Here I guide you through the 3 part yogic pranayama (breath.)  It’s excellent for lowering stress level immediately!  Once you are comfortable with it, you can do it anytime, at work, after a stressful encounter, or even during if you can drop your attention into your body and tune into the breath.  This is meant to be listened to while in a relaxed reclining position, so the visual is a bit fuzzy but it’s the audio that is meant to guide you step by step on this stress relieving breathing practice.

Namaste all,

Kale is so good for you, it’s about knowing interesting ways of preparing it so check out my recipe for raw kale salad after this 1min.  video by Brendan Brazier.  He is a best-selling author of Thrive and creator of award-winning Vega nutrition line, Brendan Brazier is one of only a few pro athletes in the world whose diet is 100 percent plant-based.  He is also a two-time Canadian 50K ultra-marathon champion.  You may recognize Brendan as he’s featured in Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet.

Websites: BrendanBrazier.com, MyVega.com, ThriveFoodsDirect.com
Facebook: brendanbrazier
Twitter: @Brendan_Brazier

I just created a new video that guides you through a deep relaxation training,

it’s short, beginning at 2:12 on video so its about 7 min in length.  It’s using “progressive muscle relaxation” exercise.

How does this reduce stress?

This relaxation technique is used in many settings to help patients reduce stress, in yoga classes on so on.  It works because its focus is on the body which is easier to reduce stress in than working directly on the mind with meditation.   When one is feeling stress even if its stressful thoughts and mental stress there is always a related physical component.  The body and mind are linked and interdependent. Your shoulders will be tight, your breathing less deep; so working with the body is an easy way to reduce stress.  So try this sample. It’s basic principal is to tense and then release the muscles systematically in the entire body.

How often to practice a relaxation exercise?

In order for it to really make a difference in your stress level-practice a minimum of 3x’s a week.  Daily would be best-perhaps before bed.

If you like it- I lead a full guided deep relaxation that leads to an even deeper state of relaxation and in my Zen of Crisis kit.  It’s an instant audio download where you listen and practice.  There 3 techniques are taught including deep yogic breath (abdominal breath) and walking meditation.  The latter is great if you are too stressed to just sit down or lay down.  If you are very stressed I would recommend trying the audio “walking meditation,” first then you could progress to doing this guided relaxation.  Again find them in my Zen of Crisis kit, I even add an upgrade option to do a phone consult with me to help you integrate the practices into your life and answer any questions you have personally.

Namaste, Kala

This is so laugh out loud funny I had to share it!  A friend who literally always says the opening line “will you hold space for me…” sent this along.  The me line is “could you guys be quiet I”m med…it..tay ting.”  It’s so about my “tribe,” good people, and you’ve gotta be able to laugh at yourself.  And if it’s not your tribe, you’ll have an even bigger laugh!  It’s less than 2 min. long.  Enjoy.

Namaste, Kala (oh I want to add Shanti to my name….Hmmm Kala Shanti)

Are your Reproductive Health Issues Also Keeping you from Financial Success & Creative Self-expression

As I began to contemplate women’s health issues and the ramifications to our energy, self-expression and money, I’ve gotten clearer and clearer on how they may be linked.  I’d love to share this with you as perhaps you like me are very spiritually active and aware, but would like to feel more “successful” in the material world and heal your health problems!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, as well as personal meditation and contemplation on the issue of spiritual success vs. material success.  Lets define first what I mean by “spiritual success,” I think of those with a regular religious/spiritual practice such as meditation or prayer, those who regularly practice a mind/body discipline like yoga/ or tai chi or similar.  Along with these activities-they regularly contemplate and evaluate how they are living their lives-are they living “consciously.”  Consciously making choices that support their beliefs out in the world.  Beliefs such as caring for the planet and people by making less harmful choices, caring for their health by choosing healthy food for example.  And finally all of that has led you to feel pretty good internally, calm, aware most of the time-thats what I mean by “spiritually successful.”

It’s secifically this group of women, women mostly in their 30’s and 40’s whom I’m addressing.  Women who may suffer from uterine fibroids, or other reproductive issues.  Fibroids are an especially common and troublesome female reproductive issue.

