February 13th

February 13th. Galentines Day. What a perfect day to celebrate the Divine Feminine!

Thank you Amy Poehler! (See the clip!) She, I believe, coined the term and I LOVE IT! The clip hearkened me back to gatherings with my Ecologist, Home Birthing, lactavist, goddess circle of girlfriends in the 70′s, most of us questioning the Dogma of our Catholic upbringing and yet still needing to create some ritual in our lives. The glory years for our brand of “feminism”. We appreciated the ones that went before us that opened doors but we came to realize we didn’t need to be men, or for that matter even act like them to find our power and voice.

I love that it is the 13th! The most sacred of feminine numbers. It was back then that I decided it was a lucky and auspicious number.

I started to write this on the last “Friday the 13th” as I was helping daughter Emily soothe her 8 year old who was in a state of despair and fear over the impending visit from all horror that befalls people on this most dreaded of days! The kids at school told her all about it! So, I told her what most science believes now; that the bad rep and irrational fear of the number 13 has more to do with men’s fear of women’s power than with movies, evil or even The Last Supper. The following is from Sia of The Full Circle website, which I Love!!

The 13 Moon Calendar – AKA the Lunar Calendar – is a 28 day calendar that dates from prehistoric times. It dovetails with a woman’s menstrual cycle. The link between women’s blood mysteries, and the moon is held in high esteem among many Neopagans. This calendar was used all over the world for many thousands of years, and is still used in some cultures today. For example, the ancient major holidays celebrated by Muslims, Jews, and many people in Asian and India are all based on a lunar calendar. Native Americans also used a lunar calendar, and some still use it.

The so called “Venus Laussel” image (2) dates back 25,000 years. It is one of the earliest known calendars. The Woman/Goddess figure portrayed in this neolithic carving holds a lunar crescent in her right hand. (1) It has 13 notches, one for each of the 13 moons in the lunar calendar. (Here is a note on her position in the cave and how that relates to God/ess worship of that period.)

The number 13 has long been associated with the moon, women’s mysteries and the Goddess. When patriarchy (usually run by those warrior guys with the pointy spears and the horses) took hold, women were subjugated, enslaved, dehumanized and turned into chattel. Queens, priestesses, artists, healers and leaders became mere breeders who would produce soldiers for the endless wars required by the God/King of that region. Worship of the Goddess in this period was destroyed as far as was possible. Conquerors would then change the rituals, stories and myths to make Her less powerful and subject to their male, solar God. (There are many books that write about this transition, but you can start with The Chalice and the Blade by RianeEisler – see book notes at the bottom of this post). Anything that belonged to Woman and the Goddess (including snakes, cats, the moon and the number 13) was held to be suspect and demonized. Stories were later made up to hide the real reasons why these things were so feared.

(View on the Full Circle website to see all the highlighted links)
Oh, there is tons more. I find it fascinating. So get together with your girlfriends on Galentines Day, February 13 and lets create new fun, funny, joy rising rituals to tap into our divine feminine and share with our daughters and their daughters.

Ahwomen.

Tess

Coconut Oil as a Remedy for Alzheimer’s

Dear fellow travelers,

My thanks to fellow yogini Elizabeth Taylor for forwarding the following information on treating Alzheimers Disease with pure cold pressed organic coconut oil. Great Information! In addition to ingesting, we also use it at the spa as massage oil. It is highly recommended for Pitta dosha to balance and cool the physiology. (BTW, we sell Dr Bronner’s pure coconut oil in the Boutique and I use in many of our own signature oils and lotions that I concoct in my own kitchen also adding love!)

Interesting how the pharmaceutical companies are trying to isolate and extract the powerful active ingredient keytones, and refine them into white powder because they then are “10 times more powerful”. (‘scuse my soapbox) Are they kidding!! We don’t know how all the compounds work together. When will we begin to understand that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts! Ayurveda says that the body recognizes the energy and information through taste, smell, texture, mass and the combination of our senses. (We can’t measure the energy, yet, only the matter).

We do know one thing…and that is; one can’t patent a medicinal botanical so there is no big money to be made eating/taking nutrients the way they grew out of the ground!

My personal belief is instead of looking for cures we need to look for causes and change our behavior. Stop warring and battling your own body and begin to allow healing.

Namaste,
Tess

Re: Yoga Can Wreck Your Body Article by Wm Broad

Hello fellow travelers,

 

Thank you to all who have forwarded this NY Times article to me. So many of you sweet students know that I do not read the newspaper.

