One Path to Empowered Health!

Recently I've added several packages for your Health wants. There are several reasons for this, the main one being Commitment. If you are already a member of the Between Heaven and Earth Family you have heard me talk about the importance of Commitment, how it has the power to change your life. If you're not a member of our family yet, but have been following the blog or perusing the many pages here then you will have got the gist of my belief in commitment. We all have conscious and unconscious commitments that have set us on the path that we tread today. Commitment gives our Potential action, it propels us to realise that which is already in us, that which is just waiting for our attention. When you take a look at your life it is made up of many tiny and sometimes large commitments. This includes the state of our Health, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. One of the areas that we don't realise that we have commitments in is the difficult situations or experiences that we have in our life at present. Let's look at your state of Health, at those areas that you are finding difficulty in. If for example you have a difficulty with your weight and you find it hard to change your eating habits to have a prolonged positive effect on the number you see on the scale. This is due to an UNCONSCIOUS COMMITMENT that you made probably many years ago, normally when you were a kid or a teenager. This unconscious commitment would be something like, I'm unconsciously committed to being overweight, or I'm unconsciously committed to denying myself health through eating unhealthy foods, or another variation. What we are experiencing in our lives is always, yes always something that we have committed to either consciously or unconsciously.
I bet you're wondering how you can change those unconscious commitments. It starts first with shedding light on them, identifying them, it takes awareness. This practise is rather easy, you look at the areas that you are dissatisfied with, challenged by and you state them as your unconscious commitments.

You have just in that moment TAKEN YOUR POWER BACK! Congratulations!

The next step...

is to then change those UNCONSCIOUS COMMITMENTS to CONSCIOUS COMMITMENTS. Take out a pen and paper, write down your newly discovered unconscious commitments and then changing them into your new, powerful conscious commitments. Taking an example from above - I'm unconsciously committed to being overweight, you take your POWER BACK and claim the conscious commitment - I'm Consciously Committed to experiencing my perfect, health body weight, I'm Consciously Committed to using food as a vehicle to Health or I'm Consciously Committed to eating the foods my body needs for it's incredible health, I think you get the idea. These two steps are your beginning to an Incredible Life. This exercise doesn't just apply to your bodies health, it applies to all aspects of life. I'll give you a more extreme example to illustrate this point. If someone who is struggling with alcohol says I'm committed to not drinking, but they are still drinking. This person is more committed to drinking then not drinking. What we are committed to, we do.

Commitment is the foundation of change!

Once you have claimed back your power by stating your new conscious commitments, then it is time to work out how you are going to support yourself in this. What are the things that are going to help you anchor this new commitment into your reality. Do you want help? Do you need to make time for a new endeavour, do you need to educate yourself, do you need support. Basically how can you set yourself up for success. This is where I, or someone like myself, a alternative practitioner, a massage therapist, a yoga teacher etc can come in. I'm here to support you in making your courageous change to Incredible Health and there are a number of practitioners that can do exactly the same thing. I'm in the job of working myself out of a job, so to speak. My goal is that you get to know yourself on a deep level, that you learn what you need to keep yourself as balanced as possible, and you know what you need to do when your balance is tipped to get yourself back on the path you have chosen. You can be your own healer, your own practitioner. I want to help you reach true empowerment, to fulfil your potential in all areas of your life.
This is why I have put together several packages for you to chose from. These packages are for those of you that want to change your Health and your Life completely. These packages are about putting into action full commitment to your health, through a partnership consisting of you and myself. Choosing a 3 month or 6 month commitment, you are telling yourself that you are worth more, you're telling yourself that you deserve to life of life of prosperity, energy and balance. We will work together weekly on mind, body, emotions and spirit. We will come up with your unique way to access all the amazing potential you have. We'll create balance through employing acupuncture to direct your body to heal it's self, we'll discover the most effective mediations, breathing techniques, visualisations that create lasting change for your peace of mind, we'll explore the inspiring ways for you to move your body for greater health and we'll employ nutritional plans that encourages your body heal from the inside out, we'll discover what foods harmonise with your system and what challenge it so everyday you can make informed decisions about what you put in your body. We'll learn how to schedule and plan in all of these beautiful changes so that you are successful and not overwhelmed. Above all of this you will once again lean what it means to nurture and love yourself, so you can be your best you, your fullest and your most alive.

