NEW VENUE FOR 2024!
Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, Dorset
Tranquility Yoga & Sound Healing Day Retreats
Simply one of the most stunning gardens in the South West
Sunday 12th May
Wednesday 3rd July
Wednesday 25th September
10-4pm from £88pp
A beautiful and extra special yoga retreat day at Abbotsbury Gardens in Dorset, a subtropical paradise for a really blissful day for you!
We are absolutely delighted to have been able to run some day retreats here this year, Abbotsbury is a stunning place to spend time so to have the opportunity to also add in a blissful spiritual practice whilst there is a dream come true!
We will share a Vinyasa flow yoga practice together in the wedding marquee on the lawns, enjoy a vegan lunch and then a walk together around these stunning gardens.
Returning to the marquee for a sound healing with Seven Chakra Crystal Singing Bowls, Gong, Chimes and more.
Plenty of time to take in this peaceful place, stay locally and enjoy the area, beaches and perhaps visit the Swannery too, or just come along for the day.
Sunday 12th May £99 Wednesday 3rd July & 25th September £88
Abbotsbury Gardens Day Retreat Schedule:
10am Arrive at Abbotsbury Gardens and take the gorgeous walk to the marquee on the lawns
10.30am Breathwork, Meditation & Vinyasa Flow Yoga for Mixed Ability
12.30pm Delicious Vegan Lunch inside or on the lawn if weather allows
1.30pm Walk and chats around the Sub-Tropical Garden Paradise
2.15pm Sound Healing with 7 Chakra Crystal Singing Bowls & Gong Bath
3.30pm Vegan Cake & Chai Tea
4pm Day ends!
The Vagus Nerve is a vital part of our nervous system, it connects the brain stem to the digestive system and is key to bringing us out of the Fight Flight Response into Rest and Digest, where we can begin to relax, let go and chill out.
Stress, anxiety and trauma disorders are something a lot of us have to deal with and heal at some point in our lives. So much is now being discovered to help us find ways to release these issues in our bodies and looking into how to help reset the Vagus Nerve, is just one of many techniques that can have a powerful effect on how we feel, ultimately bringing us all to a place where we can feel better.
This nerve runs from the brain stem, down to the tongue, vocal chords in the back of the throat, through lungs, diagrhragm, liver, spleen, large intestine, small intestine, pancreas, kidneys, ending as a ball of nerve endings in the stomach.
On its way down through the organs, it picks up on signals from the body that can help it either encourage rest and digest responses or fight flight. For example, if we are breathing slow and deep, that will send a signal that we are relaxed and all is well, if the breathing is shallow and quick, the signal will be read very differently.
The vagus nerve regulates the internal organs function, digestion, heart and respiratory rate and more. Stimulating your vagus nerve can send a chemical message to your body that it’s time to destress and relax after periods of stress.
The vagus nerve is so important to our health and wellbeing. It sends signals to all our internal organs and if its functioning well and balanced, it can be intrinsic and encouraging our fight flight response to calm and allow us to deeply rest.
Life is stressful for the majority of us, in one way or another, stress triggers are a natural part of life, but its about being able to re-balance after an event or situation that caused our levels to increase. The vagal nerve needs to be well toned and functioning in order for us to be able return to our balance point each time we are set off into stress.
If you suffer with any kind of anxiety or trauma disorder, its very likely your vagus nerve will be struggling. With these types of conditions, such as Complex PTSD, PTSD, panic attacks etc, you can not get back to your balance point and remain in a ‘survival’, ’emergency’ nervous system stress state most of the time. For you, resetting the vagus nerve could bring powerful healing over time and be a part of your healing, recovery journey.
How can we help the Vagus Nerve reset?
Yoga
Yoga really helps to reset this nerve, just by practising a good, all round yoga class will be helping you to relax and aid the balancing out of the nervous system, so vital to our health.
There are particular ways of practising poses and movements in yoga that can stimulate this more deeply though, these are poses that work particularly around the neck, throat, chest and heart as this is where the nerve runs past on its way from the brain to the gut.
Breathwork
Anything that stimulates the back of the throat, helps the vagus nerve. Slow deep breathing, Ujyayi breath, Brahmari (humming bee) breath are just a couple that can help.
Chanting & Singing
Stimulating the vocal chords brings balance to the vagus, in the same way as deep breathing, chanting OM repeatedly, its super simple to chant on your own or singing along to any tune, joining a choir or Kirtan group could help greatly. Singing loudly is the key!
Cold Therapy
The benefits of cold water are many, but the practice really helps to stimulate the vagus nerve. Check out Wim Hof to be inspired about the cold. Cold showers, sea swimming, ice baths (under supervision) or just splashing your face with cold water, all help to stimulate this nerve and bring greater to balance and wellbeing.
Other practices include, meditation, yoga nidra, Yin yoga and Restorative yoga, mindfulness and practicing mudra (hand gestures that are often part of a yoga practice)
J
New for 2024
Vagus Nerve Reset & Healing
Residential Yoga Retreat in Charmouth, Dorset
Learn to Reset Your Nervous System
& Discover Ways to Heal Yourself
Through Yoga, Sound Healing,
Breath Work, Guided Meditation,
Wild Swimming & Nature Bathing
Vegan Meals, Indoor Pool
Over the summer of 2023 I wanted to share something deeper with you in our yoga classes in Dorset, I felt it would be lovely to share the Eight Limbs Of Yoga in more detail and so each week, for 8 weeks I will be working through each ‘limb’ or ‘branch’ to give you more insight into this ancient philosophy.
The eight limbs of yoga or the eight-fold path were written by Patanjali over 5000 years ago. They offer us a guide to finding meaning and purpose in life. Over the next eight weeks we will be looking at each limb. Studying a little more in depth helps us to understand more about the yogic path and how it can help us to grow as healthy humans and evolve as spiritual beings.
The eight limbs translate to ashta-eight and anga-limb Ashtanga!
Yama – moral and ethical restraints and social discipline
Niyama – spiritual observances and self discipline
Asana – postures
Pranayama – control of life energy through the breath
Pratyahara – mind withdrawal from the senses
Dharana – concentration
Dhyana – meditation
Samadhi – ecstacy, enlightened union with the Divine
Week One
The First Limb – Yama
Yama and Niyama have ten principles or ‘commandments’ within them, but a lot lighter and broader than the Christian versions. The Yama and Niyama are universal and perhaps could be seen as the foundation stones for many of the worlds religions. The Eight Limbs are not religious at all, they are guidance.
There are five Yamas around restraints and social disciplines, ways to live. Yama means restraint.
Ahimsa
Non-violence, non-injury, non-harming, affirming our oneness with all life, by being kind, compassion and respectful to all living beings in thought, word and actions. Not causing harm or wishing harm distress or pain to any living being including ourselves or the environment. Also to not approve of another causing such harm. Ahimsa is not just non-killing, it to try to live in perfect harmlessness with positive love and respect for all life, not just in action but in thoughts and words as well. Ahimsa rises above anger, hatred, aggression, fear, jealousy, resentment, envy and attachment.
