Herbal Dream Balm:

This soothing balm can be used before bed.  Anoint your temples with it and massage it into your neck and heart chakra.  Nighty night and sweet...or at least revealing...dreams!

          4 ounces coconut oil
          1 ounce almond oil
Beeswax (just enough to thicken)
          A few drops sandalwood oil
A few drops mugwort essential oil
          A few drops vanilla oil
          A few drops sage oil

First melt coconut oil, almond oil and beeswax together.  Add essential oils to scent.  Try blending the oils into a pungent/sweet fragrance.  You may want to decide on your own soothing oils of choice.  Be sure to keep sister Mugwort though!

Meditation for a better sleep and to clean your subcouncious

 

Kirtan Kriya is the first, basic meditation for dream work.  It increases creativity and clears the subconscious of old thought patterns that no longer apply to your present.  The act of housecleaning your subconscious is a big factor.  This meditation helps break habits and addictions.  When working on identifying one’s personal dream iconography, clearing old patterns through the Kirtan Kriya saves time and energy.

The standard 31 minute Kirtan Kriya is excellent for dreamwork.  It is done in a comfortable asana, any cross-legged sitting posture is fine.  Originally the hand mudras are done with the palms face up on the knees.  However, for dreamwork, bringing the hands up beside the temples keeps one’s concentration on the purpose and focus of the mediation.

This meditation is a foundation mantra and is based on the number four, a number of stability and strength.  The vibration of its formulation is total, and it is considered akin to atomic energy.  The sounds: SA, TA, NA, MA are used together representing the universal lifecycle, thus re-attuning your personal frequency with the flow of life around you.  It is designed to ground the mind, calm the body and nervous system, settling your speech.  In a way it is codified to reset your being.

SA	Origin, Infinity, Birth
TA	Existence, Finite, Life
NA	Completion, Transformation, Death
MA	Regeneration, Resurrection, Reintegration

The Mantra is chanted in a sing-song voice to the tune of high note, middle note, low note, middle note (Middle E-D-C-D)—any key is fine just make SA the highest, NA the lowest, and TA and MA the same note.  Chant with a smile.  This meditation stimulates the pineal gland and pituitary, so to facilitate this connection visualize a golden energy current entering the top of your head and exiting from between your eyebrows in an ‘L’ shape flow with each sound.  This will help alleviate any potential headaches from the stimulation, and is part of the cleansing process.

On both hands: Pressing with enough force to feel a solid connection, yet not enough to exhaust yourself for the full 31 minutes; consistence is important, press the index finger and thumb together when chanting SA, this represents Jupiter, releasing the hold of bondage and opening possibilities.  Press the middle finger and thumb together when chanting TA, this represents Saturn, invoking wisdom and triggering purification.  Press the ring finger and thumb together when chanting NA, representing the Sun, vitality and aliveness.  Press the little finger and thumb together when chanting MA, clearing communication, and vibration.  The MA is directly connecting the personal subconscious to the Word of God.

1. 5 minutes—chant aloud SA. TA. NA, MA
2. 5 minutes—chant whispering SA, TA, NA, MA
3. 11 minutes—chant silently SA, TA, NA, MA
4. 5 minutes—chant whispering SA, TA, NA, MA
5. 5 minute—chant aloud SA, TA, NA, MA

End the meditation by inhaling, suspending the breath bringing your arms up over your head and shake your hands vigorously for a comfortably short duration, then exhale and slowly bring your hands down to touch the floor on either side of your body. Smile and you are done.  A final note, I recommend having an opening and closing ritual of some kind to contain your meditation, use the ADI mantra and end with SATNAM, light candles and burn incense, or incorporate this into your regular Sadhana.

Meditation for depresion

Instructions:
Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine, extend the arms straight forward, parallel to the ground. Close the right hand in a fist, wrapping fingers of the left hand around it, bases of palms touching, thumbs together and pulled up straight. Eyes are focused on the thumbs.
Inhale for 5 seconds, and, without holding the breath in, exhale for 5 seconds, and then hold the breath out for 15 seconds. Continue the cycle, starting with 3-5 minutes and working up to 11. Progress slowly. You can also work up to holding the breath out for 1 full minute.

