Natural Health Therapist Denmark
Getting out the gate to face the day on a chilly cold morning in winter is a challenge. Following are some wake up and move tunes to warm your soul. Hope you enjoy the musical tune up.
Thank you to these musical artists for warming our ears:
I am a farmers daughter that remembers the work involved in seeding, fertilising and harvesting. In my work the “crop” is of the human kind, that may be in the same soil but growth varies. What supports our personal growth?
Insights can be gained from positive psychology. Positive psychology according to the International Positive Psychology Association (2009) :
“is the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive”
In celebration of World yoga day on 21 June this blog is a reflection on the Gurus who teach me even when my mind / body/ soul resists. Guru in this context refers to teacher / guide.
BEEP BEEP BEEP Exhale hand reachs for alarm – the first conscious breath of the day, blessed to be able to do this autonomously and automatically. Pranayama conscious awareness of breathing, I take this for granted until I am gasping for air.
Yoga translates to yoke, to unite with the divine bringing a sleepy form to a bright mind engaging with a body to move as my soul wishs.
Feet on earth: My foundation, my sole connection to earth energy. Toes not bound by shoes able to extend find space an arch to hold my weight with a pivoting ankle joint. Pushing down onto the bed with my hands holding my weight first lift of the day. Engaging the core bundha lock to levitate upward.
Tadasana the mountain pose my first asana standing with an erect spine on top of my mountain summit beginning of a new day on my journey. According to Simon Borg Olivier :
“the journey of yoga is to reunite the individual with his or her True Self or true nature, a state of unchanging happiness.” Redirect to rediscover true being atma.
Cindy my dog greets me with her original dog pose stretching her spine.
Throughout the day opportunities present for a quick forward bend while tying shoe laces, triangle in a cue and lotus on a chair at the dinner table. Yoga creeps into your life inadvertently with a shift in perspective as you discover new muscle groups, catch your thought processes and find your breath.
Over 2000 years ago the great sage Patanjali documented the 8 fold path of yoga. Following is how this path is practiced in living.
The most well known stage of the path are the asana or physical poses followed by pranayama breath awareness. Babes lying on their stomach lifting their heads with hands under their shoulders – cobra asana lead by a newborn. Watching a babe coordinate breath, suck, swallow during a feed is an example of pranayama in action. Children show me their new yoga moves named after a space droid.
“You’ve had too much” a call to practice yama restraint as I reach for another delicious dessert my eyes bigger than my stomach.
The reminder postcard from the dentist a niyama in the mail to look at what I should do.
Hand on the volume dial / light switch examples of pratyahara sensory control of my environment and what I seek.
Focusing and concentrating on the job – dharana in progress.
Finally Samadhi the total bliss moments the high of an ecstatic state – remember these.
Thanks to all who have shared a yoga class with me
To my teachers for your patience and guidance
For those moments in the day that remind me of our mind, body, soul connection
Who would have thought my wellness was tied to energy flows in fingers and toes. Jiro Murai made the discovery over 100 years ago creating the Japanese healing art Jin Shin Jyutsu. I am grateful that his gift was brought to the Western world by Mary Burmeister. My life is better for learning the art of Jin Shin Jyutsu. The beauty of this healing modality is that people can do it for themselves with self help flows.
Jin Shin Jyutsu reveals how universal revitalising energy moves down the front of our bodies then up the back. Mary Burmeister (1995p.5) stated:
“The rhythm of this energy cannot be destroyed but abuses to the body knowingly or unknowingly can affect the supply of energy for the proper functioning of our individualized body function energy circulation patterns.”
What is energy?
It is what makes the heart beat, breathing and digestion possible. Just as a car has a battery to transmit energy we to have the battery of life energy source that we can jumper cable.
“Jin Shin Jyutsu is the KNOWING of who, what, where, when, why and how the flow of the battery of life can be revitalised” (M. Burmeister, 1995, p.6)
Self help is not a selfish act, as the one person you can rely on is yourself. Practicing self help supports me to give and receive energy. I hear and have been guilty of saying “when this …. happens I will see to my needs “. We can wait for the perfect moment or make now the time to attend to our self. Simple, self help is placing a hand on one of 26 energy locks and feel the pulsation of energy coming into rhythm. ” Ahh” coming home to my body, tuning in to how I am feeling. Not having to utter a word, focus on breathing out and breathing in. No lycra or studio required – the temple of the body wherever it is holds answers to our projects.
