Insensitive creators

By bhuvaneswari
We are born sensitive

The Creator made all his creations sensitive, responsive to the mutual and endless interactions.  The water of the calm lake is sensitive to the wind, you see the multicolor ripples going in a certain way.  You see the birds sensitive to the arrival of spring, they know what they need to do, how they need to interact and how to create celebration in each day.  The plants are sensitive to the climate, to the light.  Humans also are born with a body that is totally sensitive, vulnerable and dependent.

We are born dependent

We are born dependent and helpless.  We survive because of this dependency on others.  A newborn child will not survive climate or hunger if abandoned.  We are dependent, and this dependency is a bargain.  We need to give many things on this bargain, and in this dependency, sensitivity is one of them.  Family, parents, and society force things on us and we have to yield, otherwise, we will die.

The loss of our sensitivity

The more sensitive the child is, the more trouble for the parents and society.  A slight sensation in the body, and he begins to complain.  The cry is stopped by the parents and they cannot do anything, and the child feels every sensation so fully, so totally, that makes the parent annoyed.  Slowly, this state of pure response is lost.  It is especially criticized when the child discovers his/her genitals, the most sensitive part of the body, and it is not welcomed openly and innocently.  Parents change in attitude toward the child, they face their own repression, their own uneasiness, and just a severe look from the parents or teachers, and the child will be cutting his/her sensitivity.  As we grow, that criticism and lack of support makes us insensitive.  Insensitive bodies, mind and emotions.

Bargain for security

So first a bargain is necessary, but at a cost.  The second thing we adopt as we lose our sensitivity to respond, not only to the environment but also to ourselves and the divine, is our sense of security.

We feel that if we respond openly, innocently and vulnerable towards our own humanness, we will lose status, independence and security.  I have seen couples many times who love each other, who care for each other, but will not demonstrate any of that deep affection to their beloved because they feel naked, they feel insecure, they feel discovered, shameful, and vulnerable.  We don’t make a creative expression around celebrating life, or love, or parenthood.

I have met many parents, afraid to please their children with simple things because they feel they will take advantage of them, or they will become too wild.  I have seen the same exact process towards the divine.  If we express our devotion, joy, and commitment too openly we fear we will lose our image, our security.  Everyone, sooner or later, learns that to be sensitive is to be vulnerable to the aspects of life, to joy, to pain.  We learn to create a barrier, a safe guard, a safety measure.  That is how insensitivity sets in.

The cost of our insensitivity

We don’t realize that our safety net prevents us from connecting to the flow of creation.  Divine qualities are only experienced with a certain degree of sensitivity. The more sensitive you become, the more compassion you experience.  The more sensitive you relate: the more vulnerable, the more joy.

We need to understand that our pure desire to be compassionate and blissful will not come without the feeling of sensitivity and vulnerability, nor if we are premeditating what to do, or what to say to our relations or towards our own internal process.  It is not possible to open one point and to remain closed at another.  It is the same organ, the same energy.

Create totally

To totally create your life, your relationships, your profession and your relationship with your spirit, you need to learn to embrace that sensitivity that will bring you equal amounts of joy and pain.  There is no way you can love your creations deeply without risk, nor destruction of that bargain, that safety.

I often see students in art class trying to create a painting without jumping totally into it.  They want to keep parameters of beauty and balance without creating certain chaos, certain problems, certain pain, certain discomforts.  Then the painting is boring, it’s pretty, but it has no personal language that stands for the uniqueness of the artist.

I see the same thing in students who want to be connected to their own spiritual advancement, they want it but without the discomfort, they want the safety of a formula.  They want to meditate but not to become sensitive.  We need to relax about the dissolution of that insensitivity and learn to take risks in different aspects of life to truly be able to tap into the nature of our Creator and our creations.

What to do after an earthquake

Dear One:

If today you feel tired, ungrounded or disoriented more than usual, it is good to consider the impact of the earthquake we had yesterday in your energy field.

Here a meditation and some herbs that may supply aid to you in getting your balance back.

Meditation to adjust your magnetic field after an earthquake

In moments of earth shifting our second hemisphere of the brain get destabilize. This meditation readjust your earth bodies and gives the brain the proper vibration to readjust to the new earth frequency.

