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happihealthyu-blog · 8 years ago

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The Body, Mind and Soul from a slightly different perspective

Open a holistic magazine or speak to any yoga teacher and you will hear the words, Body, Mind, and Soul.

We instantly feel a connection to this at some unknown level, a draw, a pull, but do we actually know what it means?

Just google Yoga and you will find the true meaning pop up everywhere: union - the unity of Body, Mind and Soul.

So what exactly is that? a physical body of flesh? a constant chattering of thoughts whizzing through our brain? and as for the soul/spirit - what does that even mean? am i , gulp, talking religion?

What if there was another way to look at what this means?

Something a bit more tangible that makes you want to delve a little deeper and try out the beautiful connection that is the Body, Mind and Soul?

So heres something a little different …

Let’s view the Body, Mind and Soul as the Fascia, Vagus Nerve and the Psoas Muscle.

What the heck am i talking about?

Let me explain…

BODY: The Fascia

How do YOU view the body?

Something that doesn’t look good in a bikini? something that rocks in a bikini? a sheath that contains our energy source? a walking, talking flesh sack?

However we view it, we can see it, touch it, move it.

And in the bodies physical make up is the fascia.

The fascia simply fascinates me, i could write a whole article on this alone. When teaching yoga and massage i always try to weave this into my teaching for students, why? because it is THEE link to our emotional centre. When we realise this, it opens the door to a wave of release, a release of physical and emotional stored tension - how cool is that?

The fascia is a webbing of connective tissue that surrounds our organs and connects layers of muscles, think of the thin sinew like sheath on chicken breasts. (if your vegan like me you’ll find that gross but it’s the best description out there).

See if you can see in your minds eye the body without it’s skin, bringing into focus the red lines of muscles that we see in text books, envision a thin like sinew over the muscle that carries and stores ALL your past and present emotions.

Look down, view your upper thigh in this way, now wring or knead your thigh, feel good?

That is what we call the power of touch!

When we wring and knead the body we move the fascia, releasing past tension, some even say past trauma at a cellular level.

It feels good to wring and knead something right? wringing out the washing, kneading bread - it feels good because its releasing. Our arms and wrists carry and hold tension, sometimes a lot more than we can handle.

When it comes to emotions wrists are linked to flexibility - wrists are considered to be the most flexible part of the body, a little bit more about flexibility later on.

That is why having regular massages and practicing yoga daily is so good for us.

Massages are amazing, if you get a therapist who is totally tuned in, they will invoke all your senses throughout your journey while working intuitively ridding your body of stress and emotional baggage.

Please do not view massage as a luxury, view it as a necessity for your health, it has countless benefits, you don't even have to visit a spa - i teach and practice self abhyanga - a daily self massage ritual that uses a little oil and can take either 3 or 15 minutes each day.

3 - 15 minutes each day to release stored emotions and feel restored and connected in your body, WHY would you not want to do this?

Then theres yog aaaaahhhh! There should be no ouches in yoga only oohs and ahh’s.

Yoga is not about physically pushing yourself to the point of pain but that of release. (without the pushing).

Ever feel emotional during or after massage or yoga session - yep you guessed it that is fascia release.

Yoga twists are OMazing for release, add in breathing and connecting to stillness and silence and it’s like having a personal mini therapy session OM the matt.

So next time you view your body and you feel an ache or tension somewhere - release it physically through movement (side note: obviously be careful of injuries and medical conditions may need to get doctors consent). That pain in the neck, the weight of the world on your shoulders - track back …who or what has emotionally caused this tension - the body and mind are linked.

By the time tension shows up in our body our mind is groaning - it has been trying to tell us all along that something is not right for us, it often takes us to get a physical ailment show up in the body that says or rather shouts ‘hello! yes you, the keeper of my flesh sack, can you finally now take notice of me, take stock and get your sh*t together please, thank you!”

Tuning into our body is a beautiful tool to learn.

which brings us nicely to

THE MIND: The Vagus nerve

Let’s do the same exercise…

How do YOU view the mind?

a brain shaped bubble that holds our crazy mental chatter? a light bulb of creative ideas waiting to be released? a heavy cloud of rain and fog?

Sentences like - “empty the mind”, “be still”, “clarity of thoughts” are easier said then done.

Have you ever tried to sit in meditation and have zero thoughts only to feel more irritated?

It takes practice and for the record you can never NOT have thoughts, thoughts means we are alive!