Satya
Non-lying, truthfulness, not to exaggerate, pretend, distort or lie to others, not to manipulate people for our own selfish concerns as this is against our true nature. Being honest with ourselves is the first step to self improvement and change. Its not possible to achieve self realisation or knowledge if we are sending our false messages about ourselves, we mustn’t deceive ourselves. Its still important to be thoughtful when speaking the truth to others. To live in truth you will have peace of mind, be free from fear, anxiety and worry.
Asteya
Non-stealing, the main reasons people steal are insecurity, greed or because of poverty and desperation. Greed and desire are the source of stealing, desire keeps us constantly looking to the future for fulfilment rather than the present moment. We can steal material things from others but also their time, affection, emotions, attentions, ideas and thoughts, all of this goes against Asteya as it is all to fulfil our ego, ‘I’, ‘I want’, ‘I need’ and ‘I must have’.
Brahmacharya
Non-sensuality, not running after pleasure. This literally means celibacy, being completely celibate gives a person great strength and focus on his higher spiritual self. This yama suggest finding balance, not being too obsessed with the senses and gratifying them but to sit in meditation and feel the oneness of life where there is great peace. Practice the middle path, in the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna advise us to follow the path of moderation:
‘Yoga is not for those eat too much or eat too little, nor for those who sleep too much or sleep too little. But to those that are moderate in eating, sleeping, wakefulness, recreation and moderate in all their actions, yoga will bring an end to all sorrow. Those souls who have learned to discipline their mind and remain calmly established in the self, free from attachment to all desires, attain the state of union.’
Aparigraha
Apara means ‘of another’ and agraha means ‘to crave for’, Aparigraha means ‘ without craving for what belongs to another’, or also not hoarding or accumulating.
Being attached can often mean people manipulate others through fear of losing the desired object. Problems arise when we cling wo what we think or security depends on ‘my whole life depends upon that person’, my security comes from being in this job, owning this house, being with my family’. This gives us a false sense of security by placing our power in transitory things or always wanting more. There is no need to strive to possess anything beyond the basic requirements for a comfortable life. True security is in the love in our hearts, our generosity and in giving unconditionally without demanding anything in return.
WEEK TWO
The Second Limb – Niyama
The Second Limb – Niyama
The Five Niyamas are to do with spiritual observances and self discipline.
Saucha – Cleanliness, Purity
Saucha means internal and external cleanliness, purity in thought, word and action. When we practise Saucha we are clearing and cleaning ourselves to allow more of our Light to shine through. We keep ourselves pure in mind and emotion and keep our environment ordered and clean. We treat the body as our temple. Physical cleanliness means to avoid excessive intoxicants or stimulants, to use purifying techniques like fasting, asanas, pranayama. Mental cleanliness could mean meditating and avoiding filling the mind with anything toxic like violent films, keeping company with negative toxic people etc. Environmental cleanliness means keeping our homes and workspace clean and fresh so energy can flow freely.
Santosha – Contentment
To practice Santosha we are happy and balance, content with what we have and the way things are. Living with awareness of the present moment, happiness is independent of our circumstances and does not depend on our external situation at all. We do not let our desires control us or get carried away wanting things, we are still within and calm, peaceful, we surrender to Gods will, we are non-attached to people, places or things, we live simply and we learn from our experiences.
Tapas – Austerity
Tapas means heat, inner fire, where there is heat there is also energy, which bring strength. Austerity or self-discipline destroys all impurities of the mind, said Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. Austerity in yoga is not penance but to find a true balance between indulgence and abstinence. Using yoga disciplines to purify our minds and help us to selfless service to others and bring a positive contribution to life. The word yogi means one who practises meditation on the self within, who is self-disciplined, free from self-centred attachments, desires and egotism and who is contented and equal-minded.
Svadhyaya -Self Study
By study of scriptures and oneself one is united with that loved aspect of divinity, Patanjali.
Svadhyaya also means the study of scriptural texts and silent recitation of mantras. Both to be practised in a meditative and concentrated state of absorbed awareness. In self study we learn not by gaining intellectual knowledge but by standing back to observe and study the studier. We observe our thoughts, feelings, behaviour, desires, motives and attitudes we can then see the delusions, false attachments and ignorance that prevent us from realising our true nature.
Ishvara Pranidhana – Surrender!
My favourite Niyama! By total surrender to God one attains perfection Patanjali. This Niyama means to completely surrender to the divine plan, to all things and to all that is happening to and around us. In complete trust that all is well and that we are being taken on a journey that will help us to evolve and grow. This Niyama has been my mantra for many years as I have worked through many challenges and I continue to live by it daily.
I give you myself, my body, my mind and heart, to do with as you see best.
Victory over mind and its afflictions can also be gained through complete surrender to God, the inner guide.
WEEK THREE
The Third Limb – Asana
Asana means posture or seat. Patanjali only discusses yoga asana in three of his many yoga sutras and he does not talk about the many different styles of yoga that we now know in the West.
Posture is an attitude in which the body is kept steady (motionless) while producing a feeling of ease.
Unsteadiness in the body or its limbs is an indication of the unsteadiness of the mind
Patanjali does not describe any particular yoga postures but just the importance of being able to hold the body motionlessly in preparation for sitting for long periods of time in meditation. If the body is restless the mind will also become restless. For the mind to become still and quiet, the body needs to be trained to make it steady with ease and comfort.
The roots of yoga come from Hatha Yoga, Ha meaning sun and Tha meaning moon. The aim of Hatha yoga is to balance, integrate and harmonise these 2 energy flows in the body, sun, male, heating, positive and moon, female, cooling and negative. When balanced they create mental calm, vitality and inner balance.. It is also the aim of Hatha to purify the physical body from toxins, waster matter and disease, to free body and mind from tensions and tao make the body strong, firm and supple. All of this is important so we can sit for many hours in peaceful meditation.
The ancient yogis created the asanas simply to allow them to master the body so it could sit in meditation for often 10 hours or more, at a time. The true purpose of the yoga postures and other yoga practices is to awaken and harmonise the inner source of energy and direct it toward the higher brain centres to expand ones awareness and consciousness.
There were 84,000 asanas originally, we now only know perhaps 100 postures.
An advanced yoga student would not necessarily demonstrate this through their challenging postures but through the inner changes that will have taken place over years of committed practice, calm, steady gaze, sparkling, aware eyes, soft, mellow, resonant voice, clear skin, strong, firm, supple body, vitality and energy, lack of restlessness in meditation in the body, concentration, positive, enthusiastic attitude, cheerfulness, physical and mental relaxation, good digestion and elimination of toxins.
An advanced yogi understands the limitations of the body and is able to be without frustration at what the body can and can not manage in the asanas, accepting that each body is different and that time and age bring many changes to the physical body.
WEEK FOUR
The Fourth Limb – Pranayama
Pranayama is a sanskrit word, Prana means the subtle life force energy which runs through the body and mind, Ayama means the voluntary effort to control or direct this Prana.
Pranayama is the process by which the Prana is controlled by regulating the breathing voluntarily. The basic movements of breath are exhale, inhale and retention of the breath.
Having established a firm, steady, posture, one then regulates the life-force by natural voluntary suspension of the breath after inhalation and exhalation – this is Pranayama. Yoga Sutra 2:49
Simply Patanjali tells us to exhale and retain the breath. The Hatha yogis tell us that to hold the breath out, the mind will think of nothing at all but the fact the breath is being held out. So when we retain the exhale our minds are in suspension, it loses its fuel, it is no longer distracted and it becomes quiet.