What is a fibroid?

Fibroids are noncancerous (benign) growths that develop in the muscular wall of the uterus.  Statistics are that between 20-40% of women ages 35 and older have uterine fibroids of a significant size.  African-American women are at a higher risk: as many as 50 percent have fibroids of a significant size.  This is an important health issue as it often still leads women to have hysterectomies performed.  The ramifications of which are becoming increasingly alarming-moving from commonplace in past decades to a more cautious recommendation-that many advocates suggest is still too frequently made.  As sceientifc research continues and the reports of women who have had the surgical removal of their uterus and possibly ovaries-suggest that negative side effects can occur for  years afterwards.

As someone deeply steeped in the idea of traditional healing from cultures such as Chinese and Indian Ayurveda, I know there are ways that we as women can foster our own healing naturally;  in ways that are: less invasive, expensive and potentially damaging to not only ur bodies but our emotions and spirit.  None of these latter areas are taken into account by the vast majority of doctors, male or female in my experience.

Here is some information from my 17 years of study & practice of yoga and mindfulness practices and shiatsu bodywork training.  I will try to outline some possible areas that could be helpful for those who want to explore thier own natural healing of fibroids and other reproductive disorders.  So open your mind to the possibility that it’s not an isolated “problem,” but more a symptom of other issues that are worth clearing and exploring and that your life as a result could be sparkling, energetic and alive by workign with the difficult “gift” of your illness.

Location of Second Chakra-Swadhisthana

In yoga teaching, the reproductive organs, uterus, ovaries would be governed by the 2^nd chakra. The 2^nd chakra in the body at the front would be felt between the pubic bone and the belly button.  The subtle energy of the chakra would be felt on the spine (in the subtle energy body) and forward into the front of the body.  The word “chakra” is often translated as meaning wheel.

Swadhisthana Chakra:

Each chakra has a series of correspondences.  It’s commonly held to be seven major chakras in the body (though systems vary and there are other “minor” chakras,).  For example the 1^st or Root chakra-muladhara, governs the energy of Earth, has colors, a sense and physical/psychological ramifications linked to it.

Here we will stick to the second chakra which for women seems expecially important to other areas of our lives.   Affiliated qualites of svadistana/sex/reproductive chakra are:

Governs water element, emotions, relationships, sexuality, sensuality and creativity.  I’ve bolded the words that clearly related to female reporductive issues even in Western/rational, no “hocus pocus” Medicine.

The emotions, such as fear or anger in Traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic ( Traditional Indian) and Western Medicine are known  to affect our hormones!  Western science also acknowledges this.  Our hormones for women are especially complex dance of highs and lows in precise collaboration with each other.  Estrogen, Progestren, and Testosterone woven together.  When this is out of whack because of emotions-we have fertility issues, menstrual issues, fibroid and myriad other illness.

And of course sexuality and emotions are linked in an interactive dance as well.  It would seem to be worth exploring the spiritual science of Yoga for answers that look to a subtler level than Western science does.   To look beyond the just “have surgery,  you arent’ going to have more children so you dont’ need your uterus,” or “take this pill” approach that is most commonly looked on as “healing.”  Especially if your problem seems intractable or you are unhappy with the side effects of your treatment, this series of articles will be worth your while.

My conclusions at this point is that blockages in chi (energy) or Prana in svadhisthana will also affect to a greater or lesser degree our ability to manifest what we want in our lives as women.  That means money, creative expression and happiness!

I believe that illness always has a metaphoric/emotional element-whre we get ill and how, can be examined for clues to at least the partial cause.  This refers  back to alot of what Louise Hay the very famous spiritual writer/teacher/publisher first talked about in her book “You Can Heal Your Life.” As well as the teachings of Ayraveda and Chinese medicine, where the word “stagnation” is often used to denote the beginnings of what will become a cyst or tumor in the body.  

How can we get to the root of our illness, the places of stagnation-lack of flow?

I’ll end part 1 of the series of articles with these questions.