Its the accessing of the stillness and silence between our thoughts that transformation and healing take place, it’s here where you get connected to who you really are, your true essential nature, your soul.

While i could write many articles on meditation (another time) one of the key tools of successful meditators, is giving themselves the time to meditate and doing breath work before hand. Just 2 rounds of breath work calms your mind and body before settling into meditation.

Why is this so successful? because it turns on and stimulates the vagus nerve.

This nerve runs from the brain into organs in the neck, chest, and abdomen and when turned on it activates our rest and digest response.

Just like anything when turned on it feels good: arousal of the body, a spark in the mind of a new idea or passion, or the relaxation response of our nervous system.

It reduces the fight or flight response in the body. There is a high percentage - somewhere in the mid to high 90’s of people who are constantly living every day life in fight or flight - thats everyday in pure stress mode!

So the cycle begins…

We get stressed:

side note: STRESS: an obstacle that gets in the way of our needs and desires

Fight/flight kicks in, physically this shows up as many effects, to name 2: heart beats faster, adrenal kicks in so we can fight or flee.

While this is all good in the short term for our survival - (its how us humans are still here today), long term this leads to seeds of illness…..

Constant heart beating faster = stress on the heart = potential heart attack

Release of adrenaline/Cortisol = hormones that are both ageing & unbalancing, ever notice people who look way older than there years are usually stressed and wrung out?

In Ayurveda we look at prevention and the 6 stages of disease.

First we wake up feeling ‘meh’ - not ill but out of sorts - this is dis - ease within the body, your first sign that something is not quite right.

Most of us don't look within and track back to the root cause, instead we swallow, store and solider on, we then keep going through the 6 stages until it becomes full blown disease.

Often at this stage all we can think about is our physical body, when we are not physically strong we can not deal with our emotions, however it is usually (not always) emotions that have got us to that stage in the first place.

So how can we help? - we turn on the vagus nerve - we relax the body and the mind so we gain clarity, we start to react less in fight/flight mode and our body starts to heal.

The vagus nerve also sends messages from our gut to our brain, in fact you could call the gut our 2nd brain! In Ayurveda our gut/digestion is named ‘Agni’ our internal digestive fire, Agni does not just digest food but digests EVERY single sensory impression that we take in through our 5 senses.

There are countless studies on the links between poor gut health and dis-ease/disease within the body. Turn on the vagus nerve and that improves gut health.

My favourite ways to turn on the vagus nerve?

pranyam (breathing) chanting meditation chakra toning

Pick one, try it on, play with it, feel it, tune in

That leaves us with

THE SOUL: The Psoas Muscle

Many books have been written about this muscle alone - the Psoas muscle is often referred to as the muscle of the soul.

While personally i think every muscle in the body should be referred to as a muscle of the soul as we are all connected, the Psoas is often known as the gateway.

Firstly what do we mean by that?

Well if you have read all the above, by now hopefully you have come to the conclusion that the whole, Body, Mind and Spirit are connected and that every muscle holds tension and stress, both physically and emotionally.

The Psoas muscle are the deepest muscles at our very core, this muscle group connects our spine to our legs and affects our posture and stabilises our spine.

It is connected to our diaphragm through the fascia and affects our breath and the fight/flight response - can you see how it all comes together in union?

Body: Fascia Movement Physical and Emotional release

Mind: Vagus Nerve Breath/Meditation Reduces fight/flight response

Soul: Psoas Muscle Flexibility Bridge/gateway to the above

It is said that flexibility is the fountain of youth, not just in our bodies but in our minds and hearts too.

The Psoas muscle is also associated with the Svadhisthana, the Sacral Chakra. The centre of our emotions. When this chakra is blocked we often have the inability to express our emotions, instead we swallow and store them - guess where? - the fascia, and so the cycle begins.

Which is why Chakra Toning is so powerful.

We are WHOLE, we are one, which is why viewing and treating our Body, Mind and Spirit WHOLISTICALLY can bring forth great transformation and healing, not just to ourselves but others.. We are all connected UNI VERSE - one song.

CANINES:

I also write a little for canine health so how does this relates to our woofers?

Well, quite simply they are living beings just like us however they have limited ways of telling us what they need.

It is said that dogs are a reflection of us (infact ALL our relationships are - human or animal) so if your family pet member has an ailment - reflect it back at yourself - could they be mirroring you? Are YOU in Perfect Health?

