages are linked to what we call the three minds: THE THREE MINDS: Negative Mind, Positive Mind & Neutral Mind. To process a thought, we assess information first through the Negative Mind, then the Positive Mind and then arrive at the Neutral state. That’s the ideal mental trajectory anyway, however as we are not all master yogi meditators who have control over their ‘monkey mind’ at all times … we can sometimes (or often) get stuck in one of the first two stages (negative or positive) without reaching the Neutral Mind. Getting to know the intricacies of how the three minds work can help you to navigate your way through to a neutral mind perspective. How the three minds work: THE NEGATIVE MIND is there to take care of us. To work out if something is dangerous, unsafe or unwelcome in your space. The Negative Mind’s rightful job is to be negative – to critically assess potential damage. When balanced the Negative Mind can spare you from unnecessary heartache or pain by bringing a critical perspective to any choice. It presents the negatives to be legitimately considered. However, when the Negative Mind is out of balance, we can be fearful without reason, overly critical, or plagued with doubt, uncertainty and worry. THE POSITIVE MIND assesses the benefits. It sees the possibilities and the potential. It’s through the Positive Mind that we achieve things. It’s the ‘go get it’...
by admin | Nov 30, 2012 | Uncategorized
Last week I spent an incredible week on retreat for training on Stress & Vitality. One of the ideas that our teacher, Shiv Charan Singh threw out there was to “assume the best and be ready for the worst”. This idea gets me in many ways. Firstly, there is a subtlety to the energy of thinking the best of a situation or of someone. Assuming the best of someone can throw the responsibility to them to live up to your good intention of them. It also sets the groundwork for positive energy in your interactions. It’s like starting with a ‘beginners mind’, an open heart, a smile on the ready. On the flipside, if you assume the worst, according to the universal laws of nature, you’re much more likely to get it. Yogic philosophy encourages us to see God in all. To look for the God in someone. There is something deeply beautiful about approaching someone with an eye to see the God in them. That point of connection, where we are all one. Looking for that place in someone that touches your heart and surprises you with its uniqueness. Looking for the God in what they are telling you – be it welcome or not. Because each moment is as it should be and there are lessons and signs in every moment if you can approach them from this perspective. We all know that life hardly ever plays out exactly the way we think it should. Being ready for the worst is not expecting it; it’s being equipped to handle what comes. To defend ourselves against what is...
by admin | Nov 21, 2012 | Uncategorized
Whistling comes from a state of feeling positive and content. Contentment is what we strive for. A neutral, sweet state of harmony. We are here and we are present in this moment. There is limitless potential, but there’s also no hurry. That feeling of having a twinkle in the eye and a warm heart. There is something ethereal and sublime about the integration of whistling into a yoga and meditation practice. As with the sound current that we use in Kundalini yoga through mantra, whistling emits a frequency that serves to change the chemistry in the brain, to bring us into a meditative state. The use of whistling in a meditation serves to open the heart chakra. The heart chakra is linked to the neutral mind. In a heart space, we are open to all – coming from a ‘beginners mind’ state. No judgement, we see beauty in all things, there is no right or wrong. When you whistle you neutralise your energy, whistling activates your higher glands; the pituitary gland, pineal gland and hypothalamus. All of these glands serve to monitor the whole endocrine system in the body. They also are linked to intuition and access to deep states of meditative bliss. Yogi Bhajan, who mastered Kundalini Yoga at the age of 16 years said when we whistle, we call in God. There are numerous kriyas and meditations that use whistling. Here is one of my favourites. A simple and very beautiful meditation to open the heart. Meditation for Balancing Mind & Heart Unto Infinity Sit with a straight spine. Bend your elbows and place your palms against...
