I found the following definition on wikipedia: “On a day of the equinox, the centre of the Sun spends a roughly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth, night and day being of roughly the same length. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night); in reality, the day is longer than the night at an equinox. ”

What I find fascinating about all of this is the fact that it happens on every location on earth. Equality for a day, balance for a day, harmony for a day? Maybe these two unique days should be made worldwide days for the promotion and celebration of equality…

Then I thought about how we might create equality and balance in our daily lives through some simple yoga techniques. Was there anything like the equinox? Straight away a particular breathing technique popped up in my mind’s eye.

Evening out the breath, making your inhalation the same length as the exhalation. It sounds easy – but for most of us the inhalation is shorther than the exhalation. Some writers talk about the in breath being the “take” or “receive” and the out breath being the “give”.

A lot of my clients always had trouble receiving (even simple compliments) but had a huge capacity to give. Bring some balance back into your life by paying attention to your inhalation and exhalation. 5 minutes in a quiet place will be quite sufficient. Do long, slow inhalations and mentally count their length. Follow up with equally long, slow exhalations and count their length too. What did you find?

Practising this technique regularly will leave you feeling calm and relaxed. The feeling that there is no hurry and that there is sufficient time for everything you need to do will become more frequent. Hold on to it as long as you can, this is one of the most precious things you can have in these hectic times!

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

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Today I spoke to Mena Baines who has travelled many different paths herself and found that one of the most important things is to “find our confidence”.

Mena Baines runs ‘Chakra Spinach’, a business devoted to Body/Mind/Spirit understandings and practices. Her website was developed as a haven for those seeking answers or direction to answers about finding our Confidence in order to understand and embrace our amazing Creativity and Metaphysical potential.

Mena operates from Brisbane, Australia and holds workshops and private consultations in Australia. Online workshops are being developed and might be available within the next few months.

Once we have found our confidence we can explore different concepts, join different groups or follow particular teachers or gurus in relative safety. Deep down we will know what is right or wrong for us, what suits us and what just doesn’t fit with our beliefs. Having confidence will enable us to question, research and work out what best suits us. It will give us the strength to leave when things don’t feel right any more.

Mena raised the following points:

• Body, Mind and Spirit often are not treated wholistically
• The body is relegated to the “bottom rung” – yet profound learning or spiritual information is received through the body
• Confidence is very important when embarking on spiritual development – things can occur that might be frightening, might seem absurd, or simply are unbelievable – it takes strength and confidence not to let fear take over
• it takes confidence to embark on any journey – some people never do simply because it is too stressful – they stay in familiar terrain

Mena runs a number of workshops to help people develop confidence to they can embark on their journeys in a safe manner.

The are three core workshops:

1. Chakra Spinach – Body and Soul
2. Chakra Spinach – Start Where You Are
3. Chakra Spinach – Living in a Conscious Universe

The first deals with the Body, and our Body’s place in the Body/Mind/Spirit wholistic approach. The aim of this workshop is to identify with our Bodies more and understand how what we eat can affect our Mind and our Spiritual journey. We include the Mind and Spirit and towards the end of this workshop.

You can’t do the “Living in a Conscious Universe” workshop unless you have done this workshop.

“Start Where You Are” is focused on our Mind. We learn about cognitive dissonance and why some things get in and others don’t; why we feel angry about some ideas and love others etc. By the end of this workshop we are able to live outside the confines of our Cognition, while always appreciating and working with it.

“Living In a Conscious Universe” is a highly metaphysical workshop. We deal with Mediumship and Occult philosophies. NO DRUGS. NO HEIGHTENED DANCING. NO DEEP MEDITATIONS. Every participant is Confidently journeying  through some interesting terrain during this workshop.

To find out more and for enquiries and bookings visit Mena’s website today.

Mena is also a psychic medium and a gifted Venusian astrologer. As a special offer for our listeners she will do an astrology reading for the special price of $50 (normally they are $80).

She is also prepared to do a psychic reading online for our listeners for $50 (instead of $80).

Both of the above offers are only valid during April 2010 and you need to mention the Stretch Your Mind and Body Blog Talk Radio Show when contacting Mena. Visit her website today.

Listen to this fascinating interview by pressing the button on the player below:

Till next time,

Connie Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

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If we were put up on stage to give a theoretical talk about yoga it might be a different story and we need to consider a lot of different things. Fear of public speaking is a very powerful fear and it might affect us when we are taken out of our usual environment. We are better equipped than most to deal with the fear through breathing, relaxation and mind control but it is much better to have some expert advice and tuition on how to present ourselves in the best possible manner when we are called upon to give a talk.

