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Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Healthy Activities Healthy Living Yoga

For Sentient Beings I

In other words, for seekers…
healingconcert

The Healing Concert with Special Guest Wah! at Yoga Flow…
Date: Saturday, 3/7/2015From: 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

An evening immersion into deep relaxation using Wah!’s meditative music and calming laser lights. The Healing Concert is an invitation to access deep relaxation, natural healing and rejuvenation. This feature-length presentation uses loops, delays, keyboards, vocals and custom-made laser lights to deliver its message.

The slow-moving lights resemble patterns in Nature such as constellations in the sky and Northern Lights on the horizon. Everyone is gently guided into a state of relaxation, letting go layer by layer.

The Healing Concert is a multimedia musical and visual presentation that has the ability to transform audience member’s physical and mental state, to literally bring about a shift of consciousness. It’s a doorway to a different you. More than the music, it’s about the experience the music allows.

Cost: $35/advance and $40/day of and door

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First time I heard Wah’s track was at YogaWorks studio in LA during class.
Immediately I was like – what’s this? I want to know.
Had to go up to the instructor after class to ask who the artist was.

Wah… What? Wah, you know – WAH.
Me: Wa? What?
Instructor: No, you know, Wah.
Me: ?
Instructor: (spelled out now) W – A – H, Wha.
Me: okaaaay… of course, Wah… (thinking to myself, Wah? what on earth does that mean?)

Last time I heard her was when she was at Urban Flow – at Pandit Rajmani Tigunait’s lecture … just singing in the background …very unobtrusive – very subtle – Meditative. I love her voice. For those people who cannot easily relax, just cannot meditate, too wound up, too anxious, too nervous, too … shall I say, too stuck – this might help pave the way to cleanse out the internal obstructions.

Of course, for those lucky people where everything, at least outwardly, is oh, just soooo perfect and very content and happy – for those people too:) You will be happy at a cellular level – if you love nature and life and the vibrations human voice creates.

Working with some constraints, trying to deal with the limitations to create this kind of mood (but DIFFERENT) in some of my classes – why is it so difficult to … just chill. As Judith Lasater would say, to “Relax & Renew”?

It’s okay – you don’t have to feel terrible or guilty about it either – it’s not being lazy and idle to have time dedicated for yourself – doing absolutely NOTHING but breathe. Nothing and nobody to take care of … but Self. To me, it’s a gestation time – it’s also a time for self-healing and calibrating balance. Mindfully, with directed intention. You have another 22.5 hours in a day you can be intense to any degree you choose to be by way of work & through work, produce, accomplish, achieve, perform – answer to whatever is to your unique calling. But during your precious “me-time”, there’s nothing to correct or rectify.

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Beautiful Places Beautiful Things

Rose is a rose is a rose, II

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Various rose water bottles on display beside the olive oils at a shop in Tokyo.
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Meant the above for the Japanese blog… It reads “Rose water distilled by steam process; Like those aristocratic Europeans, add to wine for noble flavoring and sublime scent; add to milk, tea … and also add to your pastry baking.” It is a customary ingredient in Baklava as I learned from Middle Eastern cooking teacher. Here’s more ideas for you.
Aromatherapy related store called “Aroma Bloom” – love, love, love.
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Nice diffuser – still don’t think I will carry it back in a suitcase…but for only about $45 and made with wood… cannot be found in US I don’t think. Was torn but gave up.
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Can you guess the name of this rose ?
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So surprised …
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It’s called “Samurai”!
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Really? Had no idea there is a variety of rose named Samurai. Samurai translates to Warrior so seemingly so in-congruent … Apparently I have become Americanized – last time, names of red roses were I remember distinctively, “Darcy” and “All for Love” – then, this time, red rose is called Samurai? What happened? I did a double take but noone else seems to think it’s odd…Just me, the Americanized going ? Was reminded that Samurai wasn’t all about bloody battles or fighting … but their code was about honor, loyalty and respect for life because they knew it’s so fleeting:

In Japan, flowers and flower-giving are not exclusively for women. As you might have known, the samurai is an aesthete. He treasures flowers and take them as a part of life as a warrior. This concept is different radically from what Western people think about flowers.

– from Hanakotoba = Japanese Flowers & Their Meaning

There’s always a single stem flower in a vase, changed every couple of days with information on where the flower was grown and the name of that flower shown. Lovely touch that warms your heart and lifts the spirit.