Projects are those unique attitudes and ailments that deplete or misdirect our energy. Some would term this a problem, it does not have the same meaning as it is externally derived, the solution sought from a specialist. What if we were not broken merely in transition, coming to terms with a diagnosis or change in lifestyle. Our very own project is known intimately to ourselves, thus we are the expert that learns to accept, challenge and adjust THE PROJECT . Unlike at school there are no marks with these projects. The stars are the aha moments – bolts of earnt insight.
The beauty of Jin Shin Jyutsu is that there are no set rules. You custom build this art according to your convenience. Daily application of sequences accomplish results and develop patience. The first self help I learnt was the Main Central Vertical Harmonizing Energy flow. Long name for an energising flow that would warm up my body in the morning and clean it up in the evening. I would lie in bed with right hand on top of my head and left hand rest between my eyebrows ( or monobrow). Scattered energy would centralise, breathing slow down, pulses coordinate and the attitudes that overwhelmed me would ease. The 6 steps in this flow I would do in my time.
Self Help answers life’s questions.
Who? – You are the one to help yourself
What? – Jin Shin Jyutsu a healing art not a martial art
Where? – anywhere
When? – anytime
Why?- because you have the answers within and you are worth it
How? – with patience and acceptance
Jin Shin Jyutsu can be learnt by reading a book, attending a class and experiencing a session.
Refer to www.jsjinc.net to find practitioners and class schedule
Thankyou to my teachers Ricky Coates, Jen Taylor, Maria Miniello, Jennifer Holmes, Wayne Hackett, Cynthia Broshard, Sara Hooper, Anita Willoughby, Ian Harris, Carlos Gutteres, Iole Lebensztajn and the JSJ community of students I have been privileged to share the art with.
Thankyou Cindy for photo bombing and letting me do canine JSJ
Burmeister, M (1995) Introducing Jin Shin Jyutsu Book 1, Jin Shin Jyutsu Inc, Scottsdale, U.S.A
Autumn to Winter leaves turning from vibrant green to darkened hues of orange and brown, signs of the cycle of life. Sadness would come to me with the lessening of light and warmth, until a mother described how she loved to birth at this time. She reminded me that this time is an opportunity to look at what I have as fleeting as that it is and to explore new possibilities. Looking for signs of life.
In the dark of night they come the…
Looking beyond the foliage you will find…
Evidence of their simple homes minus bathroom, kitchen, cinema room. Luxurious grass to lie on while watching the stars is a key feature. With an open air…
Dining area. Laid out with freshly gathered produce.
Wild things come together in cool nights to dance around the fire.
Then they creep away through the wetlands..
Back to hiding.
In their Secret Garden.
As you walk in your local wetland or bush you may see signs of life of the Wild things.
In celebration of the wild inside you keep these spaces safe and sacred. So you too can be part of the …
Thank you to all that maintain and protect our Open spaces
Busy busy like ants we be: rushing, working, gathering supplies, feeding and caring for family. Operating in flight or fright – sympathetic nervous system mode pumped with cortisol, adrenalin and noradrenaline. Then along comes a circuit breaker moment prompted by a turn in life’s routine.
A circuit breaker is an automatic switch that stops the flow of electric current in a suddenly overloaded or otherwise abnormally stressed electric current. This is how an electrician describes a circuit breaker. I have taken liberty to extend the description to apply it to people. There being an internal circuit and an external circuit breaker.
“It’s going to be the most physically, mentally, exhausting thing you can do.” My week of mentoring began with all of us metamorphing from the caterpillar to mush …. flying out as butterflies.
Stretching ourselves beyond the comfort zone, far from the self help / coaching book pages. Mentors were encouraged to hold the space for attendants to grow and challenged to extend there personal growth. As days progressed we saw how our growth rippled to the groups we worked in.