November 2018

Celebrate Your Five Senses This Christmas

Christmas Workshop Cost $30    Thursday December 6th     7.15 - 9 pm

I will have teas to taste, dips and sourdough bread. Choose a tea for the ceremony ( Normal Tea if you prefer it)

TASTE

We will begin with a Tea Ceremony Meditation. Lemon Myrtle, Black Bean and Digestive Health

SMELL & TOUCH

Self Massage of the feet, hands, neck and face Using my 7 chakra oils. For example Vetiver and Orange are an earthy, grounding combination and ideal for foot massage.

SIGHT

Learn a little about Yantra. These are pictures or paintings with colours, shapes and some times animals. They are used in meditation to focus on different positive emotions.

SOUND

What could be more up lifting and relaxing than ending laying down and listening to yoga music.

Stay an extra 15 minutes if you would like to learn to sing the sounds of the chakras

Bookings Needed. Payment in advance appreciated.

Yoga

As the weather becomes hotter our yoga practice will be changing. Hot weather can put a big strain on our bodies. Practicing Salute to the Sun is definitely not going to help or maintain balance! The focus changes to  Cooling Moon Salutations, using cooling water mudras and a lot of postures with arms and legs wide and the head down. It is a great time to get flexible with yin postures. These can be restorative and gentle or challenging. I have spent a lot of time adapting postures and working out easy gentle variations of many of the yin postures. Explore your boundaries safely, learn some new asana and enjoy the summer heat.

Also the much loved warm face cloth across the forehead with peppermint and lavender essential oils whilst practicing yoga nidra is wonderful for summer and I will be adding this as an extra at the 

At the end of class, I know it was a favourite last year.

Introducing Water Mudras - Hand Positions

“Water mudras involve the little finger which relates to the water element and the sacral chakra. By practicing these hand gestures you help to ensure the wellbeing of the element within your body and mind and its chakra. This enhances your ability to go with the flow.. To be flexible and adaptive -and to let go of what you no longer need. The mudras also enhance your ability to enjoy yourself with out feeling guilty and encourage aptitude for tasting and enjoying what life has to offer” Mudras for Modern life by Swami Saradananda

...sounds like a great start to the Christmas Holidays!

Food Therapy. High Cholesterol

Yoga is part of Ayurveda and is a holistic system of medicine. In Ayurveda diet is the most important contributing factor to being healthy. Ayurveda recommends a vegetarian diet.

Increasing soluble fibre in your diet is the key to reducing cholesterol. Soluble fibre is abundant in fruit, vegetables, lentils, oats, barley and seeds such as flax and chia. It helps absorb cholesterol which is then excreted  through the bowels, keeping levels lower as the liver has  to then produce more.

Lack of soluble fibre in your diet creates an abundance of cholesterol which remains in the bowels and is absorbed into the blood stream. The good news is butter, cream, full fat milk and yoghurt are good for you in moderation. A low fat diet is not recommended.

Three simple steps to reduce cholesterol

1/ Eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, oats and seeds and avoid all processed meat ,ham, bacon, sausage for example this can make a huge difference to your health, including lowering cholesterol.

2/ Porridge oats for breakfast are an excellent source of soluble fibre.

3/Eating 2 carrots a day has been proven in a study to reduce cholesterol

I have been eating mainly vegetarian food for 31 years now and have many delicious tried and tested recipes. I am going to make some little 5 minute video clips and load them onto my website next year. With my favourite recipes, Herbal Medicine advise and much more.

MOON PLANNING 

I have been learning more about the moon and its phases in a book I found at the library called Lunar Abundance. The moon represents  the Yin, cooling energy and the next New Moon that we have a class I will talk a little about how its monthly cycle can be used to set intentions that can change our life in positive ways. Similar to New years Resolutions but far more powerful; because each month we have an opportunity to look again at what those intentions are and slowly over time bring them to fruition, change them  or drop them without fear of failure. 

““The moon is a loyal companion.
It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.”             Tahereh

Never stop learning and enriching your life.                    Namaste Julie