Tag: Alternative Health
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Drift
Meditation for the Soul
“When under, remember the surface.
When on the surface, remember the deep.
Sit quietly and practice entering the deep
Imagine each breath as a stroke
Breathe slowly and stroke your way past all distractions
When you feel the swell of life around you, simply drift… ”
The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo
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Holistic Therapies
by Beth Haley
Reiki is just one of many therapies that is considered a “holistic” practice because it affects the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
Body
Reiki facilitates deep relaxation, a sense of positive wellness and overall feeling of wellbeing, while supporting and quickening the physical body’s own healing abilities so that we can operate more effectively in our life. It also helps develop a deeper connection or awareness of our body’s needs, like healthy nutrition, and regular exercise.
It is similar to doing a body scan in yoga: what hurts? What part of your body feels tense or tight? Where is there struggle? Where is there resistance? It is a tuning in and creating awareness of what our body is trying to tell us.
“My stomach feels tense and it hurts,” is not just a physical symptom. Knowing that someone just lost a job, puts physical symptoms into a whole new light. Emotions such as stress, affect us holistically, the same as relaxation affects the whole body holistically: body, mind, and spirit.
When we bring ourselves into a relaxed state, our bodies’ healing capabilities are quickened.
Mind And Emotions
Because of the relaxing nature of Reiki, it allows for the release of stress and tension. It supports the examination of our emotions, and encourages us to let go of toxic emotions, thoughts, and attitudes such as bitterness and anger. Reiki stimulates healing of emotions such as sadness and grief, or imbalances in emotional response and reactivity, grounding one in a more balanced state of being, feeling, thinking and responding.
Reiki encourages qualities such as love, care, trust, goodwill and sharing. It can also help to direct the energy of our emotions toward different or more positive outlets, such as creativity.
There is a Taoist practice like this in which you channel or direct unneeded, or excess, sexual energy towards other goals: such as to create art or to write, or to breakthrough in a career or new business. If the energy is unused, misguided, or in excess (imbalanced) Reiki is very helpful in bringing back into balance and redirecting it to where it is needed most.
From my personal experience: I can walk in the door after work in one state, lay down on my yoga mat for a self-treatment in Reiki, and by the time I get up 20-30 minutes later, it’s like I’m a different person.
It has been very balancing for my entire body, especially my emotional body after such things as a big disappointment, after receiving bad news, or even just after a long day. I have literally laid down in tears, and gotten up smiling. It’s a night and day difference.
Combinations can be amazing.
That said, I am also doing a lot, in addition to Reiki, during a treatment. I am visualizing the colors, chanting mantras, praying, repeating an affirmation for each chakra center, meditating…
Combine every therapy you know, that will fit the setting, into the one treatment.
For example, if cranberry is all you need for a urinary tract infection, that is great! But if you combine cranberry with D-mannose and hibiscus, you now have a very powerful combination for your entire urinary tract system from kidneys on down.
When I got a Reiki treatment from my yoga and Reiki instructor, I was getting yoga principles, massage, chiropractic techniques, acupressure, Reiki, and an anatomy lesson to boot!
Spiritual
Reiki helps bring acceptance and love to your whole self, and encourages a non-judgmental look at humankind, allowing you to accept each person as they are. It facilitates qualities of love, empathy, understanding and acceptance, and supports you on your individual path of personal growth and spiritual development.
Reiki Principles
Kyo dake wa – Just Today
Okolu-na
Shinpai suna
Kansha shite
Goo hage me
Hito ni shinsetsu ni
Just for today, do not anger
Just for today, do not worry
Honor your parents, teachers and elders
Earn your living honestly
Show gratitude to every living thing
It is always today.
Photo Credit : Ravi Roshan @ Unsplash
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90/10
by Beth Haley
IIN Class Notes
This is the first diet I have studied for my integrative nutrition class with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). I instantly liked this one because, for me, an eating style that is easy to sustain, and one that is more of a lifestyle than a “diet”, would be something I would try.
The 90/10 (Integrative Nutrition Diet) was created by IIN’s founder and director, Joshua Rosenthal, MScEd
Sources: Joshua Rosenthal’s Integrative Nutrition: Feed Your Hunger for Health and Happiness
What is Bio-Individuality?
The foods that work for one person, aren’t necessarily the foods that work for another person. There is no “one-size-fits-all” diet. Each person is different.
What are Primary foods?
Health isn’t just food. Primary foods are not found on your plate. They are lifestyle elements such as cooking, finding enjoyable ways to be active, doing work you love that is satisfying, developing your spirituality, getting adequate sleep, playing board games with friends and family, getting the kids to the park to play, getting out into nature, inviting people over for dinner, and establishing and maintaining healthy and supportive relationships. When these primary foods are in healthy balance, along with a healthy diet, the body tends to be able to heal itself on its own.
Toxic people and unhealthy relationships, unhealthy practices or habits, and stress and tension should be kept at a minimum.
Dr. Tieraona Low Dog from the Mountain Rose Herbal Radio Podcast episode titled: “5 Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle” which was recorded at the Free Herbalism Project and hosted by Mountain Rose Herbs, stated it this way (paraphrased):
There was a large study done by Brigham Young University, more than 144 studies (that’s more than 300,000 people), which found that being lonely or socially isolated was as dangerous for their health, as smoking 3/4 of a pack of cigarettes a day, being an alcoholic, never exercising, and was twice as dangerous as being obese.