BODY:

like us they need fascia release, while there is an upsurge in the trend of DOGA, massage is simply the best thing for them. There are tons of different massage modalities out there for our woofers, personally i practice traditional Ayurvedic massage with my puppy - where i choose the correct pressure and pace according to his dosha (Mind/Body type).

You dog will tell you where they like and don't like to be massaged, look for stress signals such as lip licking and yawning, tight fascia often shows up as tight kinks and coat changes in the dog, it can be a beautiful bonding tool and you get to know your dogs body via touch and can identify quickly if there is pain in their body.

MIND:

Our dogs like us live from survival mode, maybe even more so, their number one priority at all times is to be safe.

Because they rely on us to lead and guide them, often we don't get it right unless we know how to speak dog, which takes time and experience and even then we still cannot get it right 100% all of the time. This often leads to behaviour such as anxiety, reactivity and so forth as this becomes their ‘language’. By turning on their Vagus nerve like us we can help reduce their fight or flight response.

So get meditating and breathing with your dog - i promise you you will both feel better for it.

I even do Chakra Toning with my dog and he loves it!

SOUL:

to me dogs are our soul companions, they have no ego only love. Look into their eyes and you can see straight to their soul. Like us they have a psoas muscle. Hind leg lameness in dogs is very common and can be linked to the psoas muscle.

Like us when we are in pain we can be grumpy so if you notice a behaviour change in your dog, check for pain in the body, learn to speak dog.

In our house we do daily massage, yoga, mediation and chakra toning - whaaaaaaat i hear you say?

Yes, i get up early to do these things with my soul mate, but i believe this leads to us BEing a happihealthyme and a happihealthyhound.

I hope you’ve found this interesting, have a beautiful day.

Namaste

Love Kel n Scoots xx

#bodymindsoul #bodymindspirit #psoas #fascia #vagus nerve #canine #Ayurveda #meditation #yoga #massage #om #health #wellness

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happihealthyu-blog · 8 years ago

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The Five Elements of Nature for your dog: WATER

Are you ready to go with the flow?

Today we are discussing Jala - the element WATER

We all know the importance that water has on us and our soul companion. Like us and our planet they are 80% water. Water keeps everything flowing, it is responsible for hydration, cohesiveness and making everything WHOLE.

Externally we see this in our oceans, lakes, and rivers. Just being around water with our dogs makes us feel, complete, soothed and whole. It has an amazing healing effect on the whole body and its nervous system.

If water stagnates or stops flowing, it attracts decay, dis-ease and disease, this is exactly what happens within us and our dogs.

Dehydration has an affect on our mood - we start to feel tired, unfocused and it can even lead to depression, this is the same for our dogs.

Dehydration also effects our internal organs, it can lead to constipation, liver, joint, muscle and kidney damage to name a few.

So it’s important for both ourselves and our soul companions to drink water.

Think quality - i only use filtered water for me and my best friend to ensure there are no nasties in there.

We have talked about the affect your BALANCE has on your dogs balance.

I know i am starting to sound like a broken record but a happy, healthy hound starts with a happy, healthy you, so make sure YOU get your 8 glasses a day, herbal teas count too!

My favourite thing about the element of water is its vibrations. Dr Masaru Emoto has carried out the most amazing experiments on water.

The crystal structure of water was photographed by Dr Emoto as different music and words were spoken to the water. The result is incredible.

Words like hate, jealously and anger showed up as muddy sludge - think AMA that toxic sludge we talked about last week in the Element of FIRE.

The words, love, compassion and trust were clear, bright and sharp.

Now if our dogs are made up of 80% water then the language and intention we put on our spoken words to our canines has a dramatic effect on them. Also if OUR balance effects OUR dogs balance then the language we use to OURSELVES is just as important.

Think about it for a moment…

How are you speaking to yourself? How do you speak to others? How do you speak to your dog?

We are not just talking about uttering these words out loud, it is the TRUE intention that you put behind these words.

You cannot lie to your dog - they know.

When i teach emotional freedom workshops i use the acronym STOP when it comes to communicating with others

S TOP  T HINK  O BSERVE  P ROCEED WITH LOVE AND KINDNESS

Use this with every relationship in your life not just with your dogs and you will see a happier, easier more loving connection.

Another fascinating thing about water is it goes in spirals, in fact the whole of life is made up of spirals - just take a look at our DNA Water is life!

Many ancient healing therapies start with water to heal and nurture the Body, Mind and Spirit.

In Ayurveda “Panchakarma’ Detox treatments flush out AMA (toxic sludge) starting with Swedana - herbalised sweating and Water Basti’s (enemas), i am not saying to start taking your dog for a colonic or a sweat lodge - it’s just an interesting fact!