Click here to make those conscious commitments the path you walk on - HealthPath Packages

For February and March 2013 I'm offering all HealthPath Packages at a large discounted price. This is to help you say YES to your Incredible path that awaits you.

I look forward to seeing you in the clinic soon.
Blessings on your path, where ever it leads you.

How Scheduling, Planning and Routine can make for Incredible Health and an Incredible Life!

The sun is always shinning above the clouds.

We all have some form of busy lives, with this comes our routines, our schedules, our patterns, our priorities and everything we have created up to this point that is normal, the way we operate in our lives. Often these patterns that we have created are ones that serve us on many levels. Whether it serves to bring about balance and health, or these patterns can serve to reinforce negative beliefs that we hold about ourselves. On a subconscious level we often have patterns that create self sabotage. We decide to make changes to increase our quality of health, relationships, spiritual connection, work, the roles that we have placed ourselves in, physical fitness, emotional well-being and other facets. Often we find these changes difficult, demanding, challenging, frustrating and sometimes they feel impossible. Some of this comes from the negative beliefs that we hold about ourselves, we sabotage these changes so we can prove that these beliefs are right. Whether these beliefs are 'I am not good enough...', 'I'm afraid of...', 'I'm not...' add whatever words at the end of those statements are true for you. We all hold something that we can add to them. These are the beliefs that we have learnt through out of lives, and have chosen, often on a subconscious level, to reinforce. Often these beliefs were formed in our early years and can have a good grip on our reality. I call mine my a Gremlin (for those of you who have seen the movie I'm sure you relate). Often we allow these beliefs to hold us back from truly implementing the changes that consciously want to.
We of course are not victims to these beliefs, it's all about learning how we sabotage ourselves, knowing ourselves deeply and then putting into place ways to counter act these tendencies, even to transform them over time. This is where scheduling, planning and creating different routines comes into play. Reviewing, reflecting and forward planning is what brings you from reactor to creator! I know this is something that I wanted in my own life, to become the creator of it, to go from riding the waves to being the waves themselves.
If you’re not taking time to review, reflect + map out what changes are needed and what direction you need to take, you’re just getting swamped in REACTING instead of CREATING.

As I make these changes, I experience expansion, expansion on many levels. Through this expansion I can experience resistance, or I reach my Upper Limit as Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks call it. This often requires me to look at the resistance, the self sabotage, gather my tools, embrace it, breathe through it and then let it go.

