Being Healing: In Celebration of Paryushana*

At this very auspicious Eight Days of Forgiveness Celebration* with Jains worldwide focused energetically on purifying, letting go of past mistakes and hurts and appreciating the path of Ahimsa (Reverance for All Life, I'm eager to share with you some of the compassion-inspired writings of a new friend. Paryushana can be translated as - coming close to ones self. Here is the first of a three-part series.


I am happy to introduce guest blogger Warren Grossman whose series of essays about his continual concerns resonated deeply with me (as did his powerful book)-- the title of the complilation Being Healing - magnetically attracted me - and with his permission, I share the title essay here with you.

I met this kindred spirit through my work with Earthing-- a delightful connection made through my enthusiastic sharing the Earthing products with members of my extended family of choice.

I was recently talking by phone with 'sister' Grace Ann (HorseSense at Work) from Los Cruces New Mexico. We were making plans to have a reunion at her folks' in S.Hills. During the conversation, she recognized that a book she bought - and not yet read -- resonated with the experience of grounding that I and her parents had been sharing with her -- Because Grace Ann - was truly listening - and IS my sister - she offered to bring the book to the 'burgh for me -- and so, my friends, keep following us here, for the documenting of the rest of the history-making. I am excitedly anticipating: many many blessings - and more gifts to come from all these connections - celebrating the inner healer more deeply and widely than ever -- so far!!

So enjoy the messages from Warren below -- and do share your comments with us on your experience of healing - being healing. He introduces his essays and philosophy like this:

I am concerned because I live in an irrelevant culture,
a culture lost in fantasies of commerce, fashion, and technology.

Irrelevant means out of touch with life, here and now.
Here on earth.
Now, while we are destroying the earth.

The compilation of essays titled Being Healing is about the embodiment of healing.

Healers might be parents, teachers, managers, neighbors, physicians,
nurses, ancillary medical professionals, or alternative healers
anyone who contributes love to those in need.

A healer's task is to become simpler and more loving.
This will facilitate others in becoming more whole.
That is what healing is,
whether in the form of conventional medicine
or the transfer of energy from one person to another.

He says that these essays are organized around the profound or maybe simple experience of realizing that

I am part of nature
I can love
I can help to improve the lives of others

'Resonate with you? I'm eager to hear your comments.
Being Healing

I was mistaken,

For more than a decade, I had committed myself to being a healer.

I learned how to access natures energy,

to divert it through my heart,

and to choose to love my patients

in the manner that would heal their symptoms.


I was mistaken.

My calling was never to do healing.

My calling was to cultivate the use of my heart,

and then I could be healing.


The phrase be healing is grammatically incorrect.

Our language expresses our culture.

Our culture cannot have words for an idea it lacks.


Improving ourselves, becoming healing, results from

loving more,

being sensitive to nature,

and forgiving when angered or frightened.


Without applying ourselves to these three challenges,

no technique, theory, or good intentions will evoke healing.

When we actively commit

to loving, forgiving, and honoring nature

we improve.

Then, the object of our attention will experience healing,

for we have become a healthier social environment for that person,

at least for the moment.


Illness, pain, fear, and sadness are signs of

not orienting oneself to nature and love.


Anger and fear can easily occur,

but can be quickly soothed

by loving.

Be healing.

Others will be restored in your presence.


Many Species - One Planet - One Future
I See You ~ Namaste ~
Yours in Wellness, Gratitude, Vitality and the Rhythm of Nature,
Suzen Sharda Segall
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:© Suzen Sharda Segall 2010, CelebratingtheInnerHealer.com http://www.wellnesstraining.com/ http://www.celebratingtheinnerhealer.blogspot.com/ Suzen Sharda Segall, Wellness Personal Trainer/Consultant, designer and facilitator of BodyArts Therapeutics, has provided an integrated approach to health and wellness for a wide variety of populations, internationally,for over thirty-five years

Ahinsa is Life: Celebrating the Eight Days of Foregiveness

Introducing guest blogger,with a transcription of a talk by Pujya Gurudev Chitrabhanuji, my mentor for over forty years. He is the spiritual leader of seekers of peace world wide, who embrace Ahimsa, a main tenant of the ancient Jain tradition; a message most relevant for our times. Some Jains conclude the celebration Thursday evening. I'll participate at the Hindu-Jain Temple in Murraysville PA.

“As we meditate we come to know ourselves. We discover the sacred beauty of life.”

Ahinsa is not a philosophy. Ahinsa is not a religion. Ahinsa is a feeling of life. Many people say, “Ahinsa means don’t hurt anybody. Don’t kill.” That is one meaning, but it is secondary. The first meaning is: “Don’t hurt yourself.” When you hurt some body, you are already violent inside; you lose the feeling of amity. Ahinsa is the road from enmity to amity. From hostility to love! Ahinsa is a subtle thing. It cannot be grasped unless we go deep into ourselves. As we meditate we come to know ourselves. We discover the sacred beauty of life. Unless we have that experience, we may use the word Ahinsa, but it will only be lip service. It will just come from language; it will not emanate from experience. To practice Ahinsa, one has to remove the veil of ignorance about oneself. One has to experience life.

Once we have the experience, we make an inner commitment to practice Ahinsa in three areas: with our actions; with our words; and with our thoughts.


