One of my clients has just completed a week’s training in a special breathing technique called Pranayama, and I was amazed to see the difference it made to his physical and emotional wellbeing. Before the training, he’d arrived for our session anxious and stressed, and found it hard to relax on the table – but this time, he seemed to almost float into my studio, eyes shining, face more relaxed, and with a new kind of ‘presence’ I hadn’t noticed before.

Breath is life – and though it might seem pointless to teach ourselves to do something that’s supposed to come entirely naturally to us, there is a huge difference between the type of shallow breathing we do most of the time, and the disciplined, controlled breath that is pranayama. ‘Prana’ means life force, and ‘yama’ means discipline, and so, as the name suggests, this exercise opens up our inner ‘life force’, enabling us to re-energise our bodies in a structured, controlled way.

The practice itself is ancient, having been used as part of yoga and meditation for thousands of years, and it’s designed to focus the mind, improve concentration, calm the body and boost energy levels. While ‘normal’ everyday breathing only uses a fraction of our lung capacity, pranayama enables us to increase our lung capacity, bringing fresh oxygen to the body and brain, while eliminating toxins, improving digestion and providing all kinds of other health benefits.

The pranayama exercise I’m going to teach you is also particularly useful for bringing greater balance to brain activity. It’s a type of alternate nostril breathing, which, done for a few minutes each morning, can rebalance the left (‘thinking’) and right (‘feeling’) hemispheres of the brain, adjusting any over or under-activity in each area. So if you’re particularly stuck in your head and ruled by repetitive thinking, or highly emotional and prone to mood swings or depression, give this exercise a try, and observe the effects.

To begin, sit cross-legged on the floor, close your eyes and bring the second and middle fingers of your right hand to lightly touch your ‘third eye’ in the middle of your forehead. Rest the ring and little fingers on your left nostril and the thumb on your right nostril. Next, using your thumb, block off your right nostril and breathe gently in through your left nostril for a slow, silent count of four. Pinch both nostrils together and hold the breath inside your body for a few seconds, while concentrating on your third eye where your middle fingers are resting. Then, continuing to block off your left nostril with your ring/little fingers, release your thumb, and exhale slowly for a count of eight through your right nostril, pushing out any stale air from the bottom of your lungs by squeezing your stomach muscles at the end of the exhale. Pause here for a few seconds, then inhale for four through the right nostril before blocking it off and exhaling for eight through the left. Pause, then inhale through the same nostril for four, and keep repeating the pattern, pausing for a few seconds after each inhale/exhale.

Just a few minutes of this practice each day can have a powerful effect. You’ll quickly notice how much calmer your mind is, how your mind and emotions feel much more balanced, and how much more ‘alive’ and vital you become. And if you’re really getting into it, try following pranayama with a few minutes of meditation and you’ll exaggerate the effects even further!

In love and light,

Taranga

I’m always amazed to witness how something as simple as loving, focused touch can transform the health and wellbeing of my clients. Quite simply, being touched is good for you! But don’t just take my word for it – just the other day I read a study about how volunteers were brought in to gently stroke the skin of premature babies for 10 minutes a day, while another group were left untouched. The stroked babies gained weight and strength faster, and were released from hospital earlier than the babies who weren’t touched. That’s living proof of how touch transforms lives.

Strong responsiveness to touch is normal in human beings – but for many cultures, we often grow up with a fear or a dislike of it. Think how we choose a quick peck in the cheek, a brief handshake or even a formal bow, instead of a heartfelt embrace or other such sign of loving connection. Yet if we had more safe, acceptable ways to touch each other, there might be a lot less illness, sadness, isolation and violence in the world.

Touching releases powerful endorphins and other feel-good chemicals that help to heal physical and emotional aches and pains, relieve tension and calm both mind and body. The benefits are many and varied, and even science backs this idea up.

It’s not always possible to receive loving touch from another – but it can be just as effective to touch yourself! Sounds a bit odd perhaps, but why not try it out and see how it makes you feel.

The key to this exercise is to touch yourself with a real sense of caring for yourself. Don’t just go through the motions – tap into your emotional nature and honour yourself with this ritual, the same as you would if you were touching anyone else you love and care for.

Start by gently massaging your own scalp, rubbing it with your fingertips all over, paying particular attention to the spots that are a little sore, especially around the temples, or at the back of the head in that hollow where the skull meets the top of the spine. Tug at your hair, gently or strongly, and use the heel of your hand to rub and stimulate every part of your head. We store an incredible amount of tension in our heads, so this can feel amazing.

Next give your face a few strokes, working from the centre of your forehead/middle of your nose/lips outwards, then massage and squeeze your ears and press in at each side of your cheeks where your jawbone pivots.

Run your hands gently and lovingly over the entire front of your body (you can be lightly clothed or naked for this), before using a towel to rub the entire backside of your body from head to feet.

Lastly give your feet a rub, however it feels good for you, and finish by wrapping your arms around your own body and giving yourself a good hug!

Notice how different you feel afterwards. Hopefully you’re more energised, calmer and your heart feels more open. This is a great quick fix if there’s no-one around to give you that hug you’re craving – and remember, I’m here to serve, anytime you’d like to experience some extended loving touch from another.

In love and light,
Taranga

A brand new year is upon us, ripe with possibilities… and it couldn’t be a better time to let go of the old, to make some resolutions for the year ahead and to reinvent ourselves as we welcome in the new.

So why not begin 2013 by thinking about what it is you’d like to manifest in your life this year – because if you don’t know what you want, it’s impossible to create it! And if you don’t have clear goals, life will just ‘happen to you’.