During deep meditation, the breath naturally becomes suspended for short periods of term, it is in this interval that we find pranayama . To the meditator in deep meditation there is no sense of time, the mind is still and in that deep peace there is joy and bliss.
Patanjali goes on to describe three types of pranayama:
Bahya Kumbhaka a pause after a very slow and prolonged exhalation
Abhyantara Kumbhaka a pause after a deep, prolonged inhalation
or a prolonged pause in between the inhalation and exhalation.
Prana is the vital energy of the universe, it is known in China as Chi, Japan as Ki and in the West as Spirit.Working with the breath we are trying to still the mind, trying to control the mind and suspending mental activity and the ego. With the mind still and the breathing calm, our inner light can begin to shine more radiantly.
Patanjali pictured above.
WEEK FIVE
The Fifth Limb – Pratyahara
Pratyahara is the last of the 8 limbs that deals with the body and the brain, the first 5 limbs deal with the outer phase of yoga, the final three deal with the inner phase and with changing the mind.
Pratyahara is about bringing the attention inwardly. Also known as the withdrawal of the senses, when we are focused on what we can see, what we can hear, smell or touch we are drawn out of ourselves, in this limb we are drawn to the inner.
Through the practice of asana and pranayama the mind is guided inwardly being totally aware of the breath. Pratyahara brings total attention into and within oneself.
Pratyahara is the interiorization ofthe mind, by reversing the senses outward attention from eternal objects to their source within (the divine self) Patanjali 2:54
By conscious interiorization of the mind, the senses function intelligently and in harmony without ego-mind interference. One acquires complete mastery over all the senses. 2:55
A true yogi is able to experience pure joy and bliss from the divine source within, they can do this consciously at will, whereas another person may need external source through the senses to experience anything close to such joy and inner peace. A yogi does not need alcohol, caffeine, drugs, television, sugar, sex or other ego neediness to experience inner peace.
Yoga nidra is one of the best techniques for experiencing Pratyahara. During yoga nidra, we are in a state of complete relaxation on all levels, brainwave patterns then start to change and slow down, from busy beta level to a deeper, slower alpha level.
Other ways to practice Pratyahara are, pranayama, various inverted yoga poses such as sarvangasana (shoulder stand) halasana (plough) and karnapidasana (ear-knee pose) which we often practice after halasana, repeating mantra and chanting Kirtan.
WEEK SIX
The Sixth Limb – Dharana
Once the senses are mastered through Pratyahara the next stage can begin, interiorization of the mind. Dharana means to calmly focus the attention of the mind on one point at the exclusion of all else, concentration. Dharana come from the word dhri which means to hold firm.
Concentration is the binding of the minds attention (focused awareness) to one particular point (to the exclusion of all else). Yoga Sutras 3:1
This kind of attention is not like the concentration we are used to, when we are focused on a taskbut our mind is still able to wander and feel distracted. We may be concentrating on driving the car but still miss the turning or reading a book but thinking about what we have to do tomorrow all at once.Dharana means to one-pointedly focus on an internal or external object. Internal objects are points in the body, the navel, heart, spiritual eye between the eyebrows and external objects are an idea or image that the minds attention is calmly focussed on from within.
Simple awareness on our lack of awareness is the awakening of awareness.
In the yogic sense, concentration is not created by effort or tension but through relaxation and ease.
How to achieve Dharana:
Relax the body and mind
Steady the body and mind, practice yoga asana
Calm the breathing, practice pranayama
Cultivate willingness
Cultivate interest and attention
1 Relax the body and maintain a firm and steady asana
2 Relax your mind, calm your breath and control your life-force with pranayama
3 Still your sense by reverting them back, inwardly to their source through pratyahara
4 With the thoughts diminished, calmly focus the mind on one point of concentration
In deep one-pointed concentration there is no consciousness of the body, time or surroundings, once begins to realise the omnipresence of the divine source.
Become aware of the breath and practice pranayama, move to bring the focus to the spiritual eye, the point between the eyebrows, chant a mantra such as Hong Sau the spiritual sound of the inhale and the exhale, candle gaze and enjoy the peace.
The Seventh Limb – Dhyana Meditation
The first stage of meditation is Dharana, concentration, the second is Dhyana, meditation.
The differencebetween these two, is that in Dharana we are completely focused on concentrating on an internal or external object, eg: the candle flame and we are aware of ourselves focussing. In meditation we are not aware of anything and there is no focus, just complete absorption. In meditation there is no distraction at all, if we are aware of distraction, from thoughts in the mind, external noises etc, then we are only concentrating.
Someone who is meditating would not be distracted by any external disturbance at all. This is why meditators can practice anywhere, anytime, without need for quiet around them etc.
Meditation, like most spiritual practices, including yoga etc, is not easy and takes practice. People often give up and say they just can’t do it, but if we commit with an open hearted willingness to explore and surrender to the journey, we will get there eventually. How long it takes, it is not possible to know, we just try to enjoy the process and give it the commitment.
Meditation can help us to calm the mind, relax and release stress. It can also help us to spiritually awaken and sometimes open up in the third eye and become connected to our third eye centre for greater guidance and wisdom to come through.
To become self-realised and connected to God, to move beyond the limitations of our mind and ego and to become at one with a consciousness that exists beyond this contracted reality. Our mind and ego keep us very small and limited on what is available to us as human beings, meditation takes us beyond!
To begin a meditation practice:
set a space at home that you can use daily for meditation, create an altar/shrine with any diety/saint/ascended master or your guru, candles, crystals, flowers, use essential oils etc (frankincense, myrrh, cajeput, mugwort etc all help us connect)
Set a time, twice a day if possible when you will meditate (12pm, 6pm, 12am, 6am are auspicious times) In India 4am-6am is considered the best time brahmamuhurta when the mind is most peaceful and the atmosphere on earth is at its most still.
Sit cross legged, or lotus pose or on a chair with a tall spine.
Begin with just 5-10 minutes and build up. Increase to 20 minutes twice a day over a few weeks.
Find a meditation method and stick to it.
Perhaps work with some asana and pranayama, then some pratyahara-dharna, focus on the breath or cancel gaze, then move to meditation, still sitting for the allotted time you’ve given yourself
Try Zazen – counting 1-10 on each exhale.
God can manifest in one of 8 ways, Light, Sound, Power, Wisdom, Calm, Peace, Love & Joy
when you are in deep meditation and experience one of the above your consciousness becomes expanded and attuned to God
Surrender completely and ask for help, pray to God for support and help in you being able to attune, God will respond when we made an effort to reach out.
Don’t be put off, keep going back to sit. Go through the steps to reach Dhayana and enjoy the process. if thoughts continue to arise, let them go, do not follow them or become absorbed in them.
If you are not prepared, through steady, firm, soft posture at ease in body and mind, it will be hard.
Keep Trying! Don’t give up and the rewards will far out way the commitment and practise needed.