Many TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) treatments have Acupuncture names such as Spring of Life, Joining Valley, Yang Stream, Empty Basin, they knew many years ago the importance of water for every living being.

Even the Kidney and Urinary Bladder are the Yin and Yang of the WATER element.

Which leads us to Rasa -TASTE

There a 6 tastes in Ayurveda and that is a whole article in itself!.

They are

Sweet Sour Salty Pungent Bitter Astringent

To get a full, balanced (we are not talking from a nutritionalist calorie point of view) we need all six tastes throughout the day or ideally in every meal, this satisfies the tongue and stops cravings.

Many foods have a variety of tastes so it is easy to get all 6 taste into your dogs meal for example:

MEAT: mainly sweet, some can be sweet and astringent (lamb, chicken)

DAIRY : eggs sweet and astringent

YOGURT: sour and astringent

MILK: sweet

OILS: mainly sweet

LEGUMES: mainly sweet

VEG : green leafy veg: bitter root veg: sweet (generally) radish: pungent sprouts: astringent

HERBS: bitter, pungent and astringent: cumin, tumeric

NUTS AND SEEDS: sweet, bitter, and astringent - pumpkin seeds

These are just a snapshot of Ayurvedic tastes and you can alter this depending on your dogs dosh type too.

For example a Kapha dog that is made up predominantly of water and earth is prone to put on weight (earth element) so you would limit excessive sweet tastes that increase kapha and add in more bitter stringent taste to soak up the excess earth.

So how can you use the element of JALA WATER to benefit you and your dog?

* Water is very healing, walk, sit by the ocean, even if its too busy for a run around of lead, find a quite spot just to sit and soak it all up.

* If your dog wants to swim, let them do their thing, Pittas generally love to swim, Vata’s and Kapha’s not so much - too cold and damp!

* Drink quality water, always thoroughly cleaning their bowls

* STOP and think about the language you use for you and your dog - think GOOD VIBRATIONS!

* Put the language of LOVE into yours and your dogs food - food made with love TASTES better

Until next time, sending good vibrations your way, love Kelly and Scooter :) x

#ayurveda jala #water dogs elements of nature happihealthyhounds

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happihealthyu-blog · 8 years ago

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The Fire Elements of Nature for Dogs: FIRE

This week it’s all about the FIRE starter!

In Ayurveda we call this Tejas and it stands for Transformation.

Externally this our sun, that great big ball of light that gives us, light, warmth and life.

We often forget about the sun, we go about our day and take it for granted, we assume that it will rise and shine every morning just for us.

Our ancestors had a beautiful way of giving thanks and gratitude for the sun, they did this through movement and mantras. Go to any yoga class and you will do some form of Surya Namaskar - Sun Salutations. Next time you do these, do it with an attitude of gratitude as its not just a physical workout for your body but also your internal fire (about that next).

We all know how amazing we feel when we get that vitamin D on our skin, it boosts our immune system, and it as long been known to help beat depression and thats just 2 benefits!

So we know how amazing this great ball of fire is, but what about our internal sun? our internal fire?

Internally within us and our dogs it is know as our

inner fire: AGNI, our digestion.

Our Agni is responsible for transforming or more like ‘digesting’ everything from our 5 GATEWAYS or as we know them the 5 senses.

If our Agni (inner fire/digestion) is weak or too strong it cannot digest or transform things that we take in on a daily basis. The result is AMA - a sticky, sweet sludge that in this modern age we call ‘toxins’.

Think about it, to have a good AGNI (inner fire digestion) we need to keep it burning but in a BALANCED way.

I like to think of our AGNI as an internal camp fire. To get a camp fire going you need kindle and fuel (food) if we put zero fuel on the fire it will be weak. We know that if we or our dogs do not eat and just pick we become weak and can turn into a of a bit picky/fussy eater.

If we throw a big lump of fuel on the fire it will go out - it will dampen our digestion and we will feel a bit off or a bit meh! This is one of the first signs of dis-ease within the body (there are 6 stages and the second is a feeling of something not quite right).

If we add fire to fire - (spices/acid) it will blaze up and cause excess fire - this can show in acid reflux, heartburn and sour stools. Also excess heat in the skin can cause us and our dogs to itch.

If we put good fuel on the fire through out the day it will burn bright, extract all the nutrients it needs to nourish the body and when the fire is no longer needed the remains will be extracted and eliminated easily.