The tools that I have gathered over the years will differ from yours in some ways. These are the best ones: Daily Meditation, Conscious Breathing, Journalling, Yoga, Acupuncture, Cranial Sacral Treatments, Cultivating my Observer self, Learning to LOVE MYSELF in every  moment and focusing on ways that I can empower myself, taking 100% responsibility for my experience.
The tools that I have found to be immensely powerful, that supports me in making ACTIONABLE STEPS, which leads to SUCCESS, is the big three SCHEDULING, PLANNING and setting a ROUTINE.
A lot of people, including myself shy away from that work ROUTINE. I'm not talking about routines that you get stuck in, that are so concrete that change creates disorder, panic and discomfort. I'm talking about Routines that help us implement our ACTIONABLE STEPS. That support us in our goals, that allow change to become that which we are, rather then that which we want to be. It allows us to focus on nurturing ourselves, and if we don't nurture these seeds of change and growth how do they come to maturity .
PLANNING is just a way to tap into our POTENTIAL. It is a way to help manifest our Willpower, to find our focus and our concentration. These wonderful traits still require flexibility, as we often experience obstacles. Therefore just like WATER we learn to flow around these obstacles, which allows us to keep our focus and concentration, aiding our potential to be actualised. Concentration lies in our capacity to reflect and check in. If our fears which often lay in the statements 'I'm not good enough...' or 'I'm not...' aren't addressed then our evolution can be hampered as fear keeps us frozen and unable to accept change.
When we are wanting to make changes for our physical, emotional and mental Health, we are often facing the unknown. In those moments the virtue of wisdom empowers us to navigate these changes. It supports us to allay our own fears through self-assurance by being connected with our truth, which arises from our depths. Planning and scheduling helps us to cleverly utilise our resources, which gives rise to focus and will, and therefore SUCCESS. This prevents us from becoming habitually frozen or stuck in our ways. If we allow ourselves to be frozen in fear, or second guessing our intuition and being overwhelmed by the possibility of making the wrong choice, we squander our potential, our resources and our ability for an Incredible Life. Setting our Priorities, Planning them into our days, weeks and months and Scheduling our time allows us to use our resources in a way that brings true manifestation into our reality. It allows us to connect with our innate wisdom that informs us when is the best time to act and when is the best time to nurture and relax, filling up our resources once again.
Please remember that it  can take small steps to start off with.
It takes knowing our goals from the introspection that we have done and realising that the goals are a work in progress. That it often takes time to fully realise our goals, like the Sage this requires patience. We plan and schedule in all the steps that out intuition has told us we need to make to reach our top. Our goals might change as we walk the path to realise them, that is always OK. Allowing ourselves to shift and change even within in our stated priorities is what growth and transformation is all about.
Cultivating Incredible Health nourishes our resources.
These are the resources we use everyday to cultivate the changes we wish to actualise. They are the resources that support our SUCCESS. Therefore remember when you are planning your day, week and month (all three I do), to put in there daily body moving (exercise), foods that create vibrancy (normally fruits and veggies), time to be still and quite (shut off time), time to nurture our heart through interaction with others or loving ways to treat ourselves, decluttering an area of our home and cleaning a space in our house.
Go ahead, have fun with planning and scheduling. Set-up a morning routine that nurtures you for the day ahead, whether that is no computers for the first hour, 20 minutes of moving your body in some way, making a nourishing smoothie, meditating, checking in and setting your 3 Most Important Tasks, enjoying a nice cup of chia/tea/coffee while listening to your favourite music. The morning sets the tone for our day, so making time to nurture ourselves and set our priorities to utilise our resources that day will set you up for an Incredible Life Every Day!
Here's to you SUCCESS, you can do actualise all you want and far more with those three simple but powerful tools.
This immense work helps to birth our miracles into our world.
Blessings,
Alexandra and the Between Heaven and Earth family.

New Year Resolutions and setting ourselves up for success!

We are in the winter months, which call for patience, wisdom, introspection and planting the seeds we wish to foster for spring.

 

In the clinic this month there has been a lot of talk about new year resolutions. The exploration around what approaches have been successful and unsuccessful has been fascinating. Therefore I thought this was a perfect topic for this months newsletter. Have you had success with your past new year resolutions, do you set them, or do you shy away from them, do you set intentions for the year ahead, or do you just flow from one year to another? I personally see great importance in setting intentions at the start of each year and spending the winter months expanding, fostering, nurturing, planning, scheduling in stages and working towards my dreams and goals. Using the slower pace of the winter months aids me in setting myself up for success, for the entire year.
In Chinese Medicine we use the system the 5 Elements to understand each individual and natures realm and rhythms on a deep and profound level. The Elements embody many nuances and multi aspects. They have been described as basic processes, movements and qualities of natural phenomena, as well as phases of a cycle and capacities for transformation and change. They are at the same time basic constituents of Nature and organ systems in the body.
Like the seasons of the year are separate but still comprise the whole, the 5 Elements are part of a ring of energy that encompasses the whole, body, mind and spirit in a person.

