YogaGlamGirl's Weblog

Health and Wellness on Glam.com

A few weeks back I alluded to some pending changes for me around work and career.
I am elated to announce that I will be helping to bring health and wellness to Glam.com, the largest women's website in the U.S., as it's new Wellness Editor. Look for wellness content (After Aug 7th) in the Lifestyle section of the site.

I will also be the author of a new blog called GlamSpirit. GlamSpirit is a blog dedicated to nourishing mind, body and spirit.
Please come visit me there. I look forward to hearing from you and continuing our conversations.

Update on 7/31: I will be focusing on GlamSpirit and will stop posting here for now. If you're interested in updating the link it's: http://blogs.glam.com/glamspirit/

More about Healing Touch with Margie Ford

A few days ago I raved about a particular healing modality that left me glowing, as if I'd just had a facial. I could feel as though I was literally radiating from within. I went back to Margie Ford, the woman who gave me the session to find out more.

Margie is the founder of Healing Touch Energy Therapy, a group of practioners who are trained in Energy Therapies that are blended to suit client's needs. Their common platform is Healing Touch. In addition to Healing Touch, Margie is also a Tera Mai™ Reiki Master, Angel Therapy Practitioner®, Quantum Angel Therapist, and Life Coach. This heart centered energy work is an integral component of the healing equation; where conventional medicine treats a specific issue, energy therapies treat the entire energetic system of the body. This holistic remedy encourages healing, nurturing, balance and rejuvenation to one’s emotional, physiological and spiritual health.

1) How has Healing Touch Energy Therapy helped your clients? Can you share some examples of transformation?

I see people who are suffering from emotional stresses and very physical ones as well. Some examples of physical changes include relief from the side affects from chemotherapy such as neurapathy or tingling in hands and feet. HT has been especially helpful in the healing and recovery process when provided before and after procedures or surgeries (oral and physical). I have several clients whose Doctors are amazed at both the speed of recovery and the reduced meds required. On the emotional level those greiving or deep in loss feel as those something has been lifted. The results are not always dramatic, it can be quite subtle, but it is very freeing.
The common aspect that occurs in all sessions is a very deep relaxation, a letting go of stress from the deep within. This allows for other areas of their life to transform.

2) What are the ancient practices that Healing Touch is derived from?

Janet Mentgen BSN,RN, the founded Healing Touch in 1989 by embracing shamic teachings and aborigine traditions as well as the concepts and teachings of Brugh Joy, Barbara Brennan and Rosalynn Bruyere. Healing Touch can be used in compliment with other modalities like Reiki, which again is a tradition that is thousands of years old. Like Healing Touch, Reiki is based on the belief that all life depends on a universal, nonphysical energy that needs to be balanced withouth the individual for optimum functioning. The combination of these two modalities would allow for the best possible outcome through a skilled practioner.

3) How many sessions are required or recommended?

This really is not a flash in the pan kind of experience. Those who seek this work want to come regularly. I recommend once a week for at least 6 weeks ( I have a discount program for this) and at that point I like to discuss the next steps with the client. However, there are those that like coming once or twice a month.

4) Why healing touch? In other words, why might someone benefit more from this work than other healing modalities?

The beauty of Healing Touch is that you really dont have to choose it over another modality. It works in compliment with other modalities beautifully. For example, a number of my clients have seen accupunturist while they see me. They found the two modalities supported one another. What I get from Healing Touch that I have not found in other modalities is that very deep healing, it is phyiscal. emotional and spiritual. It's also important to note that when you start working with a HT practioner, you set long term goals, and in each session you set a short term goal for that session. The client really is in charge of this.

5) What kind of work can be done (either during the session or afterwards) to augment the healing process?

During the session it's important to clarify with your practioner what the goals are for that session. Afterwards, if there is something that came up in the session there is space for that to be discussed as well. And, since there is a lot of energetic flow taking place it's important to drink lots of water. Take note of physical releases that may take place, there are a whole range that are quite norma. Also, meditation and being in nature assist in the work takes place in these sessions. If you are familiar with meditation feel free to ask your practioner how to get started,

6) How does one find a Healing Touch practitioner either nationally or internationally?

You can find certified Healing Touch providers and more information about Healing Touch by going to: http://www.healingtouchinternational.org/. If you'd like a listing of local providers (California, Bay Area) you can email me at htet4u at gmail.com

7) Are there any other thoughts/comments you'd like to share?

I'd like to add that all practioners are not the same. Not that one is better than the others, but if you take me, for instance. I am blending my angel work along with the Reiki and Healing Touch and end up doing a bit of coaching as well. A session with me may be different than another practitioner who does Healing Touch and another modality. The key, like with any modality is find someone you connect with and trust. I also wanted to mention that men give and receive healing touch.

