tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42217649184532134542024-03-13T23:03:14.190-07:00Lisa Mitchell's BlogLisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-22088045983268445072011-01-25T17:22:00.000-08:002011-01-25T20:53:29.865-08:00Aboriginal Healing<span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT94cWlKuFI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/zjaBj1A1UM8/s1600/bush%2Btucker.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT94cWlKuFI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/zjaBj1A1UM8/s200/bush%2Btucker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566300092946364498" border="0" /></a><br /></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> 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New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" >Earlier this year, my mind hobbled over a few issues, I visited mind-body medicine therapist, </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.inner-rhythms.com.au/">Alison Corsie</a></span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" >to find clarity.</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" >Among Alison’s modalities were some potent flower essences, not from the prolific fields of Britain’s Dr Bach, but from our own wildflower sanctuary of Western Australia. What excited me was that </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.livingessences.com.au/">the developers </a></span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" >had ratified the healing abilities of these buds by the indigenous Nyoongah people of WA who had been using them for the longest time. </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:lucida grande;"> </p> <p face="lucida grande" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">It’s a large shame that that Australia’s indigenous medicinal mastery remains buried while we skull smelly herbal concoctions and welcome the incisive needles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Since we’re already exploring</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">the beauty and self-purifying rituals of Ayurvedic medicine and the healing vibrations of chanted Indian Sanskrit, why not the rituals, healing songs, ceremonies, herbal remedies our very own ancient tribes?</span></p> <p style="font-family: lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT95kWk4z1I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/Ppoy8s_azRo/s1600/bush%2Btucker%2Bpainting.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 192px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT95kWk4z1I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/Ppoy8s_azRo/s200/bush%2Btucker%2Bpainting.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566301329895771986" border="0" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It seems we need to count on dedicated natural therapy seekers like Living Essences</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">to unearth Australia’s botanical secrets.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Shamanic `tourism’ to Aboriginal communities has been the exception for an informed few for a couple of decades but, if I put my prescient specs on, I reckon India’s ashrams and Australia’s abundance of wellbeing retreats will one day compete for space with Aboriginal healing retreats where whitefellas invest their holiday time in the indigenous manner of holistic healing. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">For now at least, the closest most of us are likely to get to Aboriginal magic is a 100ml bottle of goanna oil.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT95CPAT-eI/AAAAAAAAAKI/6WKQfUYvfKQ/s1600/goanna%2Boil.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 89px; height: 116px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT95CPAT-eI/AAAAAAAAAKI/6WKQfUYvfKQ/s200/goanna%2Boil.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566300743747762658" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">As with so much culture passed down only through oral tradition, the Australian Aborigines’ rich repository of botanical knowledge has been lost with the rava</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">ging of its population, particularly the healing practices of the southern and eastern tribes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">While the earliest record of</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Chinese medicinal plants was published about 3000 BC,</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">the first recording of our Aboriginal medicine only found print in 1988: <i style="">Traditional Bush Medicines: An Aboriginal Pharmacopoeia</i> (Greenhouse Publications), with descriptions and botanic drawings of just 65 plant and five non-plant substances. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I suppose you could argue that their medicine, which is still practiced in remote communities, is hardly designed to deal with pervasive Western complaints such as back problems, cancer and depression, tailored as it is to snake bites, fever, stings, tooth ache and wound management. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Last year however, news website <i style="">Adelaide Now </i>reported</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">that the Pitjantjatjara Ngangkari (traditional healers) were well in demand at Adelaide’s Native Titles Office where up to 16 people a day received the healing powers of touch and chant to relocate ectopic spirits and resolve various conditions.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">As people filter off to integrated medicine and complementary therapies to fill the holes that</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">allopathic medicine is unable to fill, let’s hope some of the wisdom of the world’s longest continuous survivingindigenous people becomes part of our forward healing. </span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="">OUTBACK MAGIC</b><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT94lfcatiI/AAAAAAAAAKA/vA0x-TkzeAQ/s1600/bush%2Btucker%2Baborignal%2Bhands.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TT94lfcatiI/AAAAAAAAAKA/vA0x-TkzeAQ/s200/bush%2Btucker%2Baborignal%2Bhands.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566300249944405538" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Traditional medicine is a complex system that is entwined with indigenous culture, belief systems, social laws and knowledge of the land, flora and fauna.</span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ngangkari, or traditional healers, are chosen. They are trained to restore the spirit (inner wellbeing) and reverse the influence of sorcery and evil spirits. Healing rituals included sucking, massage with potent substances, singing, manipulation of the body. </span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Plants are collected (often with complex ritual) at specific times to take advantage of varying chemical content according to maturation or season or soil type.</span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Different tribes use the same plants for completely different medicinal purposes.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Sandpaper Fig </span>– leaves crushed, soaked in water to make a liquid used topically to relieve itchy skin conditions (eg: scabies, tinea).</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Morning Glories</span> – heated on a hot stone and applied to stings, skin infections. Antihistamine.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">Latex</span> – white fluid found in some plants (eg: fig trees) used in the removal of warts, corns or cleaning foul wounds.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">Broad-leaved Paperbark</span> – new leaves chewed for treatment of head colds or brewed for headaches.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Native Cowpea</span> – roots eaten to relieve constipation.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">Pale Turpentine bush</span> – leaves brewed as universal remedy but especially tuberculosis and fevers.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Spilanthes or native daisy</span> – a local anaesthetic for toothache.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Bitter bark – </span>a tonic containing reserpine, a tranquilliser and anti-hypertensive. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Green plum</span> – one of the richest sources of Vitamn C in the world , contains 100g.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Witchetty grubs </span>– crushed, used for treatment of burns and wounds. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Sources: “Aboriginal Pharmacopoeia” by Dr Ella Stack; Australian National Botanic Gardens Education Services, 2000; “Traditional Aboriginal Medicine Practice in the Northern Territory” by Dr Dayalan Devanesen. </span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-57366140869870877412011-01-11T18:50:00.000-08:002011-01-11T19:15:10.849-08:00New Classes for 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TS0Y7kPWG1I/AAAAAAAAAJE/babU7iIu7SA/s1600/dancingkinggarden.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 121px; height: 170px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TS0Y7kPWG1I/AAAAAAAAAJE/babU7iIu7SA/s200/dancingkinggarden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561128526491818834" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />A warm & wonderful 2011 to you.<br /><br />I hope you landed softly & brightly.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I'm so pleased to offer a 2nd venue in 2011:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">NEW!!! </span>THURSDAYS - 6:30-7:45pm</span><br />Alma Road Community House<br />200 Alma Rd, St Kilda East<br />10-wk school terms, $160<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Begins Feb 3, book now, limited places avail.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">0409 473 162</span><br /><br />Enjoy a slower, deeper practice, gently workshopping asanas through technical foundations & explore mindfulness-building techniques of yoga nidra, progressive relaxation & meditation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">GOOD OL' TUESDAYS - 7:45-9pm</span><br />ESNLC<br />87 Tennyson St, Elwood<br />No bookings required, but these classes are already quite squishy.<br />0409 473 162<br /><br />Gently progressive spiritual yoga.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); font-weight: bold;">CORPORATE CLASSES</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">By appointment. 0409 473 162.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">PRIVATE TUITION</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>By appointment. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">0409 473 162.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Develop a personal yoga program or enjoy weekly sessions.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">PROGRESSIVE YOGA RELAXATION</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />By appointment privately, or small group courses (7-weeks). </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">0409 473 162.</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Also, NEW Yoga-Me-Well website coming soon :-)</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TS0ZalNJeWI/AAAAAAAAAJM/A2p3h0zLjxc/s1600/levitating%2Bgecko.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 69px; height: 128px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TS0ZalNJeWI/AAAAAAAAAJM/A2p3h0zLjxc/s200/levitating%2Bgecko.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561129059326982498" border="0" /></a>I'm so looking forward to sharing the journey with you this year.<br /><br />Until then, cheery,<br /><br />Lisa<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); font-weight: bold;">Yoga</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0); font-weight: bold;">-Me-Well - it's about shinier people<br /></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-52753728072644982712010-12-06T15:15:00.000-08:002010-12-06T16:07:54.920-08:00Yoga Etiquette<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP16MX1MbcI/AAAAAAAAAIo/BZd4ycUIt3A/s1600/yoga%2Bwear%2Bin%2Blunge.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 99px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP16MX1MbcI/AAAAAAAAAIo/BZd4ycUIt3A/s200/yoga%2Bwear%2Bin%2Blunge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547724668964466114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Some yoga nights (and we all have plenty of them), your unwieldy attention flickers from the annoying jangle of someone’s bangles to the cut and curve of another’s new season Lululemon top, or maybe it’s the savoury pong of some predecessor’s footprint on your mat that distracts you.<br /><br />BO, cascading boobs, too-teeny yogi jocks and unleashing your inner gas; let’s unleash the unspeakables that taunt every yoga class.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP10cFy-PFI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/6TGPjpG-BTQ/s1600/garden%2Bfeet.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 67px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP10cFy-PFI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/6TGPjpG-BTQ/s200/garden%2Bfeet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547718341931449426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />BE WHIFF-AWARE</span><br />Mary Magdalene washed Christ’s feet and dried them with her hair in the most beautiful display of humility and service. Hosing off sock swelter or street patina from sandalled feet before class is a basic courtesy, and you’ll feel fresher after a busy day too.