Now if we throw junk, garbage on the fire - tires, tin cans etc (junk food) it won’t burn very well at all and at the end of the day when the fire goes out you will be left with the sticky sludge of AMA.

Our and our dogs immune system is in the gut, 80% of messages go from gut to brain, so that gut feeling you have, listen to it, pay attention. Which gives us food for thought when it comes to the immune system, food and taste.

When it comes to taste - feed your dogs foods with ‘Prana' - life force energy - food speaks to the cells that make up our dogs ‘meatsack’ - if they eat beige food devoid of life force energy, then they will look and feel, well beige! They will only survive and don’t we we want them to thrive?.

But…….. AGNI does not just digest food - that is only 1 gateway - 1 sense

Agni is responsible for the digestion and transformation of ALL THE SENSES.

What you and your dog hear, see, smell and touch every moment of the day will be digested in our internal fire, if these are more yuck than yum to us and our dogs we will see this in a weak Agni or Ama accumulation.

Heal through the other gateways (mentioned throughout this 5 elements of nature series) to transform your dog into a happihealthyhound.

Which leads us to the gateway of SIGHT - RUPA.

When we think about FIRE we think of something light and radiant. It is said that the eyes are the vehicle through which light is digested and transformation takes place.

When we look at how our dogs ‘see’ the world what do we think about?

The colours they can see or what they are digesting through their eyes?

Do they sense or see energy? auras?

There are many studies that talk about colours having energies so why not tap into them? and use balancing colours for your dogs leads, beds, coats etc.

Get to know your dogs ‘Dosha’ Mind/Body Type and identify their current Dosha imbalance. Use the colours to balance. For example a Fiery element would be soothed by colours of the ocean: blue, green, white.

So how do we use the element of FIRE to have a HappiHealthyHound?

Think about the 5 gateways and how it affect your dogs dosha and digestion. Particularly think about what they see and what they are digesting through their eyes.

As humans we tend to ‘swallow and store emotions’, when we don't digest these they turn into ama, toxins. In our dogs this can show as ‘stress stacking’ without being unable to safely release stress or emotions they can become reactive and again full of Ama.

Have you or your dog ever woke up at 2pm and struggled to get back to sleep?

In Ayurveda this is PITTA time - the time when our bodies digest everything from the 5 gateways, interesting in TCM (traditional chinese medicine) this corresponds with our Liver, which main function is to detox and digest. It is also related to the emotion of anger so for the health of both us and our dogs we need to release stress - the previous element of AIR shows how we can do this with our breathe.

Think of feeding or adding seasonal or fresh foods full of Prana - a ‘beige’ dog is only surviving not thriving, we want or dogs to have so much vital energy they are like the colours of the rainbow.

I hope you have enjoyed this third part of the series.

Next week we talk WATER, Vibrations and going with the flow.

Please join in the conversation at HappiHealthyhounds

#happihealthyhounds feedfresh pranadog lifeforceenergy ayurveda fire firedog tejas 5elementsofnature prana

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happihealthyu-blog · 8 years ago

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The 5 Elements of Nature for Dogs: AIR

Ok so last week we talked about the element ‘Akasha’ SPACE and how it can benefit you and your furry friend and the beautiful benefits of having Nature within our very being.

Today i wanted to talk about the element Vayu - AIR

Externally we refer to this as Wind. Wind can be that well needed breath of fresh air or that gust of wind that can literally knock you on your butt depending on your perception! ;)

The 80’s classic song by the Scorpions (i loves me a good power ballad) ‘The wind of Change’ is so apt and thats what Vayu stands for - Change! (are you singing the Scorpions? hahaha)

Just look at our dogs in the wind - they stop, lift their nose to the sky and breeeeaaaaatthhhe it all in, its actually one of the most beautiful things to watch. What are they smelling? what messages and magic are they picking up? - next time there’s a gust of AIR - watch your dog - i always ask Scooter “what can you smell boy?’ and that grin - oh wow - that face will be ingrained in my heart forever.

In the wind, our dogs VNO organ goes into hyper drive, the smells, their senses, where to go, what to track, what CHANGES are in the air - this is Vayu at it’s very best in dogs.

Internally within or dogs it is referred to as AIR, not so much as wind - we definitely don’t want more WIND and tooting in our dogs!

Internally AIR is our breath, it is the very breath of life.

Breath can change your mood, your emotions, and studies show it can even change your DNA.