 

All I really have to say is this… I get it that when one takes their western mind of “no pain, no gain” to a yoga practice it can result in injury. You could also replace the word “yoga” in the article with dancing, tennis, golf, weight training, football, basketball, running, skating, gardening, or walking up the stairs. Or what about prescription drugs, immunizations, chemotherapy, radiation, over the counter pills, surgery, etc, etc, etc. I say we see the numbers for injuries (and deaths) related to these activities and therapies as compared to yoga asana injuries!

 

I agree with the main point of the article which seems to be that there are some bad yoga classes and bad yoga teachers and that yoga is not a competitive sport (one can find “bad” anything…welcome to the human race) but I also think that for the most part it may keep people who may be considering Yoga from discovering the amazing power to heal themselves physically, psychologically and emotionally (and dare I say spiritually?) with this amazing science and art called Yoga, in which the asana (poses) is only a small part.

 

I am so entertained by reading the comments. Some of them made me laugh out loud!

 

To sum up, (like it matters what I think!) I feel Mr. Broad is short sighted, highly misinformed and is basically promoting his book to be published next month. I also understand that my opinion is none of his business.

 

Is yoga for everyone? Whatever you think, you’re right. To quote one of the commentators, “I will give up my Yoga practice when they peel my yoga mat from my cold dead fingers!”

 

Namaste

Tess

Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving fellow travelers. In the spirit of the season I give thanks for the Mother. Nice one from Estherham (Science of deliberate creation).

A warm namaste. 

Tess

Begin forwarded message:

The stability of your Earth exists because its change and expansion does not outstrip its ability to find balance. It is not only Earth’s size and the laws of physics that are of enough significance to absorb the shock of any change, but also Earth’s Vibrational nature of Well-Being. While your Earth appears to be a geological sphere of rock and soil and water held together by gravitational forces, it is so much more than that, for within every particle of Earth’s substance is Vibrational Consciousness seeking individual balance—Consciousness aligning with a Broader Non-Physical vision of Earth’s future. Even though the human inhabitants of planet Earth are often outside of their Vortices, in a state of resisting their personal Well-Being, the overwhelming Consciousness of your planet (in soil, in water, in flora and fauna) is incrementally finding balance every step along the way. In time, as you relax and breathe your way into alignment with your Source, you will be able to feel the dominant Vibrational pulse of Well-Being that permeates your Earth and everything it is comprised of, for Well-Being is the basis of All-That-Is. — Abraham Excerpted from the Getting into the Vortex Guided Meditation CD and User Guide # 264 Our Love, Jerry and Esther
Visit Us Online |	©1997-2011 Abraham-Hicks Publications.

 

Happy Autumn Fellow Travelers,

I just returned from Chopra Center’s Seduction of Silence in California. This is mind-blowing eight day journey onto the Final Frontier. The inner me. Yes, 8 fun-filled days of 6 hours of meditation and two yoga classes, sprinkled generously with Deepak Chopra! (I love mixing metaphors )

San Diego, actually La Jolla, was a little chilly and I missed all of you but other than that it was bliss!! I highly recommend it if you want to immerse yourself in the science and art of meditation.(Please mention Joyful Yoga if you do!)

The Chopra Center bought out the whole resort so everyone there was of like-mind. Many had never even meditated before and for them I am sure it was a little like drinking out of Niagara Falls! One sweet man, who so loves the course and now volunteers,is a judge (oh the irony….we practiced non-judgement for a week!)

In addition to all the quantum physics, experiential mind blowing exercises, Marianne Williamson talking A Course in Miracles AND having three fabulously delicious Ayurvedic meals expertly prepared each day was beyond amazing!
As many of you know this was the second leg of my Primordial Sound Teacher Training. As an off again/on again, crisis/resort meditator for 35 years, I decided I wanted a practice that I could really make a permanent part of my life and really practice what I believe and preach. I will complete the training in mid May. I am slowly digesting and assimilating all I experienced and I will continue to share the information as it bubbles out of me.

I will leave you with this little gem from Deepak. It is an acronym…he made it up (his words )…..

When you become aware that your physiology is approaching the fight-or-flight response, do the following: S.O.D.A.
S. – Stop (long enough to take a breath)
O. – Observe the body. What do you feel and where do you feel it?
D. – Detach from….
A. – Automatic behavior or response

Reverses the F.O.F. response in seconds.

A warm Namaste,
Tess

Can Probiotics Improve Your Mental Health?

