Sound Healing

                               Sound Healing

As people look for answers to our modern day issues many ancient healing modalities are making a resurgence. Those wanting to Raise their vibrational frequencies, optimize emotional and physical wellbeing, and heighten their consciousness are turning to alternative therapies that are gaining momentum. Sound healing is one of them.

Humans have known for thousands of years that sound and vibration are one of the most powerful tools in existence for healing. Long before modern science, medicine people and healers used sound to induce deep, meditative states and trigger the natural healing process.

Many cultures have used music and singing to heal the body and spirit since ancient times. Ancient Egyptians, Native American tribes, ancient Indian cultures and our very own Australian Aboriginal people believed certain sounds had healing powers to treat illness.

So what is sound healing?

Sound healing is the use of specific instruments, music, tones, and other vibrations to balance and heal the body, mind, and spirit. It involves using specialized sound frequencies to create a therapeutic atmosphere to promote deep rest, nervous system rebalancing, and emotional release.

These days sound healing journeys tend to integrate instruments which originate from the Eastern meditation practices with the shamanic traditions and more. Some common instruments include Tibetan singing bowls, crystal bowls, native American flutes, gongs, handpans, rattles, drums, harmoniums, bells, chimes, tuning forks, rain sticks and the human voice.

A sound therapy session is usually experienced while lying down or comfortably seated. The sounds and vibrations wash over you and through you, which is why it is sometimes called a sound bath. The frequencies are also know to clear the space you are in of any negative energy.

How does it work?

When we experience stress, illness, injury, or emotional trauma, our subtle body becomes depleted of vital life force energy - our immune system weakens, making us susceptible to disease. Our bodies innate ability to heal ourselves is naturally diminished. Sound therapy uses the power of sound to restore balance to the body’s energy fields.

Sound healing works on so many levels. On a basic level, and one reason they are so good for people new to meditation is that by simply focusing on the soothing sounds of the instruments and vibrations around us rather than on our thoughts, we relax deeply and release stress, anxiety, and tension. Ideally, a hypnotic, meditative or theta brainwave state is created which allows access to deeper levels of inner wisdom and healing.

On a physical level, the sound waves interact with the water in our bodies, our organs, our cells, our DNA – shifting, clearing and cleansing as they vibrate through. Findings suggest that the brain switches off the prefrontal cortex, deactivating the language centre, and temporarily switches from left to right-sided dominance, that is responsible for intuition, creativity, holistic processing, inducing a state of meditation or trance and inducing higher states of consciousness.

On an energy level, the sound wave vibrations shift and balance energy within our chakra system aiding the intelligence of our bodies to feel, heal, relax and release that which is not serving our highest health and wellbeing. The vibrations and at times the instruments being placed directly on the body can stimulate acupuncture points, trigger points, and/or areas of discomfort. These points are connected to meridians and chakras throughout the body, which means they affect the entire system. By stimulating these points with high-frequency sound waves, the practitioner aims to release blockages and restore harmony within the body.

A sound healing session requires nothing but your presence to be fully experienced, but it is one of those things that must be experienced in order to even start to grasp the potency. Each sound healing session is different. Sometimes you lay still for the entire session which can extend up to one hour. While others encourages deep breathing and may include meditation prompts and visualization exercises. I personally, integrate the ancient wisdom and modern science with intuitive guidance to create a beautiful experience that carries you away in a magical and mesmerising healing journey.

What are the Benefits?

The benefits of sound healing run deep and depend on the style experienced, the instruments used and the practitioners unique expertise, healing both mental and physical ailments. It is a very effective form of alternative medicine because it works directly on the body’s energy field and chakras rather than just on the body itself. When the energy body is healthy and balanced, its own natural healing abilities are enhanced.

The specific frequencies of sound waves used in a sound healing can target the brain and nervous system – increasing feel good chemicals (endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and norepinephrine) hence help us out of fight or flight response, reduce blood pressure and heart rate and inducing deep states of relaxation. Sound healing can also improve sleep, aid in pain relief, increased energy, improved mental clarity, increased creativity and boost the immune system.

On top of all that, the deep meditative and trance like states reached can elevate ones consciousness, allow one access to higher self or communication with guides or higher realms gaining clarity or insight.

Regular clients of mine are often in wonder at how different each experience is and often comment that they feel lighter, calm, grateful and energised within. Some get insights or messages, while others feel they are visited by loved ones passed over. I like to believe you get what you needed and whether you are conscious of the benefits you received or not… your body, mind and spirit received the frequencies… and you have up-leveled your SELF while chilling out to beautiful and mesmerising sounds. Simply being present is all that is required.

