self healing cancer, ME, fibromyalgia, depression, lupus

NEW CLASS SELF HEALING

Wednesday afternoons 2.30 - 3.45 p.m.

Held in Henfield, West Sussex
Cost £6

comment from students

"I am finding the yoga so helpful and I really enjoy the sessions".

"Again can only thank you for helping me on this journey, meditation is definitely allowing me to cope so much better with this illness and the constraints it imposes. Only the other day something happened that would normally have thrown me into panic mode but I found I was able to take it in my stride,put it into perspective and deal with it"

Special class for anyone with lupus,

fibromyalgia, ME, cancer, chronic pain,

depression and other health problems.

Using gentle yoga, meditation, relaxation,

breathing and energy flow techniques.

In the session

We commence with relaxation and cleansing the energyfield of the body using the breath.
In a chair we do joint rotations and stretches, which encourage the energies to flow through them.
Follow by chi kung exercises, also from a seated position, which encourages the flow of life force.
We move to the floor and do gentle yoga stretches within your comfortable capacity.
Lastly a deep ancient relaxation called Sarvayatra, that works on healing all the energy fields.
All the above encourage a meditative awareness

Self healing is actively doing something about maintaining a healthy mind, body and spirit. Empowering yourself to work towards a healthy equilibrium. I encourage each person to find their own individual path towards regaining a healthy body. It is a personal journey where you set your own pace.

Your body naturally strives towards optimizing its health and it is our personal responsibility to help that process. We struggle at the best of times to remain healthy and its a lottery if we avoid illness or not. For those who become chronically ill it can be a depressing time when the body suffers. Often compounded by a cocktail of drugs which aim to eliminate the symptoms but just produce endless side effects.

The first step is to move outside being a victim of circumstance. You have an illness but you are not just that illness. You are so much more, you are a spiritual being as well, which enables you to step outside your physical body and be the observer of it. This naturally happens during meditative awareness.

First things first we start with the physical body and gentle stretching and simple postures of yoga. This encourages the muscles and tendons to become more elastic. The joints ease out and become more flexible as synovial fluid flows into them.

Yoga is taken at a slow pace with relaxation after each posture. During relaxation the increased blood flow cleanses the parts worked on. Particular organs can be worked with, like squeezing the abdomen with the knees, helps with constipation. Yoga focuses on the spine, as a healthy spine equates to a healthy body. Working with the spine, skeleton and muscles builds stamina in the body whilst encouraging suppleness and flexibility. There is a tension in the posture as well as a relaxation which builds strength in the body.

Focus is always kept inward and observing what is happening in the body. This helps to slow the mind down and avoid mind chatter. Listening to what is happening in the body, as you relax into a pose allows a softening to happen which eases tension. It is important to allow the body to relax and enjoy yoga, so that you will want to practice it daily and reap its benefits. With relaxation the heart beat and blood pressure slows as tension is released. The metabolic rate decreases. In a relaxed state minerals and nutrients are better absorbed. Food is more easily digested.

Using the technique of abdominal breathing aides the above process. Breath control is used to bring the body and mind into balance. The breathing can be used more proactively as the life force is carried on the breath. Stiffness, pain, tiredness with the focus of the mind on the breath can start to lessen these.

Breath is connected with the postures to maximize their effect. Bearing in mind the life force is carried on the breath it can be used to re-energise the body on the in breath and detoxifying/purifying on the out breath. Specific energy enhancement exercises can be worked with.

The above prepares you for a meditative state, as it brings the body to a quieter more restful state for sitting in meditation. This simply can be sitting and focusing on the breath, which helps to eliminate mind chatter. The life force energies naturally flow more proactively during this state, aiding healing at a deeper level where tension is released. What is taught in the class I encourage to be practiced on a daily basis, which allows the benefits to be soon reaped.

Testominal from a student

Thinking about how meditation has made a difference to my life . As you know I have suffered from seizures for over 20 years and from M.E for almost 5. It is a dreadfully debilitating illness affecting your body and mind and the symptoms vary greatly from one sufferer to another. In fact the unpredictability of the illness is one of the worst things to deal with, you just cannot tell how you will be from one day to the next and have to learn to live for the moment.

I think it was the idea of "just being in the now" that first attracted me to meditation and the longing to be able to still my mind. One of my worst symptoms has always been brain fog and the inability to shut my brain down. This is particularly bad at night, my body is so exhausted but my mind refuses to rest, all thoughts churning around like clothes in a washing machine. Most of the time they are so muddled and confused and mean nothing but I cannot stop them, cannot rest or sleep. During the day the muzziness drives me mad, stopping me from concentrating and from being able to listen or chat for any length of time.

Because of this I thought at first I would struggle to be able to meditate, that lack of concentration would mean that stillness and peace would elude me. However, by attending your classes and by recognising the importance of daily practice, there has been an improvement. Sometimes, when the brain is very foggy I don't attempt anything too fancy, just awareness of my breath. It is hard to believe that something as simple as concentrating on the breath at the bottom of the nostrils can turn into such a powerful tool and give you so much inner strength! As you suggested I imagine breathing in the life force and breathing out the lack of energy, the negativity and the pain, it works wonders for me.

At first I thought that meditation would have an immediate effect, like seeing fantastic lights or that my body would jolt or feel like it had been hit by lightening but the overall experience for me has been so much more subtle. Meditation allows me to observe my thoughts and pain, not to focus on them and to have a sense of detachment in which I feel at peace and able to live in the now.

My illness used to make me feel extremely frustrated but meditation has allowed me to reflect and view it from a calm perspective, to learn acceptance . It has allowed my body and mind to slow down and rest, to access stillness.

I think I read on your website that "the crux of meditation is "know thyself". To know yourself not to be the physical body or mind, to know yourself to be something more, a spiritual being". These words mean so much.

Three things have kept me sane throughout this illness, the love and support of my family, my garden and meditation. I do not know how I would have coped without them.

So thank you so much for all your support and teachings. They have helped me become a stronger person, to deal with the anger, frustration, pain and lack of self esteem. Also I have learnt not to take anything for granted, to appreciate the little things in life and most importantly, just to live for now.

I am truly grateful that you have shown me the path to silence, a place where I can, if only for a short time forget all the pain, negativity, fogginess, frustration and just be me.

Feel free to use any of the above on your website, hope more people benefit from your experience and teachings. Makes such a difference knowing someone is there to nudge you in the right direction, we all feel a little lost at times.