by admin | Nov 15, 2012 | Uncategorized
“If you understand that you are Ten Bodies, and you are aware of those Ten Bodies, and you keep them in balance, the whole universe will be in balance with you.” ~ Yogi Bhajan THE TEN BODIES 1st Soul Body 2nd Negative Mind 3rd Positive Mind 4th Neutral Mind 5th Physical Body 6th Arcline 7th Aura 8th Pranic Body 9th Subtle Body 10th Radiant Body WHAT ARE THE TEN BODIES? You can visualise your various bodies as layers of clothing, the physical body being the overcoat you wear for a lifetime. We know we have a physical body; we can see it, touch it, and feel it. We also have other bodies that are equally real, if not more so. The human body is made up of ten bodies: the physical body, three mental bodies, and six energy bodies. Each of the ten bodies is significantly interactive with the others. Kundalini yoga moves energy through the body by using the pranic force facilitated by the breath. This strengthens the aura and the arcline. Changes to the arcline affects the soul and subtle body. These changes improve the way we think and perceive life. In short, through the practice of Kundalini Yoga we aim to balance the ten bodies. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEN BODIES First Body: Soul Body The part in you connected to the Infinite. Your inner infinity. Humility, Creativity. Key Phrase: “Heart over Head.” When balanced: Come from a place of great humility, relax in to the flow of universal energy and use it to create beauty. If weak: Come from the head instead of heart; feel stuck, not able to access...
by admin | Nov 8, 2012 | Uncategorized
I describe a crystal singing bowl sound healing as something like an internal massage, working at a deep energetic level to deeply relax, so both emotional and physical healing can occur. I’d like to describe a little bit about what happens for me in a crystal singing bowl session and how I experience the playing out of the process that takes place. Yesterday I played my bowls for a client who was struggling with a high level of stress. The anxiety that came with the stress was making him feel seriously ungrounded and detached. He said he felt uncomfortable in his body and the simplest decision was beyond his ability to make! His head felt tight and tense. He was unsure even if he could be still enough to lie down and receive the bowls, but was hoping for the best. For the session he lay down comfortably next to seven of my crystal singing bowls. I have seven bowls that are tuned in to a frequency that resonates with the seven chakras. Chakras are energy centres within the body that relate to specific physical and energetic symptoms and/or experiences. I sat in the middle of the crystal singing bowls and emptied my mind. Allowing intuition and a certain clairsentience to lead the playing. Clairsentience is ‘knowing’ by feeling. That’s mainly my point of reference for intuition – is how things feel. I often pick up on what’s happening for my client by tuning into to what I feel in relation to the clients experience. Each time I play the bowls I’m unsure of what will happen or what...
by admin | Nov 3, 2012 | Uncategorized
What is creativity? It’s intuitive, sometimes illogical. The creative space is that space entered where I’m not sure where it will go. It’s open, with possibilities. A flow that I move into inspired by a knowing, some kind of faith that the direction I’m moving in is where I need to go to find something out. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” describes the outcomes of some wide ranging research he undertook to discover what makes people happy. He found that people felt most elevated while they were in what he refers to as a state of flow. A state of being immersed in a ‘rewarding pursuit’, the pursuit being challenging, but not too challenging so it causes stress. Rather, it encourages focus and that internal space we enter when we’re focused. That creative space. He also talks about how this state is one that is often missed out on in our society. He puts forward the idea that we move through our day out of touch with a sense of what’s really happening in our bodies and with our emotions. We bounce between two extremes – feeling anxious and pressured by obligations during the workday and then feeling passive and bored in moments of leisure. He proposes we challenge this way of existing. I am a passionate knitter. I love wool – the texture and the colours. It inspires me. The smell reminds of a sheep, an animal, it breathes and provides warmth. When I knit I just like to knit, without a pattern. For me that’s all I want from knitting. To...
by admin | Oct 28, 2012 | Uncategorized
We rely so much on our vision to direct us in life. Because vision is so dominant in all that we do, the other senses of sound, touch and smell fall to the wayside, meaning we miss out on a lot that goes unnoticed while our vision dominates. A great way to alter our perception and heighten our less utilised senses is to simply DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. I used to take myself off to the park of an afternoon now and then. I’d choose a wide-open space, put my headphones on and turn my music up, close my eyes and run as fast as I could without opening them. It was thrilling, scary, and the purpose was to challenge my perception of things. At the time I was suffering from some fairly dark days in my life and this was a part of moving me through my depression to reach a point of feeling invigorated and momentarily alive. Sure, it wasn’t until I addressed the real reasons behind my depression that things shifted more permanently, but it certainly helped me until I found a way to do that. I have explored this idea of shifting consciousness via the senses quite a bit in my life. As a facilitator of Creative Arts Therapy workshops, I use multi-modal methods of self-enquiry; this might include movement, sound, voice, writing or visual art. I found for myself, and often for the people I have worked with since using this method, that the most effective modality is the one most unfamiliar to the user. The reason for this is simply that they are using...