<br /><br />If body odour is your nemesis, then a quick wipe ‘n’ swipe with a wet cloth and deodorant is hardly excessive class prep and, what’s more, it’s the sign of a compassionate yogi who cares for their mat-side practitioners. Consider loofah-ing your armpits each morning to eliminate odorous dead skin cells, and the rest of your body to maintain your largest organ’s good order.<br /><br />At one school, we were even encouraged to refrain from eating garlic and wearing perfume, so highly sensitised were many students. The more you refine your practice and diet, the more delicate your senses become, so even a light mist of Calvin Klein’s “Eternity” is liable to punch holes in someone’s brain and zip-lock their lungs. Be whiff-aware on the woofy and pretty smells.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP141_Htf-I/AAAAAAAAAIg/VRvS6yUmdd8/s1600/guy%2Bin%2Brude%2Bpose.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 75px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP141_Htf-I/AAAAAAAAAIg/VRvS6yUmdd8/s200/guy%2Bin%2Brude%2Bpose.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547723184862494690" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />DRESS: CLEAN, COVERED & CASUAL </span><br />I turned up to my first Bikram hot yoga class in one-piece Speedo bathers and yoga `capri’ pants – hilarious. I was a yo-granny among skimpy-hip yogis strung with filaments of lycra. At least I wasn’t ‘winking’ at anyone like the girl crammed in front of me in her rump-and-crotch-skimming lingerie. My clothes also soaked a good portion of my sweat, unlike the showers rained upon me from bare-skinned practitioners either side. (Use a towel at least!) My friend, Sal, deplored the cheek of one guy whose sweaty see-through yoga jocks seemed even a tad disrespectful to her chuckling sensibilities.<br /><br /><br />Scoop-neck tops that barely contain boobs, bum cracks and threadbare pants are distracting, though if you really must, inquire underground about the nude yoga movement (yes, it exists).<br /><br />Know when to retire your gear, including sweat-ingrained apparel that ignites a-new the scent of 100 yoga classes past. . . Ewww.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP13mfbcCKI/AAAAAAAAAIY/n-u2BGHWSlQ/s1600/bangles.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 62px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP13mfbcCKI/AAAAAAAAAIY/n-u2BGHWSlQ/s200/bangles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547721819145636002" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">WE HEAR YOU</span><br />You know you’re out there Ms Jangly Bangles and Mr I’ll-Sound-Your-House-Down with my tornado-like ujjayi breath. The slim argument is that the rest of the class might benefit through learning to focus beyond clinky arm-wear and overdone breath work, but better to scrape ‘em off before you leave home and learn to ‘whisper’ your ujjayi.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ETIQUETTE & THE UNEXPECTED </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP16sFOi12I/AAAAAAAAAIw/tXW80Uln-Hc/s1600/happy%2Bcat%2Bfart.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 90px; height: 100px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TP16sFOi12I/AAAAAAAAAIw/tXW80Uln-Hc/s200/happy%2Bcat%2Bfart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547725213726332770" /></a><br /><br />Someone is going to cry. Now these might be restrained tears, or the clam shell of grief cracked wide open reverberating from wall to wall. Working regularly with your cellular structure will begin to release the emotional gunk. Have the heart to know that one day it could be you, and do your very best not to stare. Send a quiet healing prayer, offer a comforting hand if appropriate, or perhaps a tissue.<br /><br />And yes, someone is going to fart. Loudly. In the quietest possible moment. The windy-popper will likely find it humiliating, and at least one classmate will found it hilarious. Teachers usually quickly move everyone past it with a barrage of instruction, but if they don’t, relax in the knowledge that the yogic fart is virtually an asana in itself – let’s call it “Wind -Releasing Posture” or “Organ Shifting Sequence”. The body must have its release!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing. <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-201449037863836722010-11-15T16:57:00.000-08:002010-11-15T17:03:55.408-08:00Generation Yogi<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TOHXal8ydkI/AAAAAAAAAIA/juE9k2QRlJA/s1600/Peace%2BSign%2Bkid.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TOHXal8ydkI/AAAAAAAAAIA/juE9k2QRlJA/s200/Peace%2BSign%2Bkid.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539945868506068546" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Annalise and Mei walked into the community centre class, two wriggly, giggly pubescent girls. I smiled weakly and sighed. I sighed because I was tired and community centre classes are often demanding; they’re cheap and attract truckloads of lovely people who needs are vast and wide.<br /><br />Acute back problems, specific injuries, chronic conditions, inflamed emotions, exhausted mums, self-conscious concretised men, the vital and enthused, the depressed and disillusioned and on this tired night, I knew I couldn’t span the chasm.<br /><br />“What is it you’d like out of this class?” I asked the girls, who were coming for the first time.<br /><br />“Fun,” they said.<br /><br />I explained to them, and their poor, frazzled, over-worked mother, that while they were welcome to attend, they’d enjoy a richer experience at a yoga class tailored to the Yogi Generation. Mum was offended (overtired). How dare I presume her children were lacking the intelligence to grasp the spiritual concepts of an adult class.<br /><br />“Sigh”. It’s not about intelligence. Yoga for kids and teens is different to yoga for adults. In fact young kids, in particular, are much closer to their spiritual ‘womb’ or inner self because of their all-embracing perspective. We life-worn adults are the ones with steely-bars of unhelpful attitudes and beliefs blocking our way.<br /><br />Age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate yoga can be delivered as the magic it is because children have the imagination and openness to explore yoga’s spirituality. Why shoe-horn a young person’s radically different state-of-mind, emotional and physical being into an older class when passionate teachers are tailoring yogic adventures for 4-7 year-olds, 8-11 year-olds, 12-15 year-olds and higher teens?<br /><br />Some people question whether kids need yoga at all. What have they got to be all knotted-up about? Ask any primary school cherub and the answer could be “plenty”: missing time with dual-income parents; cyberbullying; parental divorce; loved ones with cancer; sibling rivalry; friendships turned sour; plain old not coping (yes, already).<br /><br />Here are a few reasons to seek out an age-appropriate class for your beautiful blossoms:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Storm breaker</span><br />At a time when teens most need reassurance and support, a yoga teacher makes a terrific storm-breaker. He or she can be a non-threatening, significant source of perspective for beleaguered or confused teens who are trying to work out their place in life. No matter how good the parenting, it helps to have an independent adult (who isn’t emotionally invested) whose soul job (awful pun, but intended) is to recognise, nurture and uplift their individuality.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Competing for gold</span><br />Healthy competition is gold for establishing essential qualities like motivation, focus and discipline, but ruthless on self-esteemless others who compare themselves endlessly, and fall short despairingly, of the Chris Judds and Giaan Rooneys of this world. Yoga’s consciously-created, non-competitive space teaches kids that they’re a winner as they are: “You are unique for a reason; no one can ever be a better `you’; and only you can do what you have come to do in this life”. Yoga encourages kids to accept everything they are, the positive and the negative.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quasimodos-in-the-making</span><br />Kids’ rapidly evolving bodies are strapped into heavy school bags and plonked on seats far too many hours a day, compressing delicate spines and ceasing muscular activity (and therefore vital internal processes). At home, it’s more of the same at the PC or TV. Osteopaths, chiropractors and Bowen therapists must rub their hands in glee at the security of this income stream. I’m often astounded at how much kids lack in reasonable flexibility and strength.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wise l’il souls</span><br />Imagine if someone had told you at an early age that your potential was infinite, that you had all the resources within you to cope with anything life threw your way, and then showed you how to tap those resources. Yoga teaches self-awareness, self-responsibility (for life and your actions and reactions to it) and how to draw upon intuition and deeper layers of wisdom by connecting to the inner self. That’s one ‘imaginary’ friend you want by your side.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TOHXj_Y48oI/AAAAAAAAAII/to4LxaeMNR8/s1600/Girl%2Bipod%2Bwinking.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 122px; height: 170px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TOHXj_Y48oI/AAAAAAAAAII/to4LxaeMNR8/s200/Girl%2Bipod%2Bwinking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539946029953643138" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Shhhhh, can you hear it?</span><br />Kids rarely hear the sound of silence. One of life’s speedier lessons is “You’re weird, or a geek or a nerd” if you enjoy time alone. How many kids do you know whose extracurricular activities rival the diaries of Blue Chip executives? We’re creating a generation of burnt-outs before they’ve had time to bloom. I had one VCE student who came to class all floppy, and I let her flop in bliss because it was the only place she was allowed to. Yoga for young ‘uns nurtures a reflective, contemplative, clear-thinking generation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MINI RESOURCES</span><br />Keep your eyes peeled for flyers.<br />Google “children’s yoga Melbourne”.<br />Search <a href="http://www.yogabugs.com.au/">www.yogabugs.com.au</a> or <a href="http://www.findyoga.com.au/">www.findyoga.com.au</a> or <a href="http://www.yogateachers.asn.au/">www.yogateachers.asn.au</a> to find a kids’ class near you.<br /><br />Visit <a href="http://www.meditationcapsules.com/">www.meditationcapsules.com</a> for a sensational book and CD on mini meditations by Janet Etty-Leal, a wonderfully accomplished meditation teacher who runs her highly successful Meditation Capsules program in schools all over Melbourne. <br /><br /><br />Check out this excellent boxed set of cards for under 8s (“Creative Yoga Games for Kids”) as well as a guided relaxation CD for teenagers at<br /><a href="http://www.overthemoonstudio.com/index.html">www.overthemoonstudio.com/index.html</a> . <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing.</span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-46848921091124422322010-11-03T23:35:00.000-07:002010-11-03T23:44:06.147-07:00The Buddhist and the Black Hole<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TNJUs53vveI/AAAAAAAAAH4/16Ckwnoh6_Y/s1600/Lama+Marut.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TNJUs53vveI/AAAAAAAAAH4/16Ckwnoh6_Y/s200/Lama+Marut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535580022417374690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It’s a relief to know that this ochre-and-orange robed monk was once hospitalised for depression. If you want advice on how to dig yourself out of a black hole, you need a man with a spade on the inside.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lamamarut.org/">Lama Marut</a>, formerly Brian K. Smith, is just the bloke. He’s the favourite sports coach you had when you were five: big like a bear (in a reassuring way), direct, fun and with an American accent that curls around his forthright southern charm. Last month [subs: September] at The Breathing Space studio in Prahran, he delivered a lively and provocative talk on “Depression: The Real Causes and Real Cures”.<br /><br />For the millions of Australians who emerge time and again from the muck to consider their options - anti-depressants, big bucks on talk therapy, self-help books, and diet and exercise - a wise guy like Lama Marut has some straight answers for fearless seekers.<br /><br />Get all the help you need, he says, work out what the “real conditions” are around your depression, like a dead-end job (“Why don’t we work as hard on our spiritual lives?”), or the inherited doldrums gene, but <span style="font-weight: bold;">ultimately, you need to ask the big questions to find the cure. Why am I here? What’s my purpose in life?<br /></span><br />We’re living a consumer capitalist nightmare, he says, so overstimulated and busy entertaining ourselves for fear of boredom that we’ve lost the capacity to be still and to contemplate.