Nourishing our social relationships (a huge part of our primary foods) is necessary for wellness, healing, and overall health.
90/10 Integrative Nutrition Diet
The idea of the 90/10 Integrative Nutrition Diet is that you eat healthy foods 90% of the time and eat less healthy foods 10% of the time.
In other words: instead of fighting your wants, you can indulge cravings 10 percent of the time, and then adhere to your healthy foods 90 percent of the time. This gives you some flexibility to indulge guilt-free, while maintaining a healthy overall balance.
The 90/10 plan is easy to follow, and you decide how to organize it to best suit your needs.
The general food list includes more fruits and vegetables, sweet vegetables to help with sweet cravings, beans, experimenting with whole grains and proteins, and drinking plenty of water.
Useful tool: Food Journaling. This may include elements such as, your emotions surrounding certain foods which affect your eating habits.
Included:
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Whole grains
• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Eggs
• Beans
• Dairy
• Nuts and seeds
• Healthy oils
Foods to avoid:
• Sugar
• Processed foods
• Refined grains
• Trans fats
• Caffeine
• Tobacco
PROS
• It’s a lifestyle not a diet
• There is a wide variety of foods and nutrients that you can eat
• It is very adaptable to each individual
CONS
• Some people need a more rigid guideline to meet specific goals
• People with allergies may not be able to eat the variety of foods allowed
• Journaling can be a helpful tool unless it becomes obsessive
This is a general outline of the 90/10 Integrative Nutrition Diet, and some of the principles Joshua Rosenthal works with in his book, Integrative Nutrition: Feed Your Hunger for Health and Happiness, and in his course at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
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Perceptions
by Beth Haley
What we concentrate on and what we perceive is what creates our reality, not just the events themselves. As we begin to look at things more through the eyes of beauty, we begin to see more beauty in our lives.
It is the same in choosing to see limitations: we begin to see limitations everywhere.
With our basic senses, we notice sound, smell, touch, taste, and sight. Perception is how we interpret what we sense. But, perception is not only what our senses recognize. Perception is also how we choose to see things and that determines how we respond to the information.
Our perceptions shape our reality. As we shift perceptions, we also shift our reality.
Is the glass half full or half empty?
You get to decide.
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Choosing Your Own Mantra
by Beth Haley
Mantras are positive phrases, words, or statements used to inspire and motivate change and transformation in our lives. They can be a quote, proverb, saying, or any word, name, or statement that holds great meaning to you.
Mantras can be complex or very simple. Examples of mantras that you could make up or adopt as your own could be:
Happiness
Love
I write my Destiny
Peace
The Divine is in all Things
Here is an interesting way I have learned to choose a mantra:
Choose a favorite short verse, quote or passage. Read this passage over until you are familiar with it enough to repeat it to yourself without reading it. Once memorized, close your eyes and repeat the verse in your mind. If one particular word grabs your attention, remain focused on that word and its meaning. If it resonates strongly with you, use it as a personal mantra. Or, use part or the whole verse!
Combining your word with the word before it, and the word after it, may make a catchy phrase. Or make up your own phrase using this word…
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Balance
In times past, the Goddess was seen as a Trinity: the maiden or virgin, the mother, and the crone.
The virgin belonged to herself and was owned by no one. Sometimes she dedicated herself to spiritual service, belonging to a higher call, rather than to earthly attachments.
The mother was in touch with her creative powers, whether creating new life, art, creatively nurturing her environment, or by fulfilling many other roles out in the world.
The crone represented the wisdom of age.
Both women and men can connect to Goddess. To women, the Goddess represented their inner-self and the nurturing, receptive power within them. The crone represented not only wisdom, but also how all phases of life are sacred. To men, the Goddess represented a connection to female aspects within themselves.
We each have our own unique balance of male and female strengths within us. This balance is not one that can be dictated by others. Our true nature is inherent within us. When we accept our true self, it is, or becomes an instinctive knowing.
We were not born to be carbon copies that meet societal expectations. We each have our own distinct balance of male and female which makes us whole.
What male or female strengths do you have within yourself?
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Origami
by Beth Haley
From this blank square of paper, the zen question, “Who am I?” becomes, “What am I?”
This seemingly simple art can fold and unfold into many layers of meaning.
The end result is, not necessarily, as important as the process of creating. If we are mindful throughout this creative endeavor, we may each see something different.
“All things are given life and form.”
Religion in Chinese Garments by
The square is the uncarved block (Pu is a Chinese word meaning “unworked wood”). The Taoist meaning of Pu is: perception without prejudice and without the distinctions of right or wrong, beautiful or ugly, good or bad, black or white.
This square of paper is my uncarved block.
Transformation
Fold after fold. Crease and un-crease; a new creation is coming into being. Just like we can take the old lines and creases of our life and transform them into something new.
Memory
The paper has memory; it remembers its past lines. They are like scars on the soul. They may heal, but once there, those lines remain.
Self examination
We can unfold (turn back time), and remember our past. Then, make new creases and story lines to form a new shape, outlook, new picture, or a new present and future.
Haley 2019
Pilgrimage Studio 