Simple ways to incorporate sound into your everyday

Not everyone can get to a regular sound event but we can all incorporate some simple sound therapy into our daily lives with ease. Here are some things to try:

·      Play music – While you clean the house, drive or drink a cup of tea. We all know how music can lift our vibe in just moments. This is real and more profound than you may think – on the body, mind and spirit.

·      Find some binaural beats – Taking music to the next level. Designed to induce brainwave states that allow us to enter a trancelike state where we can access altered states of consciousness.

·      Singing – By yourself or try chanting or kirtan with a group. Kirtan is a powerful tool for cultivating mindfulness, concentration, and compassion. In addition to being a wonderful meditative experience, kirtan is also a great way to connect with a spiritual community and the divine.

·      Get out an instrument or make a makeshift drum and strike up a rhythm. Get creative and play. Play and rhythm can drop you into a meditative type state and induce many of the benefits.

·      Gift yourself or family members with a true gift from the heart – and purchase something that appeals to you. Like a Tibetan or crystal bowl, drum, tuning forks or flute.

·      Vocal toning – play with making sounds like vowels. Setting an intension and adding toning along with a crystal bowl can be powerful to clear a space or promote healing.

·      Hum – Yes, try humming. Believe it or not, humming can be a powerful psychospiritual healing tool. It not only improves stress levels, sleep and blood pressure, it increases lymphatic circulation and melatonin production, releases endorphins and creates new neural pathways in the brain….. So start humming.

Raising your frequency and staying joyful despite what you see and experience around you is sometimes tricky, especially in these times. Sound Healing, with the profound healing capabilities that certain vibrational frequencies can provide, has many positive effects on your physical, emotional, and spiritual being.

While many believe in the powerful healing effects sound can have on your entire system, activating heart-brain coherence and raising your own vibration…. Imagine if this could in fact raise the vibration of the collective – the entire planet – touching the hearts and easing suffering all around the world… and to mother earth herself.

Taking small steps to incorporate more sound into your life is easy.

Enjoy your journey.

Building a Better SELF This AUTUMN

Working WITH the SELF and the SEASON

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this time of year correlates with the lung and large intestine channels that run though the chest and arms. and are associated with sadness and grief and letting go. Use this time of transition and transformation during Autumn to create a greater ease in your ability to balance taking in and letting go – as is represented in the lungs and the large intestine.

Like the trees in autumn, as they start to draw their energy inward and their leaves change colour as they prepare to release what no longer serves them for the winter, so too we as humans can bring nourishment back within, and let go of what no longer serves us. This is a beautiful time to check in with self and ask the question, What does a ‘better self’ look like? With the end of this cycle, we too can turn inward and release the comings and goings of life.

“Devotion to self and doing for yourself first will give you the drive to achieve your goals and fulfil your purpose.” Annette Noontil

Reassess and re-set your goals after turning inward and seeing what it is that you really want. Remember you have potential to achieve and be successful. Keep your goals in mind and go for it one step at a time. Regardless of what ‘better’ is to you right now, thinking and moving with loving kindness and building a regular yoga practice can be the key here. Gaining the ability to tune into what you need in that moment has many advantages and is well worth practicing.

To get to this point, many of us need to build into and sustain a regular practice, through many ups and downs and keen moments filled with motivation and others with great gaps between our practice stints. This is all okay. It may take years but the key is to continually come back. Coming back to rediscover what works for you right now.

When yoga becomes your happy place, your reward and something you look forward to, it becomes easy to make happen. When you integrate what you learn on your mat into your every day life, when you truly see the value and impact yoga can have on your life, your practice becomes sacred. Like a life giving force. Something you value so much, you put it first. At this point, choosing and doing the aspect of yoga you want or need, becomes second nature. It becomes true medicine to both your physical and mental health.

Find an aspect or type or stage (limb) of yoga that you like, that suits you and work on that. One that you do feel like doing. There is always something. From there you will grow. Work within your likes to some extent. Work with what is easy to ‘take in’ or do. As you feel any resistance - resistance to change, resistance to new things, resistance to ideals or belief systems you hold, resistance to hard work, resistance to facing your fears - become aware of this. Be gentle with yourself. Don’t give up when things get tough, learn and become aware of what is limiting you in that moment and perhaps change your goal. Gradually, the gaps between your regular practice become smaller and less frequent. As you move through challenges you are growing more than you know.