There are lots of books and courses that teach how to present a “winning presentation” or deliver a “dynamic speech” and most of them focus on how to organise and deliver great content. Some might also teach you how to “dress for success”.

Saskia Shakin has been a coach for the past 30 years teaching people how to become an exciting keynote speaker. Her clients have worked in the White House; appeared before Congress; run global corporations; written Broadway plays;managed prestigious law firms; and held chairs at major universities.

She shared some great insights with us during our interview. Especially when you are an expert in your field and spend a lot of time within your area of expertise it is very easy to lose sight of the fact that others may not understand what you are talking about. Consider the following points when called upon to make a speech or give a presentation:

• start from square one (beware: what you consider square one might be square 5 for your audience)
• get crystal clear on what you want to get across to your audience – define your message and your mission
• separate any “fluff” from your “mission”
• treat your audience with respect and ensure that they feel smart
• when you try and show off your knowledge (or your most fantastic advanced postures) you may come across as arrogant
• make sure you have fun when delivering your talk – your audience will have fun too (don’t take yourself too serious).
• remember that your audience only retains about 7% of what you say but 93% of your non verbal messages
• your non verbal messages are extremely powerful and include things like body language, tone of your voice, attitude etc.
• you may not be aware or conscious of your non verbal messages
• your words and your body language have to “mesh”, in other words be congruent

All of the above points are crucial when you want to become a successful and sought after keynote speaker. You need to know your content really well so you can become relaxed with your audience. When you are relaxed you can relate to your audience and think about connecting and not lecturing. I think as yoga teachers we have some advantage there – the relationship with our students is of utmost importance so we will hopefully be able to translate this to a wider audience.

Saskia shared a lot more insights with us, click on the player below to listen to the full interview.

Saskia’s book “More Than Words Can Say: The Making of Inspired Speakers” is a collection of stories and wisdom taken from her vast experience as a coach to speakers in positions of leadership. It will not only help you to become a better speaker but also a better communicator in general.
You may want to look at her book today.

One final thought from Saskia: Remember that everything that comes from you – you can control. We create our world by the way we speak and think. Anyone can become a great speaker – if you can speak to one person you can speak to one hundred. It is all about how you view yourself and the expectations you hold.

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com

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Sound Therapy is a very powerful tool and healing modality for a huge variety of seemingly unrelated problems. The beauty of sound therapy is that it has been evolving and growing over the past 25 years or so. Therefore a large amount of testimonials and empirical evidence is available that show its effectiveness. A lot of the original work was done by Dr. Tomatis and you may have heard about the Tomatis Method.

Rafaele Joudry is one of the world’s experts on sound therapy. She has been winvolved with it and studied it over the past 20 years. You can find her at:

www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/soundtherapy

It all started many years ago in Paris when she met one of the doctors who studied under Dr. Tomatis.

Rafael’s mother had problems hearing in a crowded room and was extremely sensitive to noise. When sound therapy was established in Canada her mother was one of the first clients and had great results.

Most humans are what is called “right ear dominant” because the sound travels faster along that pathway than from the left ear (the heart is “in the way” so to speak) and the sound takes longer to reach the left ear.

Left ear dominance leads to all sorts of auditory processing problems. This difficulty in making sense of sounds and what is being said leads to things like stuttering, difficulty expressing thoughts or feelings, dyslexia and it also seems to play a role in Asperger’s syndrome and autism.

Interestingly enough we can only reproduce sounds (whether this is singing or speaking) that we can physically hear with our ears. We also have to be exposed to these sounds.

Due to some technical difficulties we only spent half an hour with Rafaele. She has a lot more to share and we will invite her back.

The first half of the call is a discussion amongst Charly, Lenore from www.outrageouslyhealthy.com , Liz from www.thewaytoblissnow.com and myself about mindset, how to stay in control even when things are not going so well.

The second half of the show is our interview with Rafaele Joudry. Click on the player below to listen.

 
You find Rafaele at:

www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/soundtherapy

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Unfortunately a lot of our favourite products contain lots of “nasties” which affect our health in adverse ways. Some chemicals in cosmetics are highly toxic and have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Robin Adler has made it her mission to educate everybody about the dangers of  cosmetics and self care products. To get her free ebook entitled “Beautify Naturally – 10 Non Toxic Ways to a More Beautiful You” go to: www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/beautifynaturally

The history of using toxic chemicals in cosmetics goes way back. In ancient Egypt lead was used to make the colours look brighter. One of the benefits of the lead content of the make-up was the fact that it prevented ear, nose and eye infections which were very common and quite dangerous in those days.

