Saturday, November 24, 2012

So how goes the goods? dusting off the seed of hope...

Almost there... day 19th out of 21... or perhaps you will be ready to keep the moments of stillness integrated into your life until the end of times...

How is your meditation practice going? Have you been able to find some quiet in midst of our very busy lives? Have you been able to tap into your own source of stillness, where all power, healing, and creation stem from?

Some days are easier than others, even within our meditation practice. Some days I seem to be instantly transported to that place, some days the chatter and the rest of my life seems to offer 'little (or BIG) roadblocks'.. but what can you do... accept accept accept... and keep on showing up...

One day perhaps we might stumble upon our own seed of hope. Hope most likely means something different to all of us, or perhaps it means something different on different days to each of us. To me, hope is the source of unlimited creative potential to be the best possible version of myself I can be to myself and to those around me. On some days, hope means being in radiant vibrant health, or my child's loving embrace at the end of the day. Tonight it means praying for world peace, a few nights ago it meant having peace at the dinner table. Hope is powerful, simple, profound. Hope can be as simple as wishing to create healthier habits in our lives.

Dusting off the seed of hope might just allow us to take action in our lives in the direction of our deepest of heart's desires. So I invite you, to take a breath, or two, and find your seed of hope. Embrace it and allow it to surprise your life with wonder and happiness.

If you have a meditation practice or have recently developed one, or you are still trying to find time, or a place, or the consistancy of showing up.... the fact that we commit to ourselves even just 5 minutes of our day to meditate and find our own seed of hope is a huge step of the process....

Embrace new rituals that bring you peace and witness the joy revolution!

So here is a little early holiday present from me to you...


HEALING ENERGY MEDITATION

Sit in lotus or in a comfortable position.

Close your eyes and take 5 deep breaths, make a letting go sound "aahhhh" as you exhale.

Now take a few more breaths quietly.

Go into the quiet place within you. Bring your awareness to your breath.

If at any point your inner chatter takes over, don't fight it, just keep on coming back to your breath.

Focus your attention on the top of your head.. your crown chakra.

Visualize a beam of healing cosmic golden energy come into your body through the crown chakra. Feel its warmth and radiance come into your body, visualize it coming into your body like water flowing on  a stream.

Cosmic golden energy flows into your whole body. Focus on the FEELING of flow of energy as you scan your body, feel the energy move within. Scan your body from top to bottom. Eventually you will feel energy flow into your head, face, neck, arms, chest..  follow its flow into your lower abdomen, hips, legs, knees, ankles, and feet.

Imagine and feel your whole body being filled with warmth as if a candle was lit within you, reaching to every nook, corner and cell of your body.

Stay in this space as long as you want to.

Slowly become aware of your breath.

Bring your right hand to your lower abdomen and your left hand to your heart. Breath deeply into your lower abdomen, feel the movement of your abdomen with your right hand. Feel your heart beat with your left hand. Express gratitude to yourself and to your life and heart's desires.

Slowly open your eyes and stretch your body.

__
"Plant the seed of meditation and reap the fruit of peace of mind."- 



Thursday, November 1, 2012

Happy 100th post! and Join the free 21 day meditation guided by Deepak Chopra- Starts Nov. 5th.

Happy 100th post! Can you believe it and to celebrate it Deepak Chopra is hosting a free 21 day meditation journey!

Just kidding. Deepak Chopra is holding the free 21 day meditation journey, but it has nothing to do with this blog. I just like to celebrate the occasion of the 100th post with the sharing of the information about the meditation journey.

We have all heard of the wonderful effects that Meditation can have on our lives. We have all perhaps meditated for some time, only to be carried away from it by our daily lives, or perhaps we still show up day in and day out to witness our breath.

Some of the benefits of Meditation are:
"It reduces stress, it lowers blood pressure, it disciplines the mind, cultivates peace, purifies the mind, connects us at a deeper level with our intuition, it induces clarity of vision and thinking, it improves concentration and focus, it improves memory, it organizes our energy field". (Excerpt from the Conscious Living Manual by Shantree Kacera.)

So good, right? So climb aboard the journey to grounded and vibrant health, because really, we must be deeply grounded in earth to reach out for heaven.

Starting on November 5th, Deepak Chopra will be guiding a meditation journey for 21 days. It is a free event, but you must register. The three week process is guided towards a place of authentic abundance consciousness. In nature, it takes 21 days for a caterpillar to become a butterfly, it is a significant number of transformation. Opportunities like these, the gathering of large numbers of people doing something you inspire to do, or perhaps already do, are a great way to find strength in developing the meditation muscle, or perhaps in finding strength in sustaining the meditation practice you already have.

All though I have read several of his books, I have not done any of this workshops, so I will be listening to his guidance during the 21 days along with you. I'm curious, for my meditation practice is a quiet one, bringing my awareness back to the breath, focusing on my body experience. So it will be different for me to have someone guiding the process, but I am open to it's benefits and the growth the process can bring to my and your life.

If this is something that might interest you, sign up! you might be happily surprised. We'll be doing it together!

__
"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It is a way of entering into the quiet that is already there- buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day". - Deepak Chopra

In the cusp of change.. i got the 'pep' talk, and sat down to read my words...