As you build the strength on one side of your leg or shoulder, you gain flexibility on the other, as you fail and fall, you learn that it’s not the failing that matters, as you strengthen your core, you strengthen your self esteem and empower yourself to make better decisions as you connect and strengthen your solar plexus region. As your physical journey continues, so does your mental and emotional one. One leads the other as they work together… and eventually you may feel interested in growth on a spiritual level.

Here an emotional strength and resilience develops like no other. Balancing loving kindness and discipline becomes easier. Becoming aware of when you are copping out, letting old patterns creep back in or being lazy… and when you actually need the break or have an excuse good enough that is worth losing what you gain when you practice.

May your yoga practice assist you in creating greater balance and ease this Autumn so that you tap into and develop your best self – releasing what is no longer serving you. Practice with loving kindness and remember that regular conscious deepening and slowing the breath helps to relax the nervous system and communicate to your body that you are safe. Change, sadness, grief, and letting go can be connected with emotions of the heart. By stimulating the lung and heart channels, we encourage these emotions to be processed and released, preventing any stagnations of energy due to suppressing or holding onto emotions. Maintain slow deep breathing allows any emotions to be released without attachment.

Honour what is released with a sense of compassion. As we let go, we create space for growth. By turning inward we create rest and relief physically, emotionally and mentally. As we face challenges and changes in life and when we let things go, we may encounter resistance. The neck, shoulders and hips are the most common areas we hold tension and stress.

Through our practice, may we invite openness to encourage us to move forward with clarity.

Welcome in feelings of being ready to change with an open mind and heart.

Making Kombucha

                                Making Your Own Kombucha

Making your own Kombucha is easier than you might think. It does take a little trial and error to get it just the way you like it but it really is quite easy. If you can make a big batch of strong and sugary tea… you should be right.

What you will need:

8 bags of tea (Organic)

1 cup sugar (Raw sugar)

2 cups starter tea *

3.5 litres water (1 gallon = 14 cups)

Scoby (not necessary but makes the process quicker)

Glass Jar (1 gallon is good & common)

Cotton cloth or paper towel

Elastic or string

Funnel, plate & knife

* Starter Tea = liquid/kombucha saved from the last batch of kombucha or store-bought kombucha (unpasteurized, neutral-flavoured)

SCOBY = Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast = The floating thing in the top of a kombucha bottle.

Don’t have a scoby? If you don’t have a scoby, you can get one off a friend (ask on facebook community) or buy one off the internet and it can be sent in the mail. Or you can generally create your own with just a bottle of good quality, unadulterated kombucha. Proceed as per instructions. Using Kombucha and tea mix. A scoby will form. Leave the first batch till it is well over done. Throw out the first batch and you are ready to go with a scoby in your bottle.

How To Clean

Cleaning everything you use to do with the tea and scoby is important for the health of your scoby and production of good kombucha.

To clean jar, hands, plate, funnel, knife or any stirring implement - use hot water and vinegar instead of antibacterial soap. Things must be sterile but not contain any soapy residue (especially antibacterial stuff as this may harm your scoby).

A scoby is like the cells in your body. Everything it absorbs will stay in the cells and affect its health and how it functions.

How to make a batch of Kombucha

Step 1

Make the sugary tea

Bring enough water to a boil to fill your bottle. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Drop in the tea (bags or loose leaf) and allow it to steep. You can pull bags out at desired time or leave until the water has cooled.

Cooling can take a few hours. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath.

Step 2

Transfer to jar and add the scoby

Once the tea is cool  (or tepid, not hot), stir in the starter tea or add to your previously used jar with remaining kombucha from the last batch.

The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation. The scoby which grows to the edges of your bottle creates its own organic seal to help prevent germs getting in, as does the cloth.

Gently slide the scoby into the jar with clean hands.

Cover the mouth of the jar with a cloth or paper towels secured with a rubber band

Step 3

Ferment for 7 to 10 days

Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won’t get jostled. Ferment for 7 to 10 days, checking the kombucha and the scoby periodically.

When is it ready?

After seven days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by using a straw to poke down the side of the scoby or by pouring a little into a cup. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle.

It is usual for the scoby to float at the top, but it is not unusually for it to sink or even float sideways during fermentation. A new cream-colored layer of scoby should start forming on the surface of the kombucha within a few days. It usually attaches to the old scoby, but it’s ok if they separate. You may also see brown stringy bits floating beneath the scoby, sediment collecting at the bottom, and bubbles collecting around the scoby. This is all normal and signs of healthy fermentation.

Fermentations tend to happen quicker if your scoby is thick or the temperature of the day is hotter.

Step 4

Bottle the kombucha

When the kombucha tastes good to you, it’s ready to be bottled.

