Pilates

What is Pilates?
Exercise which lengthens and stretches the body using all the muscle group is both relaxing and health giving. Pilates practitioners have an individualised programme for their specific needs. There is an emphasis on body posture and balance and on good breathing technique. The method began in Germany in 1880 when Joseph Pilates pioneered this health method due to his physical frailty as a child. He was interned on the Isle of Man where he devised this method of health and eventually worked as a boxer, circus performer, self defence teacher and body builder. He worked in Germany with Rudolph Laban , setting up,his first studio in New York.

Join the Wildlife Campaign

You can get involved with saving the wonderful species of animals and plants that have graced our planet for millennia. Many species have inspired humans in inventions, such as radar from bats, and aerodynamics from birds. Many plant and animal species have provided potent medicines and more research is ongoing to use plant and animal chemicals for health. 

The two major threats to our planet’s animal species are loss of territory and slaughtering for body parts. We can support their protection by challenging the fashion industry, confronting the lies presented as ‘traditional’ medicine, stop the decorative uses of body parts of hunted species, and by campaigning against taking animals from the wild to keep as pets in extremely poor and unhealthy conditions. 

All species on our planet are interdependent, when we lose one species, the loss has a knock on effect where others also become extinct. 60% of the planet’s mammals, birds, reptiles and fish are endangered and on the verge of extinction. Goodwill Ambassadors are coming forward, such as Aiden Gallagher, Nadya Hutagalung, Wang Junkai and Dia Mirza. 

Primal Therapy

Primal Therapy is a form of psychotherapy based on relieving the repressed feelings that result from childhood trauma or abuse by giving vent to the pain through the voice, often by crying and screaming. This allows the trauma, which might have been hidden from others for a lifetime, to be fully experienced, heard, to be exorcised, and then for the person to be supported and cared for, thereby healing the pain on the past, a process of catharsis. Dr Arthur Janov (born 1924), a psychologist and therapist, is the creator of this therapeutic technique and his book which describes his ideas, beliefs and the method of this therapy is titled 'The Primal Scream'. He also his written other books on psychotherapy. He was very influential in the 1970s, especially in California, and had some very high profile clients, such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Giant Cell Arteritis - An Elusive Odyssey

Mind Body & Soul Book Review - Giant Cell Arteritis - An Elusive Odyssey by James Rupp. 168 pages, published by Lulu. 

This book is dedicated to Pearl Rupp, James's wife, whose photo fronts the text. We are introduced to Pearl and to her illness, Giant Cell Arteritis - inflammation of large and medium blood vessels - and its related, disabling condition, Polymyalgia Rheumatica. We read of symptoms, tests, scans, diagnoses, flare-ups, procedures, medications, treatments, X-rays, biopsies, disabilities, complications, drug conflicts, and the advice of numerous doctors and health care workers. There are confusions, speculations and assumptions and doctors who argue with each other about who has most wisdom in treating this extraordinary illness which requires an individualised care plan.

Dealing with Depression

How to deal with depression! 

Depression is a lonely existance that other people often don't understand. It is a low energy illness, a feeling of meaninglessness, guilt, shame, worthlessness and hopelessness. It is not just a state of mind, but an illness, a disability and can sometimes lead to suicide in very serious cases. Advice does not usually work, even when meant well because the person is often totally unable to take it. There is much the person can do to help themselves, but they need to feel well enough to find them for themselves.
Suggestions: breathing exercises, walks in nature, meetings with friends, an uplifting book, dancing, gardening, handicrafts, exercise, join a club, travel, volunteering.
Learn more, and conquer this affliction without drugs...

Sleep Paralysis

 

What is sleep paralysis? 

Sleep paralysis is a sleep state where the person thinks they are awake, but cannot move their muscles. They have very vivid dreams that they think are true life. It is very common and the person loses good quality sleep, feeling very tired throughout the day. Stress tends to make this worse. Create a stress-free bedtime routine where you have a light meal, listen to some gentle music or a relaxation meditation. Organise your life for the morning when you awake and forget the stresses of the day. 