Dear Fellow Yogis,

The following is cutting edge info on the link between your gut and your brain. Not really surprising and definitely empowering! Love it!

Namaste,
Tess

PROBIOTICS

Can taking probiotics improve your mental health?
July 6, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Professor Mark Lyte and associates at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center have come up with a radical concept: that you may be able to fine-tune your mental and emotional states by the right combination of probiotics!
Probiotics are “good” bacteria that normally reside in your gut and are available OTC in any drug store or health food store. Lyte suggests that they can generate neurochemicals that affect your brain — even improve your psychological health, and that neurochemicals generated by the brain can also affect these bacteria.

We recently reported on evidence that gut microbes do in fact influence neurological function (along with aiding digestion and inhibiting pathogens). But Lyte and associates take it a step further.

“This paper proposes a new field of microbial endocrinology, where microbiology meets neuroscience,” Lyte said. “There is already evidence to suggest that the connection between gut microbes and the nervous system represents a viable route for influencing neurological function. A recent study in mice, for example, showed that the presence of neurochemicals such a serotonin in the bloodstream was due to direct uptake from the gut.”

“Neurochemicals such as GABA may be viewed as a common shared language enabling interkingdom signaling between prokaryotes (e.g., probiotic bacteria) and eukaryotes (e.g., vertebrates),” Lyte said in a BioEssays paper. For example, lactobacilli and bifidobacteria produce GABA, which is known to reduce stress and anxiety (GABA may also reduce inflammation in colitis and intestinal bowel disease), he said.

“GABA is already potentially present in some fermented foods,” Gregor Reid of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario points out. “So should there not be some clinical evidence available already to suggest that eating these foods improves mental health?…. Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM induce opioid effects, yet there is no evidence that pain relief is associated with ingestion of this organism in any probiotic formulation. This may be because nobody has investigated this formally, or the levels of the molecules necessary are too low.”

In the paper, Lyle lists several neurochemicals (normally produced by the brain) that are also produced by various probiotics in the gut:
Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium GABA
Escherichia, Bacillus, Saccharomyces Norepinephrine
Candida, Streptococcus, Escherichia, Enterococcus Serotonin
Bacillus, Serratia Dopamine
Lactobacillus Acetylcholine

If Lyte’s hypothesis is confirmed, microbial endocrinology may emerge as an exciting new approach to treating patients with psychological problems.

So do physical gastrointestinal problems have psychological counterparts? (Gives new meaning to “gut feeling.”) Also, what is the role of the “second brain” (neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, contains some 100 million neurons) in this?

And will we see a new class of “psychohackers” experimenting with creating their own treatments and modifying their own neurochemicals to reduce depression and anxiety or induce happiness?

Ref.: M. Lyte, Probiotics function mechanistically as delivery vehicles for neuroactive compounds: Microbial Endocrinology in the design and use of probiotics, BioEssays, 2011; [DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100024]
Ref.: G. Reid, Neuroactive probiotics, BioEssays, 2011; [DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100074]

21 Day Challenge!

Dear fellow travelers,

I am happy to report that I am now on day 73 of consistent meditation. I am going to do the Chopra center 21 day challenge which begins on the 15th. If you would like to join me and create this new “habit” please check out below.

A warm Namaste,

Tess

Dear Tess,
The start of the summer Chopra Center 21-Day Meditation Challenge™ is just a few days away, and I want to take a moment together to reflect on our intentions for this incredible experience we are about to share.

What do you wish to manifest in your life? What would make your heart sing? How will it feel to have harnessed the power of coincidence and achieve what Deepak calls, SynchroDestiny (https://chopra.infusionsoft.com/link/5423592e60/1dd99a0)?

I encourage you to ask yourself these questions in the coming days as we approach the beginning of the summer meditation challenge. To help you connect to the co-creative energy that powers the manifestation of your deepest desires, I have included a link to a visual meditation that is very close to my heart. This meditation was created during our SynchroDestiny workshop (https://chopra.infusionsoft.com/link/5423592e60/1e0a6e0) in Sedona, Arizona with the intention of assisting you in tapping into the calmness and stillness that is all around us. In this place of calmness and stillness, dreams are made manifest.

I hope you enjoy the meditation. And– I encourage you to share this experience with your friends and invite them to join in the summer challenge collective before it begins on August 15 (https://chopra.infusionsoft.com/link/5423592e60/1e3b420). We are going to rock this world!

Don’t hold back. Reach for the stars. We’re in this together.

I’ll see you in the gap . . .
davidji

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