Before proceeding, prepare and cool another pot of strong sugary tea for your next batch of kombucha, as outlined above.

With clean hands, gently lift the scoby out of the kombucha and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer (the oldest layer) if the scoby is getting very thick. (See notes below)

Pour the fermented kombucha (straining, if desired) into bottles using a funnel. Leave about a half inch of air space in each bottle.

Be sure to save some kombucha for your starter tea for your next batch. Set it aside.

Step 5

Flavour your Kombucha

Here is your chance to add any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavouring. Don’t add flavour to your original fermentation jar.

Step 6

Carbonate and refrigerate the finished kombucha

Store the bottled kombucha at room-temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 3 days for the kombucha to carbonate. This is sometimes called the second ferment. It is very rare that a bottle explodes from the pressure but it is possible.

Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month.

Step 7

Set up your new batch of kombucha

Clean the jar being used for kombucha fermentation (periodically). Combine the starter tea from your last batch of kombucha with the fresh batch of sugary tea in the fermentation jar. Slide the scoby on top, cover, and ferment for 7 to 10 days.

Maintaining your scoby

A thick scoby is a sign of health and vitality. The right strength of tea helps here. However, a scoby that is too thick can take up too much space and even ferment the sweet tea too quickly and may result is prematurely soured brews which lack depth of flavour and contain fewer probiotics.

To split a scoby that is getting too thick. Depending on the bottle size you are using, ½ inch is good. Over an inch is getting ready to split. You may be able to simply pull apart your scoby if it has a separated layer but don’t pull and rip it too much if it doesn’t let go readily. If this is the case, simply use a clean knife to cut it horizontally.

This is a great chance to share with a friend.

Trouble Shooting

·   If your scoby looks unwell or develops mould or black colouring, it may be time to get a new one going.

·   If your kombucha starts to taste funny, simply throw that batch out and set up another batch with the same scoby. It will either get better or worse. It is super rare for anyone to ever get sick from kombucha gone bad. So use your judgement or ask a friend.

·   For picky family members, pour the kombucha early, so that it has a little higher sugar content still and less tang or vinegary flavour.

·   Don’t have time : Going on holidays? – Put your fresh batch of kombucha, scoby and all, in the fridge. This will slow fermenation, bide you time and keep your scoby happy.

While a healthy scoby’s produces a better quality Kombucha, they are pretty hardy. It is a bit of trial and error to get it just right but most brews are good enough to drink with heaps of qualities that are good for your gut. And if all else fails, start over again.

Plain back tea seems to work best. Once your scoby is up and running, you can try green tea or oolong tea but some have a high oil content so are best to avoid.  Organic teas are best as you want to limit fermenting any toxins or pesticides etc.

If you havn’t been drinking kombucha regularly, maybe start with ½ cup just to let the gut settle on this. After this, there is really never too much. However, it can contain a small amount of alcohol.

A ceramic or glass jar can be used. Just avoid prolonged contact with metal.

Many people feel a difference within a few days of an uplift in energy or health.

A google search will find endless benefits of Kombucha.

Enjoy creating your own great tasting and super nourishing Kombucha.

Discovering Your YIN-NER Beauty

How many of us feel beautiful these days?

Who has time for feeling beautiful?

 Men and women alike are feeling the pressure of living in our yang-based society. Working hard and long hours looking for security and success in a good income. Often not allowing time to explore our creative energy or find emotional outlets. Luckily, being stressed, depressed, anxious, sad or vulnerable is becoming more socially acceptable, as we are starting to understand that this is becoming a real problem. Turning to temporary escapes, like alcohol consumption or drug taking , (or consuming too much food in general – take a look at our obesity rates), or even technology is a way of seeking relief from these intense pressures. To some people, drinking beer or wine in the evening or consuming coffee to get themselves going in the morning, has become a totally socially acceptable way of masking just how much we are NOT coping with the riggers of our daily lives.  

Regardless of where you fall on the continuum of coping or not coping, or feeling beautiful or not feeling beautiful at all… it is well worth taking a look at the balance of yin and yang in your life. 

Many of us, in these times, are more in tune with our masculine energy. When our masculine energy outways our feminine energy, we may tend to think and plan and be action oriented. We yearn for structure, logic, organisation and being functional. We move from task to task, with little indulgence into self love or nurturing ourselves (or others) or even taking time out. In the workplace, we experience success through being efficient, making deadlines, or more money, rather than supporting the people along our way. One may feel guilty when there is a need to rest deeply, perhaps ignoring our physical or emotional request to sleep or take time out. To the extreme, we may suffer competitiveness with others, stress or depression, even adrenal fatigue, all while constantly seeking ways to prove that we are happy and ‘on top of things’.