WEEK EIGHT
The Eight Limb – Samadhi Bliss Joy Oneness
Samadhi – to gather or bring together’ ‘ unification of the mind’ or roots sama, meaning “equal,” and dhi, meaning “consciousness,”
Samadhi can not be practised, it happens spontaneously during meditation if we practice regularly.
Samadhi takes us into pure awareness and consciousness where we feel we have transcended the limitations of the body and ego mind.
3 stages in Hinduism:
1. Laja samadhi: This early stage manifests itself as a trance-like state of peace during deep meditation.
2. Savikalpa samadhi: In this state, you have the power to control any thoughts without allowing them to affect you. You may experience the feeling of bliss, but you are still aware of the meditation process and can not completely let go of your consciousness.
3. Nirvikalpa samadhi: This is the stage of complete absorption when your body, mind, and object of meditation become one, and your connection to the material world ceases to exist. In some Hindu yoga traditions, this highest state of samadhi is called sahaja samadhi or asamprajnata samadhi.
4 stages in Buddhism
1. The first jhana: This first state involves a detachment from the external world and an experience of jubilation and calmness.
2. The second jhana: The next stage brings a heightened experience of detachment from sustained concentration.
3. The third jhana: In this state, jubilation fades away and a sense of calmness remains.
4. The fourth jhana: This is the stage where calmness fades, and the mind reaches a profound state of equanimity.
Samadhi is a state, it is not permanent, and our focus as practitioners should be to return there time and time again through our yoga practice. We must surrender to the process not grasp at the goal and trust that it may come, or it may not but to enjoy the journey not just focus on the destination.
From Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda
“My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms. People on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own remote periphery. The roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim transparency of the soil; I discerned the inward flow of their sap.
The whole vicinity lay bare before me. My ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. Through the back of my head I saw men strolling far down Rai Ghat Road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching. When she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, I observed her with my two physical eyes. As she passed by, behind the brick wall, I saw her clearly still.
All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures. My body, Master’s, the pillared courtyard, the furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being shaken. The unifying light alternated with materializations of form, the metamorphoses revealing the law of cause and effect in creation.
An oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. The Spirit of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless tissues of light. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. The sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest edges; there I could see a mellow radiance, ever-undiminished. It was indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser light.
The divine dispersion of rays poured from an Eternal Source, blazing into galaxies, transfigured with ineffable auras. Again and again I saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve into sheets of transparent flame. By rhythmic reversion, sextillion worlds passed into diaphanous luster; fire became firmament.
I cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive perception in my heart. Irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus to every part of the universal structure. Blissful amrita, the nectar of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilverlike fluidity. The creative voice of God I heard resounding as Aum,1
the vibration of the Cosmic Motor.
Suddenly the breath returned to my lungs. With a disappointment almost unbearable, I realized that my infinite immensity was lost. Once more I was limited to the humiliating cage of a body, not easily accommodative to the Spirit. Like a prodigal child, I had run away from my macrocosmic home and imprisoned myself in a narrow microcosm.
My guru was standing motionless before me; I started to drop at his holy feet in gratitude for the experience in cosmic consciousness which I had long passionately sought. He held me upright, and spoke calmly, unpretentiously.
“You must not get overdrunk with ecstasy. Much work yet remains for you in the world. Come; let us sweep the balcony floor; then we shall walk by the Ganges.”
I fetched a broom; Master, I knew, was teaching me the secret of balanced living. The soul must stretch over the cosmogonic abysses, while the body performs its daily duties. When we set out later for a stroll, I was still entranced in unspeakable rapture. I saw our bodies as two astral pictures, moving over a road by the river whose essence was sheer light.”
We are bringing together much of what we have learnt in the first 3 parts, looking within us and to nature, to find out more about who we are and what life is about beyond the 3D reality.
In yoga the state of bliss is known as Samadhi or Ananda, it is the state of complete absorption in focussed meditation, it is Enlightenment, a pure source of Divine Union between the Self and the Universe.
To know bliss, is to know the Truth, Light and Love. It is a state we can all taste, if only slightly, in moments on our yoga mat or meditation cushion when we glimpse that true state of liberation beyond the material dimension, when we witness complete awareness of the self, beyond ego and beyond mind.
Finding Bliss could also simply be called finding happiness, joy and a being in a state of lightness and love. The look of complete serenity and tranquility on the familiar face we all know of Buddha, could be described as pure bliss.
How do we find bliss when we live in the world we do? Is it something that seems simple for the ancient yogis living simple lives dedicated to their practice day after day, or the Bodhisattvas who follow the path of the Buddha throughout their lives? Our culture is not designed with bliss at its core? The constant search and struggle to find happiness, takes a lifetime and is elusive for most.
How do we find our bliss, when society hides it so well?
If our society were a family, the parents would be austere, authoritarian, ambitious, materialistically driven, consumer centred and possibly also abusive, deceitful, intolerant and very critical, but would keep the children comfortable, well fed and entertained. The children in this unpleasant family, would be controlled, obedient, passive, easily manipulated, afraid of abuse and criticism and willing to do anything to be allowed to stay in the home, be looked after and enjoy the benefits and comforts of living in this family.
Sound familiar?
Its not nice to have to admit that we live in an unpleasant world that is very toxic and it seems for millions of people living in our society, its much easier to bury our light and hearts and go along with the way things are. There is great fear of being ostracised or pushed out and therefore possibly having to struggle to live and lose all our comforts. We love our comforts!
But just as the children living in the family described above, might seem looked after, well fed and very well behaved, underneath they have lost themselves since birth and may never find happiness, because they don’t know themselves or what could make them happy, the inner compass and potential for bliss is lost.
To find bliss, we do have to step out of conformity and regimented ideas of what life is about.
We have to start to question everything and see if there is more to life than what we have been given and told.
There has to be a risk involved in letting go of the old ways of society and a willingness to try something new.
Life is made so complicated and society is designed to feed a toxic desire for more, to risk finding bliss, we have to trust that there is a simpler and more wholesome way.
Bliss is a State of Consciousness
To find bliss we must let go of all desire to make it happen, to create it or to try to fix and control the world into behaving in such a way that we can be happy.
The search for bliss is a futile one, just as a search for anything to come to us from the outside, will always be dissatisfying. Whether its a new car, job, relationship or holiday, we always need more, or the next one, or something to be new, different, fresh or exciting.
We could spend our entire lives searching for bliss, just as the next material gain, or do we instead try to find a new state of consciousness and see what we find within?
True bliss is not subjective to external events and circumstance in our lives. Its hard to connect with as our society teaches us from a young age, that this is absolutely not the case. We are taught that we need a comfortable home, a job, family, nice car, clothes and to be able to keep up with trends, neighbours and continually be moving on an upward trajectory in our career, finances, social life and so must our children in their lives, to prove our own success.
To break out of this programming is true liberation. We look to Eastern cultures and indigenous civilisations for spiritual knowledge and wisdom, but we can find all we need here where we are, just by reconnecting to ourselves and nature. We don’t need to journey to India, the Amazonian jungle or far off lands, to find our bliss.
How can we find our Bliss, when chaos surrounds us?
The search for inner happiness, begins with the liberation of programming and conditioning that the search is outside of ourselves and then moves towards a deeper spiritual connection.