The Hakomi Therapy Method

Using mindfulness for self study. No questions asked but experiments can be conducted with mindfulness and awareness to process unconscious vulnerability about how the client is truly in the world to release and change suffering to receiving nourishment and crating peace of mind.

Richard Barratt on Communal Values

 

Instead of being 'The Best IN the World', we need to be thinking of being 'The Best FOR the World!' Richard Barratt was a Civil Engineer for 20 years and then became involved in Eastern Philosophy, the work of Abraham Maslow and the importance of personal and societal transformation. To transform ourself - and our world - our soul needs to be activated. Our conditioning creates discontent, but by working on ourself, we become contented. He suggests there are 7 levels of consciousness which lead to a new paradign for leadership. 

Yoga Is Skill In Action

The basis practice of yoga is self-inquiry which, through this process, we create change within ourselves. Before I started practicing yoga, I was more selfish and immature. The grass always seemed greener on the other side of the fence. Yoga changed my world perspective and philosophy in a way that has helped me live my life with more grace and integrity. I care for myself and others more deeply, my eating habits have become conscious choices and my friendships have evolved. I no longer spend time with people who are addicted to drinking and drugs, or those that spend their time gossiping about other people. I look for people who help me feel good about myself and those who are more happy and have goals in their life.

Sustainable Lifestyles

Jonathon Porritt reflects on sustainability: Governments are failing to meet their responsibilities on climate change and population explosions, pollution, global warming and vital loss of trees. In the USA, it is often city mayors who are making the running, sometimes with the active support of state governors. It was Mayor Bloomberg of New York who succeeded in forcing climate change into the presidential election, endorsing changes he immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. In China, there’s an extremely active network of eco cities, enthusiastically competing amongst themselves for government support and new industry investments.

Calm Down Easily with Zen

No matter what is happening, we do not have to react impulsively, but can learn to respond quietly and appropriately. Giving into automatic negative reactions is usually u productive and it’s important to learn how to diffuse negative emotions. The steps offered are simple, but powerful. The more we practice them the stronger we become.

26,500 Species Facing Extinction

Wildlife trafficking is cruel and ruthless. This global trade is one of the greatest evils of our time. Over 1000 rangers have been murdered trying to defend wildlife. 

Over 2,500 species are imminently in danger of extinction. The extraordinary pre-historic pangolin has been living on the Earth for 80 million years. This is the most trafficked species in the world as body parts are sold on the black market. More than 1 million pangolins have been stolen from the wild since 2000. The Sumatran Tiger, this magnificent big cat needs to be saved for posterity. Only 500 remain in the wild. Every species needs a core number to produce offspring that are not inbred. These incredible big cats are slaughtered for their fabulous skin, bones and teeth which are used in Asian traditional 'medicine'. Theey are also at risk for habitat loss due to palm oil production, coffee and acacia plantations. The Coral Reef is dying, home to many wonderful species, such as the ray, sharks and turtles and numerous fish species. 50% of the coral reefs from around the world have died in the past 30 years. This is a small selection of our dying biodiversity as a result of human ruthlessness. 

Person Centred Therapy

 

What is PCA? 

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was the founder of Person Centred Approach otherwise known as Client Centred Therapy and this developed into Student Centred Learning and additional practices. He developed this method of counselling and therapy to counteract a patriarchal, dominant and overbearing and sometimes abusive power dynamic that therapists and teachers had in the past. He came from a Christian background in the USA and researched the data in order to find out which type of therapy helped the client to recover most from neurosis and even more serious mental illness. 

Family Constellations Theory

 

Family Constellations Therapy is a powerful method to solve difficult feelings and situations that occur in families. The therapy takes place in a group with each person representing a family member. Similar in some ways to Psychodrama, it can be powerfully insightful and cathartic and bring about change in relationships. 

Eco-Tourism! The Holidays of the Future

When you are taking a holiday, remember the huge resources this costs our planet, especially in air flight, water provision and non local produce. When you take a trip abroad, consider visiting a national park or wildlife reserve where funds are ploughed back into nature conservation. Remember that bush meat is cruel in its hunting and often kills endangered species, that the changes in land use causes a loss of species territory, pollution, climate change, and all affects  wildlife and causes conflict with humans. The human population grows exponentially and takes from the planet and it’s other soecies, often those teetering on the very edge of extinction.