Do the meditation for 11 to 31 minutes after the earthquake.

How to do it.

Sit strait. Slightly cup your left hand and hold it over your left ear. Hold the left arm up in front of you s that the upper arm is parallel to the ground.

Extend your right arm strait out to the side. Bend it so that your is by your ear with the hand in conch mudra.(Like a fist.)

Eyes are focused on the tip of the nose. Strike the side of your head with your left hand in time with the mantra SA TA NA MA.  Mantra is chanted mentally.

Herbs to take after the earthquake

 My favorite adaptogens herbs ( the ones that helps to adapt to a new frequency) are:

Schizandra

Ginseng and

Astragalus root .

You can  take them together or alone in a form or tea, tinture or in your food.

Remember also to rest.

In service

Bhuvaneswari

Ayurveda Eye Care: For a Clear View

 Kapha eyes are usually large and clear with thick lashes.  Pitta eyes are sharp, penetrating and sensitive and are prone to itchiness or redness.  Vata eyes are small, nervous and dry.

Daily Care:
·         Ayurveda recommends rising before sunrise.  After waking-up in the morning, fill your mouth with water, close the eyes and sprinkle cool water on them about 10-15 times.  Do not use hot water on the eyes, or very cold water.
·         Do not stare continuously, especially while looking at long distance objects.  Blinking or giving rest to the eyes is good.  Do not look at the objects in bright sunlight for a long time.  Avoid reading, writing or working with eyes in improper light, or when the light is not sufficient.  Take a break and give rest to the eyes if you feel heaviness or tiredness in the eyes.
·         Staying up late in the night and sleeping after sunrise is harmful for the eyes.  In case of staying up late, drink a cup of water after each half-hour.
·         Try to maintain regular and clean bowel movements.  Constipation weakens the eyesight.  In addition, too much anxiety, mental stress, grief, anger and worry are harmful for the eyes.
·         Regular eye exercises maintain excellent eyesight.  See Eye kriya.
·         Another simple way of protecting the eyes is through “palming.”  Rub the palms of both hands for about 30 seconds, close the eyes and gently place the warm palms over the eyes.
·         Using triphala eye drops, (see recipe on next page), can cleanse the eyes and may improve eye conditions such as glaucoma.

Triphala Eye Wash:
Ingredients:
            1/4 tsp. triphala
            8 ox water

Boil pure water and add the triphala powder.  Simmer covered for 5 minutes.  Strain the liquid through many layers of cheesecloth to filter out the triphala residue.  Allow to cool and apply into the eyes, 5 drops per eye, with an eyedropper.

Consider a tzatziki facial this summer

While summer is the favourite time of the year for most Canadians, those with a pitta (fire) constitution enter their most challenging season. With the additional heat, they are most likely to be become off-balance with discomforts ranging from skin rashes, sunburns, chaffing, irritable temps, and excess acidity associated to digestion. As a pitta woman dealing with hot flashes, summer can by a trying is own unique set of experiences.

Some of you may also experience dry skin because of an underlying heat disbalance. Treat the heat first. At any rate, the recipes below will attend to both the heat and dryness, but the foot bath and the floral waters need to be preceded or followed by a moisturizer.

Of course, there are many options to correct all of those, including nutrition and yogic breaths. But there are also fun, yummy was of soothing the pitta constitution from the outside.

Consider treating yourself to any or a combination of the following:

v  a tzatziki facial
v  a lassi compress (neck, forehead, heart area and eyes)
v  a lukewarm peppermint tea footbath
v  a massage with monoi with birch and bergamot essential oils
v  a spray of chamomile and lavender floral water along the spine or all around
v  and of course, a Face to Grace pitta moisturizer or sunscreen.

RECIPES:

Tzatziki

Consider the following recipe below and keep about a table spoon for your facial. Of course, if you have time, go in the shower or in the tub and spread on your whole body and leave on for 3 to 11 minutes and rinse.