Many of us have these highly developed yang qualities, and these are great for getting things done… but eventually it may take its toll. Creating rituals and behaviours in our life that honour both our yin and yang qualities can bring about profound changes and induce deep connection to our heart and soul.

Then how do we create balance? Often, we don’t necessarily have to tone down our yang qualities, it may be that we can raise the yin or feminine qualities, to meet our powerful yang energy. The feminine energy encourages us, or allows us, to feel softness, surrender, creativity, ease and flow. When we tune into our feminine energy, we learn to trust our intuition, our gut feelings, and allow ourselves to go with the flow - To rest when we need it and take time out to check in with our self and our loved ones. Decisions and choices become easier to make as we trust our intuition and encourage creating awareness of the need to remove ourselves from the ‘busy’ grind that life can become.

Someone more in touch with their feminine side, or inner goddess, is not afraid to adorn themselves with beautiful trinkets and clothes and allowing oneself to truly shine their own unique beauty. One becomes more likely to surrender and accept what is. This doesn’t mean that we accept helplessly and become a victim of circumstance – Instead, we choose to start where we are at, in order to move forward with passion, intuition and heart felt connection to goals that align with our true self. To feel comfortable to embrace ones uniqueness and find beauty in this, is to connect with your feminine side. 

 Whether you are female or male or identify with masculine or feminine tendencies, the balance of yin and yang qualities are fundamental to creating balance and harmony in all areas of your life. Trust and have faith that as you find your inner radiance, you will find more and more strength and comfort in your inner beauty, discovering your inner goddess - a beautiful, gentle but powerful energy will envelop you and guide you to places and spaces where you will truly shine.

Be you… no-one can do it better than YOU.

Creating NEW BEGINNINGS

In with the new not out with the old

 

Create change by inviting in the new, instead of spending time and energy trying to get rid of old habits.

Sometimes, if we take things out of our lives, whether they be food, drink, people or any other unhealthy habit, we can experience a void. Often, we realise that something or someone isn’t serving us to our higher good any more, and after what can be a long drawn out relationship with this thing or person, we choose to then remove it from our lives. It is totally understandable that we then feel a void, like there seems to be something missing. Well, there is something missing. The thing you took away or out of your life is missing.  This may create time, loneliness, stress or anxiety at first. And often this is where we can revert to old patterns.

Often we have had this something or someone in our lives for a while, and they or it has filled an emotional need, whether that be stress, attachment, loneliness, neediness or any other emotionally driven desire. We are emotionally driven beings. Then, we get on a health kick or have a health crisis or something similar and we start eliminating things out of our lives but we haven’t actually fixed the reason why we wanted or needed that thing.

For example, you stop buying coffee, but the reason you drank coffee is for your lack of energy. Then, when you don’t have the coffee, you don’t have the caffeine kick… there is a void in your life.  Not only is the social event of getting the coffee missing but the energy hit is missing. You feel slow and lousy and are much more likely to fail your health kick.  

Instead, when you add things into your life, things really start to change.

I know our lives can feel jammed packed sometimes. And fitting one more thing in can seem almost impossible. Well, start small.

When you  start to think about the things you want in your life - Don’t listen to your internal talk around the excuses as to why you can’t have it. Now that can be hard work and not very useful.

Start making small changes by doing new things. If you are stuck with where to start… one way to get started is to get out a piece of paper and a pen and write a 100 dreams list. Write 100 things you want to do, want to be, want to see, want to have, people you want to meet or hang with. Write how you want to feel, dress or what you’d love to eat or even study.

No matter what your budget, and what excuses you are carrying - getting started is the key. This is the important part. And no matter what happens and how things pan out… just keep starting. Start by introducing even one small element of what it is that you desire.

Now not many people can create a tropical garden oasis in their back yard in a day but almost everyone could get a cutting off a friend or neighbour and plant it in a day. Not everyone could convert into an organic eating vegan in one day but almost everyone could eat an extra piece of fruit in one day.  You could walk down the street. You could call an old (or new) friend. You could have that bath or smell that essential oil. You could take yourself through a few yoga stretches. You could search up a meditation or some breath work techniques. You could play some energising music. You can do something. You can start!

Instead of kicking the coffee… do a meditation before you go to bed, as it may relieve stress and allow a better quality sleep and hence for energy. Wake up to lemon juice in your water.  Go for a walk. Breathe. Add in some nutritious fresh fruit or veggies to your diet. Drink more water.  Join a yoga class. Eat mindfully.  All these things can enhance your vital energy and help to make better choices and create more options.