In Ayurveda there are many breathing techniques we call these Pranayam. Pranayam stimulates the vagus nerve which is our mind/body connector.

It sends and receives messages from all of the organs in the body. By stimulating the vagus nerve through the element of AIR - breath, we can relax our mind, relax our body, relax our being.

We are human BE-ings after all not Human Do-ings!

By being relaxed and just ‘Be-ing’ we can release tension and stress, if OUR balance affects our DOGS balance then this is surely an OMazing thing!

As humans we swallow and store stress and tension which can manifest in our cells and come out in other ways - headaches, back ache, breakouts to name a few!

This can be similar to dogs ‘stress stacking’ if our dogs cannot relax and release stress or old trauma from their cells it can show up in physical and emotional dis-ease in the body.

There are many forms of Pranayam and there are also ones to suit your individual Dosha (mind/body type) For example Nadi Shodna - alternate nostril breathing is such a grounding breath which is amazing for those with an SPACE and AIR element - known as VATA’s. Nadi Shodna balances the left and right side of the brain. When you are feeling SPACEY and in whirl WIND mode this grounds and calms It is perfect before meditation to get you in the right SPACE.

So you maybe be thinking why am i talking about using breath for dogs?

Well your dog is a direct refection of you - so if you are out of balance then your dog will be and Pranayam is a great way to instantly bring balance into your life.

So how can you use the element of AIR/WIND for the well-being of your best friend?

Partnered Pranyam is a beautiful way to connect and bond emotionally with your dog.

I mirror my dogs breathe and then slow it down so he mirrors mine. This is perfect before meditating with your soul companion. Or during and before massage. Which brings us to TOUCH

Vayu is related to touch. The element of AIR keeps the body in constant motion so touch is a powerful way to ground these energies.

Ever noticed when you come in to contact with a whirl WIND person or dog you just want to reach out, touch them and say relax, breathe?

I am a huge fan of massage, being a massage therapist for over 20 years i have seen countless benefits for humans, the power of touch is second to none. Emotionally it invokes trust, relaxation, stress release, and safety. Physically it improves blood flow, circulation but the 2 main benefits are elimination of AMA and Fascia release.

AMA is the toxic sludge we and our dogs carry in our bodies from anything undigested - not just food (i will talk about this in the next article).

Fascia is the mind and body emotional connector (think of the ‘webbing like sinew’ on chicken breasts) when we massage and move this fascia we release stored emotions - thats why we feel amazing after a massage or yoga - Yoga twists are awesome for fascia release!

So i’m a huge advocate for self Abhyanga (self massage) and Doggie Abhyanga.

I like to finish my Spiritual or Welbeing practice with Scooter with a ‘Namaste’ exercise, by gazing into my dogs eyes and connecting to his energy, to his heart, to his spirit. They say windows are the gateways to our soul and this is so true, you just need to look.

I hope you have enjoyed the second article on The Elements of Nature.

I hope this has inspired you to think where can you use VAYU or Air/Wind in your daily practice?

Do you practice breathing techniques with your dog?

What feedback do they give you?

Please share and join in the conversations HappiHealthyHounds.

Next week is all about Fire in the belly, so grab on to your under garments people and be ready for the element of transformation ;)

Love and Light Kelly and Scooter :) x

#dogs ayurveda elements massage breath breathe pranayam vayu air wind health wellbeing

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happihealthyu-blog · 8 years ago

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The 5 Elements of Nature for you and your Dog

Yes thats right you read right we are talking Ayurveda, Nature and Dogs.... Everything in Ayurveda is made up of the 5 Elements of Nature

SPACE AIR FIRE WATER EARTH

It is a unique mixture of these 5 elements that make up our dogs and our own Dosha’s

MIND/BODY TYPES

Knowing how these 5 Elements affect you and your dog you can learn the tools and Ayurvedic wisdom of how to be in harmony with nature.

So where do we start.....

Nature! ahhhhh, we all know how fabulous we feel when we connect with nature, that saying ‘be at with one with nature’ is so true right?

When we take the time to stop, breathe it all in and appreciate it, give thanks to it, don’t we feel amazing? grounded? connected?

But what if there was more to nature?

What if there was almost a ‘magic’ or ‘secret’ to nature that is beneficial not just to us but to our dogs too?

Well sssssh there is and i’m about to tell you!

Get comfy and soak up the beautiful ancient wisdom of Ayurveda in this 5 part series The 5 elements of Nature for you and your furry friends.

Ok so where to begin!

...........................................................................................................................