<br /><br />His condensed wisdom and wit on the subject spans the acquisition of patience, the opposite of the “anger turned inward” that lies at the nub of depression, according to Lama Marut (and Freud), and the value of an “ego-ectomy”.<br /><br />“You pay therapists to make you feel better about yourself. Religion, offers free the idea that you should feel worse about yourself. Spiritual life is about being ego-less . . . if you want to be happy, stop worrying about your own happiness and start worrying about the happiness of others.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> “Real causes” of depression</span>, he says, include the isolation experienced through not appreciating that we are all connected; not following through on spoken intentions and commitments; revelling in other’s misfortunes, and that ol’ consumer-capital chestnut, Envy, where the iPad-elated plunge into iPout Envy (Prius Envy, whatever) with ever-increasing obsolescence cycles.<br /><br />In two entertaining hours with Lama Marut, how obvious the truth of the matter seems, and how simple applying the Buddhist antidote might be if only you didn’t have that nagging depressive tendency to feel like a cheese wad for not getting all this in the first place and then becoming consumed by fear that you never will! While diet and talk therapy lifted my grimmest turbulence, it’s spirituality that dissipates my recurring storms.<br /><br />“Buddhists say <span style="font-weight: bold;">regret is the only useful negative emotion</span> because it encourages change. Foster good, healthy regret, but not guilt, which is just beating yourself up. Maybe if I beat myself up enough, I won’t have to change!” he responds with that lopsided grin, like a bear trying to smile. He knows all our cheats.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To avoid depression</span>, he recommends accepting responsibility for your own happiness. Adopt the law of Karma (cause and effect) “what comes around, goes around”, “you reap what you sow” (see reading list below). It empowers you to wield your free will through the understanding that your present actions create your future reality. Handing your life over to a god “to micro-manage” or to the random hand of Fate is one sure-fire way to feel helpless.<br /><br />Perhaps the easiest curative measure to cultivate is <span style="font-weight: bold;">a daily practice of gratitude</span>, he says. Give thanks for the man who fixed your blocked sewer, the farmer who grew your broccoli, the dog that adores your very being. “You are the recipient of so much good will,” he urges, it helps to acknowledge it, continually.<br /><br />Remember, too, your Buddha nature (you don’t have to be Buddhist to have one):<span style="font-weight: bold;"> “You have infinite potential to change”</span>. When in the mire, know that “this too shall pass, you won’t feel like this forever”. “Change is the reality. The way to be a happier person is to embrace change. Expect it. Don’t resist it”, he says.<br /><br />Learn to be more giving. Start slow, and give what is easy to give. Learn to think about other people’s welfare as much as your own, and then, perhaps one day, more than your own.<br /><br />And finally, cultivate the supreme wish: “that everyone be free of suffering and that I be free of suffering so that I can be free to help others”.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />DEPRESSION BUSTERS </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness</span>, by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn. These psychologists, psychiatrists and scientists distil the anatomy of depression in a brilliantly accessible way and offer a clear process for beating depression. Includes a CD of mindful practices.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Seven Spiritual Laws of Succes</span>s, by Deepak Chopra. Excellent beginner’s guide to living by the Universal Laws (eg: Karma).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Mood Cure</span>, by Julia Ross. Never underestimate the effect of a bad diet and poor sleep to ignite, and fan, depression.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, progressive relaxation instructor and writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-67470361038679847592010-09-25T01:44:00.001-07:002010-09-25T01:52:02.581-07:00Unwind & Restore - 8 wk course<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJ24K-EciuI/AAAAAAAAAHw/_NLUiUTYQGY/s1600/blog+sun.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJ24K-EciuI/AAAAAAAAAHw/_NLUiUTYQGY/s200/blog+sun.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520771216825944802" /></a><br /><br /><br />Hi Everyone,<br /><br />I'd love you to join me on this special 8-week course - a journey into restorative yoga practice and relaxation - ideal for those who tend to deplete themselves in the gallop toward Christmas.<br /><br />This is an intimate class of just 9 for more individual attention to develop your yoga.<br /><br />Learn a set sequence of gentle, slow-moving vinyasa to deepen your experience.<br /><br />Finish with a 25-min progressive relaxation (PR).<br /><br />PR moves the body into a deep sleep state, while you remain conscious and alert.<br /><br />It offers full energy restoration.<br /><br />Cocoon within your quiet space and replenish your energy reserves. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Course commences Fri 8 Oct - 3 Dec. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Phone bookings</span> only 0409 473 162 <span style="font-weight:bold;">by Fri 1 Oct.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Course fee: $120</span><br /><br />Looking forward to sharing this time with you.Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-62660384494402375142010-09-20T19:55:00.000-07:002010-09-20T20:13:37.384-07:00The Big Business of Being Well<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJghW8EJXfI/AAAAAAAAAHA/GnawlP-rn-c/s1600/multitasking+male+shiva+bonkers.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 140px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJghW8EJXfI/AAAAAAAAAHA/GnawlP-rn-c/s200/multitasking+male+shiva+bonkers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519198021306899954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ten years ago, it was the triple bottom line - People, Planet, Profit. Now, the Corporate World is strategising over Wellness. What is it and how to deliver it?<br /><br />Working in the media for 20 years, I commonly found workplace cultures that bred low morale and chronic illness. There were simply too few people doing too many jobs under relentless pressure. Staff were treated like oranges to be juiced and tossed because the allure of media endures, though it frazzles many a young enthusiast.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJgh0iNVoqI/AAAAAAAAAHI/DiR3fYS4SqM/s1600/bellydancing.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJgh0iNVoqI/AAAAAAAAAHI/DiR3fYS4SqM/s200/bellydancing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519198529762206370" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In recent years, I worked for a bank that offered “high performance mind” sessions to executives. That’s corporate speak for “meditation”. It gave me hope. Now big business is offering movie vouchers and belly dancing to keep staff happy.<br /><br />The trend toward corporate wellness programs, like the triple-bottom-line before it, is here to stay. Wellness, it seems, now begins at school (Stephanie Alexander’s school gardens project) and at work, rather than home. And corporate wellness providers are everywhere, from entrepreneurial individuals to broad spectrum organisations offering preventative health measures to help us yoga, meditate and work/life balance our way back to sanity.<br /><br />Michael Stone was well before the crest of this wave in 2003 when he founded the <a href="http://www.holisticservices.com.au/">Holistic Services Group Australia</a> (HSGA), and is still there in his acknowledgement that tailoring services to individual employee needs is the next challenge for this nascent industry.<br /><br />HSGA’s service range is extraordinary: clowning, drumming, tarot reading, iridology, office feng shui and healthy cooking (much in demand thanks to Masterchef) beside traditional offerings of health education, corporate wellness events and stress management and relaxation workshops. It has collated several hundred contractors around Australia to service about 500 clients in seven years.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJgiH5QIebI/AAAAAAAAAHY/tCZtgxoy7v8/s1600/tarot+cards.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJgiH5QIebI/AAAAAAAAAHY/tCZtgxoy7v8/s200/tarot+cards.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519198862365456818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Organisational psychologist Joanne Abbey of <a href="http://www.corporatewellbeing.com.au/value.html">Grow Corporate Wellbeing</a> echoes Stone’s view about personalising services. Companies need to deliver what employees truly value. While massage at your desk is great, a supportive environment that cultivates healthy work relationships is better.<br /><br />“Culture is the main obstacle to improving wellbeing at work. The first step in a change program is to accurately identify what wellbeing means to employees . . . from there, initiatives can be targeted and results can be quickly measured,” says Abbey, who is researching wellbeing in the private sector. “Wellbeing is more about the quality of connectedness.”<br /><br />So how do companies find out what employees want?<br /><br />Australian Unity’s Sharon Beaumont, group executive for human resources, runs regular engagement surveys which ask some1400 staff what’s working, and what’s not. As a result, the company recently launched a 50 per cent subsidy on health insurance for staff who sign-up for approved health products 0as part of its wellness offering and extended paid parental leave.<br /><br />Stone says that self-managed employee assistance programs are also a good way to gauge what’s hot.<br /><br />“Ideally, these are funded by the company or subsidised. AMP established a slush fund where staff contribute between $5 and $8 a month and they choose what services they want. It’s completely staff managed and driven, with a participation rate of about 82 per cent,” he says.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Moula or massage? </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJgixUwHdgI/AAAAAAAAAHg/VVRmG2Hzz_o/s1600/massage+tool.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TJgixUwHdgI/AAAAAAAAAHg/VVRmG2Hzz_o/s200/massage+tool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519199574122001922" /></a><br /><br />Sometimes, money talks, says Stone when IBM offered a $150 cash rebate to employees who attended the company’s physical activity programs, participation rates soared from 10,000 to 100,000! but not always.<br /><br />When Delta Airlines offered staff a $45 cash incentive to take a health risk assessment, the response was underwhelming, but raffling 25 gift certificates for a year’s health insurance had them scurrying to the doctor’s suite.<br /><br />A study by Monash University for TravelSmart Victoria, “Measuring the Benefits of Corporate Health and Wellbeing Initiatives”, found that corporates were implementing programs because it was the “right thing to do” and often failed to monitor and evaluate the value of initiatives.<br /><br />On this point, Abbey agrees: “It would be very difficult to measure wellbeing because it’s not conceptualised [that is to say]. . . how do you measure something you don’t know how to define?”<br /><br />The study also found that: “Rigorous scientific studies have failed to prove reduced absenteeism and increased productivity are direct (and measurable) benefits of health initiatives, but the weight of evidence suggest that they do contribute to these goals.”<br /><br />Enter Stone, with a battery of research that shows wellness programs are making quality inroads.<br /><br />A Harvard Business Review study into workplace wellness found that work/life balance programs were returning between $3 to $5 on average for every dollar invested. Coca Cola attributes savings of $500 per year per employee.<br /><br />Stone also quotes research from PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute, done in conjunction with the World Economic Forum, which discusses how employee wellness bolsters the bottomline. It says that the economic case for prevention “is overwhelming”.<br /><br />In the future, employees who refuse to take ownership of their health through preventative measures may well find employers forcing the issue.<br /><br />Stone says companies in the US are beginning to reject applicants who smoke or have a high health risk, and legislation currently allows it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor specialising in holistic wellbeing.<br /></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-65474664746822910412010-09-13T20:39:00.000-07:002010-09-13T20:53:22.848-07:00Spring into Yoga: Find a Class<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7wGL9gKMI/AAAAAAAAAGo/G_Ifc0nIbIs/s1600/dancingkinggarden.