Monthly Archives: April 2011

Pomegranate Breast Oil, for women and those who love them

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I don’t ordinarily plug things on this blog, but I found a product I really like and want to share information about. My dear friend Sunny Markham makes a wonderful product called Pomegranate Breast Oil.

The oil smells great and feels really amazing on your skin, and the ingredients (organic pomegranate rind, organic mustard seed oil, and essential oils of amber, frankincense, spikenard, sandalwood, and myrrh) promote beautiful, healthy breasts. It is an Ayurvedic formula, and Sunny decocts the pomegranate rind and mustard seed oil outside in two big pots for approximately 44 hours under the full moon. It’s a labor of love!

I’ve been using it for many months now, and I’m hooked. This is a great way to love myself, and for all women to love themselves. It smells and feels so good, I love taking the time to do this. I feel more loved and healthier, and my breasts are now naturally toned as a result of the frequent massage.

Giving loving attention to your breasts has gotta do something wonderful for ‘em! Your partner can do this for you, too, but it’s a practice you’ll want to keep up several times a week for optimal results.

This product also makes a wonderful gift to give a woman you love. I’m giving some to my daughter for Mother’s Day, and if my mother was still around, she’d be getting some too.

You can order it online in small quantities (or large for a great discount), and you can also buy it at The Herb Bar on W. Mary St. (just west of South Congress), Casa de Luz, and Victory Pharmacy in South Austin. It comes both with and without the essential oils.

Every bottle comes with a beautiful little booklet with six simple breast massage steps that are playful, sensual, and do healthy things like move lymph and drain toxins and increase circulation.

Your breasts will be toned and glowing with happiness! Go to http://www.thegatheringforhealth.com/ and http://www.pomegranatebreastoil.com.

 

Hope you enjoy it!

~~

Here’s a follow-up on May 5, 2011. I emailed Sunny to find out where all her oil was being sold in Austin. Here’s what she replied:

The building of the Austin Centre for Happy, Healthy Breasts will be completed in a few weeks! I’m planning the grand opening in June. The Centre will be the home of Earthsong Pomegranate Breast Oil and offer breast self-massage workshops.

If someone wants to purchase Earthsong Pomegranate Breast Oil prior to the opening, they are welcome to come to my home. I’m off Cuernavaca down Bee Caves Rd. towards Hwy 71. Call me at 512-203-9739 for details.

If it’s more convenient, they can purchase the oil from one of our local distributors:

  • The Herb Bar, 200 W Mary St., Austin, TX, 512-444-6251
  • People’s Pharmacy on N. Lamar, Austin, TX, 512-459-9090
  • People’s Pharmacy, 4201 Westbank Drive, Austin, TX (512-327-8877
  • Venus DeMarco’s Skin Care 4101 Medical Pkwy # 113, Austin, TX, 512-626-6141

I recommend they contact the store prior to going there, to check their stock and pricing. When they call, they want to make sure the supplier has the Essential Breast Massage brochure that comes with the oil.

If they purchase the oil from me, (1) 2 oz. Bottle of Earthsong Pomegranate Breast Oil is $30.00 + tax.

I’m pleased to include my simple 6-step Every Woman’s Guide to Essential Breast Massage. It’s so easy to follow and I’ll explain it to you if you want!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Here’s a great price break from me!

Order (6) Bottles of Earthsong Pomegranate Breast Oil and pay just $16.99 per bottle.  That’s $101.94 + tax.

This would be such an elegant and caring gift to the beloved women in your life! 

I’ll include Every Woman’s Guide to Essential Breast Massage with every bottle ordered.

Words of wisdom from Suzuki Roshi

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Today’s message from Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is:

If meditation is a priority, then it’s helpful to take that word literally and put meditation first. An example would be my rule of not turning on the computer before I’ve meditated. Simple, but effective. Probably the most trenchant advice I ever heard was in eight words from Suzuki Roshi: ‘Organize your life so you can sit well.’—David Schneider

My three-month contract job ends this Friday, with another week later in May to tie up loose ends.

