When the spirit delves into the soul
Seeking an understanding of the self
The emerging picture reflects the true nature of every being.
The turbulence and turmoils ,
The arrogance and attitudes
The anger and greed
The hatred and revenge
Clothed in ignorance ,
Accumulated over the eons,
Vanish without trace.
When it senses the real Truth,
The transience of Nature.
Maturity and wisdom teach
The lessons of life in experiences
Peace and tranquility
Harmony and health
Inner joy and oneness
Are all one seeks
Resonances in eternal time.
Why confine the self to notions that binds.
Trapped in soul cages.
Wiser to unshackle and be free when the way appears
Untangle the chains to fly free in the unlimited space.
Channel the evolving energy in more ways than one.
Develop humility, compassion & loving kindness.
Value the learning in the letting go
Realise the potency of your own Unlimited energy.
Sharing these above reflections which originated in a deep conversation with my own mother about life. These are her heartfelt musings. I simply reconstructed her thoughts with suitable pictures.
Cos I would love to know more about you, my dear reader.
Would you be so kind as to share if you are fond of dancing…
Do you dance?
And if the music is right …
Would you prefer to dance solo or with a partner?
I do believe dancing from the heart has much to do with your wellbeing.
As a dance trainer over the years, I have come across many people to whom movement and music have made a huge difference in their lives.
Have always seen that it is not about the level or the intricacies of the steps or advanced techniques…
Rather it is about how you feel as you dance from within and how you make and leave another feeling even after the dance is over.
A few minutes of enjoyable dancing can leave lasting impressions on every cell of the being for the better.
Whatever the music or dance style that appeals to you the point is it integrates your healing mode and brings forth a positive transformation in the mind and body.
This is my humble attempt to bring the like-minded together and motivate you to take a step and dance some more.
As you dance you are creating health in and around you.
Do share if you feel dance has touched your life in any way…
Would be great to hear your insights and experiences.
Have shared many of my personal experiences over the years with my Dance for wellness workshops.
Just like the sounds of music in the spaces between the notes, there is dancing in the spaces between the steps. It is only when we become aware of the value of the spaces between the thoughts that we can truly reflect, revel and live with ease through our lives.
The pinnacle of access to our realization of the creative entities at work would actually be in the silence, in the intentions, in an emotional journey of profound fulfilment. The trick is to find that point of the immense creative surge and be able to nurture it.
Rest and activity go together just as much as night and day… and like the yin and the yang, the pauses in between two breathes, inaction in between the action, brings forth the clarity, purity, and the intensity of that which is evolving.
It’s disheartening that our world has become so hyperactive. Multitasking has become the order of the day, people spend time having dinner in front of televisions, reading is done with music, and very often we have mobile phone calls that cut through a real conversation. So much has there been an abuse of our bodies and mind that we truly have forgotten the importance of non-activity and quietude.
The stillness between your actions or movements are the bridges to our conscious experiences and the greater your awareness the greater the creative potency of the action itself.
Savvy
Dancing socially de-stresses the body mind and spirit holistically. Taking a momentto value the steps you dance together, valuing the music you are dancing to, appreciating this moment & appreciating the partner you have at this moment will only cultivate the value for oneself and will help in centring oneself deeper in the action with a joyful heart and soul.
When you dance, if you still your thoughts to simply learn to flow with the partner, the atmosphere, the music you will undoubtedly enliven yourself in the process and what you have is a beautiful dance of togetherness bridging the spaces between the steps with a conscious awareness …… And that is when dancing feels like a miracle that’s happening!
Start the day with a few minutes of silence and observing the breath
Take time to pause and watch nature and try to be one with it . .. Maybe a sunrise, a sunset, a beach view watching the waves, the stars in the sky, the moon, the sky, or a rose or any flower or potted plant, or maybe a tree in your garden.
Make sure to have moments where you are free of your cellphone, tv, computer, or any electronic appliance.
Make a point of actually listening and understanding as others speak and allow the other to speak as much as yourself.
Accept every moment in the life you have now and cherish it for what it is…cultivating an attitude of gratitude.
Stillness within
The whirling wisdom
Centers within
The search for being
In a knowing balance
Of within and without.
The gaze is never a stare
The moves are never a dare
In fact the flow is sublime
One leads unto another
Nothing marked nothing missed
Nothing focused nothing lost.
In such a state of flow
Where wholeness of being
Is the strength of a circle
That creates unto itself
There is a knowing
Of a space within
An inward glance
Into the souls calling
Springing forth
The sounds of Silence.