Nowadays toxic chemicals are used because they are cheap and to a lesser degree also because we as consumers have come to expect a certain “behaviour” from our products. How would you feel about a shampoo that doesn’t foam or a soap or toothpaste that doesn’t produce any lather?

For the sake of our health we might have to make different choices. To find out more about the products you are using right now you can go to www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

One drawback of the site is that the assessment of the product can only be as good as the labelling. In a lot of countries cosmetic labelling requirements are not very strict so we really don’t know what exactly is in the products.

To listen to our interview with Robin Adler go here:

Don’t forget to get your free ebook here:

www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/beautifynaturally

Robin’s blog is here:

www.toxicbeauty.com

One word of wisdom from Robin Adler: “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t put it on your skin!” I would even go further and agree with the person who said: “If you can’t eat it don’t put it on your skin”.

There are some good hints in Robin’s ebook. I would like to add that beautiful skin has a lot to do with nutrition, hydration and the amount of sleep you get. Natural cosmetics and skin care products are important and beautiful to use but if the basics are not in place the best product will not help your skin.

Make an effort to change one product at a time (when it runs out) and slowly eliminate all those toxins. Once you get used to the subtle, very complex and beautiful aromas of natural peronal care products and perfumes you will not want to go back to chemical products.

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com

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• the word “resolution” implies that there is a problem
• in an attempt to solve the problem we focus on the problem
• intention and focus are pure power
• what we focus on we perceive
• by focusing on the problem we magnify it
• we attract more of what we focus on – in this case more of the problem

The answer to this dilemma is NOT to just give up. Instead of looking for a “resolution” the way to go is to set a positive intention. One example might be the positive intention of getting fitter. Then start asking yourself a number of questions:

• How can I have fun accomplishing this goal?
• How can I enjoy getting to where I want to be?
• How can I enjoy doing what I do?
• Is this a stepping stone? (useful question when problems arise of obstacles start to appear)
• What is the smallest step I can take right now to improve my situation and lead me to my goal?
• What is the tiniest thing I can do to turn this around?
• Say to yourself: I am starting right now to….and take some action, however tiny it might be

The questions above might seem really simple or even trivial, but they will lead to some great insights and solutions. The power is (as always) in applying this knowledge and taking action. It is fun to look at the theory but only by doing can we grow, learn and gain experience. The key is to take tiny steps, not to set so huge a goal that you are doomed to fail before you even start.

If you want more guidance from Doris, go and download her free ebooks from:

http://www.freejoyonthejobebooks.com

Doris’ own supply of joy springs from her own personal growth, so she’s a natural at assisting her clients as they transform emotional pain into peace and personal power. They discover happiness at work and relish the rich rewarding relationships they’ve been craving. They learn how to use chaos, uncertainty and “mistakes” to their advantage. Doris also provides unique Mastermind Groups that empower her clients

Listen to the full interview here:

Till next time,

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

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I also thought about the frustration that  a non-tech person experiences when technical matters go wrong, the computer plays up and the feeling of powerlessness that goes with that experience.

After our discussion with Doris I came to see ”Techno Stress”  in quite a different light. See for yourself whether you fit into some of the categories! Has your behaviour changed from being exposed to too much technology?

 Watch out for:

• being a personality type that is ambitious, high achieving, competitive
• taking on far too much responsibility because that is just the way you are
• mental fatigue
• eyestrain, neck pain, shoulder pains, wrist problems, back problems
• always expecting “yes-no” responses from people
• becoming impatient when people elaborate or weigh up different points of view
• becoming intolerant to long winded information or even stories
• expecting everything to be instant
• expecting others to perform on command (like a computer)
• forgetting that others can see things that we can’t see and that reality is not black and white
• expecting everyone to perform like a computer (usually without you even realising it)

I am sure the list could go on. One of the big “aha” moments for me was that technology and computers affect our behaviours and the way we interact with each other.

I suspect in the future, as more people spend more and more time staring at computer screens and interacting with them all day long, some of these behaviours might become acceptable or “mainstream”.  I already can see the beginning of  a chasm opening up between people who live in the cyberworld most of the time and those who don’t….