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 121px; height: 170px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7wGL9gKMI/AAAAAAAAAGo/G_Ifc0nIbIs/s200/dancingkinggarden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516610582656067778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Early Spring, many full moons ago, I was shopping for a class in the yoga Mecca of Prahran. The teacher was Indian so I figured he must be good, coming from Yoga’s heartland. His fair-haired, honey-tanned acolyte wore a kind of loin cloth (probably just daggy shorts), according to my apocryphal memory. But I do recall being rigid with panic as the whimpering girl beyond my buckled body’s sight asked the teacher to release her from a posture, and he refused.<br /><br />I’ve done hard-bodied yoga with a humourless teacher and gently coo-ing classes with a sweet despairing one, flowing postures with an Earth Mother and cocooned myself in the comforting routine and community of one tradition. If you’ve lapsed over winter and are keen to get your mat rolling with a new class this Spring, here are some shopping tips...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tradition vs fusion</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7wfnwlxII/AAAAAAAAAGw/okFOws_rHyE/s1600/guru.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 78px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7wfnwlxII/AAAAAAAAAGw/okFOws_rHyE/s200/guru.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516611019614831746" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Let’s divide yoga styles roughly into tradition-based and fusion styles.<br /><br />Yoga traditions have a spiritual guru or master teacher who develops a style and adheres to a philosophy which is passed down through a lineage. They usually have a hub that nurtures the student/teacher community, providing a like-minded social network and workshops on say, “yoga for back pain” or “stress”, for students as well as teacher graduates. They may even hold full moon meditations and solstice celebrations. Some long standing traditions in Melbourne include Gita International in Abbotsford, Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation (KHYF) in Middle Park and Yoga in Daily Life in Richmond. While the Iyengar and Ashtanga traditions have loads of teachers here, they have no central hub.<br /><br />Having said that, many teachers with an entrepreneurial spirit and a rented space create active hives for students.<br /><br />Fusion classes came about as teachers continued professional development beyond the tradition in which they qualified. Many explore the vast world of yoga styles here and overseas, slowly developing a personal “best of” compilation of teaching influences, styles and philosophies. Many fusion teachers simply advertise themselves as “hatha” yoga, while others have codified their new style and branded it, like Shadow yoga, Anusara and SomaChi.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Format, Pace & Props </span><br />Class formats vary hugely but most include some floor work and standing work and transition from one posture to the next (holding each for a minute or so). Breath work and relaxation are generally key elements.<br /><br />Vinyasa classes meanwhile, offer flowing posture sequences performed in perfect harmony with the breath.<br /><br />Some styles, like Iyengar, also use props (bolsters, blocks, straps and blankets) to ensure you get the best alignment for your body in each posture. It requires some mucking around between postures, but you might enjoy that micro-break, or find it unutterably tedious and prefer the simplicity of straight mat work.<br /><br />Consider the pace of the class too. Some styles whip through 25 poses or more in 60 to 90 minutes, which makes working safely difficult for newcomers. It can take years to crack the best alignment for your body in popular classes where teachers are unable to offer sustained individual attention. You may find it more rewarding to consider a smaller class, or one that spends more time in fewer postures, until you build a stable foundation and confidence.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What do I need?</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7xfxBNrQI/AAAAAAAAAG4/6uvWkHEr-Hg/s1600/coach.php.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7xfxBNrQI/AAAAAAAAAG4/6uvWkHEr-Hg/s200/coach.php.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516612121612102914" border="0" /></a><br />In her search for a terrific teacher, my friend Sal came across plenty with hot bods, outfits to match and the bendy cellular structures of ex-dancers. But, says Sal: “One of my fave teachers of all time was a woman in her 70s who wore spangly old leotards.” Ask yourself, do I want…:<br /><br />A yoga coach or spiritual mentor?<br />A class that challenges me, or restores me because I’m a total stress head?<br />A few private classes to gain confidence and technique?<br />A studio that offers a variety of classes, ability levels and teachers?<br />Or a teacher who offers smaller groups and individual attention?<br />Is personal development and spiritual philosophy important?<br />A community of yoga buddies with whom to enjoy all things oogie-boogie (spiritual)?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excuse me, but …?</span><br />Ask the teacher:<br /><br />Are your classes dynamic, or more restorative?<br />How many postures do you do per class?<br />What’s the format? (eg: Breath work? Mostly standing postures? Any relaxation?)<br />Are classes level-specific, or of mixed abilities?<br />How is your yoga different to others I’ve tried?<br />Do you offer spiritual philosophy and what are some of your key concepts?<br />Do you offer individual attention?<br />What do people say they like about your teaching style?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Search a class</span><br />Try these websites for different styles of yoga in Melbourne<br />www.findyoga.com.au<br />www.yogateachers.asn.au.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing. </span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-34788076161771712982010-09-13T20:17:00.000-07:002010-09-13T20:54:17.068-07:00DIY Health<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7thZCHJGI/AAAAAAAAAGI/yhCTjlYzi7M/s1600/dr%26patient.php"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 100px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7thZCHJGI/AAAAAAAAAGI/yhCTjlYzi7M/s200/dr%26patient.php" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516607751486645346" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />If you’re honest about it, how often have you handed yourself over to health professionals to ‘fix’ you? Have you been able to ask: “How did I contribute to my ill-health? What warning signs did I ignore? Am I avoiding making changes that could help?”<br /><br />I blamed work forever for my chronic ill health. It wasn’t until I accepted that I chose every thought, emotion and action that contributed to it that my healing process began.<br /><br />We have a problem. Australia’s ageing population is catapulting toward us and our healthcare system is unable to sustain it given society’s bandaid approach to healthcare and the rising costs. We need to take charge of our health through preventative measures self-awareness of contributing factors, supportive nutrition, lifestyle changes if we’re to turn things around.<br /><br />The holistic approaches that are integral to complementary and alternative health systems are part of the solution. Thankfully, there are signs of a break-through as clinics offering “Integrative Medicine” (IM) sprout in the suburbs. Alongside GPs, clinic practitioners might include a naturopath, nutritionist, acupuncturist, masseur and osteopath; yet to edge their way in are more alternative practitioners, such as homeopaths, herbalists and kinesiologists.<br /><br />Professor Kerryn Phelps, president of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA) says cancer patients and “thinking consumers” are forcing change.<br /><br />“. . . Over 80 per cent of cancer patients are using complementary therapies, most often without the knowledge of their doctors, and that consumer-driven push has really encouraged cancer specialists to look at what they’re doing,” she says, citing hospitals such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2010/2893653.htm">St Vincent’s in Sydney and Sir Charles Gairdner</a> in Perth as Australia’s early adopters of IM.<br /><br />Melbourne’s Austin Health is on the starting block, currently fund-raising for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre, which “is likely to include” meditation, relaxation, art and music therapy, massage and aromatherapy.<br /><br />Says Professor Phelps: “We’re a long way behind the US . . . somewhat behind the UK and a long way behind<a href="http://www.cancure.org/directory_clinics_outside%20US.htm"> countries like</a> Germany which have been integrating conventional and herbal medicine for centuries. We’re really just at the beginning of the curve.”<br /><br />The Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Social Trends 2008 report confirms it: just 3.8 per cent of the population (748,000 people) had consulted one of seven selected complementary health therapists in 2004-05. By contrast, the European Information Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (EICCAM) reckons 40 per cent of EU citizens have a clear preference for, and are regular users of CAM, while the 2007 US National Health Survey found 38 per cent of Americans were CAM-friendly.<br /><br />We’re so much more than our physical bodies; it’s time to adventure deeper into the layers of being that profoundly influence health.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">WHO'S WHO in ‘VOODOO’</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7tqHIc27I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/sPvm3Tfvhc4/s1600/stick+fig+with+sun.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7tqHIc27I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/sPvm3Tfvhc4/s200/stick+fig+with+sun.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516607901300218802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Energy practitioners are here to stay and like the yogi pioneers to Western culture before them, news of their life-shaping expertise is destined for your grapevine.<br /><br />The list of modalities is ever-increasing Alexander and Bowen technique; craniosacral therapy; reiki; kinesiology; reflexology; thought-field therapy; pranic healing; somato-emotional release therapy and the number of private educators training practitioners is growing. As in western medicine, there are good and bad operators, so nothing new there.<br /><br />I’ve had enough treatments to know it’s worth exploring for me, with my responses ranging from energy upheavals that feel worse (lethargy, aches, disorientation) before they feel better (back problems resolved, a weight lifted, clarity, shifts in unhelpful, long-held attitudes and wellbeing).<br /><br />Our physical bodies are, ultimately, just energy on the sub-atomic level, but we each also have a unique electromagnetic blueprint that influences our health, which has been researched and measured by many including medical intuitive <a href="http://www.myss.com/news/media/adetail.asp?i=29">Caroline Myss</a> in her work with Harvard-trained neurosurgeon Dr Norman Shealy, and bioenergy pioneer Dr <a href="http://valerievhunt.com/ValerieVHunt.com/Valerie_Hunt_Bio.html">Valerie Hunt</a>, a scientist and Professor Emeritus of Physiological Science at the University of California, in her work with Nasa.<br /><br />Energy work is not only for the CAM-initiated, says Jeanette Young, president of the <a href="http://www.energetichealing.org.au/">Energetic Healing Association</a>.<br /><br />“We do find people who have been to a lot of other medical practitioners and haven’t found an answer but have pain in their bodies that the medical system can’t diagnose . . . and that’s because it’s in the energy field . . . when we come to an understanding of the subtle energies via the meridian and chakra systems, we can start to read the story that the body has for us,” says Young.<br /><br />How do you begin to navigate the ocean of possibilities?<br /><br />My rule of thumb has always been word-of-mouth. Young agrees, and advises you to go with your gut.<br /><br />“Obviously there will be a bit of nervousness when doing something new, but the key factor to a positive shift in your energy is a sense of trust and safety in the practitioner. When in doubt, don’t.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Top 5 Health & Wellbeing Reads</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7uEoBUoFI/AAAAAAAAAGY/pxjIEL9T93s/s1600/breakthru+experience.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 151px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TI7uEoBUoFI/AAAAAAAAAGY/pxjIEL9T93s/s200/breakthru+experience.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516608356805288018" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here you go: five fabulously accessible, enlightened perspectives on self-aware approaches to health and wellbeing:<br /><br />1. <span style="font-style: italic;">Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom</span>, Dr Christiane Northrup<br /><br />2. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Creation of Health</span>, Caroline Myss and Dr Norman Shealy<br /><br />3. <span style="font-style: italic;">Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind Body Medicine</span>, by Deepak Chopra<br /><br />4. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Breakthrough Experience</span>, Dr John Demartini<br /><br />5. <span style="font-style: italic;">You Can Heal your Life</span>, Louise L. Hay<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"> Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-21800522320076524522010-08-16T21:27:00.000-07:002010-09-20T20:14:10.388-07:00Hair Today, Toxic Tomorrow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoQBoAZEUI/AAAAAAAAAFA/zMZMRPBYSAk/s1600/Flickr+Hair+Colour.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 100px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoQBoAZEUI/AAAAAAAAAFA/zMZMRPBYSAk/s200/Flickr+Hair+Colour.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506231114518827330" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Australian women can’t be too fussed about the long-term consequences of dying their hair or our hair colouring industry would be less bouncy the retail market for salon and DIY dyes is a staggering $1.056 billion according to industry market researcher, IBIS World.<br /><br />Whether you dye your mop for fashion or to cover crinkle-cut greys, at some point you have to question whether all those chemicals are good for you.<br /><br />We know that skin is porous and that what it absorbs swims directly into the bloodstream (eg: Nicotine patches). I can’t imagine that our bodies have evolved fast enough to safely process the flood of chemicals that now bombard it through polluted air, `sanitised’ water and overprocessed foods.<br /><br />According to research into hair dye and various cancers (breast, Annals of Epidemiology 1992; leukemia and brain, American Journal of Epidemiology, January 2004, November 2006 ; bladder, University of Southern California 2001), hair dyes are high on the “potential risk factor” for causing cancer, and studies recommend further investigation, particularly of darker permanent hair dyes.<br /><br />In 2006, the European Union (EU) added 22 chemicals to a list of 50 hair dye chemicals now banned overseas after being linked to the University of Southern California study that identified high risk groups susceptible to bladder cancer. Dyes used for 15 years or more tripled a person’s risk factor, and darker dyes, because they use more chemicals, further increased the risk.<br /><br />Among the primary nasties are peroxide, resorcinol, ammonia and paraphenylene-diamine (PPD).<br /><br />Even if you down-grade to semi-permanent colours, they’re still likely to contain one or more of these chemicals in small amounts in order to activate the colour. Safe alternatives are around, such as henna and vegetable-based rinses, but they’re short-term and don’t hide a full grey mop well.<br /><br />Ultimately the safest colour is your own, but when, if ever, will a prosperous beautification industry celebrate your innate features as good enough?<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoQGZj7bGI/AAAAAAAAAFI/hAnP89oi49g/s1600/Flicr+Orange.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 71px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoQGZj7bGI/AAAAAAAAAFI/hAnP89oi49g/s200/Flicr+Orange.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506231196540693602" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH </span><br />In Australia, the assessment of hair dye chemicals and the labelling of dye products provide safety-on-paper. Sure, they’re tested on animals (cringe) for weeks, sometimes months, but not years.<br /><br />Take the colour, Basic Orange 31. In 2006, Australia’s National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNACS), which assesses the public and occupational health and safety risks of such chemicals, did a report on Basic Orange 31.<br /><br />Animals were “sacrificed” due to severe ocular irritation” and guinea pigs injected with the stuff apparently experienced “a normal development of the local symptoms” which included severe inflammation, swelling and rotting skin. Basic Orange 31 also caused orange colouration in the urine and faeces of animals tested, so we know it penetrates physiology well beyond hair follicles.<br /><br />And while the report found there was “no significant public health concern” regarding its use in small doses, Basic Orange 31 still needed to be classified as a “hazardous substance”. The NICNACS recommended labelling was pretty standard for permanent hair dye: “may cause sensitisation by skin contact” [which means regular use may create abnormal sensitivity to a range of chemicals]; “risk of serious damage to the eyes”; “avoid contact with skin and eyes”.<br /><br />I’d like to know how you avoid skin contact when applying hair dye.<br /><br />I asked my friend Adrian (name changed), a hair colourist for 24 years, about his experience with hair dye. His homeopath ran tests that found he had the same level of heavy metals in his system as a chemotherapy patient.<br /><br />For a check list of offending chemicals, go to the <a href="http://%20ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/cosmetics/cosmetic-products/hair-dye-products/index_en.htm">European Union website </a>for the latest updates.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GO GREY, I DARE YOU</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoQdr7C9JI/AAAAAAAAAFY/WQWaNmoYsgg/s1600/Lisa+Wellbeing+-+Head+shot.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoQdr7C9JI/AAAAAAAAAFY/WQWaNmoYsgg/s200/Lisa+Wellbeing+-+Head+shot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506231596606485650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I started greying (and dyeing monthly) in my early 20s. By mid 30s, I’d buy the “ammonia free” hair dyes and nestle into the safety of denial over the lung-locking fumes, constant itching and chronic dandruff that long-term use of colour 5N seemed to cause. I got jack of it, shaved my head, went overseas and returned grey. Friends were polite, but relieved, when I hit the bottle again.<br /><br />Last year, during a long bout of brain fog, I contemplated the myriad possible reasons behind my flagging cognition. Niggling insistently was: “hair dye, monthly, 20 years”. So I grew a ‘GT’ stripe for 4 months, covered it with groovy headbands then adopted a short cut with silver highlights. Over the next 7 months, I allowed myself to go grey.<br /><br />You don’t see too many 44-year-old women sporting their “natural colour” as my sensitive stylist,Brian, calls it.<br /><br />Upon sighting my new do, my partner’s workmate quipped: “That shouldn’t be allowed.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoS9fz0tFI/AAAAAAAAAFw/vYXd1TfvaF8/s1600/Pixie+geldof.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 137px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TGoS9fz0tFI/AAAAAAAAAFw/vYXd1TfvaF8/s200/Pixie+geldof.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506234342134035538" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I went grey before I realised that Lady Gaga, Kelly Osbourne, Pixie Geldof and Ruby Rose were also at it. What were they after, I wondered, wisdom in a bottle? Could their generation look at mine and celebrate camaraderie-in-colour, or would they cringe at that thought?<br /><br />To go grey when Nature dictates, first, stock up on conviction. Second, if you’re in transition, consider light strategic streaking until the grey predominates. If you’re well advanced, take all that money you spent on dye and invest it in a six-weekly, kick-arse hair cut with a great stylist who doesn’t shrink from your progressive approach to ageing beautifully.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor specialising in holistic wellbeing. <span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-11825485073649042502010-07-30T17:02:00.000-07:002010-07-30T17:22:37.909-07:00Lingo Phobia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TFNohCou9CI/AAAAAAAAAEA/UbATTwovMj8/s1600/omsymbol.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 120px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TFNohCou9CI/AAAAAAAAAEA/UbATTwovMj8/s200/omsymbol.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499854486802199586" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />“Let’s begin in Tadasana. Inhale. Exhale, move into uttanasana . . . Place your legs wide, turn the right foot out, moving into utthita parsvakonasana. Sally, not trikonasana. Ian? We’ll do parivrtta parsvakonasana later. Right now, it’s utthita parsvakonasana. Remember? No, like this.”<br /><br />Sanskrit was the sacred language of Hindu gods, so why are local yoga teachers delivering it to the world’s least receptive audience? For most Aussies, primary-school Mandarin and even `easier’ Latin faves like French broke the brain belt. Yet here we are, a nation of eager yoga students, straining to understand a zombie language barely uttered in India. (About 50,000 of the 1.1 billion population speak Sanskrit fluently). Even Catholics gave up on the Latin mass…<br /><br />And yet, I love Sanskrit, the way those cascading consonants limber my lips, and it can be wonderfully soothing to chant foreign words, gliding along a soundscape instead of intellectualising its content.<br /><br />As in all things yoga, there is a profound point to Sanskrit. Its spoken or sung vibration has therapeutic effects on the mind and body, whether you understand it or not. That “Om” tattooed on your “buttock”? You’re better off “omming” it, than wearing it, because its three-part chant delivers a vibrational connection to universal consciousness.<br /><br />I did, however, spend eight years at an Iyengar school feeling like the slackest twice-weekly yoga student on Earth for not understanding the consonants that tumbled like dry pebbles from my teacher’s mouth. “Do what?” I’d desperately cast sideways for someone already in the pose. It was a big ask, I thought, to absorb kilometre-long foreign words in a one-hour yoga class as we swept from one asana to the next. I felt stupid, alienated.<br /><br />I still do at times, because Sanskrit wasn’t a major part of my teacher training. There is earnest discussion among the teaching community about the use of Sanskrit for instruction in classes, and we’re divided over the issue.<br /><br />While we can all appreciate the rousing vibration of a choir in full anthem, it’s only a select few who honour Italian Opera, and they’re given a program to understand the story, which isn’t the norm in an your average yoga class. “Here’s your Sanskrit sheet, now place your shoes to the side.”<br /><br />You’ll find plenty of teachers who say “Mountain Pose”, “Extended Side Angle Pose” and “This is Really Good for Alleviating Stress Pose” to save the facial anguish that betrays Sanskrit-challenged students. And plenty more who make up lively mnemonics for poses: “Peeling Pelvis”, “Upface Puppy” or “Flopping Fish on the Pier”.<br /><br />If you want to hook into the mystery of Sanskrit, check out the Sanskrit for the postures you do at <a href="http://%20www.yogajournal.com/">Yoga Journal.com</a>, ask your teacher for a word sheet, or to consider using English translations. And if it’s all a bit beyond you, relax in the knowledge that you’re in the student majority.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">YOGA SPEAK</span><br />It must sound weird the way yoga teachers desert street-side English for arcane forms of expression like “breath into your belly” and “linger in your heartspace”.<br /><br />You’re thinking: “Okaaay. How exactly do I do that?” Then the seemingly impossible<br />metaphoric task arrives: “Imagine you’re a jellyfish, and as you expand and contract, the cells of your body pulse to receive life force and expel toxins”. (fab photo by Erwin Kodiat).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TFNsrKcJ6LI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/gXasx09Zeow/s1600/jellyfish.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TFNsrKcJ6LI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/gXasx09Zeow/s200/jellyfish.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499859058742126770" /></a><br /><br />Teachers strive to make the practice meaningful for you and hope like hell you’ve got the Discovery Channel’s `corps de ballet’ jellyfish in your head, not some mashed-up, beached gelatine. They have some fairly nebulous concepts to get across as they guide your yoga practice toward a spiritual experience, and beautiful, evocative language is the key.<br /><br />“Breath into your armpits”. You already know your aluminium-free deodorant doesn’t cut it. This instruction is about visualising the loosening of your muscles. Picture your breath, say, as a wave gathering momentum through your body and into the muscles of your armpit region, where it swells and, on the out breath, dissolves the tightness gained from hunching over a computer all day. It’s a far more useful direction, for some, than “stretch your pecs”; particularly if you don’t know what, or where, your pecs are.<br /><br />“Fill your heartspace with light”. . . sure, the left chest cavity is filled with blood, soft tissue and bulky organ but, energetically (and we are just a collection of atoms), the heartspace is the seat of love, and light is the highest, most pure vibration we can see . Why not fill your heartspace with light, instead of less choice vibrations like car horns, text messages, or aching emotion?<br /><br />Every lingo has its place. Imagine translating media footy-speak from “Juddy dug the ball out of the pack” to “Chris pulled the football away from his competitors”…<br /><br />The language of yoga, be it bizarre, analogous, metaphoric and figurative, is about getting you to view your mind and body as something far more than just a physical presence. It’s about heightening your awareness on every level in order to peel back the layers to reveal your innate spiritual centre.