This system can help guide us to create incredible health and an incredible life. It helps us to understand what could be describe as the natural cycle of seasons, life and experienced moments.

The Winter months correspond to the Water Element, the time of the sage archetype. You might be wondering what the hell does this have to do with New Year Resolutions and success. Hang in there as it's all part of the process. Most of us will set our Resolutions and either go gun ho with them for a few weeks or even days, or never really feel like we have the energy to begin. Then we lose momentum, motivation, inspiration and sometimes just feel darn right tired to continue with the focus that these changes require. Then we often experience feelings of disappointment, frustration, depression just to name a few.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could set ourselves up for success and achieve these dreams and goals. Well here is a little guidance to help you on your path to transformation.

It's not necessarily the time to put all these dreams and goals into action...you know, the external doing type of action. Don't mistake me here, I encourage action, but just of a different kind.

Winter is the time for us to plant our seeds (dreams, goals and intentions) and sit with them. It's time to CONTEMPLATE, ORGANISE, PLAN, ACTIONABLE STEPS, CREATE DREAMBOARDS, JOURNAL and SCHEDULE in those ACTIONABLE STEPS.

It's time to meditate on them, try them on and decide is this really is what we want, or is this how we think we should be or we should want?
It's time to quest and become clear, to Dream Big and Small and everything in between.
During this period of patience and wisdom we end up figuring out what truly calls us and what we feel inspired towards. This clarity takes time and deep reflection, along with listening to our inner voice/guidance. It takes being gentle, loving and kind to ourselves and knowing when to do and when to be.
We are in the period of the Water Element, The Sage archetype, The Seeker of Knowledge and Truth. So if we want to be successful for the entire year. not just a few days or months, then allowing ourselves to embody the balanced aspects of the Sage, set us up for success. This is the preparation for Spring, which is the time of Action, Implementation, Growth, The Visionary, The Warrior and The Pioneer. We need the clarity from our introspection and planning to give our Pioneer and Visionary the blueprint to guide them. We need our goals and the steps that we envision to make them into a reality.
It's all about actionable steps and sometimes even baby steps. Winter is a slower time of year so the changes and intentions that we want to start in this season often have the energy of the tortoise, slow and steady. The slower energy helps us set a foundation on which to build. Because it's all about storing and building at the moment, hence why our bodies put on just a little extra weight. We require this storing and building, so we can then burst forwards with great energy and force in the spring time. This is not to say I'm promoting not doing anything, far from it. Shift that external doing to more internal doing.
I'll give you a small personal example of mine for this 2013. One of my goals is to increase my yoga practise to everyday, yes that's 7 days a week folks! Wow, that's going to take some commitment and focus, but I'm ready, I'm taking my baby steps. I'm scheduling it in daily, I'm putting it on my most important task list, I'm making it realistic with my current schedule, anything from 15 minutes and above is success at the moment and I'm choosing the slower type of yoga. The slower type of yoga helps to motivate me, I feel energised, relaxed and centred, rather than drained. I've got DVD's to do at home, so I don't have the excuse of, 'it's cold outside and I don't feel inspired to walk/bike to the yoga studio. The other excuse is 'the class isn't at the right time'. Having DVD's at home eliminates all of that. It's about knowing yourself and the excuses you might make, heading them off at the pass and coming up with plan A,B and C. This brings about success! I also am making it a priority everyday. If I miss a day though, I don't berate myself, I just accept the choice I made and allow myself to choose again the next day. It's a work in progress and I realise that, therefore I don't put too much pressure on myself, so I don't end up crumpling under it's weight. I know that by the end of this year, everyday yoga will be my reality and I will have loved the journey it took for me to get there. Remember to enjoy the journey, not just the end result.