We can go back to what we learnt about the spiritual centre we have within us, the Pineal Gland – Third Eye Chakra, the seat of spiritual awareness and consciousness within, read back over my previous posts here and here.
We can also go over what we discovered about the mysteries of Mother Earth and how she can support us in our search for inner peace and joy, read the post here.
I recently ran a yoga retreat where our theme was Finding Bliss, one evening we held a circle and I asked each guest to share how they found their bliss. Everyone came back to the same simple answer, as well as yoga, meditation and the love of family and friends, the repeated response was nature.
Being in nature takes us back to ourselves, we come home. Natures beauty reminds us that all is well, all is perfect, we are literally surrounded by bliss. More than that, living in harmony with nature is our natural state of being and to be in tune with Mother Earths rhythms, is to be in tune with our own hearts and our soul.
But if bliss is our birthright, for each and every human being on the planet, surely it must be detached from any external circumstance, including access to nature.
We have all heard stories of political prisoners, perhaps locked away for decades, who were able to stay connected to their bliss despite being cut off from all but the four walls that surrounded them. During lockdown of 2020, were we all suddenly refused to be in bliss because many of us were refused access to each other and the outside world? What would happen if we found ourselves confined to a hospital bed or had to spend time away from Mother Earths heartsong in the concrete jungle of a large city?
To truly be connected to the state of consciousness that is bliss, we must be able to remove all circumstance and be able to sit in pure joy and happiness, no matter what.
A Meditation
So lets try:
Come to sit now, wherever you are, whatever the situation you are in
Do not try to change the environment you are in, in any way
If there is noise around you, let it be there, if you are not completely comfortable let that be, etc
Close your eyes
Take some deep breaths
Tune into your breath and really feel it, hear it and enjoy it
Turn to your body and relax, let go of any tension, recognise tightness and release it
Look at what is happening in your mind, notice busy, chaotic thoughts, judgements and preferences about where you are and the environment you are in, let go of all of these and tune back to your breath
Become more deeply aware of where you are, the feel of the surface you are sitting on, the sounds around you, the smells, allow your senses to expand and your awareness to evolve
Notice the blank screen behind your closed eyes, Chidakasha, the sky of consciousness within
Don’t force seeing your Chida, just gently allow it to be and watch, softly
Allow the Chaos to be there, stay centred in your Bliss
A visualisation
Try this visualisation, this is a beautiful meditation to work with after a yoga practice, after the practice outline above, during a walk in nature, or at any time when life starts to feel overwhelming:
Stand or sit and tune into your breath and relax
Close your eyes
Imagine you are stood in the very centre of a tornado, a whirlwind
All around you is spinning, complete chaos
Imagine that within this tornado are all aspects of your life that are overwhelming you
See the faces of people, family, friends, colleagues, who are stressing you out
See the places that you are having to rush around too, or you wish you didn’t have to go to
See all the things in life that you have to do, chores, work, bills, responsibilities, to do lists etc
Imagine them spinning around you, but stay completely centred and strong within this chaos
Feel your feet or hips on the surface you are sitting or standing on
Feel your breath holding you steady and stable
Bring a half Buddha smile to your face, gently turn up the corners of your mouth
Tell yourself all is well, in this moment and that this spinning whirlwind can not touch you
Remind yourself that all is well within you and all chaos is created by the mind
You can come back to this visualisation whenever you need to remember to be still and to not let life drag you into its drama
Did you know that Mother Earth has a ‘heartbeat’? Its referred to as the Schumann Resonance, flashes of lightning that strike our planet roughly 50 times every second and results in the formation of low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Its thought that these waves could affect human behaviour and even our consciousness levels.
We know so little about our planet and its rhythms, just as in my last two blogs I wrote about how little we understand about ourselves, in Detox the Pineal Gland and Activate the Pineal Gland – Third Eye Centre.
This blog ties us in to a series of Yoga Classes I am sharing during January 2022 as a kickstart to the New Year – Detox for the Soul. See classes in person and online here.
The earth is resonating at a base frequency of 7.83 Hz, this was first discovered in the 1950s by Winfried Otto Schumann. The levels of this frequency go up and down in waves and its known that recently this frequency has been seen to shoot up to really high levels not seen before, in the past 2 years, 2020-2022.
Could this be related or in sync with the mass spiritual awakening that is happening on the planet at this time?
The 7.83Hz level relates to a human beings brain waves and correlates to Alpha/Theta which is the frequency that induces relaxation, sleep, cell regeneration and healing. But what happens to this natural frequency sync between us and our planet, when we are surrounded by unnatural waves of frequency from power supplies, telecommunications, appliances, computers and other devices? For example, the frequency of electromagnetic radiation, powers cell phones, tvs, radio etc, ranges from 30,000 Hz to 300 Billion Hz. Is it any surprise we are so disconnected from our Mother Earths Heart Song, her heartbeat when we are surrounded by these?
It has been proven by scientific experiments that tuning into 7.83Hz, the planet’s own magnetic frequency people experience benefits like enhanced learning/memory, body rejuvenation, balance, improved stress tolerance, anti-jetlag, anti-mind control, and grounding. On the other hand, experiments were done, where Schumann resonance, the exposure of 7.83 Hz frequency was removed from individuals environment. The subjects reported migraine headaches, emotional distress, and other health problems. This shows how important it is to be in tune with the Earth’s magnetic frequency.
The earths magnetic field is all around us, yet we do not tend in our daily lives, to think or consider it often. The field can affect our brain and body, here’s an extract from an article published in Discover Magazine:
There’s no escaping magnetic fields — they’re all around us. For starters, the Earth itself is like a giant magnet. A spinning ball of liquid iron in our planet’s core generates the vast magnetic field that moves our compass needles around and directs the internal compasses of migrating birds, bats, and other animals. On top of that, ever-industrious humans have produced artificial magnetic fields with power lines, transport systems, electrical appliances, and medical equipment.
We may not be able to see, hear, feel, or taste the magnetic fields that surround us, but some may wonder whether they can still exert effects on our bodies and brains.
There is much research available online about how the Earths magnetic field affects animals and birds. Scientists know that birds can see the field and use it to navigate incredible distances, but hardly anything is known about how the magnetic field affects us. Much research that is carried out, is often dismissed as a ‘hippie nonsense’ which is a shame as we know that we are no different from other creatures on the planet, we were designed to live here in harmony, so why would humans be the only species that is not affected by the field?
This again, opens up a lot of questions about how we are affected, many hard to answer, Google will not tell us, so lets keep asking!
There has been some research done into cells actually responding to magnetic fields, read about it here in Forbes.
Our Magnetic Field Or Aura
Just as our Mother Earth has a field, so do we. We call it an Aura. Heres an interesting extract from the Centre for Biofield Studies in Pune, Indian:
The presumption of the existence of the “Aura”, is based upon the principle that all mental activity is electromagnetic. While some medical theorists argue that mental activity is chemical, because of the chemical neurotransmitters involved, the fact is that neurotransmitters are created only when electrical impulses induce a voltage in a neuron which exceeds its firing threshold.
