Dear Yogis,

We had such a fantastic time in our ZOOM CAFE YOGA meet-up on Friday at 11, you should have been here.  Here is a partial shot of the group.  There were others present.  Thanks Caroline for the photograph – I never think to do this.  I gave a short intro on how to tie a scarf, and most were so comfortable wearing it that they kept it on throughout our meeting, not even lifting it to have a coffee.   One of the newcomers noted that I had ‘A GROUP OF QUIRKY WOMEN AT THE CAFE”… well yes, I guess we are, that is why it is so much fun.  Nothing much is “out of bounds”.  

I know that we had fun but I had not expected to notice the deep quietness in my house after we closed the meeting.  I remember when my children had left home and came to visit, that same quietness I had to get used to again when they left.  So thank you girls for enlivening my life and the atmosphere in the studio.  We all look forward to this girl time together.  I went into the kitchen afterwards and out of habit sanitised my hands… I must have felt at a deep level that we had been THAT CLOSE.  Please don’t miss it.  Next Friday our project is something that we have made with a Coles bag, the red and white ones.  Crochet, knit, weave…whatever.

ZOOM THIS WEEKEND:

1. RESTORATIVE YOGA Saturday 12.30,
2. TAROT TRAINING CLASS Saturday 2pm to 4pm,
3. BHAGAVADGITA is the topic of TEACHER TRAINING Sunday at 10am,

and 4. MAKE YOUR OWN TAROT CARDS… Sunday at 2pm.  Bring paper and pencil for notes, a number of SMALL paper or plastic bags, and some magazines that you like….  No glue,  cardboard, or paint needed at this stage.  

 

THE JOURNEY

Since I started out in yoga and massage all those years ago, I have “treated” hundreds of women suffering from fatigue, stress, grief, PMS, infertility, depression, menopaws(?), and various life threatening conditions…all too common today.  I am not a Western trained doctor, but a long time yogi trained in other modalities, massage being a stand-out.

NEED A BREAK? In this time of isolation I invite you to come along for a “THAI HAND REFLEXOLOGY MASSAGE”.  All the covid requirements can be met and I will be doing a temp check, signing in, etc etc.  No disrobing of any kind except the hands required, (a hazmat suit optional#!?).  You and I will be wearing masks, and sanitising ourselves until our skin falls off (I am moisturising my hands after each wash). The all important cost? $50 for half an hour…

My aim is not to fix or cure, but to rebalance the body,  to relax and restore my clients so that they can come to a new understanding of their body and emotions, and how through preventative self-care, they can improve their health, increase vitality and avoid illness.  If we build the Chi it will protect us from all ills.

ZEN SAYING:   “If you bring forth what is within you it will save you.
If you DO NOT bring forth what is within you – it will destroy you” 

 

SOUP – a soup for “what ails you” 
You might need to search for a couple of the ingredients..  This soup helps the liver energy to flow, activates the flow of Chi, nourishes and invigorates the blood and invigorates the spleen.

6 cups water, 1 cup black rice, half a cup of dried longan fruit (available at Asian stores or good health food stores),
10 dates, 2 tablespoons raw cane sugar (half an inch of raw ginger peeled and thinly sliced add to finished soup).

Place all ingredients into a large heavy saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat and gently simmer for 2 hours (or in a crockpot) stirring occasionally.  The finished congee will have the consistency of soup.  Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with the ginger slices.  EAT.

Typically of Chinese medicine, we need to bring the YIN AND YANG back into balance.  Many practices TCM recommends, in particular self-help like the soup above,  are common sense, and yes they are.  I have found that common sense is not all the “common”.  In these stressed times, interesting times, common sense practices are sometimes hard to carry out.  For example, the most important considerations are –  try not to get too stressed, too overworked, or overtired.  This is not so easy to achieve, but it is an investment in a healthy,  long life.

 

I LOOK FORWARD TO YOU JOINING ME.. I AM HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL – AND YOU?

NAMASTE – JAHNE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Yogis,

I heard an interesting definition of psychiatry today – “The medical treatment of the soul”.  Does this seem correct/accurate/possible to you?

Thank you for your replies to my newsletters, and your responses with classes and workshops.  Here is the coming few days on ZOOM. Let me know which classes you want to join.

 

 

SCHEDULE FRIDAY TO SUNDAY>>>

FRIDAY:
11am YOGA CAFE (free).  We are going to try to wind a hijab (our version), and one student told us she is going to wear a Rajasthani Wedding Sari – hard to top I would say unless you have something really stunning as a Hijab – Embroidered, bejewelled?!
5.30pm RESTORATIVE YOGA ($75 for 4 or $185 for 10) with weights and straps.

SATURDAY:
12.30 RESTORATIVE YOGA  ($75 for 4 or $185 for 10)
2pm TAROT TRAINING ($50 for 3)

SUNDAY:
10am TEACHER TRAINING – Topic: The Bhagavadgita.($20)
NEW CLASS 2PM SUNDAY – MAKING YOUR OWN TAROT DECK ($50 for 3 classes)

To pay for your chosen class,  please go to the landing page on www.yogabeautiful.com.au click on donate at the bottom right hand side.  Please leave your name and what the amount is for.  PayPal will send a receipt.  You don’t need a PayPal account, they take credit and debit card.