Come to meditation every tuesday
details at www.bhuvaneswari.ca

What people say about the silence retreat

Holding the space for the silence retreat is always an honor and a pleasure.
As a teacher is a mystery where we all go while in silence, it is here and is not, it is beyond, jet concrete, it is mothering, also merciless in what is not true.

I love this poem of Sri Chimoy that describe that inner journey into oneself.

A day of Silence

Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence

Can help you listen

To the Soul play

Its marvellous lute and drum.

Is not most talking

A crazed defence of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came here

To surrender in Silence,

To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within

In celebration of Love’s Victory!

 As what our participants said about this experience:

"The ideal environment to reveal the unknown aspects of oneself"
Remi

" The silence retreat was an opportunity for deep, deep relaxation. We were like a family, staying in the warm cozy, embracing home of Bhuvaneswari and Matthew. Space was given to do nothing, This challenged my compulsion to keep busy, instead I found myself in the most lavish bubble bath..."

Rosa

"The retreat was gentle and relaxing, but also energetically intense and regenerating. I feel like i have a much better grasp of the benefits of staying present and have renewed confidence in my strength and ability to flow with what comes. Thank you ."

Grace

"The silence retreat was a blessing in a disguise. A lesson in being integral. In not tying to control or divide myself into more than one piece. It was relaxing and a real opportunity to drop everything and do nothing. Very healing and mindful. A gift from two loving souls, Matthew and Bhuvaneswari."

Frances Ann.

Congratulations to our new Club Yoga graduates

What can I say about this training, apart that is so refreshing to see people taking time to invent, to play and to put their own inner wisdom at the service of future generations. Congratulations to our graduates.

Carol Garceau
Kelly Hanrahan
Cecile Schlesiger
Sebastian Peralta
Christine Leger
Sophie Charge
Maria-Helena Pacelli


We are looking forward to see you in action !
May your dedication courage and love be display to the eyes of our children.

Bhuvaneswari

Your hair is the end of your nerves

hank you Samyukta for a lovely treat.

What is hair? Treat it with oil for splendid, shiny results

Hair, like skin, is made from a protein called keratin, which is made of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Both are meant to protect the integrity of the body.
The part of the hair inside the follicle (below the skin's surface) is the hair root and the portion you see protruding from the head is the hair shaft. Tiny blood vessels at the base of every follicle feed the hair root to keep it growing. Once the hair is at the skin's surface, the cells within the strand of hair die, so the hair you see on every part of your body contains dead cells. That's why cutting one’s hair is not painful.

Diet, hormones, age, seasonal changes and climate all affect hair growth. Stress and trauma also affect your hair as they reduce the blood and oxygen supply to the scalp. Weekly scalp massage is most beneficial to keep your hair beautiful and reduce problems such as hair loss, dandrfull, psoriasis and premature graying. It is also very relaxing.

You have more than 100,000 hairs on your head and lose between 50 to 100 each day while you wash, brush or comb it, or just sit still. Each hair on your head grows for about 2 to 6 years, then rests for a few months and falls out to be replaced by a new hair, growing from the same follicle.

Be kind to your hair:
Avoid very hot or very cold water
Keep your comb and brush clean
Use natural shampoo (see http://facetograce.blogspot.com on how to make your own)
·        Don't yank on knots too hard and don't wear your ponytails and braids too tight to avoid irritating your scalp.
·        When washing your hair, use your fingertips rather than your fingernails and use a wide-tooth comb to untangle it.
·        Wet or dry, whether you comb or brush, start the untangling process from the bottom up. It will be much less painful and damaging.
·        If you colour and perm your hair, use a curling iron or a hair blower, chances are both your hair and scalp needs more moisture and oil to remain shiny. That is where natural shampoos and hair masks are needed.