For the facial
Seasonings for the edible version
·         3 tbsp. olive oil

·         1 cup yogurt

·         1/2 cup sour cream

·         2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced

·         1 tsp. chopped fresh dill

·         1 tbsp. vinegar

·         2 cloves garlic, minced finely

·         1/2 tsp. salt

·         1/4 tsp. white pepper




Lassi

Compresses can be used for many conditions and can be cooling or warming. Try this edible, spreadable delight to relieve extra heat. Your skin will love it too! Leave on for 11 minutes.

For the compress
Seasonings for the edible version
·         3/4 cups yogourt

·         ½ mango

·         ¼ tsp. rosewater

·         1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

·         a sprinkle of nutmeg

·         a sprinkle of cardamom

·         a pinch of salt



Peppermint tea

Since you are preparing for a foot bath, simmer (DON’T BOIL) 4 litres of water with 4 pouches of peppermint tea; cool to desired temperature, poor into a rectangular bucket. Soak your feet for 11 minutes while you meditate or listen to the birds or your favourite calming music.

Massage oil

Monoi is a wonderful cooling oil from Tahiti, a maceration of their national flower, the tiare, in coconut oil. The tiare is a member of the jasmine family and the maceration is done in the sun.

Add 2 drops of birch and bergamot essential oil to 2 or 3 Tbsp of monoi or coconut oil. (Small quantity of pure monoi available at Face to Grace).

These recipes are fabulous during heat waves, especially for seniors and babies who are sensitive to heat. FOR BABIES under 2 years old, avoid essential oils. Drink LOTS of water.

Hey children Clear your head !

Two Part Breath to Clear & Balance the Mind of your child!

Your child and you can start the day with this simple breath or do it on the way to school, or at the computer.  Inhale in two equal parts and exhale in two equal parts through your nose. Continue this for 3 minutes and to finish, inhale and exhale deeply through both nostrils.

Your child will be more focused, relaxed and happy with all activities of the day.
Anamda Sly
Director Club Yoga
info@clubyoga.ca
www.clubyoga.ca

Iron: Your Vitality Depends on It!

Iron is an essential mineral for health and vitality.  Iron keeps the blood rich in oxygen.  A deficiency in iron leads to exhaustion, fatigue and edginess, which all contribute to a poor resistance to stress.  An iron deficiency leads to a weakened immune system.

Women take care
to iron deficiencies.  Women who experience heavy menstrual cycles lose iron and may become deficient.  Iron is depleted during pregnancy so most pregnant women need to take iron supplements at this time.

Tired of feeling tired?
If you are experiencing a lot of fatigue, are pale in the face, find yourself easily susceptible to viruses and other illnesses and generally are feeling overwhelmed by minor stresses, you may want to have your iron levels checked out.

Taking the time to build-up
Once iron is depleted, it takes a while to build-up the levels in our body.  You support yourself by eating iron-rich foods, taking an iron herbal tonic or supplement and by eating foods rich in vitamin C.  Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron.  "Floradix" is a herbal formula by a company called Salus.  This iron tonic is quite popular.  However, if your iron is really low or in the deficient zone, you will want to choose something which will supply you with a higher dosage of elemental iron.  "Spa Tone," is a liquid iron that comes in little pouches.  It is water that is rich in iron from rocks.  You can take the homeopathic tissue salt #4, "Pherrum Phos," which increases the body's absorb ability of the iron.

Sources of Iron
alfalfa, apricots, beets and beet greens, blackstrap molasses, bran, cereal grains, (especially oats), comfrey, eggs, horsetail, nettle, parsley, raisins, seaweeds, spinach, sunflower seeds, tofu, watercress, wheat germ, whole grains and yellow dock root.
 
Herbal Iron Syrup
(taken from Rosemary Gladstar's book: "Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health")

This tasty formula abounds in vitamins and minerals, especially iron. 
3 parts dandelion leaf
3 parts dandelion root
3 parts nettle
3 parts raspberry leaf
2 parts alfalfa leaf
2 parts yellow dock root
1 part hawthron berry
Honey.
1. combine all the herbs.  With the honey, prepare as a syrup, (see below for syrup recipe).
2. Remove the syrup from the heat.  For every 2 cups of syrup, add the following.
1 cup brandy
1/4 cup fruit concentrate, (make sure it's concentrate, not juice)
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons spirulina powder
3. Stir well, then bottle, seal, and label.  Store in the refrigerator, where the syrup will keep for several months.  Take 4-6 tablespoons daily.