I also have a little help from my friend Leonie Dawson. One of her beautiful and amazing products she puts out every year is, the 'Life's Yearly Workbook'. It's under $10 for this life changing gem, and very much worth the investment of time and money. It is wonderful fun, especially if you do it with a group of like minded people. To have an accountability partner helps to keep us in check, but one that encourages us rather then criticises. Also surrounding yourself with people that will support you, not unconsciously try and sabotage your efforts helps your success.   


Go fourth and introspect, create, play, meditate, try on the new goals and dreams, sit with them, find that which inspires you, set out your baby steps, remember that goals are just that and can be changed/tweaked, remember you don't necessarily wave a magic wand and poof your dreams appear, though I still believe in magic, and that it can happen in an instant. Consider dedicating a journal to your planning and journey, write an action plan, and buy The Incredible Year Workbook, it will guide you in all the ways you want and need.

Remember be kind, gentle, patient, persistent, powerful, wilful, flexible and wise like The Sage and success is yours for the creating.

Blessings on your path to transformation and creating your Incredible Health for an Incredible Life.

Tips on How to Stay Healthy this Winter! Plus a Cold and Flu Remedy.

  Winter is the time for truly powering down, to hibernate, to slow our activity. It is our most passive season throughout our year, therefore there are certain helpful ways for us to stay healthy and keep our immune system thriving so colds and flu's find no foot hold.

1. Wear a Scarf

Us acupuncturists are always going on about the importance of wearing scarf's. This is for very good reasons. The skin, especially certain areas, are our first line of protection from those environmental factors that can invade our bodies, cold and wind. In Chinese Medicine we believe that it is these factors that invade our bodies and cause colds and flu's. However firstly our immune system has to be low enough for this to happen. 
The next time you step out of the door remember to bring your scarf, even when it's sunny, this will help protect your body from invasion of cold and wind. 

2. Eat Warm Foods

Stay away from Salads! Salads are for when it is warm/hot outside. There help our bodies to cool down and that is not what we require in the winter. Just as we need to keep our bodies warm on the outside, we need to do the same on the inside. 
In winter eat war,. cooked foods. Replace that cereal with cold milk with oatmeal (not the instant kind). Change out the salads for oven baked root vegetables. Cook foods longer, at lower temperatures and with less water. It's the perfect time for stew, casseroles, oven baked dishes and soups. 
Some vegetable suggestions to add to your diet: turnips, celery, asparagus, carrots, rye, oats, quinoa, soy sauce, miso, seaweeds, millet, beans, ginger, onions, scallions, leeks, black peppercorn, cinnamon. Enjoy creating!

3. Light regular exercise

This tip is important to keep the joints and spine flexible, along with reducing stress and increasing well being. All of these factor into having a strong and balanced immune system. During winter a lot of intense cardio exercise can be draining on the body. What works best for the majority of people is slower paced exercise, but everyday and for 20mins or more. Walking out in the open air (remember that scarf), easy bike rides (which keep the joints flexible and strong), slow paced yoga and stretching, choosing easier climbing routes, make sure the pace that you ski/snowboard at is sustainable and not draining, snow-shoeing. 

You might have noticed that I haven't included running in the list, well I have my reasons. Firstly if you're getting back into running or starting it for the first time winter is not the time to start this. Build up to it, walk, power walk, hike up hills/mountains, and then come spring time spring into those running shoes and off you go. If you're already a runner, then decreasing your pace and or mileage is highly recommend during this season. 

Remember it's important to get some gentle exercise everyday for 20 minutes or more, and always layer your clothing when braving the outdoors. Layering is important because we don't want to sweat while outside in the cold as when we start to cool down the exercise the sweat will start to cool on our skin and cause the chills. Layering helps by allowing us to regulate our clothing depending on our body temperature needs, but don't take off that scarf! We want to stay warm while exercising outside, but we DON'T want to SWEAT. Get those wool clothes out, it's the best fabric to keep your warm and cool enough.
Happy Trails!