A few days after I wrote my 'Open heart letter about Chellation Therapy', my husband sat me down for the familiar 'pep' talk... man ... I dislike 'pep' talks... necessary at times, I would have to agree, doesn't mean I have to like them... all though I know he is right...

Do you ever have a dream that you can almost taste? Do you ever have a vision of your future self with such clarity you just can't wait? It's just so exciting, so juicy, so fabulous! The time is now, right? But what if now is not quite ready. What if the healing journey needs a little more time, what if kids are still a bit too young, what if there is just too much going on for me to materialize what I see? then, for me, frustration sets in, then the famous 'pep' talk comes back, then I sit at the computer to read my own words to remind me that the right time will come and that really I am at the right place for myself right now. Yes, I am much better, and the vibrancy that I see in my dreams and visions will lead the way to the opening of my heart to guide your heart. The day that I see, will come and the 'pep' talk will transform itself.. (or so I wish :)).

In the meantime... an email from my dear friend and mentor, Caroline Dupont, and the synchronicity of what I had been thinking of sharing with you brings me to the power of herbs and elixirs to REMINERALIZE our bodies... yeap. There is a lot of Remineralization to be done, and many ways to go about it!

Elixirs and Tea Infusions are a fantastic way to gather the essence of the life force of herbs to remineralize ourselves. I have make them and use them as tea, as 'water' to be added to any raw soups, smoothies, elixirs! I sincerely have felt a difference since I started incorporating them into my daily routine. Now there are just so many herbs to use, and so many ways to use them... the key is to soak the herbs in boiled water overnight to "infuse" the water with their powers. The ratio of herbs to boiled water really depends on your body and constitution. For most people, a cup of dried herbs to 4 cups of water seem to be right. For me, well oh well, about a handful of dried herbs per 4 cups of hot water seems to be right. So play with it, and find your ratio and your healing balance.

Tea infusions are also a great way to get to know your herbs. To get you out there, where the wild things are and gather your own, dehydrate them or leave them to naturally dry. So get out there!


TEA INFUSION RECIPE:

1 cup of dried herbs (or a handful)
4 cups of hot water (boiled)
a 1 liter glass jar with a lid or a cheese cloth (Method #1)
or a glass pot with a lid (Method #2)

METHOD #1: place the herbs in the glass jar, pour the hot water, gently move the jar to submerge the dried herbs. If you can place the jar by the window to absorb the moon rays, place a quartz crystal beside it, and why not, use your HADO writing on the jar to maximize it's healing power... I am all about synergy. Dried blossoms are best when infused for a minimum of 2 hrs. Dried herbs are best when infused for a minimum of 4 hrs. Dried roots are best when infused for a minimum of 8 hrs. So to make life simple, make your mix, place it in the jar and let it infuse overnight :).

METHOD #2: place the barks/roots in a glass pot, along with the water and let it gently simmer covered for 20 minutes. Turn off the stove, then let the barks/roots infuse the water overnight. I use this method when I use barks for the infusions. The active ingredients in some of the barks seem to need a more active simmering to be released. (But that really depends on whose words you read.). So use whichever method resonates with you.


TEA INFUSION 

Palo d'Arco (Taheebo tea)/ Cat's Claw/ Horsetail/ Goji berries/ Chaga/ Reishi mushroom

Some of you are familiar with them, some of you are reading these for the first time. Don't worry, they will soon be familiar words in your dictionary too. You are most likely to be able to find them all at your local health food store or online.

Palo d'Arco comes from the inner bark of the Taheebo tree in the South American rainforest. In some places it is known as Taheebo tea. It is known to have powerful antifungal properties and it strengthens the body's immune system. It is known to relieve infections, reduce inflammation, promote digestion, flush toxins from the body, and protects the body against cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

Cat's Claw (Una de Gato) is used traditionally in Peruvian medicine. It is a strong antiviral which works  in synergy with Palo d'Arco to boost the immune system. It is known to aid with digestive issues, and to have powerful anti cancerous and anti-tumor properties.

Horsetail is high in silica, which is vital to the health of hair, skin, and nails. It helps build calcium in the body.

Goji berries is a sweet dark colored fruit. It is a superfood known for its high antioxidant content and its longevity promoting properties, they are believed to protect the liver and the kidneys.

Chaga is a medicinal mushroom that grows in the birch trees in the forest. It is believed to be a strong immunity builder in the our body and to have strong anti-cancerous properties as well. ** If using method #2, add the Chaga after you have turned the stove off, to infuse the water overnight.

Reishi is another medicinal mushroom that builds the body's immunity, has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, is considered in chinese medicine to benefit the liver and heart organs. ** If using method #2, add the Chaga after you have turned the stove off, to infuse the water overnight.

I am currently using a 5 mushroom Blend from Wild Rose, that includes Red Reishi, Cordyceps Mycella, Maitake, Chaga, Coriolus. You can add it to your infusion or simply add the powder to your drink, smoothie, or soup.

So brew them up and drink it up! Make a tea using the above herbs and then use the tea infusion as your 'water base' in everything from a smoothie to a raw soup, to your drinking water for the day. Your body will thank you.

__
"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves- slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future." - Thich Nat Hahn.