Preparing the Syrup
1. Use 2 ounces of herb mixture to one quart of water.  Over low heat, simmer the liquid down to 1 pint.  this will give you a very concentrated tea.
2. Strain the herbs from the liquid.  Poor the liquid back into the pot.
3.To each pint of liquid, add I cup of honey. 
4. Warm the honey and the liquid together only enough to mix well.  If honey is heated too high, the natural enzymes are destroyed and honey also becomes toxic at this point. 
5. Continue with step 2 in iron syrup recipe.

May you be healthy, vital and present to the celebration of your life!

Blessed be...

Satkiana
Dream Roots
www.dreamroots1.blogspot.com
(613) 230-0254

Some reflections about retreats led by bhuvaneswari

By Sophy Ryan

 The retreat is an exquisite opportunity to actively live in the moment regardless.   Anything can happen and it does!   We are there to be aware of our responses and reactions,  and be super-skillfully guided by the Teacher to become ever more free of all that causes our repeated patterns, depressions and failures.

We each have our own work to perform.  The make or break is to grasp what the Teacher is communicating to us!   Thus the retreat is a call to love, a time to witness all the myriad expressions that love takes  through the Teacher, and through us, toward each other.

However, there is no retreat recipe!  All we can be is in this moment, and experience what is, and again be in this moment right now, and in this moment....

This is no easy task as we all know, but what can be of greater value than to be with Someone totally set upon destroying all our destructive tendencies?

THANK YOU BHUVANESWARI  FOR GIVING US EVERYTHING, AND BEING  UTTERLY WILLING TO ACCEPT OUR IGNORANT BEHAVIORS THAT SO FREQUENTLY MISUNDERSTAND YOUR PASSIONATE AND PROFOUND LOVE.

silence retreat, training in the emptiness

Facing where you are

The Sacred Silence Retreat is only for lovers of growing. This advanced program is designed to give you no choice but to be with you, to the precious part of you, to the most sacred part of you, to the quiet part of you. Our modern life, our busy minds, our turbulent emotions, our complex relationships, our non-stopable speech, our duties, our responsibilities, all remove us from the garden of our heart and makes us  live our lives guided by our mind. Silent retreat opens the doorway to the now by quieting our minds with silence.

My teacher gave me ” no choice”

I took my first retreat in a non-voluntary way. I was twenty-two  years old, living in the Amazon triangle where it was very common to be infected by malaria. I was taken to a medicine-man, and he kindly offered his residence as a hospital for me to heal. I was treated with herbs, with smoke, with incomprehensible chants, and with a neutral mind. During my eight days of convalescence,  I had the chance to observe that more than physical healing was happening to me, and to the others who were in the same situation. As a young psychologist, I became very curious, and  inquired into the possibility of remaining longer in that place to find the secret of my unexpected burst of peace, centeredness and openness. I was declined.

The battle to remain around the teacher

That was enough for me to become more interested and to find methods to remain around my teacher. All my manipulative methods were  confronted and exterminated before I was accepted, but that was not the end. I had to remain in silence for ninety days, and to help in all types of mundane work.

Surely I didn’t feel any spiritual work being done. I felt more like a slave with all my mental and emotional turbulence facing me, and visible to to both my teacher and the other members of the group. It was hateful and delightful at the same time. I realized that the hateful part was due to my self-centeredness, my expectations,  and  my desire to remain aloof, disconnected, and detached. My moments of delight slowly began to appear more often as I my perception was attuned  with gratitude,  service and simplicity.

Time gives perspective

As time passed, I calmed down and allowed my naturalness to relax. I started experiencing the emergence of a new, unrecognizable me. The profound impact of this simple method still strikes me to this day, After my ninety days, I was invited to leave. So for a period of time, I went out into the world, where I had a social and family life.


I was able to see that my perceptions were not only sharper but happier, rmore elaxed, and I was eager to engage, with vitality, in my own life. Since that time, I have been exposed to different teachings from different teachers.  All, in one way or another, have encouraged me to have a time when different consciousness-sculpting methods can be exercised and fully established in the body. I understood that the heart is only truly open when there is silence, containment, and exposure to the ones who can supply that.