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing. <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-57869444515945438772010-07-12T04:25:00.000-07:002010-07-12T19:19:13.207-07:00Yoga-ing thru the Ups & Downs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TDvMzBQp_QI/AAAAAAAAADY/35RAVZR9qao/s1600/officeguytreepose.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 105px; height: 170px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TDvMzBQp_QI/AAAAAAAAADY/35RAVZR9qao/s200/officeguytreepose.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493209347392142594" border="0" /></a><br />If you’ve fallen in love with yoga or are newly exploring it, you’ve probably met at least one teacher or fellow student who radiates that something special you’d like more of. What is it about being bendy that makes you a shinier person?<br /><br />Your teacher tells you how asanas rejuvenate your innards in multi-fabulous ways, but how exactly does yoga create nicer, calmer, more even people that others like to be around? How does mat practice help you yoga through the ups and downs of life?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Off, On, Off, On, On, On: </span>For too many of us, the autonomic nervous system’s “fight or flight” stress response is jammed to “On”. Each class retrains your body to move quickly between the “On” response during heart-pumping asanas and the parasympathetic nervous system’s “Off” response when you’re instructed to take a micro-rest. Outside class, how quickly can you recalibrate after an argument? Can you employ the same focussed will to quiet a racing mind or heart? Be the duck – let the small stuff trickle off your back and you’ll swim more smoothly through life.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Surprise! You’re in charge: </span>If you take just one breathing technique from class and use it to alter your state of being when you’re anxious, snappy, exhausted, you’re doing the world a big favour. It breaks that reactive cycle of lashing out when you’re not centred and, just as it does in class, it glues the fragmented pieces of you together again.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Adventure inward:</span> Yoga is a multi dimensional practice and an adventurous journey. Your first destination is focus. You can spend years foraging here, working out when a stretch is heading for a strain, learning which postures ignite, or wipe, your energy. You practise catching your mind’s participation (and impact) during class as it meanders from critical thought to useful observation. Focus introduces you to feelings that bubble up on the mat, like restlessness, superiority, boredom, irritation and defeat, and asks you “Why?”.<br /><br />Outside class, that multi-level directory of awareness begins filtering into your day until you become the expert observer of your own foibles. You’ll notice how many times you barely breathe, you’ll catch your shoulders hanging out with your ears, and any damaging thoughts before they become words or actions. You’ll learn to feel your feelings and deal with them, instead of stuffing them into your cellular structure where they backlog energy, swell and flare into dis-ease.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Theme of the week: </span>Many teachers structure their class around a theme to give you a philosophical anchor and new perspective. It might encourage you to practise acceptance, gratitude or compassion. If it resonates strongly with you in class, consider that your spiritual homework for the week ahead. My favourite? Imagine your thoughts are on loudspeaker…<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TDvM8Q0jlfI/AAAAAAAAADg/PMDgAitW4UE/s1600/rug.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TDvM8Q0jlfI/AAAAAAAAADg/PMDgAitW4UE/s200/rug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493209506188072434" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Roll the mat, nicely:</span> Being asked to fold your blankets a certain way and to stack them neatly shows respect for the next student and respect for the property. Why forget those small acts of service outside class? The shiny person doesn’t mind changing the office toilet roll and hasn’t forgotten the Nod of Gratitude to the driver who lets them though. They put their own dirty clothes in the laundry basket and wash their own coffee cup at work, and maybe someone else’s.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I surrender!:</span> In class we learn to “give in” and “let go” in between postures to allow the body time to assimilate the benefits such as nourishment received (richly oxygenated blood), improved energy flow and toxin/tension release. When we surrender in relaxation, the reward is an exquisite sense of wellbeing and connection with something bigger. Much bigger.<br /><br />In life, sometimes when we’ve considered all the angles and still feel stumped, the answer comes through surrender, that process of turning it over to a higher power and saying “I’ve sat with this situation long enough, I’m dismissing it from my thoughts and handing it over. I’ll wait for a sign. When I see it, or feel it, I’ll know how to act.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Life, it’s all practice: </span> At a recent <a href="http://www.yogaindailylife.org.au%20/">Yoga in Daily Life </a>teacher’s workshop Gita gently reminded us: “It is just practice after all.” As on the mat, so in life. Yogis live by the credo that every moment of every day is an opportunity to grow. We’re practicing to be better people. When things go awry in life, practise new responses until you find what works. If you’ve learned to arrive at the mat with an open heart, and to practice without judgement and to accept where you’re at physically, emotionally and mentally during that hour, just roll that attitude up and take it with you. That way, you’ll keep practising.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor specialising in holistic wellbeing.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-43905611306588231252010-06-30T06:48:00.001-07:002010-06-30T07:33:46.587-07:00Into the Winter<a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCtRue65A3I/AAAAAAAAADI/rqJlSEXfAwA/s1600/winter+moonscape.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCtRue65A3I/AAAAAAAAADI/rqJlSEXfAwA/s200/winter+moonscape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488570429896983410" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You know something's changed when your most icky season becomes your big fave. I LOVE winter. I love the Tim Burtonesque trees with their curly, gnarled twiggy limbs. I love brooding bruised cloudscapes heavy with rain. I love slick wet streets, blinding white-gold in a burst of late afternoon sun. And most of all, I love the excuse to retreat from the world to just curl up and read by the heater, watch DVDs, and empty my way too busy brain. It’s time to make room for new things to come into my life.<br /><br />Winter's a natural time for self-reflection. All its energies compel us to take quiet time and take stock of Life-So-Far before the outgoing energies of spring and summer launch you onto a whole new track. What am I going to do with all that supportive energy and opportunity?! <o:p></o:p><p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br />For me, the best time for self-inquiry is before I go to bed. I focus, breath and ask for a dream to guide me, or some intuition or sign to light the way in the week ahead. It comes in a quiet knowing, or a convo with a good friend, or sometimes there'll be a relentless theme about the people coming into my life, so it's impossible to ignore the message! <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">First thing in the morning is good too. As soon as I wake, I stay tucked deep inside my skin, warm under the doona, and ask for guidance.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Of course, I need to be <i>far</i> more careful about what I wish for...<br /><br />This winter has bowled me flat over. Mac Truck stuff. I'm spinning with all the apocalyptic Revelations. I thought I'd been processing some fairly significant stumbling blocks in my life these past few years until I realised this winter that I'm standing at the foothill of another personal <st1:place st="on">Himalaya</st1:place> when it comes to living authentically...<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">There's some awfully deep-rooted belief systems messing with my life that need to be confronted ... those boring, tired, ruthless old scripts of being "too mediocre", not having the "innate nous/intelligence" to run my own business and be successful at <i>whatever </i>I want to be. There's that ol' chestnut - lack of courage and confidence and self-belief to do what I love most (to the utmost) – teaching yoga! Sigh. It’s all good. Tremendously good!<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">I’m always excited to think I’m heading toward a lighter and brighter time for these breakthroughs, and then I think, it's pretty amazing how resilient I can be to slug through waist-high mud to get there. Though it’s also likely, I realise, that I often find it easier to just wade through swamps than fly on my magic carpet. Wink.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Self-inquiry is a brilliant practice for getting real about life and purpose. You’ve just got to be up for the Big Ugly Truths. Oh yeah. They’re out there! <o:p></o:p>And beyond each Big Ugly Truth is a Beeyoodiful Iridescent Dragonfly waiting to wing you toward a whole new level of Living. I'm counting on it!<br /></p>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-77471068723148029252010-06-23T16:58:00.000-07:002010-06-23T17:23:33.465-07:00Well, Well, Well<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKiK-yMoFI/AAAAAAAAACY/HavKuMNOqI0/s1600/yin+yan+storm.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKiK-yMoFI/AAAAAAAAACY/HavKuMNOqI0/s200/yin+yan+storm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486125605626617938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The End of Zen</span>...?<br /><br /></span><span>Well, well, well. . . it’s sadly ironic that complementary health practitioners serving the rapid expansion of the `wellness’ industry are on the cosmic trail to burn out.<br /><br />Melody Jansz, director of spa industry recruitment agency SpaPe</span><span>ople, watches the Zen sap from their altruistic intention: "It's not unusual to see candidate resumes that list four to six-month average lengths of employment due to poor pay and burn out".<br /><br /><a href="http://www.businesswellbeing.com.au/">Kylie Saunder</a>, a business consultant to the wellbeing industry, conducted an internet poll via Linked In to find that one in two yoga and pilates instructors and personal trainers experience physical and emotional exhaustion.<br /><br />It doesn’t help, says Saunder, that many wellness professionals are stuck in “poverty mentality”, feeling obliged to heal the world for free, and struggle as micro-business operators with few business skills.<br /><br />Energy healers (reiki, kinesiology, emotional freedom technique) and physical therapists (massage, yoga, personal training,) are also leaving home-based offices, community centres and parks for higher profile wellness centres, studios, shared shop fronts and gyms, where working conditions are often lacking.<br /><br />I’ve worked for one corporate-style wellness centre whose altruistic philosophy was as thinly applied as the paper of its promotional brochure. Then there was the massage centre sanctuary whose office manager and therapists were either burning-out or despairing and hollowing with resentment over conditions – high rent and brand-marketing costs, anchored to shifts despite few appointments, working nights, weekends and back-to-back appointments without breaks to make up for slow weeks. A common story, they said.<br /><br />The reliable churn factor and Medicare subsidies that keep medical clinics viable is no business model to emulate given the “six-minute medicine” and drug prescription-driven GPs it creates (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20%20http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/opinion/keep-well-a-better-healthcare-model/711886.aspx?storypage=3">see media report</a>).<br /><br />Let’s hope the wellness industry finds a better business model before its shining star fizzles to cinders.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Meditation Kids</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKid1xOQMI/AAAAAAAAACo/GK6xnztLYvY/s1600/Peace+Sign+kid.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKid1xOQMI/AAAAAAAAACo/GK6xnztLYvY/s200/Peace+Sign+kid.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486125929624125634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span><span>At Geelong Grammar School, meditation teacher Janet Etty-Leal takes a glass jar filled with water and glitter and shakes it well, creating a chaotic whirlpool of colour. Grade 4s watch as the glitter settles and water clears. “That’s how we feel on the inside sometimes,” she explains, all churned up and messy, but when we meditate, everything becomes still and clear again.<br /><br />Why on Earth would kids need to meditate? Preventative health, for one: the last national survey of mental health problems among children in 1998 (<a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/mediacentre/2002/mr020627.pdf">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare</a>) showed 14 per cent of adolescents suffered from mental health issues.