Hair masks:
For the Vata dry hair: wet your hair with water or floral water, then pour a warm mix of ½ cup warm olive or sesame oil with 1 or 2 drops of each essential oil of vetiver, orange and lavender/or cumin. Longer hair will need more oil.
For the fair Pitta hair: wet your hair with water or floral water, then pour ¼ to ½ cup body temperature coconut or apricot kernel oil 1 or 2 drops each of chamomile and sandalwood essential oil. Your body heat will warm up the oil and help it penetrate.
For the Kapha oily hair: wet your hair with water or floral water, then pour ¼ to ½ cup warm grapeseed or mustard oil with 1 or 2 drops of lemon and jasmine essential oil.
Cover the whole head with a plastic bag, then cover with a towel to keep the head warm for 11 minutes or more. Then wash your hair once or twice with your home-made shampoo or a mild shampoo. Rinse with a few dashes of apple cider vinegar or Face to Grace hair rinse. Let dry at room temperature, brushing in all directions.

By Samyukta Blanchet, your Face to Grace bioenergetic beauty consultant (info@facetograce.com, 613-729-2084)

WHAT ARE THE 12 RAYS

QUESTION;
what exactly the rays are, and what we do in this one day workshop.?

ANSWER;
The rays are part of your inner physiology. They are like corridors or luminous rays of lights, like tubes that gather in the heart center.

There are 12 of them, 6 are attached to the earth and 6 to the sky, all together form a mandala, a sun that completes your brilliance and your wholeness.
The magic part of the rays is that each one of them connects us with a specific dimension in time and space. A dimension that holds entire civilizations of beings that are part of us, within us and around us. They may be seen as guides or helpers in making you realize you are a co-creator of earth's multidimensionality.

At this point of the evolution of earth each ray has a significant play in your inner structure and configuration.

If we can imagine that we are a molecule of water, like the one that the Japanese scientist Masuro Emoto depicts in his work, and each of us have a basic common look that implies a center, 4 rings related to matter, 4 rings related to love and 4 related to vibration. Part of that basic structure also has 12 rays that gather in the center to make us an amazing, bright vibrational and light being.

I feel reassured when I encounter works and comments like Dr. Masuro Emoto or NASA revelations (like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW5KkTokPSQ&feature=related), because it is simply the same thing, scientists and mystics are getting closer to agreeing on the nature of the existence and discovering that in this time of earth challenges, we do need a strong inner structure that holds the energy of new challenges and is able to sustain transformation.

In this One day retreat we contemplate on each of their significance, their relationship to other dimensions and your relationship to enfront their gift. The day really is an empowerment of parts of you that are there for you to use, it supplies you with a profound understanding of where you are and challenges you to embrace new ways of seeing your world.

WWW.BHUVANESWARI.CA

ALMOND PASTE

(taken from Harish Johari's book "Ayurvedic Healing Cuisine")
 "Thank you Satkiana for your input."

Makes 1 serving

7 almonds
pinch saffron
water
honey (optional)

Soak almonds overnight.
Remove skins.
Grind with a mortar and pestle, or, if this is not possible, with an electric grinder.  (Grinding edibles with an electric blender or grinder is less desirable than using a mortar and pestle because of the change in ionic composition that occurs.  Machines generate positive ions, which deprive the food of the negative, life-giving ions.  Also, almond powder made from a grinder or blender is not as fine as that made with a mortar and pestle.  (A sandstone surface is ideal).
Slowly add drops of water in which a few threads of saffron have been soaked and form a paste.
                                                                       
The paste can be taken alone or mixed with honey. 

When the almond paste is taken with honey and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper, its nutrients are absorbed by the fine capillaries in the mouth and assimilated without going through the stomach and intestines.

Almonds are the only alkaline nuts and honey is the only alkaline sweetener.  If taken first thing in the morning, the paste will create an alkaline body chemistry.  Seven almonds taken this way provide more energy and nutrition than one pound of roasted, salted or sweet almonds eaten after proper mastication.

A note on purchasing almonds: The USA requires mandatory pasteurization of almonds.  This means that they are heated to kill any bacteria.  While the bacteria is killed, the enzymes are also rendered dead.  This means that most of the good nutritional value of the almonds are lost.  If you are buying almonds, make sure that you buy the unpasteurized ones that come from Italy. 
Almonds are the only sattvic nut and the only alkaline nut too!  Yeah almonds!

Journey of the spiritual teacher

To be a spiritual teacher is surely a journey of patience, love and commitment. To have a relationship with someone that had “hired” you to stimulate his or her personal and impersonal expansion is surely another interesting journey.