I’m looking forward to rearranging my days around my agenda. My sitting practice has been intermittent for the last few months.

I like this: meditate before turning the computer on. I think I’ll adopt it.

Click this link to read more tips from the meditators’ toolbox.

Antidotes for sedentary jobs: getting more life in your life

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NPR is carrying a story about the health risks of a sedentary life, covered last week in the New York Times. (I blogged about it here.)

This story, Sitting All Day Is Worse For You Than You Might Think, is available for reading and listening by clicking the link.

This article recommends sitting on a stability ball (aka exercise ball) and taking frequent mini-breaks.

I’ve worked at sedentary jobs for many years. At my last job, after a period of not working and living an active life (walking, swimming, biking a lot), I took lunch-time yoga classes and brought in an exercise ball to sit on instead of using my office chair.

Many people, one at a time, asked me about it when they came by my office on another matter. I let them try mine if they liked. I believe one or two may have even got one for themselves.

(You know, I think I was kind of a pioneer, ahead of my time in that workplace. They probably saw me as being too “out there.” I don’t know, and actually it’s none of my business. My business is taking care of me. And now I’m moving away from sedentary work. My body just needs to move. I’m much happier and healthier.)

When you sit on an exercise ball, you use your leg muscles. It’s also easier to roll, bounce, sway, and otherwise get more movement into your day at a desk.

Also, without a back to lean against, using an exercise ball for a chair really works your core muscles. You have to hold your torso up with your muscles. That may be a little fatiguing at first. It took me a week to get used to it. I was never sore, though, just tired from the extra work until my body accommodated it.

I think I got my exercise ball at Target for $12.99. I’m not very tall, but the largest size worked for me. I think it was 75 mm.

They come with a foot pump. You fill it with enough air so that it’s firm. Every six months or so, you need to put more air in because either the rubber has stretched or it has leaked a tiny amount.

I used a large bent paper clip to pull the “nail” out of the air hole, pumped more air in, and replaced the nail.

You could put a square of duct tape over the nail if you’re worried about it popping or leaking.

I’m not sure how much weight they can hold. You can spend more for a burst-resistant ball.

If an exercise ball is not an option, the next best thing is to sit on the edge of your office chair rather than leaning against the back. At least you’ll strengthen your core muscles.

I like the idea of mini-breaks. Walk to the water fountain or restroom, or just take a walk around your workplace. As you walk past offices, listen to the sounds of people at work, catch snatches of phone conversations, hear how fast people type, smell various aromas, see how people personalize their office space, let your eyes rest from computer work by looking down the long hallways. Stretch, dance, do a minute of yoga.

It’s all good and puts more life in your life!

Silent mind

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Tonight I was reflecting that one of the things that my sitting practice showed me is just how busy my mind was for all those many years before I began sitting and paying attention to my actual experience.

Constant activity, no stillness, no silence.

One of the great benefits to me of practicing sitting was having some contrast between my active mind and my silent mind.

By silent, I mean experiencing awareness with no internal dialogue.

What was/is that internal dialogue about? (Because I still experience it. I just know I have a choice now. Before, I didn’t.)

Usually the past or the future. Anxiety-based thoughts, what ifs, and I shouldas. Also a lot of judgment.

It was just such a blessed relief, through the practice of meditation, to learn experientially that I could take a break from all that and just be. Just be aware of the present moment — of sounds, thoughts, feelings, of the spaces in between, of the theater of awareness.

It does seem now that my practice of meditation and the self-awareness it brought me has been somewhat responsible for many of the changes in my life, from quitting my job to dreaming of possible new livelihoods, to honing in on what kind of work is satisfying to me, to deciding to downsize and simplify.

You can call it congruency or integrity or whatever you want. There’s a deep need to take action so that my external life matches who I am, which is ever changing.

What a lovely challenge it means now to be truly alive and engaged. There’s no holding back, no fear (well, not much), just doing and learning, and more doing and learning.

Restorative yoga: good for athletes and for healing

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Happy Easter! This year I’m enjoying thinking of Jesus as a revolutionary corruption-fighter who also taught peace and love. Christ is risen!