I have friends who are 6-15 years older than I am and all this technology is just too much for them. They have no computer and no internet and the only way we can communicate is by phone or meeting up in person. A phone call takes a lot longer than sending an email and so I am guilty of putting these phone calls off for a long time….

How to stay happy and joyful despite spending a lot of time in the cyberworld? How can you combat “Techno Stress”?

Consider the following points and take action!

• nurture your inner needs
• when irritated and abrupt create a buffer between computer time and  interacting with a human “Mirror” (remember – what we dislike in others is something we need to work on ourselves within our own personality)
• bond with others
• look after your “real life” friends
• spend quality time with others
• take real breaks from the “screen” – even it is only 30 seconds at a time
• limit the total time you spend with your computer
• stretch and yawn
• get out into nature

Make a start and implement at least one idea. Do you want to know more and get some of Doris’ free ebooks? Please go to:

free ebooks about happiness at work

 Doris also provides unique Mastermind Groups that empower her clients

To listen to the full interview during which Charly and I discuss many other things with Doris, click on the player below:

Till next time,

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

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When teaching my classes I find that a lot of my students have difficulties taking a full breath in and exhaling slowly and in a controlled manner. Often I observe people pulling their shoulders up to their neck when trying to use their lungs fully. Tension and tightness prevents the chest and ribs from moving the way they were intended to.

Jim Efthimiou has invented a very handy little gadget called the “breatheaeror” which takes the guess work out of learning to breathe deeply, effectively and to our full capacity. In case you are looking at the picture: it is the little gadget around his neck, not the large Olympic torch he is holding! Have a look at www.breatheaeror.com

We interviewed Jim on our blogtalk radio show – listen to the whole show to find out more. Jim has also made a very special offer for our listeners, if you buy one of the Breatheaerors together with his book entitled the “Energy Airflow Training Manual” you will get a free training T-shirt. Mention the code “symab” to get this special offer.

Listen to the show by clicking on the player below:

Jim used a great example in our talk – scuba diving. The more excited you are during your dive, the faster you breathe while under water and the quicker your tank empties and you have to come to the surface.

Now just for a moment imagine that the tank of oxygen is the life energy you have been given for your life here on earth – the faster you breathe the quicker it will be empty….

Slow your breath down and you will benefit in many different ways.

Till next time

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

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One person who took the plunge is Sirrka Wolke, founder and editor of “Tribe Magazine”. You can find it at www.tribemagazine.com.au

Sirrka says: ”I love success and abundance, I just didn’t want to sell-out to get it. There is no point following a path to riches if you are not able to enjoy the riches when you get there. Or the journey itself. Life doesn’t start when… It is now. So I figured I had better be doing something I love today! ”

Sounds like good, yogic advice to follow. We all should take note and take action and live accordingly!

Tribe Magazine is available for free online and offline. To find out more and to get past and current editions, go to: www.tribemagazine.com.au

Here are some of the rewards you get when you have your very own publication:

• you control the content
• you can state your own opinion, use your own ideas, nobody tells you what you can and can’t write
• you don’t need to alter or “water down” your content to please anybody else
• you can counter all the fear mongering and gloom and doom of the main stream press
• you can educate your readers so they gain knowledge to make informed decisions
• you are in a unique position to empower people
• you control the advertising that appears in your magazine, especially on the children’s pages
• you can get your own and other children/teenagers involved in writing and contributing and teach them valuable skills
• you can get direct feedback from you readers and interact with them
• you can build a community around your magazine
• you can grow your content according to what your readers want and the feedback you receive

These are some of the points we covered in our interview today, if you would like to hear more, listen to the show here:

Sirrka has made a special offer to our listeners: You get 20% off your first lot of advertising in Tribe Magazine when you mention that you found Tribe Magazine through our show.

She has also a passion for children being involved in creating the magazine, so there is a special section devoted to children. Contact:

junioreditor (at) tribemagazine.com.au to find out more. (Replace (at) with @ and leave no spaces).

Tribe Magazine has a distribution of 30,000 copies and is distributed around Sydney and the Southern Highlands. It will keep growing and hopefully will go national in the not too distant future. Have a look at the online version I think you will find it interesting.

Sirrka is a woman of many talents and has also written a book “FitKid7 – 7 Simple Steps for a Fit and Healthy Child”. She also created a Cd for Children so they can go to sleep easily. (Adults love it too!). You can find both of them here: www.fitkid7.com

She also started a little service where she sends you an uplifting and motivating SMS daily. You can find more information at the Tribe Magazine website www.tribemagazine.com.au

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com

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