Join Us For This Transformational Workshop!

The Emotional Enlightenment Workshop

Transforming Suffering into bliss

For too many of us, emotions determine our experience of life, and can make us feel out of control. Just as we need to digest and fully process the food that we eat, we must also know how to fully digest and metabolize our experience and emotions. When emotions are fully processed, life is transformed.

This two-day workshop will show you how to become free of challenging emotional patterns and teach you how to transform emotions such as fear, guilt, anxiety and depression into love, bliss, happiness and abundant energy. Major blocks to the development of the spiritual states of trust, acceptance, forgiveness and passion are lifted, as we expand our consciousness and learn how to process and digest our emotional experience.

Come discover the art of Emotional Mastery
 and open yourself to more love, freedom from suffering, and the bliss of actualizing your full potential.

You are invited to join Sandra Lavangeles and Paul Dugliss, M.D. of New World Ayurveda for our next Emotional Enlightenment Workshop!

▪   Location: Soul Sanctuary, 39 School St. Gorham, ME.

▪    Dates: June 2-3, 2012.

▪    8:30am-5:30pm Saturday and Sunday, beginning and ending with optional 30 minute group meditation each day.

▪   Exchange for the weekend course is $195

In this workshop we will explore:

1. The Path of Love
2. Identifying your personal blocks to love and happiness and how to overcome emotional challenges such as depression, anxiety, guilt, and grief
3. The journey of the soul and emotional karma
4. Emotional digestion – Transforming and processing emotions quickly and completely
5. Chakra needs for a fulfilled life and attaining their enlightened qualities
6. Trusting the Divine Plan for your life
7. Relationships and emotions – creating passion, love and bliss

Come join us for this enlightening workshop!

To register now and pay via PayPal, click here:

http://nwaveda.com/wordpress1/workshop-application/

FREE MEDITATION INSTRUCTION INCLUDED: For those who do not have an effortless, mantra-based meditation technique, Natural Meditation will be taught on Thursday and Friday evenings before the workshop at 7PM via Internet. Please indicate your interest when you sign up for the workshop.

The Path of Love Relationship Workshop

What are the keys to finding, maintaining and growing the ideal love relationship? How do we develop and sustain a passionate, playful and fulfilling connection with our partner? We all desire a close, intimate relationship, but what makes one so difficult to find and maintain? In this two-day workshop, we will provide answers to these questions and more. We will present the main principles of the Path of Love – the secrets to show you how your own growth and inner development can create positive transformation in all of your relationships. From meditation to emotional enlightenment, we will explore the path to inner peace and happiness and how this can create the foundation for profound, deep, intimate love. We will then explore the key skills to developing and maintaining love – the secrets to relating to our partners in way that creates connection, playfulness, passion and happiness.

At this time there is a need for those of us in the world to have a way to develop ourselves that is based on connection, fulfillment and love. Relationships are a key part of our growth and development. This workshop helps you to develop the skills for success in this important area of life. Please join us for this enlightening presentation of the Path of Love.

Coming Soon!

FREE MEDITATION INSTRUCTION INCLUDED: For those who do not have an effortless, mantra-based meditation technique, Natural Meditation will be taught on the evening before the workshop. Please indicate your interest when you sign up for the workshop.

Springtime tips for better health

Spring is nature’s time of renewal and rejuvenation. The snow melts, the ground thaws and plants and animals come out of hibernation. As expressed in the external environment, the fluids of our internal environment start to flow and “thaw” as well.

Spring allergies and colds, sinus congestion and headaches, weight gain, fatigue or low energy, mental cloudiness, lack of motivation, fluid retention and low grade body aches and pain are common in springtime, especially if we do not make proper adaptations to the seasonal change.

It’s time to stoke the digestive fire, flush toxins from the physiology, and transition from heavier winter foods to a lighter, drier spring diet. The most balancing choices in diet, lifestyle and daily routine should be based on your Ayurvedic constitution and current state of imbalances, both of which can be properly assessed by your Ayurvedic Practitioner.