Many spiritual teachers I have encountered are either already in a state that is free from their personality attachments and are firmly established in the divine grace or they are evolving into that state.  I realize however, that there are also different stages in this journey of pointing oneself and others to infinity.  This journey may take a few years or a few incarnations, all I can say is that the recognition of such states can create a sense of excitement and continuity in one’s path.

Neither stage is better or worse than the other; they are just stepping stones in the evolution of service. Actually it is better if each stage is fully lived and accepted so the gestalt is completed and new beginnings are fully embodied.

The Stage of Dissolution

Either by pain or destiny, there is a fire within oneself that looks to walk away from the pain of not belonging, from the pain of not feeling love, recognition or being totally embraced. It is a “normal” feeling when the mind is not trained to view that we are responsible for all our experiences. If the sense of abandonment for example arises, we as a young person do not know fully how to embrace all the needs of the self and consequently a part of us feels not embraced. This becomes an unbearable sensation, which serves as a founder for a passion to be well and to learn more about the self.

Why I am like that? How am I really? How can I remove this pain? These are the questions that support this state and induce the self to the second stage of the spiritual teacher.

The Stage of Reaction

In this stage I have observed myself 25 years ago as against the falsities, the ego and to what I viewed as injustice. I was like an activist making a statement toward peace, justice and reform. This was very valid indeed for the fortification of the ego, that surely believed in making a contribution to the whole but I was not really seeing that I was looking for recognition. It is a raw energy, like a teen, with a lot of sensibility but not much experience to see the pitfalls.

The Stage of Humility

With the attitude of the activist you may get hurt by the powerlessness of not seeing really the changes in society, in people or yourself. A sense of defeat may invade the perception of the mind.

The contribution in this stage creates a sense of service or sacrifice; it is possible to have a position that you overextend your energy with the intention of making others realize something about you or about the work.

Still a big pitfall, it is not conducive to use the role of the spiritual teacher as an evolutionary tool. You may however, start adjusting your energies with more realistic objectives, self-capacities and environmental possibilities.

The Stage of Purification

This is an important passage for a spiritual teacher who believes that he or she is improving the world by providing knowledge and/or services related to the expansion of consciousness. Here the person realizes that his/her physical body is the universe itself and by concentrating on bringing the divine attributes of self-acceptance, joy and contentment, he or she is changing the whole universe around it.

It is a shift in perception that holds self-responsibility and detachment from the opinion of others, it is a space where the personal interest and will is given up and a new relationship starts from within.

The Stage of the Impersonal

The completion of the purification stage, gives a decoration of purity to the teacher. It gives him/her a personal view that is impersonal, free from personality and personal gains. It is a quieter space, however, more powerful simply because it is guided by the purity of the his/her presence and not from the world or mental concepts.

This moment is a real passage for teacher and student, since is here that a profound stillness radiates from the whole being and permeates all around. I don’t want to put a name of that state of being, however I know that desirable changes happen effortlessly around it.

The Quality of Stillness

Now, it is my experience that the process of stillness is not necessary in the mind, but in the cells of the body, the cells are experienced as children who are in balance and in harmony. I may hear one part of the body being tired or frustrated but the general condition is in peace.

The mind however, slowly gets seduced by the stillness of the cells and naturally stops.

 All I am realizing is that you can have all the sensations you want (pain, pleasure, anger or desires) but there is something bigger that embraces that palette within you, and that bigger part is able to give a continuous support to the other parts.

From the outside you may not be different from other human beings in terms of living up to the standards of life. However, inside is a detachment, dispassion and an equanimity that is unshakeable by any aspects of your roles.

 I also have had the experience that it is through going within (meditation) that this process get accelerated and better understood. The company of teachers and students is a structure that constantly stimulates the process, and that each other have an important part to play trough time, through mutual acceptance and through patience.

 May this sacred journey of embodiment of divine grace continue smoothly, constantly and be protected by our own self-love.

GOTU KOLA the spiritual herb.

Gotu Kola is excellent for the mind and meditation.  This precious herb is known to increase intelligence, longevity and memory. I love to give this herb in retreats and special journey to students that complain about restless mind. it support the journey within beautifully.