In addition, EEG (electroencephalogram) technology shows that mental activity can be effectively analyzed and monitored entirely by electromagnetic principles. In electrical engineering, it is an established principle that all electrical currents produce surrounding electromagnetic (EM) fields. Accordingly, our psychological and emotional activities are sent throughout the body as electrical impulses, radiating electromagnetic fields outside the body, which are characteristic of the mental activity that generated them. Indeed, even the mere movement of atoms will produce a quantifiable electromagnetic field.
This is most clearly observed in the case of charged radioisotopes, but even neutral atoms and molecules will emit a field through valence motion of the charged substructure particles. As proven by Russian Tesla technology experiments in the 1950s, this phenomenon causes prokaryotic organisms to produce an external electromagnetic field, which consists of the combined EM emissions from millions of molecules in the biological body.
Could our own bio-magnetic energy field, or aura, be affected by and connect with that of Mother Earth?
Grounding and Earthing to Mother Earth
Its so simple and we have been working in harmony with the earth for thousands of years, until very recently. Simply taking time to really connect to Mother Earth and walking on bare earth is exactly what we have done for aeons. Until the past decades, we did not have synthetic shoes, concrete, tarmac and were always connecting to the planet.
We can be sure that our disconnection with the Earth is creating all kinds of health problems that could so easily be fixed.
Take 10 minutes a day to sit or lie on the Earth, on grass, and or rock, without shoes
Walk barefoot whenever possible
Lie facedown and enjoy a heart bond connection with our Mother
Buy an Earthing mat and use it in your bed or at your desk
Spend time ‘Forest Bathing’ (a fancy way of saying, hanging out in the woods!)
Get away from power supplies, right out into the fields or woodlands and leave the phone behind too
Practice yoga and meditation outside whenever possible
Do more research into how the Earth can really support us in our healing, both physical and emotional, spiritual issues. Watch the film Earthing to get really inspired by how simply hanging out on the Earth can heal:
How can Yoga & Meditation Help?
A yoga practice can help us to reconnect with our souls and therefore feel closer and more in harmony to Mother Earth.
Regular yoga sessions can bring a balance that we may not have felt in many years and we start to become more finely tuned to the Heart Song of our Planet. Listening more sensitively to our bodies and minds, the call from within to reconnect with nature, to spend time listening to bird song, walking and spending time outside, removing toxins from our lives and our environment, not only those we can see, but the more subtle toxins like EMFs etc.
Our bodies channels that need re-aligning can become supported by yoga and as our body aligns with itself, it will naturally align with the Earth. We become more acutely connected to the seasons, the moon, the energy around us, we feel and sense more and this results in feeling better on many levels and more positive.
We notice we feel better when we are in harmony with Mother Earth and her rhythms and cycles. We enjoy sunlight more, moonlight more and begin to crave the outdoors!
Working with a yoga practice that helps to balance the Root/Earth Chakra can be very helpful when we feel out of alignment with nature and are craving her. If we are unwell for a period and can’t get outside, if we live somewhere it is difficult to be in nature or if we have a job that keeps us tied to a desk, surrounded by technology. A yoga session that focuses on the Root can be really helpful and a quick, easy way to feel the Earth beneath us, even if we are on the 20th floor of a tower block.
Try aromatherapy oils, here’s a video during a zoom yoga class I made during lockdown Feb 2021 about using aromas to help you ground.
Look into Earth Energy and Leylines, the earth has meridian channels just as we do, so look into how this works and see if you might have some earth energy around you. Sacred sites, churches and hill forts were always built by our ‘more in tune’ ancestors at locations where earth energy was powerful. If you look on an Ordnance Survey map and can line up at least 5 sites with a ruler, you are very likely to be on a Leyline.
Find out more online and if you live near me in Dorset we are so lucky to be surrounded by beautiful sacred sites that allow this Earth Energy to flow.
Your Pineal is a tiny gland situated behind your eyes, so why is it so important we focus on ways to activate the pineal gland and on its healthy function?
What are we missing and how do we know its missing?
The problem with the pineal is that we don’t actually realise there is a problem! We are missing something that we don’t know is missing. How can we, when we live in a society where Divine Connection, living in harmony with Mother Nature and trusting our deep instincts are not considered relevant or a priority for us?
In yoga, we know the pineal as the Third Eye Chakra or Ajna, it is the seat of our spiritual awareness. In Part 1 we looked out how an unhealthy pineal can create sleep problems, stress and disease.
An unhealthy Third Eye centre can result in a feeling of uncertainty, confusion, jealously can be an issue and an attitude of cynicism and pessimism can prevail. When the Third Eye is working harmoniously and is beautifully open, we can have more clarity, trust our intuition, feel empathy for others and be more focussed and decisive in life.
When we work to Activate the Pineal Gland, we can move into deeper realms of human connection. Feeling more at one with the natural world and a true part of it and beginning to let go of our ego and create a spiritual life instead.
See Part 1 for more information on DMT, secreted by the pineal and vital for anyone wishing to enhance their imagination, visualisations, lucid dreaming, astral projection, meditation and open up the inner portal to higher spiritual realms.
How to Activate the Pineal Gland
We worked with pineal activation meditation and yoga during our yoga classes in January 2022. If you missed the classes try this:
Meditation
Clear your mind and completely relax
Breath deeply and connect to your inhale and exhale
Become aware of the blank screen behind your closed eyes, your Chidakasha
Imagine a pure white light within your head, behind your closed eyes.
Hold the inner intention that this light is activating your pineal and the visionary chemicals within
Yoga
All yoga practice can help the pineal, but some poses specifically target this area
Anjaneyasana – low lunge – hold – place the palms together and touch thumbs to the third eye centre
Parsvottonasana – hold – Right foot forwards, left foot back with hips aligned to the front of the mat and hips square, fold forwards, chin towards the shin, gaze to big toe, hands can be behind the back or lower to the floor. Keep awareness to the third eye. Change sides
Janu Sirasana – sit with right foot tucked into the left thigh, fold forwards keeping awareness to the third eye. Change sides.
Baddha Konasana – sit with soles of the feet togethe and fold forwards, awareness to the third eye.
Viparati Korana – legs up the wall, lie with legs up the wall or onto a chair
Sun Gazing
Take time to research this practice further and decide if its right for you. We are discouraged from looking at the sun at all but absorbing the energy of the sun directly into the eyes can have profound effects on the pineal gland.
Qigong
A beautiful exercise practise, Qigong translates to mean “life energy cultivation” or “energy skills”. The movements and flows are designed to increase sensitivity to energy flow with the body, the chi, or qi, we call it prana in yoga. These will all help to activate and flow energy to the third eye centre.
Binaural Beats
Do a search on any music streaming service, youtube etc and find a really good recording that resonates for you. Listen with headphones and listen often.
Binaural beats are a tone created in the brain when it is presented with two different frequencies at the same time.
In 1839, a Prussian physicist named Heinrich Wilhelm Dove discovered that if you play one frequency in one ear, and a different one in the other, then your brain cleverly creates a new frequency, the difference between that in your left ear, and that in your right and focuses on this new frequency. This, the difference between the two, is the binaural beat.
What’s interesting and lies behind meditation music, focus music or sleep music is that you can use binaural beats to help you find a certain sound to change your state of mind.
You can do this by listening, for example, to a tone of 410hz in your left ear and 400hz in your right ear – meaning your brain will make up the difference and hear an imaginary tone of 10hz.