Here are a few tips that are helpful to most people to begin to gently detoxify the body and mind of the accumulations from winter and are are methods of preparation for a guided short home cleanse:

1) Choose warm, cooked foods and avoid cold food and drinks to support a strong digestive fire (agni) and reduce ama (digestive toxin). Nature will begin to provide leafy greens, berries and cherries which are excellent lymphatic movers to help flush toxins. Reduce foods with kaphic (cool, heavy, oily, dense) qualities such as dairy (yogurt, cheese, milk), meat, and leftovers, packaged & processed foods. Choose foods that are fresh, light and dry to offset the heavy, moist qualities of the spring season. Ginger is an excellent spice to stoke digestion and is kapha reducing due to it’s heating quality. Ginger should be avoided in cases of high pitta due to it’s heating nature.

2) Cumin-Coriander-Fennel Tea: Balancing for the doshas and effective at removing digestive impurities.

Boil 2 cups of water. Add ¼ tsp each of cumin, coriander, and fennel all in the seed form. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and and let the tea cool to a comfortable drinking temperature. You can add 1/2 tsp.-1 tsp. of raw honey, if desired. (honey is the one sweetener that will not aggravate kapha). This recipe can be doubled and used to sip throughout the day.

3) Walk outside for 20-30 minutes each day, weather permitting…time to get things moving and reconnect with Nature.

4) Get instruction on the proper use of neti pot and nasya oil if you struggle with allergies and sinus congestion to cleanse and nourish the nasal passages and sinuses, as well as create a protective barrier against allergens.

5) Meditate daily, preferably a trancendental form of meditation such as Natural Meditation, Primordial Sound Meditation, or TM to connect you with the source of health, love and creativity within you.

Wishing you all the beauty of the season and the best of health in body, mind and soul!

In Joy,

Sandra

 

Establishing a Morning Routine as a Platform for Your Day

Daily stress can contribute to a number of damaging effects on the mind and body and results in unwanted symptoms that can significantly impair quality of life:

~Anxiety and Depression

~Fatigue

~Difficulty Sleeping

~Digestive issues

~Body aches and Pains

~Weight gain or loss

~Impaired immunity

~Decreased longevity

According to the classical Ayurvedic texts, a well structured daily routine helps to reduce stress and pacifies the nervous system. It offers a platform on which we can build our day to feel more calm, balanced, and grounded, serving as a foundation for good health and happiness.

Most people agree that getting a baby into a good routine of sleep, eat and play time will make for a happier, healthier, well balanced child. By establishing routine, the baby intuitively knows when it should rest, receive its nourishment and enjoy time with loved ones. When baby is “off schedule”, it becomes irritable, cries and is less capable of adapting to the influences of the external environment.

The same is true for adults. If we get ourselves into a good daily routine, we can establish the predictability, stability and balance we need to support a healthy mind and body.

The following are a few key steps to a good morning routine:

1)     Wake up at the same time each day, leaving yourself enough time not to have to rush. Hurrying increases stress levels and depletes ojas (vitality). Before you get out of bed, take a few breaths and give thanks for another day of life. In these early morning moments, notice what is present for you. Enjoy this quiet time to connect with yourself.

2)    Cleanse the sense organs. Splash your face and rinse your eyes with cool water. Brush your teeth and gently scrape your tongue to remove bacteria. Drink a glass of room temperature or warm water to stimulate the GI tract and flush toxins.

3)     Sit on the toilet, even if you do not have the urge, relax and wait for elimination. If you do this every day, you will train your body to have a morning bowel movement. A daily, morning bowel movement is very important for many reasons. Anything less than 1 bowel movement a day is considered to be constipation and should be addressed.

4) Meditate for 20 minutes. The benefits of a daily meditation practice are countless. An effortless, mantra based meditation, such as Natural Meditation, is a method for increasing awareness, obtaining deep relaxation, and developing consciousness. It is a skill that helps to relieve stress and allows for the full development of the human nervous system, creating more consciousness, more clarity and happiness.

5)     On the days you have a little extra time, enjoy a warm oil self-body massage (abhyanga) with oil that is suitable for your Ayurvedic constitution  or current imbalance. This practice nourishes the tissues of the body, calms the nervous system and benefits sleep. Then, bathe or shower. Do not wash off the oil with soap. Allow the warmth of the shower to draw the oil deep into your skin. Pat dry, using a towel that you won’t mind accumulating a little oil on.