Well we have 5 elements SPACE, AIR, FIRE, WATER AND EARTH, we know these exist externally but they also exist within us and our dogs - that saying ‘smile the whole universe is in you’ ? it is and its in the form of nature!

The age old saying “As above so below” comes into its very own when we look at nature.

You might think what the heck am i talking about? well let me explain…..

Today we are talking about the element of

SPACE: (Akasha)

Externally this is our stars, the moon, the sky, the galaxies, our whole universe that exists above us in that vast, expansive space.

How many times as a child did you look up to the sky in sheer wonderment to what was above you? thinking you were so big only to be humbled in an instant at how small you really are. The lullabies sang to us as a child “twinkle twinkle little star” and how we actually used to wish upon a star with sheer delight.

The expansiveness of pure potentiality, even that which scientists have agreed that there are waves of possibilities/potentiality out there.

The moon and its frequencies affect us and our dogs. The moon affects the tides, and our dogs like us and our planet are 80% water so their frequencies have a pretty big effect on us too. These vibrations and frequencies are the highest around full and new moons. Full moons are when we look at detaching and letting go from what no longer serves us, New moons are about new beginnings. There are more births around these times, children in school get hyper so it’s not hard to think how they can affect our best friends who are so much more attuned to these vibrations than we are, there even studies to show increased activity within animals during these times.

Internally space exists within our dogs and within us. It is the actual ‘space' between our cells. Our dogs, like us are basically a ‘meatsack’ (a little crude in description i know but true) in different shapes, sizes and colours - within that covering of flesh is our cells, and then we have our SPACE within the cells where energy and information flows. Just think about that; our dogs and us are filled with pure potentiality - so on a side note - you can be anything you want to be - it is within you!

So how do we use SPACE to connect better to our dogs?

Well there are many pawsibilites!

On your nightly walk - stop to gaze up at the stars and the moon - don't be on your phone or hurry your dog along because its cold or you want to watch the next juicy episode on netflix. Soak up the frequencies of the moon, gaze up in wonderment, at the pure pawtentiality above you. Be humbled by how small you are and if we are small then our ‘problems and pawblems’ must be tiny - so don’t sweat the small stuff!

If you don't sweat the small stuff your dog will be one happy camper :)

Be mindful when it is a new/full moon. If you are into goal setting and intentions use this heightened time to set them. Your dog is your mirror and is a direct reflection of you, so the more your true soul desires and intentions are met the happier you will be and in turn the happier your best friend will be too.

My favourite quote of all time is “your outer world is a reflection of your inner world” so if all you see in your outer world is anger, bitterness and negativity then this is within you - sorry!. If all you see in your outer world is love, compassion and positivity then this is within you too” So what is your outer world telling you? What is you inner universe showing you? Give yourself some SPACE and pay attention.

You dog will reflect this and don't we want our soul companions to have a beautiful pawsitive life?

To have a Happihealthyhound it starts with a HappyhealthyU!

If you use Crystals, bathe them in the moonlight and charge them in the Full Moon.

You can use crystal therapy healing on your dog or crystals collars for healing and wellbeing. There are many fabulous resources out there so do check them out.

There are various holistic remedies that work on Vibrations such as Bach Flower Remedies that help with animal emotional balance.

You can read out more at www.bachflower.com

In Ayurveda ‘Akasha’ (space) also relates to sound. It is from Space that vibrations are formed, when these vibrations hit the ear they create sound.

So use sound to help heal your dog.

Use calming and soothing sounds around your dog especially during stressful times like fireworks.

Find out your dogs Dosha (mind/body type) to see what sounds will soothe their dosha.

A dog with more SPACE element in their dosha (VATA) will do well with grounding sounds such as nature and piano. Pan pipes, wind, ‘spacey’ sounds will create even more space and the noise will be irritating and stressful.

Both me and my dog Scooter are Vata’s and what works well for us is chanting and mantras.

Every morning after our meditation i chant the sounds connected to the Chakras ‘energy wheels’ . I also chant the Gayatri Mantra when out on our daily walk, this keeps me focused, grounded and connected with my best friend. If i’m thinking about what i need to do for the rest of the day i get distracted, stressed even and that will rub off on to my friend - it is his walk, i am his care giver so it it my responsibility to make it the best. walk. ever.

I aspire to be the the person my dog thinks i am and this starts with me giving myself the SPACE in my schedule to meditate and do yoga so i feel grounded and calm ready to be my dogs hero.