This tone is the binaural beat.
At that very low-frequency, you can’t actually hear a sound. But you don’t need to be able to hear the sound for your brain to be affected by it.
And if you’re feeling sluggish and need some focus music to up your brain’s tempo and make you fire on all cylinders, then your brain needs focus music that provides an imaginary tone of a high – level frequency to help it do this.
There are five major types of brainwaves:
Gamma – Your brain produces Gamma brainwaves to heighten your mental ability. At this higher frequency (above 40hz) they are also associated with conscious perception, fear and problem solving.
Beta – Your brain produces beta brainwaves when you’re a state of high alert. With your beta brainwaves in action, you’re able to do those complicated, analytical tasks at work, make decisions and concentrate well. Beta waves are fast, with a higher frequency (between 15-40 hertz). At the higher levels of this range, beta waves are associated with anxiety.
Alpha – Your brain produces Alpha brainwave patterns when you’re awake and relaxed, but still alert. Your brain probably reaches this state in your regular yoga class or when you’re in the middle of a creative project, since these Alpha brainwaves are associated with meditation, and also with our ability to be creative. Numbers wise, these alpha waves are slower and lower in frequency (between 9-14 hertz).
Theta – This brainwave pattern is associated with deep relaxation and with some stages of sleep, including the lighter stages of non-REM (NREM) sleep. REM sleep itself is mostly composed of beta wave and other activity that’s similar to an alert, waking brain. Deep meditation produces theta waves, which are slower and of lower frequency (between 5-8 hertz) than Alpha waves. That murky barrier between sleep and wakefulness, when you’re drifting in and out of sleep, and your thoughts feel dreamlike and difficult to remember? That’s a theta-dominant state of consciousness.
Delta – When you’re really, properly, deeply asleep, then your brain produces very slow, delta waves (between 1.5-4 hertz).
Working with Binaural Beats will help to activate your pineal gland while you lie and relax.
DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine)
Again, its best to do your own research if you are thinking of working further with DMT, it is secreted naturally by the pineal and many of us are able to activate it through meditation and spiritual practises. There are many fascinating books on the historic use of psychedelics to create this activation and Shamans all over the globe are still actively working with this spiritual connection.
The Pineal Gland is a tiny gland that sits in your skull behind your eyes, about the size of a grain of rice. So why is it so important and why do we need to think about detoxing it?
The Pineal Gland governs how we sleep, perform, make decisions and how we perceive reality. Modern life can ‘calcify’ this gland, creating all kinds of often subtle issues that we have become so used to, we don’t always know how much better we could be feeling. Its thought our ancestors would have had much more healthy and functioning pineals and would therefore have slept better, felt better in general and perhaps most importantly, been more spiritually attuned and awakened.
Its through our pineal that we feel connected to our higher selves, our spirit and the Divine. Its becomes so normal not to experience spiritual connection in our society, but we also know deep inside that something is missing and there is an urge to try to discover and remember what it is.
DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine)
The pineal governs DMT in the brain, this is the active part that can create visions during meditation and ritual. DMT is naturally occuring within us, but many seekers and Shamans all over the world, use psychedelics to activate the DMT molecule and journey to meet teachers from the spirit world who offer guidance and spiritual knowledge. Ayahuasca has grown in popularity for its vision creating qualities and has been used by South American Shaman for aeons.
Its thought that civilisations around the globe were using similar herbs and plants to access Divine knowledge for millennia. The great temple of Ellusia in Ancient Greece is known to have been a pilgrimage for thousands of seekers each year, until early Christians decimated it and all knowledge of it from history.
DMT can be activated without anything being ingested or drank, about 2% of the population can see visions and move into trance states easily. We may not be able to move as deeply as a Shaman into altered states of consciousness just by detoxing our pineal and practising yoga/meditation to help us connect, but we certainly will become more attuned and in alignment with our spirt energies, if we take the time to notice how important this tiny gland is to our wellbeing.
In this guide I am going to share ways you can detox your pineal gland and then next, we will look at ways to activate it so you can become more connected in to higher realms and feel the life enhancing effects of such a beautiful, higher frequency.
What calcifies the pineal gland?
The Pineal Gland can be seriously affected by Fluoride, it literally clogs up and creates calcification around the gland. Fluoride mainly comes from our water, where in some areas it is added as standard, also most supermarket brands of toothpaste contain fluoride.
When the Pineal Gland becomes calcified it lowers production of melatonin, interferes with our circadian rhythm and the sleep-wake cycle which is so important to feeling our best and stress free.
We then feel out of balance with nature and our brain is not functioning at its optimum. We feel less instinctual, its hard to imagine but human beings can feel as trusting in their instincts as animals and birds, who just ‘know’ what to do, where to go, how and where to find food etc, but we have completely lost this function and are now reliant on un-natural sources like television for information, supermarkets for food etc.
Imagine a world where humans could again use their instincts to know what to do and how to manage life, rather than a newsreader or documentary telling us so, or a shopping aisle to feed us?
How do we decalcify the Pineal Gland?
If your water is Fluoridated you’ll need to get a really good filter as your first step, its a great idea anyway as most good filters rid our water of all nasty chemicals that are added.
Start to use toothpaste without Fluoride. Heres the brand I have used for my family for years, I haven’t used fluoride toothpaste in 20 years and have noticed no difference at all to my teeth compared to other women my age (50 years old!)
Be careful about taking Calcium supplements. Ensure the calcium is not synthetic, ensure it does not contain calcium carbonate which is a known calcifying agent.
Avoid processed foods and eat organic where you can. Fluoride is a highly toxic ingredient in many commercial pesticides, so buy your veggies from the organic aisle if you can! Many processed foods contain synthetic calcium so eat healthily to detox your pineal gland fully.
How to detox your Pineal Gland
Doing a detox for your pineal won’t just decalcify this gland but other areas of your body too. Calcification is a problem anywhere in the body and can lead to disease. Detoxing can create healthier blood cells, enhance your cognitive brain function and increase your vitality, you will feel more alive!
These are just some ideas, do talk to a nutritionalist or natural therapist for more specific advice for what might work best for you:
Iodine – a mineral found in sea veg, seaweed and kelp. Helps to rid the body of heavy metals like mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminium and fluoride.
Fulvic Acid – eliminates toxins and heavy metals, gives body antioxidants and minerals.
Turmeric – a great supplement for your pineal, the active part is called Curcumin and can prevent and reverse damage from fluoride build up.
Chaga Mushrooms – gives the body melanin which is used by the pineal
Raw Cacao – triggers high levels of nitric oxide, increases the size of blood vessels which will also greater blood and oxygen flow to the pineal. Cacao has so many other benefits too, and its so tasty!
Tamarind – helps to detox fluoride from the body
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar – a wonderful metal detoxifier
Boron – an antidote to fluoride
Superfoods! – raw green chlorophyll rich foods will help rid heavy metals from the blood and nourish it richly.
Try perhaps 2-3 of the above and work with them for a month or more, perhaps research each more deeply and see what other effects might be beneficial for you individually and any other health issues you have.
Other ideas to help you!