<br /><br />Etty-Leal’s students use her techniques to get to sleep, to face the goal posts on a tricky kick or for vaccinations. They say they focus better in class.<br /><br />To prove the efficacy of her mindful meditation program, Etty-Leal joined with Dr Andrew Joyce, from the Department of Health Sciences at Monash University (and co-authors), to publish a peer-reviewed report on a 10-week mindful meditation pilot program delivered to 10 to 12-year-olds at two Melbourne primary schools.<br /><br />Children were assessed before and after for behavioural and emotional problems such as hyperactivity, inattention, emotional symptoms, depression and anxiety, and peer relationship issues. Post program, those who fell into borderline or abnormal categories in the forementioned areas showed a significant decrease in those behaviours.<br /><br />Says Etty-Leal: “. . . they need to learn how to build up mental health . . . basic self awareness skills. A lot of our attention gets taken up with things we have to deal with in the outer world. There’s often a deficit of inner knowing . . . [which] is really an imbalance . . . for children, their cyber self is often stronger than the authentic [inner] self. . .”<br /><br />Etty-Leal is publishing a book about her program called <a href="http://www.meditationcapsules.com/">Meditation Capsules</a>: A Mindfulness Program for Children. Worth a read!<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Meditation `Cheats’<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKkD_pRWtI/AAAAAAAAAC4/tqxB3DTOM1w/s1600/cloudscape.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKkD_pRWtI/AAAAAAAAAC4/tqxB3DTOM1w/s200/cloudscape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486127684621785810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span></span><span>If you fall into that category of recalcitrant meditators as I do, here’s hope! On rare moments during meditation, I linger in the empty corridors of my mind, but more often, I wonder who cancelled the cleaners. Clutter everywhere. We can look beyond forcing ourselves to sit in a candle-lit room to access that meditative state. Here are a few that have worked for me: being fully present as I nurse my purring ginger cat; watching the cloudscape shift; close-up observation of flowers and bugs (nice ones); stopping to admire street-side visual vignettes; feeling the pulse on the inside of the body and following it to become aware of 1000 tiny little pulses in the nostrils, toes, belly, behind the eyes…<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Wise up<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKjQqE1nlI/AAAAAAAAACw/q8xvXzK4RpU/s1600/Wise+Up+-+owl.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 96px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/TCKjQqE1nlI/AAAAAAAAACw/q8xvXzK4RpU/s200/Wise+Up+-+owl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486126802658500178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span></span><span>“The difference between somebody who does what they love and someone who doesn’t is that the former identifies their fears and has a strategy to break through them.” <a href="http://www.drdemartini.com/">Dr John Demartini</a>, The Breakthrough Experience</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lisa Mitchell is a hatha yoga teacher, relaxation instructor and freelance writer/editor who specialises in holistic wellbeing.<br /></span></span></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-65447694765223497962010-05-23T01:03:00.000-07:002010-05-24T22:54:07.816-07:00Yoga - the New Religion?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S_jjyMTdlXI/AAAAAAAAACQ/QHAOlVu5UBo/s1600/yoga+the+new+religion.jpeg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 95px; height: 130px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S_jjyMTdlXI/AAAAAAAAACQ/QHAOlVu5UBo/s200/yoga+the+new+religion.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474375798504658290" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />It’s no coincidence that yoga is so popular. We are, after all, in the midst of a spiritual renaissance.<br /><br />In 1901, a whopping 96.1 per cent of Australians were anchored to a particular religion while just 0.4 per cent had none, according to Census data. By 2006, only 63.8 per cent were packaging their god, while 18.7 per cent declared they had none ― that’s a lot of people weighing anchor.<br /><br />As a spiritual path, yoga must be doing something right to have so many agnostics and lapsed church-goers rolling out their mats each week.<br /><br />One reason why people gravitate so readily toward it is because they can hide their spiritual aspirations ― and their existential vacuums ― behind a bad back, a desperate need to contact their toes and the after-work stress detox.<br /><br />Once ensconced in a class, it’s the stayers, who secretly hope this “my body is a temple” fever could work wonders for them too, though it often takes a while to realise it…<br /><br />At first, only 18 per cent of the 4000 yoga practitioners in the RMIT University “Yoga in Australia Survey” (the world’s largest yoga survey!) saw it as a “spiritual path” or “personal development” tool. But after practising, that figure topped the chakra charts at 41 per cent.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIY faith </span><br />As religious conviction waivers, yoga studios flourish on the corners where churches (and pubs!) once provided sanctuary. It’s not that yoga is the new religion, it’s more that cherry picking your faith is the order of the day ― a bushel of Buddhism, a peck of Patanjali, a chapter of Eckhart Tolle, and a pinch of Oprah ― and yoga’s countless traditions offer the confused seeker plenty of philosophical choice.<br /><br />There’s Patanjali’s classic Yoga Sutras offering the <a href="http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/158%20">yamas</a> & and <a href="http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/462?page=3">niyamas</a> as your travel guide through life and the notion that a Divine spark exists within us as part of a much larger Creative or Intelligent Force. There’s <a href="http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2240">Tantra</a>, which far from being sex-obsessed, homogenises that Great Spirit ― it’s in everything, so embrace the Divine aspect in that flat tyre, that wily cat, that arthritic knee, that dulcet dawn. Advaita Vedanta goes a quantum leap further, saying that the physical self and world are an illusion, there is only one Divine reality.<br /><br />So sip from one tradition, nestle into another, then shake it all up by diving elsewhere. These days, it’s acceptable to adopt the bits that resonate best. And if that leads to more self-aware, self responsible people with expansive values, it can only be good thing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My body is a temple?</span><br />Religion, for me, always felt more like an intellectual exercise. I found no comfort on a hard pew in a drafty church on Sunday mornings. The recitation of prayers in arcane language only cured insomnia, and drab hymns failed to hoist me aloft a wave of vibratory joy.<br /><br />My closest connection to God came in our private chats, which was far chummier than turning to the oration of some ornately robed priest atop his marble altar. I wanted a Bluetooth connection to God.<br /><br />Yoga, meanwhile, offered something <span style="font-style: italic;">entirely experiential</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S_jjjtcNbJI/AAAAAAAAACI/QLaGcLYPyoo/s1600/lily+pad.jpeg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 80px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S_jjjtcNbJI/AAAAAAAAACI/QLaGcLYPyoo/s200/lily+pad.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474375549701680274" border="0" /></a><br />Regular use of yoga techniques like pranayama (breath work), physical postures (asana), song (chanting), and yoga nidra (relaxation), leads to that serene lily pad within that activates a reassurance about the complexities of life. Through meditation, the hum of the Big Spirit filters in, and lingers.<br /><br />Slowly that very god-ness shifts into our very bones, our physical being. When we begin to enjoy stillness and, occasionally, that overwhelming sense of wellbeing during our practice, then we understand how the body becomes the temple.<br /><br />Once my mind learned to direct tendrils of breath through the body, I became calm, concretised muscles softened, extending limbs felt like working with chewing gum. The very gradual unblocking of my body through regular work led to a lightness of energy, while meditation delivered that pervading sense of “it’s all gonna be okay”.<br /><br />As for yoga nidra (end of class relaxation), like most stayers, I am ever eager to waft into that expansiveness, that place where the body connects with a floaty feeling of one-ness with all there is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Spirit, Spirit, Who’s got the Spirit?</span><br />If you’ve reached that point in your practice where you’re noticing terrific physical benefits but feeling like this yoga caper promised much, much more, it sounds like spiritual guidance is missing.<br /><br />Changing teachers to broaden your horizons is hardly like excommunicating yourself from religion. There are plenty of traditions that adeptly weave yogic perspectives into classes, such as the <a href="http://www.gita.com.au/">Gita</a>, <a href="http://www.yogavic.com/">Satyananda</a>, <a href="http://http//www.shivayoga.org">Shiva</a> and <a href="http://www.camillamaling.com/yoga/anusara_melbourne.html#">Anusara</a> traditions to name a few, and there are plenty of individual teachers who do not.<br /><br />It’s the application of yoga philosophy from the mat to daily life that ultimately brings a true sense of direction and meaning to your life (see yamas and niyamas above), so don’t shy from asking prospective teachers if they tuck a little Spirit into your yoga hour.Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-28432650385666283112010-05-06T18:52:00.000-07:002010-05-06T19:16:23.121-07:00Well, Well, Well<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S-NyqMcXFsI/AAAAAAAAABg/aeew_3qaZv8/s1600/Toyota+Happy+Jump.jpeg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S-NyqMcXFsI/AAAAAAAAABg/aeew_3qaZv8/s200/Toyota+Happy+Jump.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468340441778165442" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to be Happy </span><br />If retail therapy is your thing, you can scrub Happiness from the wishlist. Unless, that is, you’re prepared to step away from the shiny sportscar and delay that iPad spree.<br /><br />According to new research, people who acquire life experiences are far happier, and far better liked, than those who chase Happiness through material acquisition. The object obsessed also have less satisfying relationships, and fewer of them.<br /><br />Far better, then, to jump out of a plane, holiday at an Indian ashram, join an amateur theatre company and volunteer for koala counting.<br /><br />The longitudinal study by psychology professor Leaf Van Boven from the University of Colorado (plus co-authors) published in the April edition of the <a href="http://psp.sagepub.com/current.dtl">Personality and Psychology Bulletin</a>, also confirmed that materialists are more prone to depression.<br /><br />In the pursuit of Happiness, some of us eventually learn that objects, at best, offer meditative moments of great beauty. At worst, they pad lives, as if they might cushion us from its ups and downs. They don’t challenge our limited horizons or world view through stimulating interaction, save perhaps for the natty iPad. Ultimately, the materialist risks spiritual suffocation in a chamber of chattels.<br /><br />Years ago, I read another study that defined Happiness as losing yourself in the flow of an activity, so that time, cares and To-Do lists evaporate in the spaciousness of pure focus. Gardening, painting, reading, walking … We all know how, it’s more a matter of scheduling moments for Happiness to glide in.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In the Black </span><br />Now that the poster child of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have been outed as useless to all but the severely depressed ― as published in the not-for-profit <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050045">Public Library of Science Medicine</a> journal ― you have to wonder why it took 20 years for the research to emerge, and why they’re still the most popular choice among GPs.<br /><br />Prescriptions for SSRIs rose from 5.1 million in 1990 to 8.2 million in 1998. In fairness, GPs dispensed them far and wide because their predecessor, the tricyclics, produced such unpopular side effects as desert-mouth, fat gain and libido slump. Doctors’ enthusiasm was also fuelled by a combination of “commercial pressures, professional opinion and greater readiness on the part of patients to discuss their symptoms,” according to the Medical Journal of Australia’s “Making new choices about antidepressants in Australia: the long view 1975–2002”.<br /><br />But how many of those mildly depressed millions also received appropriate education about the significance of nutrition, thought patterns and exercise in the development of ― and recovery from ― depression? No pill in the world will permanently cure the recurring Black Slump if you’re still carrying the emotional baggage, mental turmoil, destructive habits and world perspective that got you there.