Now you’re ready to get dressed and enjoy your day!

Never underestimate the power of simplicity, the profound benefits of establishing a daily routine, and taking the time to love yourself. You’re worth it!

In Joy,

Sandra

Exercise the body, the mind…and the heart

We exercise the body to be able to be healthier and stronger.

We can exercise the mind with puzzles and reading.

But how do we exercise the heart?

In order to fully use the heart, we must fully develop our awareness. Meditation that clears the stress from the heart and that opens and develops the heart center is that exercise that will allow the heart to fully expand. It allows for clearing the past and expanding the awareness in the present. It can serve as a foundation for awe and bliss in every moment.

Exercise the heart. Meditate and grow the heart. And live love. Love heals…

For more on the healing power of love, please visit our blog: “The Path of Love”

www.universalpathoflove.com

Instruction in Natural Meditation is included in my consultation package at no additional charge. Please inquire.

sandra@sattvahealthandwellness.com

With Love,

Sandra

Digestion and Transformation

According to Ayurveda, having strong and efficient digestion is the key to optimal health, longevity, and alleviating many symptoms of the body and mind.

You are not “what you eat”, the fact is, you are what you digest.

I recall a class I attended with Dr. Robert Svaboda on “Digestion and Transformation”. According to Dr. Svaboda:

“Everything requires complete and thorough digestion, and all of
life is one big digestive process. Anything that comes into the
organism (you) must be digested or it will become pathology.”

Wow! Let’s take a moment to really think about that…
Our daily experiences, thoughts, and emotions must also be properly digested or they, too, become pathology.

This means other “food” consumed by the sense organs…eyes, ears, nose and skin…and even experiences requires thorough and complete digestion for optimal health to be possible. Everything we take in has the capacity to accumulate somewhere as ama (toxin) unless we fully digest and eliminate it.

 What are some of the common signs and symptoms of impaired
digestion on the physical level?

-Not being able to eat food you used to enjoy without discomfort
(indigestion)

-Gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea

-Lack of energy and vitality

-Weak immunity, getting sick too often

-Unexplainable body aches and pains

-Thick, white coating on the tongue upon awakening

What are some of the common signs and symptoms of impaired
digestion on the mental and emotional level?

-Anxiety and depression

-Insomnia

-Fatigue, indecisiveness, lack of clarity

-Fear, resentment, anger, grief or sadness

-Unexplained pathology

How will you know when something is fully and properly digested? It will settle easily upon you. There will not be any discomfort. You will feel nourished and sustained. Complete. Resolved. At peace. When we have good digestion, we feel fully satisfied in our entire being.

Some important ways of insuring good digestion are:

-Eat food in alignment with your Ayurvedic constitution or your current doshic imbalance(s)

-Be sure your digestive fire (agni) is strong

-Follow proper food combining guidelines

-Create a balanced daily routine that allows for consistent timing
of meals and eating in a way that food can be properly digested

-Allow time and space in your day for nurturing and self-care

-Develop a daily practice for enhancing self-awareness, such as Natural Meditation, to recognize when thoughts, emotions or experiences require further digestion in order to feel resolved and complete

-Breathe deeply

-Love yourself

 

In Joy,

Sandra

Stress and Change

When working with clients, I always emphasize that self-healing and personal growth is going to require change. And ultimately that’s the underlying reason for the consultation…something needs to change. We come to a point where we recognize that what we’re doing or how we’re doing it no longer works, and can even become detrimental to health and happiness.

Change means growth. Change means opportunity. It can lead to better health, a new relationship, an exciting career, and a more fulfilled and enjoyable life. So why can change be so hard to make if it’s supposed to be so good?

One reason is that when we are under stress we revert to what is comfortable, what we know, what’s familiar. And who isn’t under stress these days? So, if you want to make changes more effortlessly, a good place to start is to manage your stress level. Then, the changes you want to make won’t feel quite so overwhelming.