The average length of a hug between two people is 3 seconds. But the researchers have discovered something fantastic. When a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the body and mind. The reason is that a sincere embrace produces a hormone called “oxytocin”, also known as the love hormone. This substance has many benefits in our physical and mental health, helps us, among other things, to relax, to feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety. This wonderful tranquilizer is offered free of charge every time we have a person in our arms, who cradled a child, who cherish a dog or a cat, that we are dancing with our partner, the closer we get to someone or simply hold the Shoulders of a friend.
A famous quote by psychotherapist Virginia Satir goes, “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”
Whether those exact numbers have been scientifically proven remains to be seen, but there is a great deal of scientific evidence related to the importance of hugs and physical contact. Here are some reasons why we should hug::
1. STIMULATES OXYTOCIN
Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that acts on the limbic system, the brain’s emotional centre, promoting feelings of contentment, reducing anxiety and stress, and even making mammals monogamous. It is the hormone responsible for us all being here today. You see this little gem is released during childbirth, making our mothers forget about all of the excruciating pain they endured expelling us from their bodies and making them want to still love and spend time with us. New research from the University of California suggests that it has a similarly civilising effect on human males, making them more affectionate and better at forming relationships and social bonding. When we hug someone, oxytocin is released into our bodies by our pituitary gland, lowering both our heart rates and our cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for stress, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
2. CULTIVATES PATIENCE
Connections are fostered when people take the time to appreciate and acknowledge one another. A hug is one of the easiest ways to show appreciation and acknowledgement of another person. The world is a busy, hustle-bustle place and we’re constantly rushing to the next task. By slowing down and taking a moment to offer sincere hugs throughout the day, we’re benefiting ourselves, others, and cultivating better patience within ourselves.
3. PREVENTS DISEASE
Affection also has a direct response on the reduction of stress which prevents many diseases. The Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine says it has carried out more than 100 studies into touch and found evidence of significant effects, including faster growth in premature babies, reduced pain, decreased autoimmune disease symptoms, lowered glucose levels in children with diabetes, and improved immune systems in people with cancer.
4. STIMULATES THYMUS GLAND
Hugs strengthen the immune system. The gentle pressure on the sternum and the emotional charge this creates activates the Solar Plexus Chakra. This stimulates the thymus gland, which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells, which keep you healthy and disease free.
5. COMMUNICATION WITHOUT SAYING A WORD
Almost 70 percent of communication is nonverbal. The interpretation of body language can be based on a single gesture and hugging is an excellent method of expressing yourself nonverbally to another human being or animal. Not only can they feel the love and care in your embrace, but they can actually be receptive enough to pay it forward to others based on your initiative alone.
6. SELF-ESTEEM
Hugging boosts self-esteem, especially in children. The tactile sense is all-important in infants. A baby recognizes its parents initially by touch. From the time we’re born our family’s touch shows us that we’re loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still imbedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our Mom and Dad while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us at a somatic level of that. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self love.
7. STIMULATES DOPAMINE
Everything everyone does involves protecting and triggering dopamine flow. Low dopamine levels play a role in the neurodegenerative disease Parkinson’s as well as mood disorders such as depression. Dopamine is responsible for giving us that feel-good feeling, and it’s also responsible for motivation! Hugs stimulate brains to release dopamine, the pleasure hormone. Dopamine sensors are the areas that many stimulating drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine target. The presence of a certain kinds of dopamine receptors are also associated with sensation-seeking.
8. STIMULATES SEROTONIN
Reaching out and hugging releases endorphins and serotonin into the blood vessels and the released endorphins and serotonin cause pleasure and negate pain and sadness and decrease the chances of getting heart problems, helps fight excess weight and prolongs life. Even the cuddling of pets has a soothing effect that reduces the stress levels. Hugging for an extended time lifts one’s serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.
9. PARASYMPATHETIC BALANCE
Hugs balance out the nervous system. The skin contains a network of tiny, egg-shaped pressure centres called Pacinian corpuscles that can sense touch and which are in contact with the brain through the vagus nerve. The galvanic skin response of someone receiving and giving a hug shows a change in skin conductance. The effect in moisture and electricity in the skin suggests a more balanced state in the nervous system – parasympathetic.
Quite a bit of indepth information on the healing powers in a simple hug.
Such is the magic in a warm embrace
Embrace, embrace with your heart.
When you are hugging a child, always be the last one to let go. You never know how long they need it. ~Author Unknown
Came across this story share, do read as all is a matter of shifting perspectives. Not sure I agree to this but yes the attitude you carry and the way you see things can drastically and dramatically change the picture. Read on …
“What is your view on retirement ?”