However small it may feel – it is crucial to just start. This then sets off all kinds of responses in the body, mind and heart. From here it is onward and upward. One thing leads to another. And before you know it, bad habits melt away. Through introducing the new, you create the energy, the health, the momentum to create bigger changes than you could ever imagine.

You may even find that coffee becomes ‘not so necessary’, as your own natural energy levels rise. You don’t need to mask your mood or attitude with caffeine. We generally drink alcohol for a reason, maintain dysfunctional relationships for reasons we sometimes do not understand – filling the void once removed or discovering the real reason can be avoided by simply starting to add new things in. The new things grow and gently push the old habits, desires or needs away.  Not suppress them but free them – let them go.

Coming from a place of abundance and success, instead of lack and loss – you can slowly but surely move towards a happier healthier life more easily.

Going Beyond Asana

 How can we use asanas to discover what we believe about oneself, find that which is holding us back and become what we are capable of? How can we lift the lid of our own limitations to create greater happiness and freedom? Through movement, we can discover our self! 

Yoga can be amazing for developing a strong core and safe mobility… but if you are prepared to take the journey… you can create more than you may ever have believed possible. If you have practiced yoga for years or even weeks, no doubt you have experienced this already. If you have not yet developed a consistent yoga practice, or perhaps not yet found the teacher or style of yoga that resonates with you, then get excited. Get excited at the potential that yoga holds for you.

As we practice yoga, we practice finding our edge in a safe environment - Playing with what comes up as we near the limits of our comfort circle. Whether that edge be physically (with our flexibility and strength), mentally (with what we believe we can or can’t do) or emotionally (with what we feel, let surface or are ready to accept). While we prop and balance our bodies in a yoga posture, we practice much more than just extending our flexibility. We start noticing what comes up. We notice our strain and effort, we notice our breathe, we notice our emotions as they arise, we start to notice the thoughts that come and go… and we develop the ability to separate ourselves from these thoughts, emotions and effort. We start to drop into a space where things that once worried us, don’t seem so important anymore. Where we are less judgemental, where our intuition speaks to us, where we just be.

As we accept and let go of our self imposed expectations and what we ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be able to do… we really start to go deeper and find another whole new level to our practice.

Our reasons for doing yoga can totally transcend any idea of what we believed yoga was. As physical strength is intertwined with our mental and emotional body – as we develop one, the other too is lifted. As flexibility is intertwined with stored old emotions, trauma or beliefs, and also with the energy flow through our bodies.  As we free up one, we affect and nourish the other.

As we learn to accept and breathe and work through our asanas with true balance, we dissolve issues from our past that have lodged within and hence cause a greater mobility and freedom. As energy flows better, our muscles work together in synergy creating support and more efficient movements. With this, we develop trust. As we develop and trust our OWN muscular system to support our bones and joints and movements, this on a very basic physiological level, in turn develops flexibility but it also ignites our solar plexus chakra. This chakra burns bright with inner strength and confidence, building self belief, passion and inspiration to follow our heart and develop our intuition, making decisions easier and creating greater freedom both on and off the mat.

If we choose to soften and start to accept the lessons of yoga, we are more likely to experience the blissful state of emotions that a yoga practice offers. This trust within our self extends into the trust in something greater than us – trust in the ancient philosophy of yoga.

In this place we are more likely to face our fears, move through discomfort and truly experience trust. As we find that balance between grace and grit in our postures, we learn what discomfort is and what pain is. We learn to sit with discomfort, to even welcome discomfort, as we start to learn and trust that often with discomfort, whether that be physical, mental or emotional, comes growth. We practice watching thoughts and emotions surface, allowing emotions and even pain to surface, we practice not attaching to these but instead letting them pass. This is where true healing occurs. ‘Healing’ is often a lot less dramatic than we may first think. We can all contribute to our own healing quite easily. We don’t have to feel broken to benefit from this kind of healing.

Through a simple regular practice, we can create massive transformational changes. It’s like what ever you are looking for or open to, will come your way. Whether your goal is strength or flexibility or you have your sights set on attaining oneness, inner peace or samadi (sustained bliss)… physical asanas can be your tool or bridge towards achieving these goals. And with practice our goals organically change and grow. We continue to peel off limiting beliefs – allowing glimpses of greater and more fantastic possibilities.

Yoga can be like taking an adventure of getting to know yourself.  Where transformation and healing can spontaneously happen as a result.  Where stepping on the mat, allows a most beautiful journey to unfold.