Ayurveda offers many modalities for managing stress and settling the nervous system, from adjusting the rhythm of one’s daily routine to breath work (pranayama), herbal remedies, meditation, proper exercise, self-oil massage (abhyanga), and spending time in nature, to name a few.

Here are a few simple ways of reducing the impact of stress on the mind and body each day:

1)   Get enough sleep. If you have trouble falling asleep or sleeping through the night, there are effective routines for good sleep hygiene and remedies to assist.

2)   Simplify. What needs to get done and what can wait? Determine the urgency of the to-do list and create opportunities to slow down and make space for self-care.

3)   Eat a diet in balance with your needs. If the physiology is not adequately nourished or if the diet is too light, it’s hard to tolerate the impact of daily stress.

Never underestimate the power of simplicity and the wisdom of returning to our true nature as human beings…not human doings.

Food for Thought

Do you ever wonder why you make a New Year’s Resolution and can’t keep it…or for that matter never get started?

Ever wonder why, despite your best intentions, you don’t eat right, exercise or stick with a new routine even though you really want to and know it’s good for you?

We’ve all had this experience one time or another…maybe more often than we’d like to admit. Understand this not a weakness, defect or lack of will power.  Rather, each of us carries certain thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and stores energetic patterns that, until shifted, can keep us stuck.

Additionally, Ayurveda teaches that if something is not agreeable to us or we are not truly ready to embrace it, the effort to “make it happen” will be fruitless…we won’t achieve the desired result nor sustain it for the long term. And here’s the biggie…if we don’t truly love ourselves in the process, it just isn’t going to work.

Food for thought:

The answer to realizing your full self-potential lies in understanding and honoring who you really are.

What are the natural tendencies you were born with (determined your Ayurvedic Constitution), and are your choices in resolutions and intentions in alignment with those?

How have experiences, past and present, influenced your current way of being?

What physical and energetic imbalances have accumulated and are in the way of reaching your goals?

Do you fully understand your deepest needs…and are you ready and willing to love yourself enough to give yourself what you need?

Here are some ways to connect with the answers within you:

1)   Develop your consciousness through a daily meditation practice, preferably a transcendental form of mediation such as Natural Meditation, Primordial Sound Meditation or Transcendental Meditation.

2)   Develop your intuition to access your higher wisdom and inner knowing.

3)   Learn how to flow and shift emotions to release the energetic patterns that keep you stuck so you can connect with your truth.

4)   Create a body that is in balance to provide a proper foundation for all of the above.

I’d love to know your thoughts, too…

Namaste,

Sandra

Now is the time to begin a spring cleanse!

Ama and Spring Cleansing

Ama is the “toxic food gunk” that accumulates due to improper diet and poor digestion, and is considered to be the mother of disease in Ayurveda.

Why?  This sticky, foul smelling substance is absorbed by and clogs the organs and channels of the body including the intestines, circulatory system, lymphatic system, reproductive system, and respiratory tract. Ama can also clog the non-physical channels through which life force energy (prana) flows…and where there is stagnation there is disease.

The symptoms of accumulated ama are lethargy, fuzzy thinking, feeling foggy upon awakening, body aches and pains, recurring headaches, gas and bloating, indigestion, constipation, foul smell of the breath, urine, sweat and feces, stool that sinks and sticks to the toilet, skin breakouts, thick white coating on the tongue, lack of appetite, congestion, lack of energy, depression, getting sick several times a year and unwanted body fat despite “dieting”.

A few ways of avoiding the formation of ama are:

1) Eat 3 meal a day, no snacking between meals

2) Avoid cold drinks or large qualities of liquid before a meal

3) Do not eat before bed

4) Reduce or avoid (as much as possible) leftovers, pre-packaged food, meat, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors.

5) Proper food combining

 

Once you realize that you have an accumulation of ama, it’s time to do something about it! The sooner you begin the easier it will be to restore health.

Springtime is traditionally a season of renewal and detoxification after a long winter. Ayurveda promotes spring cleansing through specific diet and lifestyle practices that flush and purge ama and help restore energy and mental clarity, improve digestion and elimination and pacify the uncomfortable symptoms you may have become accustomed to living with.