I just came across this article, Yoga minus all that pesky effort, on restorative yoga for athletic recovery.

Legs up the wall is great for resting the legs after a run. Passive backbend opens the chest so you can breathe more deeply.

And every active person needs more rest.

Teaching my restorative class, Unwinding, tonight, 7-8:30, at Oak Hill Healing Arts, 7413 Bee Caves Road. I bring the props, you bring your mat and yourself, ready to enjoy some deep relaxation.

Namaste, y’all!

Happy earth day today!

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  “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” ~ Rachel Carson

Comparing trauma release and shaking medicine videos

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Having just done the exercises along with the Trauma Releasing Exercises DVD for the first time, I recommend using the video over using the book to get up to speed on these.

The extra exercises at the beginning are nice, and they are more pleasant to do with the models on the video. They make it seem easier and get to the shaking part more quickly.

Read the book, The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process, for background and detail.

Get both!

I know some of you are probably confused about these two techniques, trauma releasing and shaking medicine. They are different yet related.

The trauma releasing exercises are specifically designed to strain the feet and leg muscles so that they begin to quiver and tremble and shake and release the deeply held tension from trauma and prolonged stress.

Every body does this a little differently, but basically, you lie on your back on the floor and let your legs tremble. The trembling may move into your pelvis, spine, neck, hands, arms, and shoulders, as well. The whole process is done lying down.

A room full of people may be doing these exercises, but each is in his/her own space, not touching.

Deep emotions may arise during this process.

Here’s a video of people trembling after doing the trauma releasing exercises.

Shaking medicine, as far as I know, is a term coined by Dr. Bradford Keeney, who also wrote a book called Shaking Medicine: The Healing Power of Ecstatic Movement (which I’m currently reading but bought used without the 40-minute CD of ecstatic drumming it came with).

I see he has written another book, Shaking Out the Spirits, and released a 6-CD audio set from Sounds True, Shaking: The Original Path to Ecstasy and Healing.

Shaking medicine is practiced in cultural traditions around the world, including the Kalahari Bushmen, Quakers, Shakers, and holy rollers. Shakers may stand, sit, and lie on ground, and move from one to the other “as the spirit moves them.” It also may be accompanied by vocalizations such as shouting and singing.

This kind of shaking is a way to heal and connect with God and let spirit move you. Literally.

It too may be accompanied by deep emotional release.

Here’s a video of Bradford Keeney shaking with some Kalahari Bushmen. It’s pretty long but you can certainly get a sense that this kind of shaking is different. It’s part of a community ritual with singing, drumming, and clapping.

It’s also practiced by individual shamans healing people with their shaking touch, sometimes passing the shaking on to another person.

In my current view, trauma releasing is a form of shaking medicine. Both practices release energy blockages and enhance the flow of chi in the body. Literally, both use shaking to heal, thus they are shaking medicine.

The term shaking medicine sounds pretty woo-woo and far out. The term trauma releasing exercises sounds much less threatening of the dominant paradigm and has a “legitimate” purpose that you could probably get a grant for researching.

The biggest difference I see is that shaking medicine is also an ecstatic practice. That word, ecstasy, isn’t associated with trauma release.

I haven’t had an opportunity to do shaking medicine yet (or have I? I practiced ecstatic dance for a dozen years…)

Both TRE and shaking medicine are kin to rebirthing and holotropic breathwork, which use breath to release deeply held tension and emotion.

I have a hunch that with all of these practices, when you’re done, you feel full of life and clean and fresh, very present, unstoried, and renewed. When you feel stale, you do it again.

I’ll keep reading and report on the book when I’m done, or when I find something too good to keep to myself.

Meanwhile, I’m looking for someone to do holotropic breathwork with me.

Repost from NY Times: Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?

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A new field in health research is called “inactivity studies,” and this article reports on its findings.

Here’s one. Two people eat and exercise the same. One gains weight, the other doesn’t. Why?

If you fidget more and move more, but not necessarily work out, you can burn a lot of calories. People who are more sedentary put on more weight.