4. Stay Hydrated

Dryness out here in the Rocky Mountains during winter is greater then during the summer. It's important to keep our bodies hydrated at all times. A lot of people seem to dismiss hydration in the winter, but what I think they might forget is the amount of dry air we encounter in our heated spaces. We have heat pumping into our builds, into our spaces, whether it's forced air or baseboard heating, radiators, wood burning stoves/fireplaces. All of these decrease the moisture in our air, which effects the level of hydration in our bodies. 
Hydration helps to regulate digestion and bowel movements and it aids in keeping our skins free of rashes and soft to the touch. It aids in keeping our bodies toxins at a minimal. During Winter I recommend warm/hot water sip every 15-30 minutes, and if you struggle with drinking water straight then adding a little bit of lemon can help with that. 

5. Heating pads and baths

For those of you that really feel the cold during these months, my own mother being one of you, it's important to keep your lower back warm and protected from the elements. During the evening when you are taking your quite time (essential in winter) take out your heating pad, or hot water bottle and place it on your lower back. This helps strengthen your physical system over all. 

Taking regular very warm baths will help heat up your core and increase that inner temperature of yours. It's also a wonderful way to pamper yourself (I'm including men in this), set out candles, grab a good book, or just put on some relaxing music and allow the hot waters to melt away tension, stress, concerns, worries and doubts. Every bathing experience can be a meditative, relaxing and fun one. This all helps to increase the strength of our immune system. 
Enjoy luxuriating in warmth!

Those are some of the top tips for staying healthy, happy and centred this winter.

Cold and Flu Remedy

The Common Cold and the Flu are exterior conditions. Which first affect the surfaces that are exposed directly to the environment - the skin and the mucus membranes. Exterior condition sign and symptoms (manifestations) are:

• Short duration
• Simultaneous fevers and chills
• Stuffy head, runny nose, thin coating on the tongue, sore/scratchy throat
• Achiness, stiff neck, recent headache
• Intolerance to wind or cold. 

They are several ways that this can be dealt with and healed. The quicker you catch it the more likely you will not experience the full blown cold or flu. Getting yourself on the Acupuncture table as soon as you experience one of the above symptoms often stops the condition in it's tracks. However there are several things you can do at home and this remedy below is one of them. 
In order to balance such conditions, we choose spices and herbs that are expansive and reach towards the outside of the bod, and open the sweat glands to sweat out the exterior disease factor from the body. In cases where sweating doesn't stop the disease, it will at least greatly reduce its progress and strength. 

This remedy is natural, effective and simple to make at home. I recommend pineapple juice that isn't made from concentrate as this is mainly sugar without the benefits of the pineapple fruit. If that is your only choice then I recommend that you take it out of the recipe and add a little more natural sweetener. Alternatively you could add 'Big B's' Apple juice or cider, or another brand, making sure it is pressed instead of from concentrate.
What each ingredient does to aid your body in its natural healing process are as follows:
Cayenne Pepper: Is one of the highest botanic sources of Vitamin C and it aids the body in sweating. 
Ginger: Fresh ginger root is preferred over ginger powder. This aids in strengthening the immune system and helping the body to sweat. 
Garlic:  Its antiviral properties can often halt a cold or flu if taken soon enough. 
Raw Honey: Has antibiotic and antiseptic properties and the honey also coats the throat stopping any invasion through the mucous membrane of the throat and it helps to soothe sore throats and halt aggravation from post nasal drip. 
Lemon: Contains Vitamin C which boasts the immune system, it also aids the body in cleansing. 
The Pineapple is just to bulk out the remedy. Again you can add pressed apple juice, or you can leave the juice out all together. 
One of the best ways is to have this remedy with Hot Water, every 2 hours. 
Here's to an Incredible Winter, that helps to bring Incredible Health and an Incredible Life!