I am silence wherever I go

Silent retreat  for me continues to be a true holiday for my soul. It is a recharging, rejuvenating,  and relaxing experience for all my mental roles. It is healing, it is forgiving, and it is overall loving. We are never too advanced,  nor too novice, to experience ourselves in this format that only offers kindness, humbleness, and an opportunity to drop all inner tensions.

EMOTIONS IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Emotions or commotions?

Uneducated emotions are the source of deteriorating relationships and success.  We tend to overextend them or to bury them.  These polarities not only cause tension in our nervous system, but also create a feeling of exhaustion. The unrealistic management of our emotions, as well as the lack of knowledge about them, is one of the biggest impediments in the development of equanimity and self-centeredness. It gives us a false sense of self based on reactions, dramas and destructive commotions.

Rasas or the essence of emotions

The essential aspect, or energy, that defines a set of emotions and moods that belong to the same “family” is called Rasas in Sanskrit. Rasas are very specific and defined energies that affect the mind and the body.

The nine Rasas

We as humans can be slaves of the oscillation of these energies. We need to study them and form steady behaviors in order to increase our happiness and constructive expression. There are 9 rasas with subdivisions or related aspects--each Rasa has a corresponding practice to be matured and/or enhanced.

Rasa	Related aspect
Love (shringara)	Beauty, devotion
Joy (hasya)	Humor, sarcasm
Wonder (adbhuta)	Curiosity, mystery
Peace (shanta)	Calmness, relaxation
Anger (raudra)	Irritation, stress
Courage (veera)	Pride, confidence
Sadness (karuna)	Compassion, pity
Fear (bhayanaka)	Anxiety, worry
Disgust (vibhatsa)	Depression, self-pity

Emotions in art

The creation of art with certain Rasas can be healing and educational, however the manifestation of pure art in order to be healing and inspiring needs the maturation of the artist’s inner Rasas. The art that is able to communicate the subtlety, and the non-verbal aspects of a group of “friendly” Rasas (love, joy and peace) has a powerful, transformative and permanent impact on the subconscious of the spectators.

The creation of art with less desirable Rasas should not be neglected. Expressing them only can enhance the power of the opposite. The group of emotions is not there for us to be selective about them. We don’t want to create a division of our likes and dislikes, but to embrace all palettes of the divine expression and to chose an unattached attitude about them. After all, we have passed through them in one way or another. What remains important then is to regain a discipline that enhances, supports and matures these inner tendencies.

Shringara Rasa

Shringara is the Rasa of love, art, beauty and spiritual devotion. It is the royal of all rasas, the very purpose of creation and the universe. It refers to the enjoyment of the company of the opposite sex, in a very lovely and romantic manner. This Rasa is also the mood on which we concentrate when creating a lovely atmosphere, on family and friends, on good manners, art, culture, decoration, dressing attractively, behaving nicely, on beauty and enjoyment. Shringara literally means “good taste”.

Cultivating Love (Shringara Rasa)

To master beauty, to be beautiful and to manifest it all around you, you need to put the beloved in every thing you see. The expression of love is simple and the mind has a hard time assimilating this basic concept. De-cluttering complications in all aspects of life gives the opportunity for love to be. Neatness, attention and harmony are part of this sadhana (daily practice).

Love is diverse.  This is another concept that the mind twists into possession or obsession. The diversity of food, friends, company, and culture bring expansiveness to your heart. Taste and touch are natural ingredients of this Rasa; all we need is to approach it with moderation.  The cultivation of love will allow admiration, aesthetic, sentiment and devotion to emerge. By mastering these four sub-rasas you achieve the power of attainment or Prapti,

The art of being the love and the beloved

This is the ultimate art… to make you a vehicle of the beloved and to express that inherent divinity through your grace, speech and behavior. Without being moody you represent yourself with respectability and a sense of worth. To be devoted to any expression of this Rasa gives you accessibility to your spirit, to peace and to the diversity of wonders that the universe offers you. You will never be bored, complaining or disempowered. You will be the art piece and the creator, and in that union, an atomic explosion of truth and enlightenment will remain as a witness of a simple smile.