It is valued so highly in Ayurveda that much has been written about it with emphasis on the fact that it cannot be appreciated enough. In English, the herb is known as Centella or Indian Pennywort. In Sanskrit, it is sometimes called Brahmi, meaning ‘godlike’, and is regarded in India as a spiritual herb.
Rich in minerals, the herb contains Vitamins A, G, and K and is also high in magnesium.
Taken in excess, however, it causes headaches and giddiness, and sometimes confusion, skin redness and itching.

A rejuvenative herb, Gotu Kola also enhances mental clarity, strengthens nerves, decreases fatigue, depression, poor appetite, and sleep disorders.  It fortifies the immune system, both cleansing and feeding it, and strengthens the adrenals.  At the same time, it is a powerful blood purifier and is specific for chronic skin diseases, including leprosy and syphilis, as well as eczema and psoriasis.  It is valuable in intermittent or periodic fevers, like malaria.  Do not take with an overactive thyroid.

www.bhuvaneswari.ca

Women's empowerment images and testimonials

One image is worth thousand words

Sat Nam, Bhuvaneswari,
 
Thank you, thank you!!.
 
I want to thank all of you who made yesterday such a remarkable  transforming  day.
 
I'm  so glad that there was space for me to change my mind and attend.
 
-- .  Right from the opening fire ceremony through to the circle dance at the end, --- and everything inbetween was such a FULL experience of being  uplifted  and connected to ALL...
 
 The whole day opened me up --SO much.to be able to SEE more fully. in all ways..
 
Just what I needed to open my eyes to not only myself but to be able to see the pain in others in the first exersize, and THEN to  experience the changing nature of everyone by the end circle dance.
 
It was a truly amazing day. A wonderful model for " what can happen in just one day"
The organization of the day, and many hands working behind the scene to create the incredible "food"  and the smooth registration.  -- Boy, you have a very smooth running machine there!!
 
Thank you ALL again,
Ann Galley  
 
( I think there is a song that goes " It only takes a moment")

While I still feel the resonance and the power of the beauty and grace that is vibrating in my cells, I wanted to say Thank-You.

Friday was such a beautiful gift that you gave to so many women.

I feel very moved and blessed by attending and by contributing.

Teresa O'Neill
www.loavesNwishes.com  

Meditate on the beauty, power and grace of Shakty

You may be an artist, a politician or an engineer, you may be tall or short,

big or small, white or black, young or older; regardless of your outer qualities and appearances you remain a living heritage of the divine legacy.

You are the carrier of life, power and beauty. You are the living testimony of love, compassion and devotion.

You may had underestimate this feminine basic qualities and had deluded them in your daily multifaceted tasking. You may had maximize them or you may be at the fence observing  and not activating them to their full potential. Regardless of your position you have in your hands the potential of natures life.

This may sound pretentious, or just being seeing only as  concrete as having a child. It is however of a larger impact. Your thoughts, your intentions, your projections your speech carry the seed of manifestation of matter.

This may be taken as a large responsibility, and yes, it is a large response-ability when we look around and find misery, poverty and injustice.

You may have you feet in the ground and not fully realize  that each step is an opportunity to locate yourself in the fountain of beauty, grace and power.

I am referring here as beauty of your ability to remain absolutely unjudgmental no matter your living experiences and your personal choices in life. Beauty is synonym of purity where you remain uncorrupted from your mind expectations, self-doubts and insecurities. Your purity make you fertile. Not only physically but you are able to be infuse by the clear nectar of the divine grace. You become a living creation and a living creator. You have the energy, the basic energy to form creation, to form existence. That is power.

Power is not the social interpretation of having more, say all you think or do all you can. Power is the simple resonance of life within you, is the acknowledgment and embodiment of the subtle vibration that is all knowing, all pervaded, all pleasure and all essence.

You power is pure, you beauty powerful, your grace liberate you and other from the narrow views and opens the pure consciousness into a daily learning ability.

We had being deluded with concepts of beauty, power and grace. It had being convenient for social manipulation and personal ego satisfaction to distort this basic components of the feminine.

May this day serve you and inspire you to open your inner and private world to be receptive, to  explore and to project the very core of your nature.

May you in this  day  return to your virtues of self devotion, justice and loyalty of being the most enchanted creature in this planet.

Bhuvaneswari

 learn about upcoming training at www.bhuvaneswari.ca