That seems like a no-brainer, but so much knowledge about this is based on self-reporting, which is simply unreliable. The study used “magic underwear” to track motion.

This is your body on chairs: Electrical activity in the muscles drops — “the muscles go as silent as those of a dead horse,” Hamilton says — leading to a cascade of harmful metabolic effects. Your calorie-burning rate immediately plunges to about one per minute, a third of what it would be if you got up and walked. Insulin effectiveness drops within a single day, and the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes rises. So does the risk of being obese. The enzymes responsible for breaking down lipids and triglycerides — for “vacuuming up fat out of the bloodstream,” as Hamilton puts it — plunge, which in turn causes the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol to fall.

I’m curious. How much sitting is too much? More than six hours a day, some say; others say more than nine hours a day. Sitting is more lethal than age, sex, education, smoking, hypertension, BMI and other indicators.

And did you know that Steelcase, maker of file cabinets and office furniture, now makes treadmill desks?

That’s the ticket for health at sedentary jobs. That, or fidget and get up and walk around a lot.

“Go into cubeland in a tightly controlled corporate environment and you immediately sense that there is a malaise about being tied behind a computer screen seated all day,” he said. “The soul of the nation is sapped, and now it’s time for the soul of the nation to rise.”

Is Sitting a Lethal Activity? – NYTimes.com.

Getting a Fran Bell makeover of my walk

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I came out of my third appointment with Fran Bell today with a new walk. I mean, she gave my way of walking a complete makeover! She gave me a taste of it during my first visit, but it didn’t fully stick.

The new way feels so good, I didn’t want to stop walking. And most of it is going to stick. I can just tell.

Before she did anything, she had me walk as she observed and “got” my pattern into her nervous system.

Then she put on my movement pattern as if it were a dress and walked like me, so I could see myself!

Talk about a revelation! Wow! I could see an intention for grace, good posture, and efficiency of movement in my walk, and I could see that my right side was ahead of the left and that I walked with some stiffness in my body.

Fran, who can discern so much more than I am presently able to, showed me how I led with my feet instead of my whole body working as a unit. She showed me how immobile my shoulders were. My arms didn’t swing nearly as much as hers. She told me where to look to discern these things.

She put me on  the table and we did some work together, and she taught me the homework I’ll be practicing this week. Ankles, hips, breath. Leg lifts every other day. Foam roller as needed.

Then I walked. My knees felt slightly rubbery, like sea legs. My right and left sides were the same. My arms swung freely from my shoulders. My hips swung from side to side. My whole spine moved. Even my head bobbled!

I don’t remember ever having so much swinging, swaying motion while walking from Point A to Point B before! I have a hunch I’ll be doing a lot more walking, because it’s just plain fun now.

What’s interesting is that when I observe a lot of people walking and running, such as on the Lady Bird Lake trail, I readily notice when someone’s body is locked up in some way. Maybe they barely lift their knees, or run on the insides of their soles, or lead with their head or chest. I feel for them.

I just never could see myself.

And now I have, and not only that, I gained a new way of walking that — and this may sound weird — appears to recharge my batteries and give me energy instead of draining energy.

Go figure!

Behind the scenes of a blog: search terms that have brought readers here :-)

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Behind the scenes of this WordPress.com blog, I can view my site’s statistics. One of my favorite things to check on is the list of search terms that people have entered into a search engine that somehow got them to this blog.

Besides the usual suspects like yoga, 4 hour body, trauma releasing exercises, buddha brain, spartan carousel, flu, and tibetan monks austin, here are some others over the past three months that have been amusing:

having a good axle-hole (?)

zafu brown (any relationship to Encyclopedia Brown?)

mcrae says dukkha means (okay, William, what’s up with that?)

yoaching yoga coaching

dont fall asleep in trauma (okay, i wont)

4 hour body can you eat refried beans everyday (love it!)

realigious ked wearing people (it’s a cult!)

There are some that are inspiring. I plan to do my own Google searches using these search terms. Some people know what’s important!

synesthesia and gamma waves (I’ll have what she’s having)

playful joy

shaking medicine groups