The story of the New Age

So what is the New Age about? This term means different things to different people, just as the word ‘spirituality’ means different things to different people. Terms need to be defined if we are to be able to understand each other. The New Age is a time of great atomisation, as it applauds individuality and everyone’s right to define the world as they please. It is a huge worldwide movement, made possible by the explosion of free information which is available on the internet. Many spiritual seekers find themselves getting lost in its vast choices and some become cynical about its more trivial aspects.

Spiritual Bypassing by Karen Tate

Spiritual Bypassing

According to Wikipedia, spiritual bypassing is a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks."

This term was introduced in the mid 1980s by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist who believed bypassing stunts people’s emotional development because it gives them an excuse not to look at painful issues. These issues can be political, social, cultural, familial, religious, etc.  In other words it’s a defense mechanism, a stall tactic, an avoidance mechanism for traumatized people to avoid what’s uncomfortable in their life.  We probably all do it to some degree to avoid the pain of our traumas and we might not be aware. 

Whirling Dervishes

     

This whirling dance of the dervishes is conducted to produce a trance state where the dancers gain meditation union with the Divine. The word 'dervish' is a 'holy man' of the Islamic faith who follows the mystic path of the Sufis. The dervish, Jalal al Din Rumi, was taught whirling by Shams of Tabriz. He was a Sufi poet from Persia was born in Northern Afghanistan in 1207 and wrote 25000 poems of great wisdom and profound spirituality, often based on love and transporting the reader to mystical states. Rashad Field travelled widely through the Himalayas and also studied Sufism in Turkey where he was initiated into the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes. He is the author of a series of esoteric books which are highly recommended for those interested in mysticism. 

Internal Family Systems

Brief History of Humankind

 

With a PhD in History, the eminent Dr Yuval Noah Harari speaks about the history of human beings, from the author of best-selling book 'Sapiens'. A fascinating lecture from RSA Animate. 

Psychosynthesis

Psychosynthesis is described as the 'psychology with a soul'. It was developed by Roberto Assagioli (1888-1974), an Italian psychiatrist who travelled widely in his early life and spoke many languages. He was the creator of Psychosynthesis, a form of humanistic and transpersonal psychotherapy. It is principally based on the understanding that our personality is comprised of many sub personalities which act like musicians playing in an orchestra without a maestro. By gaining understanding of these sub personalities, we can bring them into harmony, so they create a wonderful piece of music that enables us to have a flourishing life. Love, wisdom and creativity are goals of this therapy. Psychosynthesis uses creative visualisation (also called guided imagery) to access our unconscious mind and inform our understanding of the way we think and feel. Assagioli was imprisoned by the Faschsts and spent his time in meditation. This influenced his work later in life. 

Peter Levine - Somatic Experiencing

 

By observing wild animals and their behaviour to traumatic experiencing, through fight and flight response, the psychologist, Peter Levine, from Berkeley, University of California, has developed a method of treating people who had experienced traumatic incidents in their life. He has written a number of books over the course of decades. 

Hellerwork

   This is an excellent video on Hellerwork (founder Joseph Heller) which is a body therapy which releases and realignes the body so that the body can work well and comfortably. When this is done, the emotions and mind automatically feel better. The method is suitable for repetitive strain injury or for long term structural pain caused through an accident but here, working on the theory of body armouring through emotional distress, the muscles and joints tense and result in stored tention which can be released through bodywork. 

Neuro Linguistic Programming

What is NLP? 
NLP was developed in the early 1970s by John Grinder, a linguistics expert at the University of California, and Richard Bandler, a Gestalt therapist and computer programmer. Together they made a study of three leading therapeutic practitioners, Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson. They discovered that patterns could assist learning and development and that these could be applied to psychology in the areas of education, business and counselling.

Weight Loss Hypnosis

 

This is a weight-loss hypnosis video created by Zoe Featherstone with text by Wendy Stokes for salt, sugar and fat reduction.