I hope you’ve found this first part interesting.

If there is one thing you can take from this today what would it be?

Is there somewhere you can you make SPACE in your life?

How can it benefit you and your dog?

Please join us in conversation over at Happihealthyhounds Namaste With Love Kel and Scoots x ... 0

#ayurveda #dogs #nature elements

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happihealthyu-blog · 10 years ago

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happihealthyu-blog · 10 years ago

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DOsha Know it’s Christmas Time...

It's the final countdown! - (doodledo doodle do do... gotta love a bit of Europe!)

Yes the Big Christmas countdown is here for the big event, there's parties to attend, amazing food to be enjoyed and lots of family joy, love and gratitude to spread around.

So what does all this mean for our Dosha's?

Well, each Dosha deals with all of the above in different ways, this year why not take note of how you feel in certain situations to see how you can adjust and bring balance back into your life during this hectic season.

It might be a big aha time to see how others closet to you, do what they do and act how they act, a revelation over the celebration time!

VATA- The social butterfly

A Balanced Vata loves a good party: it's time for them to do their thing - and spread their magic

It's said that Vata's are LIFE and they are literally the life and soul of the party, they are on everyone's guest list as they love to mingle and have fun.

An unbalanced Vata however can become anxious and overwrought with the number of commitments and decisions to be made, sometimes LIFE can get a little bit too much and rather than feel on top of the world it can feel that the world is on top of them.

What to do to stay balanced:

*meditate - this will ground a Vata like nothing else and put you in a responsive state rather than a reactive state to deal with all the comings and goings.

*quality. Dont spread yourself too thin - quality is better than quantity when it comes to partying.

*eat right. Try and have something on your stomach before you go out, party food such as nuts, pretzels, popcorn, crackers etc can be very drying and will bring on even more dryness within the body so try and avoid too much of these, also eating beforehand will soak up the booze which dries out data's.

*rest! You are the life and soul of the party but you NEED your rest to be amazing again. Vata's get exhausted easily, so know when to call it a night or at least make sure you have time to recover before the next party!

If Vata's were a Christmas decoration they would be a sparkliest of stars

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PITTA- The Entertainer

A Balanced Pitta thrives on a good party: they love the attention and the glamour

It's said that Pitta's are LIGHT and they love to be center of attention and shine bright like a Diamond. They are the heart and soul of any party.

An unbalanced Pitta however can become competitive when it comes to parties and gatherings. They want everything to be perfect and flawless and this can cause irritation and the need to out do others efforts.

What to do to stay balanced:

*go with the flow- not everyones party, dress, our invitation make sparkle like yours, just go with the flow, don't compare and be considerate and compassionate with others.

*go easy. When it comes to booze Pitta's tend do overdo this on occasion, Pitta's have the most injuries when drunk, so be mindful of this.

*gratitude. See the gratitude in everything. Pitta's are focused and driven which quite often means they are not present which means they miss things. Being grateful of each moment keeps you in the present moment and really allows you to enjoy life more.

*eat right. Be a careful on not overdoing the spice of life when it comes to food. Too much spice = too much fire which leads to acid and indigestion.

Plenty of water, coconut water will balance this fire - just remember no ice!.

If Pitta's were a Christmas decoration, they would be the Angel on top of the tree

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KAPHA- The wallflower

A Balanced Kapha enjoys an intimate party, but not too wild! It means they can connect more deeply and spread their love.

It's said that Kapha's are LOVE and they shine when being be able to spread and receive that love to those that mean the world to them.

An unbalanced Kapha however can become really overwhelmed at having to step outside their comfort zone. Also because they feel the LOVE, it can be an emotional time for them.

What to do to stay balanced:

*be adventurous - Kapha's tend to want to hibernate and be a recluse at times, by stepping out of your comfort zone this stimulates your steady, slow energy.

*engage. Don't be that wallflower at the edge of the room, this is a great time to meet new people and be able to spread your love.

*go easy. When it comes to booze, Kapha's can hold a lot of it! be careful of the quantities as the next day your slow Kapha energy can truly stick in.

*dance. Dancing is fantastic exercise for Kapha's, it's fun, it burns calories and gets you away from that wall.

If Kapha's were a Christmas decoration, they would be the tree that holds everything together.

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Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, i hope you see the wonderment, joy and gratitude in all this season has to offer and that 2016 is all you wish it to be. Be the shining light for yourself and others. #bethechangeyouwishtoseeintheworld Love and Light Namaste Kelly :) x

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