Bodywork
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
Image: Naota Hattori
MASSAGE offers a wonderful way of easing the areas of the body that often experience tightness, fatigue and pain in this day and age. Often caused from working at a computer or in front of a television and losing consciousness of our posture.
Involving the physical act of applying pressure to the feet, hands, or ears with specific thumb, finger, and hand techniques body work can ease the areas where blockages in your nervous system have created unease.
REIKI is a practice developed by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui using hands in order to transfer universal energy through the palms, which allows for self-healing and a state of equilibrium.
Reiki works with the magnetic fields we all have, to channel a balance and allow energy to flow where it is needed.
Essentially reiki seeks to connect with a relaxing energy that can be transferred through touch to offer a state of calm.
When we were born we were held and this contact that we have as human beings is very healing and balancing.
MEDITATION
“The basis of any healthy, harmonious society is always the healthy and harmonious individuals who populate it. Only if each individual has a pure, peaceful mind can we expect peace in society.” S.N. Goenka
Meditation is about focusing the mind to be conscious and in present. The present moment is all you have, the past is a memory to learn from, the future created on the basis of how you are in the present, so be there.
You can work with various relaxation techniques depending on what feels good for you. The aim is to be vibrating at an expansive frequency and the body an embodiment of well-being.
It takes time and practice to be a witness to your mind, to be the sky and allow the clouds of thought to pass through.
YOGA
Yoga is to unite. Its a practice which helps open us up and create space while surrendering the limitations of our bodies.
Be Conscious.
Listen to it as much as possible. When you're walking, when your talking, when your waiting in line, when your sitting at your desk. Watch the itches, the sweat beads, the tingles without having an attraction or aversion to them. If you can learn to observe them; you'll find they irritate you less.
When you have pain or discomfort ask yourself what it represents to you, it may be an indication as to where there there's a misbalance.
We work with the chakra system as guidance.
Base feet & legs - security, survival, being true to your path, ability to stand and move
Lady/Man bits front & back - creativity, sexual energy, ability to 'let go'
Stomach digestion, understanding information, worry/nerves, acceptance, judgement
Heart front & back - love, balance, compassion
Throat expression, speech, expressing your truth
Head frontal lobe - Intuition, imagination, memory
Crown inspiration, morality, creativity, spontaneity
MOVEMENT
Humans are habitual creatures - the key is to develop good habits for your well-being. For example try walking or riding a bike to work and be present every moment of it. When you are sitting at a desk, work your pelvic floor or pull in your stomach muscles in to support your back. Stretch spontaneously. reach for your toes in the shower. Use the stairs instead of the lift. Our bodies are made to be pushed and often the limitations are more in the mind than in what we perceive to be the body. Wake up in the morning and put your favourite song on and dance, dance, dance.
Use your intuition to work out what your favourite exercises are. Its the most natural thing in the world to do. Great urban exercises are:
- Running up the stairs
- Walking instead of getting the bus
- Running in the park
- Cycling around feeling free
- Dancing to music first thing in the morning
- Spontaneous yoga asanas
- Head and shoulder rolls at the desk
DIET
Every 35 days your skin replaces itself and your body makes new cells from the food you eat.
It is essential to know what is good for you and what is bad for you. Listen to what your body truly needs, not what your mouth desires. There's a difference.
We recommend learning from food. What your relationship with it is. When Food is Love is a great book by Geneen Roth and explains how we love to create drama and how food is represented in that role play. Here's an article that might inspire you to reflect.
Its also worth learning a lot about body and diet through self-study of the 10,000 year old ancient medicine Ayurveda.
WATER
What a blessing we have to be able to drink water from the tap. Don't take it for granted. Its a gift in a world where for many its scarce.
You are mostly water. Stay hydrated. You are mostly water. Water is life.
DETOX
Regular detoxes are great. Detoxing affects your whole psyche as well as your body. Here are some detoxes you can do at home.
Addictions: Alcohol / Sugar / Smoking
In the Modern World there are many 'vices' that psychologically we can depend upon in order for us to cope with the stresses of life.
They are destructive on your body and state of mind. Addiction, desire, is a form of suffering because you are not content with yourself as you are. Try to look at the source of this addiction. How did it start? What was your state of mind? What does it represent to you?
If you fall in to the trap of an addiction, do not suffer further through your guilt. Your guilt will only perpetuate as will the habit. Look to replace the habit with something better for you.
BREATHE.