Is/has my sexuality/sensuality being blocked, damaged (rape) or suppressed in my life?  How?

Is/has my creativity, (think self-expression) being blocked or suppressed in our life?  How?

Are my emotions being blocked or suppressed in our life?  Which ones?  How?

Do some journaling or contemplation on the above questions, and come back for the rest of the series.  I’ll give concepts to assimilate, awareness exercies and tools to help get clearer on our bodies, emotions and health.  Consider subscribing to the blog to receive updates and separtetly to be on my e-newsletter sent out usually bi-weekly at most, and usually monthly.

Comments and questions are welcome! Email me or comment below.

May You Be Well,

Namaste, Kala

My wish for you is:

May you be blessed this new year-as we continue to move through cataclysm to breakthrough on a global level.  You may be feeling this on a personal level too, as energies are shifting around us-as we enter the Age of Aquarius. 

Yesterday, new years day 1/1/2012,  as I did my daily reading, I got the card “Kali” which in this deck means “endings and beginnings,” Kali is a Hindu goddess linked with destruction and endings.  Further, the card meaning is “allow the old to dissolve, know that it is making way for the new to enter.”

At this point in time, I highly recommend meditation as a profound practice that can stabilize and ground you. I created an instant audio download kit called Zen of Crisis, that takes you through 3 practices-walking meditation, guided deep relaxation and a calming breath practice.  All or one would be helpful at this time.  See below for other helpful posts on meditation and some free resources.

I found this poem so bittersweet and tender and wanted to share it with you.

Namaste, Kala

Testimony (for my daughters) by~ Rebecca Baggett ~

I want to tell you that the world

is still beautiful.

I tell you that despite

children raped on city streets,

shot down in school rooms,

despite the slow poisons seeping

from old and hidden sins

into our air, soil, water,

despite the thinning film

that encloses our aching world.

Despite my own terror and despair.

I want you to know that spring

is no small thing, that

the tender grasses curling

like a baby’s fine hairs around

your fingers are a recurring

miracle. I want to tell you

that the river rocks shine

like God, that the crisp

voices of the orange and gold

October leaves are laughing at death,

I want to remind you to look

beneath the grass, to note

the fragile hieroglyphs

of ant, snail, beetle. I want

you to understand that you

are no more and no less necessary

than the brown recluse, the ruby-

throated hummingbird, the humpback

whale, the profligate mimosa.

I want to say, like Neruda,

that I am waiting for

“a great and common tenderness”,

that I still believe

we are capable of attention,

that anyone who notices the world

must want to save it.

Womens Uncommon Prayers (Morehouse Publishing, 2000

Check out some other related posts on this blog:

Simple Breath Awareness Meditation Instructions

A Tongue n’Cheek guide to meditation called 5 Reasons Meditation Is Better than Sex (my second most popular post)

A Post on Metta (Loving-kindness meditation) with benefits and free audio links to learn more.

Like a bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions. 

Mahatma Gandi

“By reclaiming our heritage as healers, by loving the earth and listening to her teachings, by caring for ourselves with loving compassion, and by using gentle, natural remedies, we create the balance that brings well-being and vitality in all its fullness.” -

Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist, writer, educator

Five great holistic healthcare sites, around the web, that I found helpful in different ways. Whether its finding foods high in vitamin D (and exactly how much) or learning what “reishi” mushrooms are helpful for.  Especially if you are in holistic, healthy lifestyle or alternative medicine approaches to maintaining your health check them out.

(Some links below (Amazon) are affiliate links meaning I get a small compensation if you make a purchase.  I only recommend products I like and think are of high quality.)

1. Great tool to look up a specific vitamin or nutrient.

Nutrition Info:  http://www.whfoods.com/  Founded by the man who started a health food company which he sold after 25 years.  The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests or advertising.   what I loved is the tool to look up a vitamin or nutrient, they tell you tons about deficiency etc. then give list of foods with detailed info on best/most of nutrient to least.  Really helpful.  I looked up vitamin K and found out a lot.  Check out their Essential Nutrients page.