… A nice answer given by a Cardiologist.
Most people believe that there is no retirement benefit and old age help, especially in India.
They are wrong. Here is why.
An elderly, white haired, fragile but pleasant looking man came in with a complaint of chest pain the previous night.
The ECG showed features of severe ischemia suggestive of blocks in the heart. Even at the age of 82, it was too abnormal and warranted admission. The young casualty duty medical officer with his new MD degree made a correct diagnosis and dutifully arranged to admit him in the intensive coronary care unit, and send him in a trolley.
When I went to see the patient, the scene was different. The patient’s two (grown-up) children were standing on two sides of the bed, son on to his right and daughter on to his left. And both were shouting at each other at the top of their voices. Not sure as how best to tackle the situation, I decided to be a passive listener.
“It is your entire fault that dad got a heart attack”, shouted the son.
“You never looked after him properly. You just kept him with you to get hold of his property, I know”. retorted the salwar clad daughter.
“And now you want me to pay for his hospital bill”?
“My my, that from a daughter who never visits her father!”
“You have to pay for his bill. I have no money; my kids are in college. And the reason for his attack is because your wife ill treats him all the time”- the daughter’s verdict was clear.
I avoided them both. I smiled to the elderly man. Before I could say something, he held my hands.
“Oh my dear son, So you are the doctor. I had some pain last night. Now I am fine. Meet my children, my son and daughter. Both are so attached to me that they won’t leave me. They forced me to come to the hospital. By the way, I am a little short of hearing. If there is anything serious, tell my children….”
I suddenly realized that the man was stone deaf. He could have never listened to the argument of his children. His cataract prevented him from seeing their angry faces.
That moment, I could see through and appreciate God’s schemes. As you grow old, he turns your voltage down, which in turn dims your vision (call it cataract), he reduces your reception (nerve deafness), stiffens your joints (osteoarthritis) just to make sure that you take the bumps of life more comfortably.
The age related dementia is meant to make sure you forget traumatic past events quickly. Despite a bad environment, you can be happy. You see less evil, hear less evil and with your restricted mobility you perhaps do very little, evil or whatever.
The basic scheme is to make you happy!
So, take these ‘age-related-problems’ as advantages that God gives us as retirement benefits.
“Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?”
Truth
Words of truth when spoken
Nourishes the speaker and the world
Cleansing the toxic facades of lies
Creating a trustful disposition
Let truth prevail.
Need
Every word matters
Words are priceless
They are worth their weight in gold
Waste not words unnecessarily
For they will lose their value
Speak when words need to be said.
Kindness
Let the words you speak
Flow from the heart
Let it emanate kindness
Let it open the gates of love
And embalm the lives it touches.
When life pans out
All the colours of the spirit and soul
Just as much as the joy’s in the hues and tints.
There are many shades and tones that challenge…
The path is interspersed with light and dark
Reflections of light
Dance and disappear
Like the passing clouds…
At times an incessant downpour of density
Like unrelenting thunderstorms
Even flashing lights through without respite
Excesses have a way of wearing itself out.
Like the colours of nature
Are known to balance themselves out…
Accept to blend and flow
In the seasons that change
And yet stay clearly distinguished
Maintaining the beauty in their vividity
Know the night moves on to the day
All is in flow in the circle of life.
Far above at the top of the tree
The birds perch themselves on the branches
Ready to fly on moments notice
They are light and free
Deep in the ground the roots of a tree
Growing in the thick of things
Amidst the densely packed earth
Digging deeper in stability.
On higher ground the mountain rests Gradually building upon itself.
Or chipping away itself to erosion
Witnessing it all as the world whizzes through…
As the birds fly away
In search of food or when predators strike
And the trees bears fruits
As roots grow strong.
Life and living have a reason to be.
Witness the wisdom playing through
Every whiff of the wind, every bit of stillness
Every sway every bend every move
Every thing that is was and will be
For all is a dance of infinite wonder.
Do we remember to thank every day.
Yes most days perhaps not always. Sometimes life can be tough too!
Are we grateful to life?
Yes deeply grateful
But we often take it for granted too!
A reminder is sent along
In the most unexpected turns of events
Sometimes to value what we still have
To remind us to let go the frivolities
To spare a thought for the blessings
And offer a prayer for them.
And thus pause for a moment
In gratitude for the good and the bad
And all things in between
In knowing all is well
As all is meant to be.
Savvy
In such a state of flow
An inward glance
Savvy Raj 
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