***Special Note: Healing Breast Cancer: There is currently a program through Stanford University where Margie and other Healing Touch providers volunteer to pair up with a breast cancer patient for 6 mos. Breast Cancer patients need not be Stanford patients and can be within one year of having gone through surgery and chemo. If you or someone you know suffers from breast cancer in the Bay Area, you can learn more about that program by emailing Kathy Turner: healingpartners at sbcglobal.net

Margie Ford can be reached at: htet4 at gmail.com and 650-968-1239

Facial? Nope, Healing Touch

At work yesterday a friend asked if I just got a facial. Your skin is *glowing* she said. I was surprised. No. How strange. Just yesterday I'd been thinking that I desperately needed one. But then it occurred to me. I had just received 2 totally intense bodywork sessions the day before. One of the sessions was something called Healing Touch.
The work is so subtle, so gentle, and yet so incredibly powerful that I left feeling like I had been pumped with light, energy and love.
The truth of the matter, is the fact that this light, energy and love was there the whole time, but I wasn't accessing it because my energy centers had been "bolted shut" to put it mildly. So in the session, Margie carefully worked to open me up a little bit and help me allow more of myself to shine through. Wow.
Prior to this experience the whole concept of working with the chakras just felt too ambiguous and unlcear to me. I did not have my own tangible experience or appreciation for this type of thing to think that it actually worked or could be useful to me. This session was so profound that I feel compelled to learn more. Thought you might be curious too, so an interview with Margie Ford about Healing Touch is coming soon...

Changes and the Power of Intention

Back in February I wrote a post on Pursuit of Passion: Creating Fulfilling Careers. I wanted to tell you, my friends, that an opening and a change in my career may be coming to fruition for me very soon. Will keep you posted....
Kris wrote a bit about Laws of Attraction and thinking positive. What she's talking about really reasonates with me right now.

To weed or not to weed, that is the question

I felt somewhat conflicted whlie pulling weeds in my garden yesterday. It had been a while since I played in the dirt and and hardy weeds had grown high and everywhere, making it clear that mother nature was tending my garden, not me.

In my survival course just a few weeks ago, we learned about weeds like these and their medicine. We identified several, talked about how they could be used for tea, poultices and food. Weeds are powerful medicine. In fact, not once did I even hear the term "weeds". We were exploring and learning about medicinal herbs and edible plants.
Yet as I crouched in the garden, I was overwhelmed. I did not recognize a single one of them. Could this tall green plant with pink on the leaves be a powerful remedy of sorts? In my ignorance, I did not know. So I pulled them up by the roots, feeling twinges of guilt. Waste. What we call weeds tend to be the hardiest, toughest and richest sources of energy. How could a true child of the earth do such a thing....But then again, on the surface, I was finally making the garden more beautiful, so I could impress my friends who will arrive for a Memorial Day BBQ, right?

In my inbox this morning I found a Daily Om article entitled: Messengers from the Wilderness: Weeds At the end of the article I received some advice on weeds that I'd like to pass along:

The next time you see a weed, you might want to look deeply into its roots, discover its name, its habits, and its possible uses. Instead of seeing an unwanted intruder, you might see a healer offering its leaves for a medicinal tea or its flowers for a colorful salad. At the very least, if you look long enough, you will see a messenger from the wilderness of Mother Earth, reminding you that, even in the most carefully controlled garden, she cannot be completely ruled out.

Good Skin, Good Food and Healthy Benefits of drinking Green Tea

While my honey and I were off in Japan 2 weeks ago we were shocked at how much water we drank. At first we thought we were incredibly parched due to the hot mineral baths (or onsen (sp) that we soaked ourselves in daily. This may have been partly true, however, now I realize that we drank a lot of water because of green tea. The tea made us thirsty…because it is a natural diuretic.

There are a ton of benefits to drinking green tea. The World of Green Tea lists cancer prevention and weightloss among it’s 7 health benefits of green tea and many other posts raving about this natural gem.

While staying at several Ryokans (traditional Japanese Inns) we ate traditional Japanese breakfasts and dinners. Before breakfast in the morning we were served Green tea and ume (a highly alkaline, somewhat tart, preserved apricot—usually called pickled plum). Then during breakfast (which often looked like this: )
we consumed 2-3 glasses of water.
We continued drinking water throughout the day, then we drank green tea again in the afternoon, around 3pm along with some kind of treat (like a wafer).

So now that I’m back, I’ve been told that I look thinner and my skin is glowing. No wonder, with all the good water, green tea and incredible food it’s hard not to glow inside and out.

Pic of tea growing in fields: Nara, Japan.

Yoga Practitioners and Yoga Warriors who Capture the Spirit of Yoga.

I have been in a bit of a yoga lapse the past several months. I had been teaching yoga for roughly 3 years and stopped so that I could focus more of my efforts and intentions on being a bodyworker. So I haven’t taught a class since December. In addition, I have been experiencing severe headaches from yoga practice, and they seem to be triggered any time my head goes lower than my heart. This means not only have inversions been a problem, but even simple standing forward bends or downward facing dog. As a result, even my home practice has dwindled the past few months and been replaced with Feldenkrais exercises, hiking, Zentherapy® Bodywork and sitting (Zazen).

Today I felt that it was time for me to begin again with yoga, so I went to a nearby class taught by a teacher named Marti Foster. Fortunately, the class was primarily a hip-opener, so we rarely went upside down. Though I do have a vague feeling now that there is too much blood in my head, overall I feel good physically. My hips are well-oiled and indeed more open.