A simple, short home cleanse is an ideal way for most people to begin the process of spring detoxification. It is best to work with a practitioner who can assess your current state of health and determine if a cleanse is appropriate, customize the cleanse to meet your specific needs, and guide you through the process. If done improperly, one can actually drive ama deeper into the tissues.

I offer a consultation package that includes an initial Ayurvedic Consultation, assessment of ama and doshic imbalances, education on guidelines to cleansing and specific pre-cleansing recommendations, as well as two follow-up appointments…one just before and one after your cleanse to see you through the process. Please contact me at sandra@sattvahealthandwellness.com for more information or use on-line booking below to schedule your first appointment now.

Happy Spring!

 

Ayurveda in the spotlight on the Dr. Oz show!

 

“Neurologist and Maharishi Ayurveda Expert Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary explains the differences between ayurvedic and conventional medicine. She discusses the different body types and how they affect a person’s overall health.”
This short video is informative and worth a look…

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/introduction-ayurveda

The 3 Doshas and 5 Elements

 ”According to Ayurvedic principles, by understanding oneself, by identifying one’s own constitution, and by recognizing sources of doshic aggravation, one can not only follow the proper guidelines to cleanse, purify, and prevent disease, but also uplift oneself into a realm of awareness previously unknown.”

~ Dr. Vasant Lad, M.A.Sc., Ayurvedic Physician and Director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The 5 elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) combine to into the 3 energies (doshas) of Vata (ether and air), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (water and earth). They are present, in varying degrees, in all of creation. When these energies are in balance with our prakriti (Ayurvedic constitution determined at conception), we experience health and vitality. When they are out of balance, they determine our vikriti (disease or imbalance). V, P, K govern all biological and psychological processes. Stress, improper diet and daily routine, unhealthy environmental conditions, trauma and deeply held negative beliefs can all affect V, P, K in the body, mind, and soul.

Vata is the subtle energy that governs all biological movement. The qualities (gunas) of vata are dry, light, cold, subtle, clear and mobile. Vata is responsible for proper functioning of the nervous system and all mental and physiological activity. In balance, Vata is creative and flexible and creates happiness and joy. Out of balance, it produces symptoms such as constipation, insomnia, fear, anxiety, and spasm.

People with a Vata constitution tend to be lean and long, have light, flexible bodies with little fat. They are quite active, and their appetite and digestion are variable and changing. They tend toward constipation, are cold and dry and dislike winter. Vata people reflect the qualities of air and space elements. When out of balance, their moods change like the wind, they are unstable, experience lack of energy,  joint pain or headaches.

PItta is the transformational principle of fire, the energy of heating, metabolism and all biochemical changes. The qualities (gunas) of Pitta are hot, sharp, light, oily, and liquid. Everything that enters the body and mind must be digested~food, intellectual information, emotions, & experiences. In balance, Pitta promotes good appetite, vitality and intelligence. Out of balance, it can express as inflammation, irritation, anger and criticism.

Pitta predominant people are of medium height and musculature and are generally stronger than vata types. They have a fire quality about them in their eyes (light), skin (coppery) and hair (reddish or hair loss) and have very sharp minds and intellect. Pitta people dislike hot weather, which makes them irritable and angry. They have sharp digestion and can barely stand to miss a meal! They are prone to “itis’s” or inflammatory diseases and will burn the candle at both ends.

Kapha represents the earth and water elements of the body, our structure or form. It also supplies lubrication to the joints and mucous membranes. The qualities (gunas) of Kapha are heavy, slow, cold, oily, damp, and stable. Kapha resembles strength and stability, love and forgiveness, but out of balance presents as congestion, stagnation, lethargy, greed and envy.

Kapha predominant people are built strong and solid. They reflect the qualities of earth and water. Kaphas tend to retain water and have difficulty losing weight, have a steady appetite but slow metabolism. Kaphas like to be rooted, love sleep and dislike having to do too much. They have a calm, sweet disposition that others gravitate toward. They are calm, grounded and stable.

Through Ayurveda, you will come to understand your unique combination of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, how to achieve balance, maintain optimum health & prevent disease when you live in harmony with yourself and the elements of nature.