2. Ayurvedic Herbs/Oils & Books:

Banyan Botanicals  find out your dosha or ayurvedic type, how to stay healthy with herbs, lifestyle and diet according to your type.  Organic and responsibly sourced herbs, tested for safety and used by many Ayurvedic practitioners and yogi’s.  I’ve used them and find them really helpful.

3.  Women’s Health:

http://www.marilynglenville.com/index.htm

Planetary Herbals Triphala Traditional Ayurvedic Purifier, 1000 mg, 180 Tablets (Pack of 2)

Natural Choices for Women’s Health: How the Secrets of Natural and Chinese Medicine Can Create a Lifetime of Wellness

Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (Revised Edition): Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing

4. Online-superfoods & health foods like raw cacao, goji berries, and various mushrooms and more.

Longevity Warehouse, is excellent recommended by raw food guru David Wolfe author of Naked Chocolate: The Astounding Truth About The World’s Greatest Food;  and oppostie spectrum-wild woods/meat eating Daniel Vitalis.  Currently access to some great videos on particular products such as clay, zeolite and deeling with toxins in air, food and naturally created by our bodies.  The Raw Transformation: Energizing Your Life with Living Foods

5.  Toxin in our Water:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/ on flouride is bad for our health and the official warning put out to parents of infants on using regular water for baby formulas…makes you wonder.  Why is flouride in our water?  Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser

Quick recipe-if you love raw food or, salads in general try this salad.  It’s a raw kale orange salad. Im an intuitive cook/uncook but this gives you the idea to improv from.

Raw Orange Kale Salad-1 serving

Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale (2x as much in bulk as you want to end with.)  Lacinato is softer and tastier tahtn other more common frilly kind)  It does look like dinosaur skin and is a deep green and is used apparently in Italian cuisine.

1 Orange

1/4 c sliced Beets

1/4 of Avocado

Braggs or soy sauce

pinch Sea Salt

Wash kale and drain off.  De-stem: easy way is to hold leaf upside down from stem end, with other hand pinch stem with fingers.  Start at base of leaf and run fingers briskly down the stem, slicing off the leafy part, the leaf should drop off easily (it’s quick but takes a bit of practice.)  Then either chop roughly or hand shred into bits.  Then add oil and pinch of sea salt,  begin to massage the kale, squeezing firmly between hands-this is the key!  The massaging softens the fibers of the raw kale.  Then add vinegar or a bit of the juice of the orange.  Once kale has shrunk down to about 1/2 the starting bulk-then add orange, and avocado chopped into bite sized pieces and add beets.  I like to thinly slice the beets.  Then toss all with squirt of Braggs, and olive or other healthy oil of choice.  The rubbed kale seems easier to digest and tastes/feels more like it’s been marinated.  The salt adds to that marinated feeling, and it doesn’t quite taste as good without it, but of course if on low salt diet omit sodium sources. There are so many options to explore with kale salad, everyone I’ve served versions to has loved it.

Check out this web-cast, it goes with a segment of Oprah’s Lifeclass, you don’t have to watch the life class I think it’s on cable (I don’t have cable so I didn’t see that;) but this is a discussion afterwards on ego-in the negative sense. Letting Go of Anger is the name, it was wonderful I highly recommend it. In fact the most profound moments are not Ekhart Tolle or Oprah-it’s in the 3rd segment of the video, you see little lines that show commercials at the progress bar of video. So do stick with it to that point. There is an older woman Rita (?) I believe, who is a-m-a-z-i-n-ggg!!

She talks about how she has dealt with suffering of needing others love and approval. Her “teachings” wowed Oprah the audience and me. They were truly heartfelt and you could feel her inner piece. One of her quotes:

“I don’t any longer think it’s possible that others can hurt me they are just giving me their observations. And I”m giving it meaning. And so I get to choose what that meaning is.”

Wow.

I”m actually now going to sleep on this it resonates so well. Remember life is always teaching us, we have to calmly see the patterns and the feedback life is giving us. And be brave enough to meditate on it and act and allow change to happen.

Namaste, Kala

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