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“Pink” Cymbidium
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“Lemon Heart” Cymbidium
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grown in Shiga-prefecture, this one is from Sugimoto Rose Garden…
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back to a single rose splashed in peachy creme color named “Juliet”…
Next post, will cover the benefits of rose water and rose oil as I was asked after class. To be honest, it’s probably not my favorite kind of flower … the thorns, the thorns…but cannot deny that the scents are sublime. AND there’s medicinal value to some so will share later on…

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Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Healthy Food

Tending to the Fire at Shinobeau’s

Relieved to hear I don’t have arthritis or anything serious per my MD but my wrists and my left foot are hurting me – my left foot was run over by a truck couple years ago (freak accident) so of course if I over use it, as I have been in this training, I start getting that odd pain … so re-revisted Judith Hanson Lasator’s anatomy book, especially about wrists and I think I figured out what might help alleviate this pain. Lucky, that I get to also ask Richard Rosen tomorrow – he is sure to have an insightful answer, I have faith. In fact, yoga has been so therapeutic, and really, far more interesting than seeing a physical therapist as the whole practice of yoga engages your mind. I am not bored while the same movement in regular stretching or pilates class – or repetition in physical therapy can be so dull…Now, if we could only make all this into a choreographed dance for joy:)

joints

Here’s an OMG moment: I’ve always felt that arthritis (aka inflammation of connective tissue aspects of cartilage and bone) were related to our digestions.

– Bo Forbes

Well, actually, in Eastern medicine, it’s common knowledge as the belly, “HARA” or the “tanden” is central to our health; whereas the heart is not just an organ with four chambers that pumps blood but something more – if it means heart = “kokoro”, then it’s more than just a physical pump but … what we refer to as …mind, soul, spirit, love, truth … it’s an astral energy field as in Anahata chakra – as Shiva Rea says, we need to “tend to our fire” there. It’s kindled when you tend to it … I don’t know how I moved up from talking about the belly/digestion to the heart:)

Ah, I know – it’s because my heart warmed when I was informed that the proceeds from the following Lunar New Year’s gathering were all donated to a non-profit organization that helps radiation exposed kids in Fukushima …to give those kids gift of clean air and water – by allowing them to escape the dangers of radiation for even brief periods by inviting them to US with host families…the amount was probably nominal but it’s from that HEART:) It’s kindness and that comes from the … HEART.

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Lunar cycle … revisited.
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Vegetarian sushi, miso soup, salad and … healthy spread to warm our hearts and … bellies:)
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5 elements in macrobiotic cooking…
Macrobiotic cooking is not necessarily vegetarian nor vegan, but goes by the principal Shinobeau san shares.*For details, check out Kushi Institute.
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Shinobeau’s Vegan cheesecake with fresh strawberry sauce – she does not use any sugar but it’s “berry” sweeeettt:)
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My amazing Healing Foods Chef, Shinobeau hosted a lovely ritual to celebrate the Lunar New Year and New Moon with Jan Cerone, crystal bowls musician, as a special guest for the auspicious occasion. Jan’s crystal bowls emit vibrations that echo within us like…soft rain… then rushing sounds of the waterfall … and you just feel so refreshed listening to the sounds… perfect way to usher in the new year. As usual Shinobeau prepared all vegan feast. Shinobeau hails from Japan with so much knowledge and training in the food preparation that heals – she has hosted detox sessions throughout the year and unlike what it sounds – “detox” – it’s just joy to “detox” with her cuisine that she prepares – you do not feel deprived at all. Wish she was nearby, but visiting her place in the woods, to me is pure delight. I treat it as a mini-retreat.

Thank you both for a beautiful New Moon/New Year celebration. I feel so blessed for the opportunity to clear out the stagnant energy in my nadis and revive my chakras throughout my body. Here’s Jan’s site* if you are interested in the magical sounds of the crystal bowls:) Just letting out a big sigh… it’s magical. An honor to be in the same circle as these other goddesses who graced that space that day in the misty forest.

(* I myself just visited Jan’s site – surprised at the extent of her activities – I had no idea.
Apparently a former registered nurse, a vocalist, and a mother to a Reiki master studying in Japan, her life experience is immeasurable.)

For most healing and reviving foods, Shinobeau has catered beautiful and delicious bento boxes and makes amazing food for any gathering
as reflected by her passionate principle in all she cooks up in the kitchen – here’s her contact info.:

Wanowa
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Shinobeau@iCloud.com