If you haven’t done much intention-setting before, you might be surprised by how powerful it can be to take the time to reprogram your life by shooting an arrow of clear intent into the future. The more precise, and clear your aim, the more chance you have of hitting your target.

If you want to be the artist and creator of your own life, ask yourself some key questions, starting with ‘what is it that I really, really want?’ What do you want your personal life, your work life, your relationships, and your health and wellbeing to look like, and to feel like?

Whether it’s your desire to create more abundance in your career, to open yourself up to a more loving relationship, or to dramatically change any aspect your lifestyle, setting your sights on a goal calls in that potential future and brings your dream ever closer to being made real.

Write your goals down on a piece of paper. Get them clear in your mind and then state them as clearly and simply as you can. Use ‘positive framing’ to state your intentions – so instead of saying “I will not eat sugar’, say “I intend a healthy, nurtured and sugar-free body.” In this way, you’ll affirm positive action, rather than focusing on a ‘lack’, or a feeling of guilt or deprivation.

Most importantly, don’t worry about all of life’s what-ifs and maybes. Energy flows where attention goes – so worrying is actually an act of prayer for what you don’t want! Instead repeat positive, helpful statements of intent in your mind and take this opportunity to re-program your mind to work for you, not against you.

You don’t even need to wait for a new year to take action. Get into the habit of setting clear intentions throughout your life, even on a daily basis, and notice how much more focused and powerful you begin to feel as your attention rests on all the amazing possibilities for the year ahead.

In love and light,
Taranga

I was watching an amazing documentary the other day, called ‘What About Me’, by a group called 1 Giant Leap. Filmed by two British musicians who travel the world and record some incredible songs along the way, they also spend time interviewing  philosophers, visionaries and leading thinkers on some of life’s big themes. One of the ideas they explore is how we’re all ‘stuck in our heads’, especially in the West, and trapped in a constant, unending cycle of mostly pointless chatter. Our ‘monkey minds’ are forever babbling, telling us stories, reminding us how we’re not good enough, not clever enough, not attractive enough, and so on. Sounding familiar?
 
I’m often struck by how ‘ungrounded’ we can be, how we’re ruled by our heads, rather than living in our bodies. But if we began to explore the chakra system, used for thousands of years in eastern philosophies like tantra, we could dramatically improve our energetic, emotional and physical health.
 
The idea is that we have these spinning, vibrating spirals of energy or ‘chakras’  located in seven main areas around the body. Provided each chakra is open and functioning correctly, energy is free to move through them as it travels around the body. But sometimes, chakras become blocked or sluggish, leading to imbalances and dis-orders manifesting as emotional or physical health issues.
 
The first chakra is called the root or base chakra and it’s found in the area of the perineum, between the genitals and the anus. It represents issues like survival, security and home, our connection to our tribe or family. The first chakra also grounds us to the earth, acting like the roots of a tree. Imbalances here can lead to physical problems with the lower back, like sciatica, or with the legs, feet, rectum or immune system. And emotional issues relating to this chakra focus on home, belonging, security, providing for ourselves physically and financially and having enough. It’s interesting to note that the current financial crisis comes at a time when we’re disconnected and alienated from our fragile planet like never before.
 
But don’t despair! There are ways to strengthen the base chakra and nourish this centre. Try placing awareness on your legs and feet more often. Walk barefoot on sand, grass or rock, focus on the sensations in the soles of your feet and feel your connection with the ground. Get a friend to carefully tread on the soles of your feet as you lie face down on a soft surface. It’s amazing how good this can feel, and it can instantly calm the mind.
 
Root chakra exercises are especially useful if you’re one of those people who’s always thinking or worrying, or if you find it hard to switch off and get out of your head. Spend some time doing root chakra exercises, and you’ll find your mind starts to become more peaceful. So get that monkey mind on a short leash, and teach your brain to work for you, rather than rule you.

It’s interesting to read in the news today that our love affair with Facebook may be waning. Nearly half of Australian users say that they’ve been thinking about closing their accounts. And while usage is certainly not dropping, more and more of us are complaining that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all of the other social media websites are too addictive, causing us to waste too much of our time online in a virtual world, suspended from the world we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch.

I very much doubt that people are going to start abandoning Facebook in droves – but it highlights a common issue in today’s society. Our lives are so busy, so stressful and so fast that we often miss out on those simple, pure, ecstatic moments. We connect via email or txt instead of emotion or touch. We inhabit a virtual world instead of connecting in the physical one.

You only need look around you, on the streets, on trains, in cafes and at work to see how many people have their heads down, buried in their IPads or their smart phones, busily clicking away on our rosary beads for the 21st century, often ignoring what’s going on around them.

Yet, for many of us, it can feel like something is missing. Like bingeing on junk food, the more we consume, the more we crave. We try to fill that empty space. And life starts to lose its depth and meaning.

So it’s no coincidence that sex plays such an important role in our world – and that even when it’s just plain average or routine, sex is still so popular. It’s all around us, on our TVs and computer screens, in our books and magazines, on our streets and in our bars and clubs, whispering seductively from every corner of our lives.

As humans, we’re hardwired to seek out pleasure – to experience those blissful moments that take us beyond the everyday and allow us to expand, connect and reach new heights. When so many other aspects of our lives seem superficial or ‘virtualised’, sex promises pleasure, euphoria and the chance to transcend our everyday lives, even for just a few brief moments.

So while Facebook may promise to help us connect and share with the people in our lives, sex offers the opportunity to experience all the meaning, joy and connection that the virtual world often denies us. Forget money, power or even the internet. It’s sex that truly makes the world go round!