Practice to decrease pain – Create inner peace!

Practice for flexibility – Create inspiration!

Practice for core strength – Create dreams!

Practice to escape a busy brain – and find your true self!

Balance & Harmony Through Yoga

Balance & Harmony Through Yoga 

Inviting Balance & Harmony into your life

In our busy lives, with our minds working overtime to think, sort and organize everything into our often time poor schedules, creating space to practice slowing down and touching base with quietness is rare but so very important. It is here where we create awareness of just where we are at. It is here where we delve below the surface to check in with how we really feel. It is here where we can truly nourish oneself – creating balance and allowing harmony to not only reside within but to flow.

Our yoga practice is a beautiful place to practice creating more balance and harmony in our lives. As we leave to world behind and dive whole heartedly into our practice, we create this movement mediation type state. Where, when you move with intention, the benefits of your practice are enhanced. Catching moments of silence, creating the space where we can really just BE.

There is a yoga for everyone

We are so fortunate living in our demographic area, as there are many types of yoga on offer. From hatha based asana classes to sound healing meditations, from yin yoga classes to aerial yoga, from kirtan (singing), chanting, dancing and devotional practice to iyengar and power yoga – and everything in between and to the extreme. The options are literally endless.  Then, of course, you can practice at home in your own space and time. Whether you are physically able or that way inclined – there is a yoga for you – everyone can use yoga to create health and happiness.

The trend of action based, asana classes focusing on the physical poses, developing flexibility and strength are only the tip of the iceberg to what is available in terms of yoga. It is well worth seeking out a few options as each and every person has different needs and wants. If we keep growing and searching for practices that really resonates with us, we are truly serving ourself , our family, the wider community and possibly the entire universe. WOW!

How Physical Balance can bring harmony to your body, mind and spirit

The body is truly a magical vehicle. As we learn what it means, and practice what it takes to bring balance to our physical body, we allow it to function optimally, as it was designed. With this balance, we find creating clarity of mind, radiant energy, gratitude, connection to self, compassion and loving kindness, becomes a natural progression. Improving the health of the physical becomes easier as our mindset and attitudes adjust and change. Trying to create change with an old mindset can feel like hard work. With yoga on your side, working on the combination of body, mind and spirit simultaneously, your chances for growth and change are certain.

What is physical balance?

As we know, true balance in the physical body is not just about standing on one leg. It depends not only on our quality of MOVEMENT – our mobility, core strength and muscle tone but on many other aspects including FOOD - supporting our bodies with the right vitamins, minerals and nutrients, as well as cleansing and detoxing. These intern support our ORGANS - creating strength and efficiency in our organs and systems in order to function optimally for us (ie deliver nutrient rich blood to our cells). And lastly, and some would believe most importantly, our physical body depends on a more SUBTLE ENERGY - our thoughts and feelings, our breathing and energy (or prana). These are perhaps more subtle but very powerful factors in creating ultimate balance and harmony within our physical body and bridging the gap to a more spiritually enlightened self. All this fits in and interconnects with the yogic pathway and into Pantajali’s 8 limbs of yoga.

“It is through alignment of the body

that I discovered the alignment of my mind,

self, and intelligence”

BKS Iyengar

What is yoga?

The excuse I hear most for not being able to do yoga is “I am not flexible enough”. I actually find this heart wrenching to hear as I feel these people have not yet had the precious opportunity to truly understand yoga. They have unfortunately missed the whole concept of what yoga is. It is easy however, to see how people can arrive at such an understanding, with the way the western world predominantly depicts yoga. We have all taken the bait to the hype behind our modern day money making, social media posting yoga industry. We all know the images of long slender human like figures folded or bent into positions that can make the average person feel quite inadequate, or those human pretzels tied up in knots. And while this may sadly prevent some people from ever trying or getting into yoga…. Those that do, soon find a whole new world.

Going beyond the physical practice

Our muscles are designed to work in synergy with each together, in a three dimensional integrated manner. Yoga is more about creating this muscular support to stack and move our bones around and protect our joints from degeneration than creating flexibility without the safety of the fascial network.

Tight muscles are often this way because they aren’t supported. If you build the strength around this muscle and on the opposing side, the tight (perhaps short and overworked) muscle tends to start trusting and hence lengthening. We create this balance that deeply depends on strength and support. Flexibility comes more readily when we create a system that works together, with each muscle able to carry out the job it’s designed to do. I truly believe the flexibility a new comer develops in the first few weeks, is more from the activation and strengthening of their actions than from a new found flexibility on its own.