I want to share a bit about the teacher I experienced today, because in her class I encountered more than just physical change. Her teaching touched my spirit. My soul felt the presence of a woman who embodies what she teaches.

Before the class began I heard her responding to a question about class levels…a level 2 class vs a level 3 class, for instance. Her response was that most people tend to think that the class level is an indication of physical practice (ie: doing headstands, handstands, etc). But she explained that a good example of a person who is a level 3 is someone who actually knows when not to push themselves physically.

The mantra we chanted before class was a call to the teachers within us. She said, “I do not want you to lean on me as your teacher. I am here to help assist you in finding the knowing of your own internal teacher.”

She referred to us as Yoga Practitioners. Not students. Practitioners. A subtle naming, that made a big difference to me.

At the end of class she shared a very personal experience. She had put out her intention to serve and help someone who had fought in Iraq. It turns out that within a week, she has been asked to do so. Today she will work with a man who has lost his legs and is back home now. I sensed that she is afraid. She will need to be strong for him. She will need to dig deep within herself and confront her own frustrations about the war in Iraq.

So here I pause, and give thanks to this teacher who inspired me today. And I put my own intention out to send healing light and strength to her, a yoga warrior, as she in turn reaches out to help another yoga warrior today.

On Feeling Ecstatic...

Nothing can compare
to the joy that I feel
watching clients change
and discover how wonderful
it feels
when their body is free from pain
Un-stuck
for the first time
in a long time

Feeling ecstatic about it. :)
Happy Friday to you!

A Healer Must be One with the Earth

I found this quote while registering for a Tracker School Course:

"First of all, the healer must be one with the Earth. He has had to find the time to understand himself through the eyes of nature, learning who he is and where he fits in. He has had to break down the barriers that keep him separated from the natural world so that there is no inner or outer dimension. His prime source of understanding and knowledge must come to him from the Earth, and he must realize that he is nothing more than a hollow vessel that the Earth uses to heal. He listens with his heart not with his head, and he truly cares for people. He loves his enemies, for he believes that no matter what you send out, so too will you get in return. His care toward the land and his brothers and sisters is a powerful driving force. He is not only a healer of people but a healer of animals, plants, and Earth. His power can be felt in the love he has for his patient and the faith he has in the Creator."

-- Field Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants

Yogaglamgirl's Giving FREE Bodytherapy® Sessions

Drumroll, please.... ;)

If you are a female who lives in the Bay Area (anywhere near San Francisco, CA) and you have any kind of physical or emotional pain...I welcome you to come see me for a FREE Zen Bodytherapy® Session. I am offering free sessions to those who contact me between now and 2/22.

Here's some more info about Zentherapy® from one of my FAQs:
Zen Bodytherapy® is a system of Bodytherapy® and somatic education whose goals are to align and balance the structure, function and energy of the body. There are ten sessions of Zen Bodytherapy. In the sessions, the body’s segments are systematically realigned, organized and balanced in relation to themselves and the earth’s field of gravity. Gravity acts upon us every moment of the day, and according to how our bodies are aligned it either assists us or weighs us down. A body that is well vertically aligned within its field has to exert far less effort of its postural muscles and reflexes. Not having to fight gravity to stand vertically helps free us to be just what we are.

History of Zentherapy®
Zentherapy® stems from the teachings of Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, Lauren Berry and Raymond Nimmo. The founder of Zentherapy®, William “Dub” Leigh, was a student of these masters as well as Zen Master Tanouye Roshi. Dub created Zentherapy® as a fusion of Rolfing, Feldenkrais, Berry Work, and Zen.

Who Should Receive Zentherapy® Bodywork?
Zentherapy® is an ideal modality for anyone who has a strong interest in creating positive change and vast improvement in phsysical, emotional and spiritual well-being.* People have used Zentherapy® to: heal from physical injury, eliminate pain, remove emotional trauma, reduce depression, improve flexibility and range of motion, improve posture, feel and look younger, lose weight, improve sex life, improve in yoga, and find solutions to chronic problems that no one else seems to be able to help them with. If you are pregnant, you should not receive the work. However, Zentherapy® bodywork can be especially beneficial to women post-childbirth.
*As a practitioner, Rebecca focuses her work with women. If you are a male who is interested in receiving the work please contact Rebecca for referrals to other practitioners in the Bay Area.

Is Zentherapy® a Type of Massage?
No. Work is received on a massage table, but it is not a massage.

How Many Sessions are There?
There are 10 sessions that address each part of the body.

Do I have to do all Ten Sessions?
It is suggested but not required that clients receive all 10 sessions. However, a person can greatly benefit from between 1 and 3 sessions.

How Much Does it Cost?
$130 per session. FREE first session. Each session lasts 1hour (maybe a few minutes more). 10% discount for pre-payment on all 10 sessions.

To Schedule a Session or Inquire Further
Contact me by email.

More On Zentherapy®
To learn more about Zentherapy® or to find out about upcoming trainings, please visit the Zentherapy® website: www.zentherapy.org

I would be delighted to share my skills and work in the spirit of service and healing. Please take me up on this valuable offer.

Namaste,
Rebecca