<br /><br />As Mum advised during one of my bouts with the Big Black: ”What you need is a healthy diet and a good haircut!”.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S-N298ze8QI/AAAAAAAAABw/htx3WXULbUk/s1600/Hamster+Food.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 99px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S-N298ze8QI/AAAAAAAAABw/htx3WXULbUk/s200/Hamster+Food.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468345179224076546" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gourmet Pets</span><br />Millennia ago, when man first befriended pet, Rex and Fluffy hunted and scavenged happily for their supper. At what point then, did they become biologically receptive to nutritionally deficient Gourmet Foil Surprise? Actually, they didn’t, say holistic vets. But the turning point was circa 1965 when, with mass convenience in mind, Uncle Bens released commercial pet foods in Australia.<br /><br />Four Corners’ story on pet food irradiation last year certainly prompted concerned owners to look for alternatives. But even premium vet-promoted foods are not the answer, says holistic vet Dr Bruce Syme, who has developed a range of <a href="http://www.vetsallnatural.com.au/">natural pet care products</a>. Nutritional value is lost, he says, due to the extremely high temperatures of food processing required to meet Australia’s importing standards.<br /><br />“Dermatitis, arthritis, gingivitis and dental caries, renal failure, diabetes, pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, FIV, leukaemia . . . make up the long list of degenerative diseases which are now simply ‘accepted’ as part of growing old [for pets] . . . [but] are actually the result of years of nutritional abuse,” says Dr Syme. “I still see vast health improvements when dogs and cats move … onto a natural raw food diet.”<br /><br />Megan Kearney, president of <a href="http://www.ahv.com.au/modalities.php%20">Australian Holistic Veterinarians</a> (part of the Australian Veterinary Association), reckons vets promote ‘premium’ foods because “they’re seen to be scientifically balanced” and offer a quick fix for inadequate diets based on table scraps.<br /><br />“The solution might be to feed them premium commercial food where a specific meat is listed as the first ingredient, rather than saying, ‘meat and other derivatives’, as well as fresh home-made food,” says Kearney.<br /><br />Ask your vet about a raw-food diet plan.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wise up </span><br />“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S-N3z52a4aI/AAAAAAAAAB4/MOsStEoSXdk/s1600/Peace+illo.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 109px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S-N3z52a4aI/AAAAAAAAAB4/MOsStEoSXdk/s200/Peace+illo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468346106144022946" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.drwaynedyer.com/">Wayne W. Dyer</a> There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem </span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-11226046430767475742010-04-25T22:20:00.001-07:002010-04-25T22:27:22.456-07:00The Pretzel in Me<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S9UkNBXAapI/AAAAAAAAABY/rMPaX13ozhU/s1600/Pretzel+pose.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 170px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S9UkNBXAapI/AAAAAAAAABY/rMPaX13ozhU/s200/Pretzel+pose.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464313529005795986" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />With yoga on every street corner, you almost feel on the outer if your inner world isn’t being toned. Everyone seems bent on finding the Pretzel inside. <br /><br />Most depictions of yoga from promo flyers to YouTubes offer the Human Paperclip as inspiration. But where does that leave the lawyer fossilised by 16-hour days or the chronically fatigued mum? How does the average, flex-free, joint-jarred, physically disproportionate student overcome that invocation, to grasp the subtler gifts of yoga? <br /><br />Over a 15-year, once-or-twice-a-week journey as a student, the glitter in my path began to sparkle. That may sound like a slow-train to nowhere-in- particular, but little by little yoga’s revelatory influence dramatically altered my life perspective and path.<br /><br />As the Philosophy of the Mat unrolled, I learned the sanctuary of that rectangular space and how to use it to sustain me.<br /><br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Philosophy of the Mat </span><br />On the mat, at first, I struggled and forced, often leaving depleted and disillusioned. But with acceptance, patience and growing self responsibility, the mat became an expansive place where I could lose all sense of time and place, and the worries I’d heaped upon me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rules of the Mat 1+2: </span>One. You need to explore several classes to find the right match of tradition and teacher, the one that opens your body and mind the way you imagined yoga might. Two. Ignore Flexy Pants who flops effortlessly into postures. Your body, and the emotional and mental layers that inform it, are unique. So too is your yoga journey. Immerse yourself in your own space… fully. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Acceptance:</span> When your hamstrings refuse to fold perfectly in half from a standing position, welcome Acceptance. No amount of forcing your limbs into submission, or allowing the inner critic to judge, is going to progress you quickly, or safely. Accept your limitations on the mat and work gently to see whether they are blockages that may be freed with regular, self-nurturing attention. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Patience: </span>You know it, something worth having takes time… From the Sanskrit “yug”, meaning “union”, “yoga” invites you to unite the mind, body and spirit (the inner self, the divine within and without). This profound union is accessible to the patient student, which is why yoga persists over millennia ― since 5000 BC and still counting. At first, the union lingers in moments. Ultimately, it can underpin your state-of-being, informing all you do. All you need is openness to self-exploration.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Self Awareness: </span>Those crooked and recalcitrant parts of you provide a golden opportunity to grow in self awareness. The real management of my own journey of stress-induced chronic illness began by applying yogic philosophy to life off the mat. Embracing yoga doesn’t mean you won’t get sick but it equips you with a vast tool kit to navigate the ups and downs of life. Hm … how so?<br /><br />Instructions to focus on a particular muscle, or to bring the breath to your big toe, offer the first steps toward self awareness. We spend 99% of life focussed externally on people and tasks. Your teacher asks you, repetitively, to move internally in order to become acutely aware of the messages your body, emotions and state-of-mind are pumping out. Once we learn to truly witness and act appropriately on those messages, we manage ourselves and pilot life’s journey more smoothly.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Self-Responsibility: </span> Your teacher may be an expert guide, but the final arbiter on the mat is you. Can you be strong enough to take a breather, rather than force a posture or repetitions for pride’s sake? If you show up for a commando-style class undernourished and overtired, then awake leaden and strained the next day, who is responsible? <br /><br />By all means, challenge your body to become lighter, looser and stronger, but consider that beyond physicality is a labyrinth of thoughts, attitudes, habits and emotions to tame, should we choose, through exploring our inner Pretzel.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Mat chat </span><br />Try a mantra to keep on track next class:<br />“What do I feel, where do I feel it?”<br />“My breath guides my limbs.”<br />“My body opens slowly, gently.”<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Take-Away Yoga</span><br />Take one thing from your favourite class and practice it for a few weeks ― that’s a 5-minute daily yoga practice. (Ask your teacher if it’s ok to bring a pen/paper to write it down.) As a dear mentor, Lucille, always says: “If you can’t find five minutes for yourself, who’s running your life?!”.Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-64531754027003947512010-04-14T21:50:00.001-07:002010-04-14T22:15:57.963-07:00YogaMeWell blog here soon!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S8ag2ZgN8HI/AAAAAAAAAAg/faGGNi6ZJLo/s1600/multitasking+male+shiva+bonkers.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 140px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_38sXaGV8Yd0/S8ag2ZgN8HI/AAAAAAAAAAg/faGGNi6ZJLo/s200/multitasking+male+shiva+bonkers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460228454652702834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Would love you to join me for enlightened group discussion on all things Oogie-Boogie (spiritually-minded chit-chat) and yoga. Here at YogaMeWell blogspot, launching April 26. A dedicated website/blog is on the way ...Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-54418354759057034782009-09-30T05:43:00.000-07:002009-09-30T16:47:53.702-07:00WANTED: Ziggy Marmalade<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/Ziggy-703768.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/Ziggy-703674.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Lock your doors. Pack up your doonas. Hide your Crumpler Bag (Ooo. Too late.) And <span style="font-style: italic;">whatever </span>you do, DON'T look him in the eye. . .<br /><br />The nastiest, meanest, low-downest, lily-livered piddler in the West has just entered the flat.<br /><br />Big. Bad. Kitty Witty. Rarr.Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-1130515956806212502009-09-30T05:37:00.000-07:002009-09-30T05:41:18.300-07:00Richard Attenborough's tribute response<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/lisa-763150.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/lisa-763146.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"I rather think that a more rigorous assault might be the unwelcome occupation of this Red Hatted Warble-Throated Booby, just when Mother Earth was enjoying a quiet nap."Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-2879682959688528012009-09-30T05:32:00.000-07:002009-09-30T05:36:30.832-07:00A tribute to Richard Attenborough<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/lisa-on-the-mountain-770667.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 136px;" src="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/lisa-on-the-mountain-770663.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />"The most frivolous sound known to Nature must surely be the human echo."Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-68300907894873478342009-04-07T21:13:00.000-07:002009-04-07T21:34:01.913-07:00The Ideal Pet...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/Catclip-763674.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 138px;" src="http://www.lisamitchell.net.au/blog/uploaded_images/Catclip-763672.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I suppose the ideal pet would be an Ego. Called Bob. If you could feed him once a day (or three small feeds on a PMT day), life would be altogether more pleasant. Like most perfect pets, Bob would probably crave exercise most when you're tired (of being spiritually sound). He's easily entertained (by moments of self-delusion, ambition and wayward pride) and only gets cranky when provoked (by People Not Like You). And while he might serve a purpose to get things done (kill rats, gobble blow flies, wee on unwanted suitors) it would be so nice to just be able to say "Back in your box Bob" without hurting anyone's feelings (least of all yours).<br /></span>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-47511933454442033992008-02-12T14:40:00.001-08:002008-02-12T14:45:38.527-08:00Speaking of organs...Speaking of organs, what if Earth is just the Liver of something much larger? If my cells think <i>I'm</i> <a href="http://images.google.com.au/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=god&btnG=Search+Images">God</a> . . .<br /><br />Thought of the week: courtesy of Quantum Physics 101, <a href="http://gita.com.au/">The University of Light</a>Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-76836861356525548672008-01-17T04:23:00.001-08:002008-01-17T04:24:33.037-08:00Drawing a blankOn rare moments during meditation, I wander the empty corridors of my mind. But more often, I wonder who cancelled the cleaners.Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221764918453213454.post-30401672765173013092008-01-10T04:15:00.000-08:002008-01-10T04:24:04.650-08:00On Summer SwelteringIt's 11.18pm and 31 degrees celsius in my home office which means my internal body temperature is almost in synch with the real world. I can't tell you happy that makes me. Which means there's really no excuse for spontaneous combustion in this sort of weather and that at least 100 17 year-olds around Melbourne will wake up tomorrow morning with RSI from scooping ice-cream all night.Lisa Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282975427076304541noreply@blogger.com0