BEING SUCCESSFUL – PROSPERITY

The idea “I have a job that’s enough for me to live on, and that is enough for me”, plays no part in the philosophy of the Buddha.

Just in case you thought being spiritual mean being poor,  the Buddha never imposed limitations on his lay follower’s efforts to be successful; instead, he clearly encouraged them to strive for success. Whether in “trading, cattle farming, archery, government service, or any other profession or industry,” a layperson (this I think means you) should strive to advance in his or her respective field. Notably, the motivation to achieve success is an important requirement in any person’s life — an attitude of “I have a job that’s enough for me to live on” has no place in the Buddha’s teaching.

Next, the Buddha set no limits to a layperson’s wealth and never told his prosperous lay followers to stop or slow down. Instead, he unequivocally encouraged them to plan, organize, and even to be as successful as they could be…

The emphasis, here, is on the fact that the Buddha enforced no restrictions on the layperson’s personal wealth. Using the phrase “immense wealth” (ulare bhoge), he indicated the amount one could strive to amass — in other words, as much wealth as possible.

We always teach that the more wealth you have attracted the more wealth you can give away, and the happier you and the world will be.  Like most of us you have probably come to this planet at this time to learn (among other things), how to deal with material wealth, and the material physical world in general.  It is not about how much money you have, it is all about how you achieve it, how it changes you, and what you do with it.  

A RECIPE FOR THE DAY.

CORN BUTTER.   This is not butter with corn in it, this recipe is for butter made from corn.  A great recipe if you have access to lots of corn, especially if you grow your own.  As you can imagine, although corn is juicy, it is not as juicy as a cow.  You won’t get heaps of butter, but it is a good use for corn. ( I am going to try with canned corn and will let you know the result).

INGREDIENTS :  8 ears of fresh corn (butter or salt  to taste – optional)
METHOD:  
1. Cut the corn kernels from the core making sure that you scrape as much of the buttery juice as you can away from the core.
2. Put the juicy corn into a food processor and run it for a couple of minutes until it is as smooth as possible.
3. Push the juice through a fine sieve. Put the skin aside and use in biscuits or breakfast.  Don’t throw away.
4. This is where the magic happens.  Put the juice in a smallish saucepan and heat gently stirring/whisking all the time until the juice thickens to a buttery béchamel sauce consistency (this will take about 4 minutes of constant whisking). You can test it by putting a teaspoonful on a plate.  It becomes a spreadable thickness when ready.  About the same as thick custard.
4. You can add butter to increase the quantity…add salt if this is your taste, but really it needs nothing.  It has a lovely buttery, corn taste all by itself.

 

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.  Listen differently. Take a new look at your garden, a new look at your house. Stand on your head.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

 

 

 

Dear Yogis,

Last evening at our Tuesday Lectures, we talked about the chakras.  We know from reading that traditionally there are 88,000 chakras.  We know almost nothing about their energy.  Our knowledge is very “broad brush”, but when you meet someone who has worked on raising their vibration (although that may not have been their goal) you know it.  Take the Dalai Lama for instance.  When he walks into a theatre, or a cricket ground, the vibration across the entire space is changed.   Healing happens on many levels.

As you would know, last night’s exploration was wide – we only had 90 minutes. When we were thinking about higher vibrations, love, and how refining the energy and balancing our chakras changes lives, we also talked about “energy vampires” I am sure you have met them.  When you are near them you feel drained… they leave you depleted.  Time ran out without us considering the opposite very widely, we touched on it.  Ninety minutes isn’t much time for such an important subject.

Balancing the chakras thereby enhancing the energies around you is one of the major results of this work…  When this happens people want you around, and when you leave the room or the group you are with, they are also functioning on a higher vibration.  We work on ourself, because when we do this we are working on the world.  When we raise our vibration, we raise everyone’s vibration.

Apart from your experiences with the Dalai Lama, an example I could use is in the Bible.  The woman in the crowd who is suffering from “bleeding”, a terrible affliction at the time which will cut her out of normal society.  She would have been living in covid conditions for many years.  Isolation.  She goes to the meeting,  makes her way through to the front, and knows if she can touch the hem of Jesus’ robe she will be healed.  When she touches the robe He notices even in this big jostling crowd, and “feels the goodness go out of Him”.  He calls her out and they have a conversation.  Healing,  after many years of suffering  has happened in an instant.

This “goodness which goes out of Him” is the healing energies He has generated by the way he lives and works.  They are so defined, so precise that He knows when they have been accessed, even by a touch on the hem of his garment. Not so that He can stop people from being healed, but so that he can heal.   The vibrations, the energy will take care of the details.  If the energies are wrong, then healing won’t happen right away as it did in this case.  Healing at some level will happen in its own time.

The woman may have been praying before she decided to be healed in this way, she certainly would have been thinking about it, hoping that a change could happen. Wanting healing so badly that she was willing to face the consequences of bleeding, coming out of an imposed isolation, and being in a crowd of men.  She obviously believed that at some level healing could happen and had raised her vibration by her positive,  loving actions so that the healer’s energy allowed hers “in”, although she would not have thought about it in this way.  If her energy had been the same as those in the crowd, she would not have been able to access the Healer’s energy with a touch.

“To gain enlightenment, you must want it as much as a man whose head is held underwater wants air” – Zen saying.

 

KEEP WELL, KEEP WARM

NAMASTE.  JAHNE