There is research to show that if you solely desire flexibility, rolling on a foam roller or balls can be more beneficial to lengthen a muscle (or the fascia) than stretching it.

Even the most basic asana based class is about activating muscles and increasing strength as much as it is about flexibility. And while some poses appear to be a show of flexibility, most have a solid foundation in strength, alignment and control. A pose becomes a creative way to take care of every part of the body, allowing us to access often forgotten or taken for granted body parts. A simple pose or exercise becomes an ‘asana’ when we bring a meditative mind to the pose – This is when healing happens.

Transformation through yoga

To transform your body into that body or being that flows from one pose to the next feeling both long and strong and yet soft and graceful, connected to the breath and feeling fearless and vulnerable at the same time – we generally need to progress along the yogic pathway. This goes far beyond the ideals of flexibility and strength of machine like movements. To journey here, we must create awareness around our thoughts, mindset and actions, around our emotions and feelings, fears and delights. Often what is truly holding us back is not our actual physical ability, but our limiting self beliefs, our thoughts and coping mechanism, fears and mental patterns we have set up. As we practice yoga, we move along on many parallel but interconnected continuums, some faster than others, depending on where we are at, what we know and what we are ready to take on board and learn.

This natural progression can occur on the mat, day by day, week by week as you turn up – creating more and more awareness of ingrained patterning and habits. As we peel off the layers that have been layed down through lifes experiences, as we release old patterns in the physical due to injury, emotions, or stuck energy, we allow energy to flow - the mind opens to new perspectives, new ideals, and new goals. We develop new concepts and understanding of why things are the way they are and create true awareness of our actions and emotions – allowing us to come closer to our true self - to who we are under the layers of life, rules, ego, beliefs and coping mechanisms we have learnt. We strengthen our chakras, our muscles, our connection to self as we practice in the safety and support of our studio, and we inevitable take this learning off our mat and transfer it out into our outside world.  

“Your body, mind and soul

were designed to act as one.

Connect the three and you will align

with the life of your dreams”

Roxana Jones.

Creating happiness with yoga

There are many different types of yoga and even within the one type, there are so many variations. One of the beauties of yoga is that each teacher brings with them, their own passions, interests and skills. It is always good practice to try out, and be creative, with different practices – keep your mind open to new (or old) ideas you come across. As you discover all that yoga can be and as your yoga journey continues you will find what resonates with you most. Discovering what yoga and which of the 8 limbs (according to pantajali) that serve you most in your current moment, is well worth the effort. Often we can bounce (or float) between different options and aspects as our needs change as we follow the ebbs and flows of where life takes us.

The 8 limbs are designed in a natural progression towards ‘enlightenment’ or inner peace or a continual state of bliss, which is the ultimate goal or step in yoga. It is intended that if we practice the first six limbs -  Yamas: moral disciplines, Niyamas: positive observances, asanas: posture, pranayama: breathing techniques, pratyahara: sense withdrawal, dharana: focused concentration, then we are gifted with the last two, dhyana: meditative absorption and Samadhi: bliss or enlightenment. But we can pick and choose and take things from here and things from there, the more you know, the more choices you have.  The journey is ours to take however we please. “Yoga isn’t linear. It’s creative. It’s about breath. It’s about alignment. Yoga is meditation: stilling the waves of the mind, opening the heart and learning to be brave and humourful in the face of life’s inevitable obstacles” Waylon Lewis.

The ultimate goal of yoga - Balance and Harmony around the World

One of the ultimate goals of yoga is for each and every person to create their own balance and harmony within…to find their true self… and with this… live in complete balance and harmony with all that is other across the universe. One of my favourite peace mantras or invocations is “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu” - May all beings be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life somehow contribute to this happiness and freedom for all.

As you practice yoga and bring about balance and harmony to your physical world, you realize that it is not really all about your physical body at all. The process of starting, irrelevant of what yoga you chose, was essential to your journey. Your reason for starting yoga is often different to the reason why you continue yoga. Your reasons continually change as you learn and grow and transform. As your asana practice continues, you realize that it is not how deep or far you go in a particular pose but the importance is in the quality of the movement. This knowing supports and encourages the development of your mental and emotional world. Your true intelligence is enhanced and your energy shifts. As this all bubbles and grows and feeds off each other… you start to notice the flow on effects. Opportunities to create balance and harmony in your outside world – with nature, with relationships, with spirit, with everything other than you – really starts to gain momentum. This is where gratitude wakes you up in morning and inner peace flows from you and living in true harmony is experienced.