To encourage your Circadian rhythm to be more connected and natural, try ridding your home of LED lights, they are toxic for the eyes and pineal gland and can interfere with our natural sleep/waking rhythm.
Try blue light blocking glasses.
Turn the brightness down on your laptop and phone
Increase how much sunlight you get on you each day
Sleep in complete darkness, no light and black outs if you live with street lighting outside
Try Binaural Beats and Isochronic Tones as a way to help your natural rhythms align better.
Its certain that EMFs interfere with our pineal. Just as bees and birds have their natural rhythms and basic instincts, they affect us too. Our ancestors would have been far more able to tune to the Earth and natural environment around us.
Turn off your wifi whenever possible, especially at night.
Put your phone onto airplane when you can and don’t keep it near you all the time
Consider using EMF blocking crystals like Shungite and special reducing products like Smartdots around your home.
Spend as much time in nature as possible, sit or stand on bare earth, get as wild as you can, away from phone masts, wifi and 4G etc. Camping outside is amazing to help us reconnect, sleeping outdoors under canvas or under the stars is a vital way to reconnect and activate your natural connections.
Set aside time to become aware of your mind and your thoughts.
Our mental health and wellbeing are areas that have been pushed to the limit both individually and collectively.
After a year in the surreal reality of lockdown around the world, now is a good time to ask ourselves this question.
How am I really doing?
We are all experiencing the lockdown around the globe in different ways, some are finding it a quiet time, in solitude or with loved ones, a time to reflect, go slow and reassess life. Others are finding it traumatic, separation, serious financial concerns, anxiety and fear.If you already suffer with mental health issues, anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD or have a serious health condition, its likely this has been exacerbated for you over the past months.
My mental health in the past, often made life a living nightmare. Severe anxiety, panic attacks, depression, addiction issues and post-traumatic stress made every day a battle. But I did slowly heal and now I am free of those more serious and debilitating problems .
It can be a battle to get well and to find peace and we all manage life in different ways, but I hope that my journey can inspire you to trust that there is a way out.
I took the long way round and life didn’t transform for me overnight, there isn’t always a quick fix. But we can take steps everyday towards wellness, a little gentle relief and a feeling of peace, a slither of Light that chinks into your being, gives you hope, lets you know that there is another way. Read more about my personal story here.
20 Tips for Your Mental Health & Wellbeing
Here are just a few tips tiny steps you could try to move towards a happier place, today:
Start to notice your thoughts, are they always negative? Do you judge yourself critically all the time? Do you feel that others judge you the same way?
Once you become aware of the thoughts, start to focus on new, positive thoughts throughout the day.
Create ‘Positive Affirmations’ write them down, put them on post its around your house. Try “I am perfect just as I am”, “I deserve to be loved”, “Everything will be ok, we are all safe and well”.
Find your own affirmation that feels right, repeat to yourself EVERY time you notice yourself going deeply into negative, worrying or scared thinking.
Practise meditation daily. Try an app like Headspace, Calm, Smiling Mind. Or go to Youtube and search forone that resonates.
Allow emotions and feelings to come up, don’t push them away or they become repressed.
Talk to someone, if you can’t see a counsellor now, talk to a friend or loved one, don’t keep it in. Lots of counsellor are seeing clients virtually online, so you might be able to find one.
Let the tears come, tears are cleansers for the heart, let them flow, be as vocal as you need to be!
Get out in nature. We know this one don’t we? But still we need reminding how vital this is to our mental health.
‘Earth’ yourself for at least 10 minutes a day, bare foot, or if possible lie face down on bare earth, grass, sand. Sit in the roots of a tree, hug it too!
Practise yoga daily, just a few minutes. Yoga helps to release old, stagnant, toxic energy from our bodies. When the body is stuck in the past, we can’t move forward, release that by moving through poses, deeply stretching and you will feel a change, often straight away. Yoga feels good! It saved me!
Think of what you allow into your mind, in the same way as what you allow into your body. Go on a cleanse for the mind, a diet! Only put in the good stuff, the positive.
Turn off the news, its as bad for you as that McDonalds burger! Fill your space with inspiring audio books, beautiful music, read spiritual books and watch or listen to spiritual teachers.
Don’t beat yourself up. If we are trying to get well and all we do is critize ourselves for not doing it fast enough, or telling ourselves we’re not good enough, judging our ability to meditate or do yoga or stay mindful, its just more negativity. You’re doing your best, it will come in time.
You’re doing your best. Life is hard sometimes, everyone struggles and has ups and downs, anyone who tells you different is probably lying! Don’t expect miracles (but do too as they can happen!) becoming mentally well won’t make life perfect, but it will help you deal with the challenges as they come.
Stay strong. Become a Warrior, believe in yourself and your ability to get through this, have your bad days but keep telling yourself that you will pull through, if you believe life can be better, you will draw that happier future towards you.
Use your mind for what its best at, making things up! Rather than allowing the mind to make up all kinds of negative and tragic scenarios, use it to imagine wonderful, beautiful, happy situations. It might seem silly and woo-woo to think that way, but whats more silly and futile? It is all made up after all isn’t it, the mind makes up stories, fairytales that are entirely fantasy, we don’t know whats coming, we have no idea at all, so instead get creative and think about love, joy, picnics on the beach, dancing with loved ones, smiling, contentment, stunning landscapes, laughter, you feeling well, being amazing and the imperfect perfection that you are.
Listen to the silence, in between the noise, there you will find the answers, the wisdom, the guidance that you need to carry on.
I hope you find these helpful. Love from Saira xx
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A yoga video for you to practice to bring healing to the heart. Yoga for the heart.
Click the link or pic above to go youtube, If you like the practice please like and share, also please subscribe to my channel thank you! XXX
All abilities
30 mins long
You will need a PILLOW/CUSHION/BOLSTER to fully enjoy this practise. A beautiful gentle but deep, practice for the Heart. Mantra, Pranayama, Asana to help a grieving, sad or lonely heart. Simple, gentle but hugely healing and transformative.
This practice is for stress and anxiety as well as deeper wounds of grief, loss, bereavement and loneliness. The mantra we use in this practise is Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung it translates to mean Ra means the sun and connecting with that frequency gives you energy.Ma means the moon and it aligns you with receptivity. Da is the the energy of the Earth, grounding you in your roots. Sa is Infinity and as you chant this, your energy rises upwards and outwards drawing in the healing the the Universe. Say is a way of honoring the all-encompassing Thou. It is personal, like a secret name for God.(Universe) Hung is the Infinite, the vibrating real. It is the essence of creation. (So Hung together means, I am Thou.)
The service of the cosmic intelligence is within me.
The lovely Ruth Jones, star of Gavin and Stacey and Stella,was on the BBC One Show last night, sharing how my yoga videos kept her going through lockdown!
Ruth has been joining my live streams and loving the YouTube videos and I feel so blessed that she gave me a mention last night. She was regularly doing the 20 minute yoga videos I’ve shared on my Youtube Channel and is now doing the zooms too.
Ruth was on the show, promoting her new book ‘Us Three’ which is available through Penguin and I look forward to having a read soon!
It was lovely hearing my name mentioned on prime time tv in front of millions of viewers, and lovely having Ruth and all of you, enjoy my yoga online.