Every night we review our day and ask, “Did I harm myself? Did I have any negative thoughts and feelings toward anybody? Did I criticize anybody? Did I judge anybody?” As we develop the tenderness in ourselves, we see the tenderness in others and become more compassionate toward others. Oncewe see the sacred beauty of life in ourselves, we see that sacred beauty in others. We do not see that person as a man or a woman or a person from a certain sect orreligion. All these obstacles evaporate. Unless we see beyond the barriers, there won’t be peace in the world.


We may talk about peace; but inside we go on creating separation. Some say, “My religion is best; itis the only true religion. And, if you don’t start to practice my religion, you will go to hell.” Such dogmatism and bigotry is also a form of violence. When we practice Ahinsa,we try to understand what others are saying, what they are conveying, what they arefeeling. We listen beyond the words. Once you start practicing, your life becomes an inspiration. Wherever you go your eyes will speak; your feelings will speak; your words will speak; your actions will speak. And people will be changed. Not by your words, but by what they see. When we experience the sacred beauty of life, we experience peace. We inspire peace. Then, there will be peace. There will be peace.

Ahinsa and a meditative mind go hand in hand. Meditation is seeing things as they are. And when you see, you feel and you experience. A child is not thinking; it is experiencing. That is why it does not think that you are old or young, beautiful or ugly. It does not discriminate. It sees life. It connects with life. In meditation we get in touch with life; its depth, its joy, its beauty, its ecstasy. This is our source. But when we think, the mind either worries about the future or has regrets about the past. So, the present slips through our fingers. In meditation, we just feel and live. We are in tune with the experience of life. Life is the experience. Life is not permanent. Life is change. Whatever action comes, it comes from our source. That source we experience and expand in meditation. We tune in. We connect to ourselves, our body, our cells, our vibrations. And we progressively evolve in this change.

If we look at a ray of the sun, one ray, it is white and bright. But if it enters a prism, it becomes like a rainbow. The ray shows only one color, but now in the prism it appears in seven colors. What happened? It isa connection. The drop of water is hanging on the leaf. The sun ray touches it and you see the rainbow in thesmall drop of water You don’t see color in the rain, but there in that small drop it sparkles like a rainbow. The connection makes the change. When we meditate and have pure awareness, we see our own light. We see our own rainbow.

As meditators, we let the addiction to control melt away. We do not live in the future or in the regretful past, but in the pleasant present. Every moment life isvpulsating and moving. We connect each day with oursource and feel the dawn of life. If Ahinsa and a meditative state go hand in hand, then Ahinsa also opens us to the humanity within us and in others. One evening Tagore was writing at a table near the window in the light of his table lamp. He wrote for an hour and a half and it was getting late; he became tired and turned off the lamp to go to sleep. To his
surprise, Tagore saw that the room was flooded with moonlight. The moonlight had been in his room for hours, but he had not noticed. Only when he switched off the table lamp, did he see. And he writes, “My table lamp ego did not allow the God-like moon to flood into my life.” As long as we have the small ego lamp, we don’t see the flood of cool, natural light; our ego looks only for that which confirms our beliefs and ideas. “Oh, he speaks of something different from my
religion, my belief, my ideas, and my dreams...I don’t want to hear that.” But if you turn off the ego, you realize the very presence of God within you. Once this door opens, you become open. You can listen to others and learn. Everywhere you can see many viewpoints.

In the partnership of love and marriage, you don’t treat your partner as an object of pleasure. Your partner is a partner sharing love; is a partner sharing feeling; is a partner sharing your divinity. And when you look into his or her eyes, you realize that you don’t want to hurt your partner with criticism, finding fault, or blaming the family, You want to understand.
When people are not aware of who they are, they go on criticizing, pinching, nagging each other. They do it in the name of perfection, in the name of improvement, in the name of caring, in the name of helping. But violence is present because there is no understanding. No reverence. No love. When we have negativity and hate, do we feel joy? Do we feel love? Do we feel pleasantness? Do our eyes smile? Do our limbs dance? No! Negativity stifles, constricts and
confines.

In one Indian town, a woman came to see me. She told me that her mother was sick and wanted me to come and bless her. But I saw that this woman was very old so I asked, “You have a mother?” Yes,” she said. I was curious and asked, “How old are you?” She answered, “I am ninety.” Ninety? I was surprised. A ninety-year old daughter comes to take me to her mother? I asked, “How old is your mother?” “She’s one hundred and ten,” the woman told me. So, I went there. I saw. The mother’s skin was so soft and tender. I touched her and it was like touching the holiest, highest, purest soul. So peaceful! I asked, “What is the secret of your longevity?” And she said, “I love everyone. I don’t hate anybody. When anything happens I tell myself it
is my karma. Nobody is responsible for my pain. I am responsible for my pain.”

When we feel the divinity, we can feel the cool, refreshing light of love and joy. We understand our humanity; we understand neighbors, family, people, and the world in which we are living.

Love and Blessings,

Chitrabhanu

Many Species - One Planet - One Future
I See You ~ Namaste ~
Yours in Wellness, Gratitude, Vitality and the Rhythm of Nature,
Suzen Sharda Segall
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:© Suzen Sharda Segall 2010, CelebratingtheInnerHealer.com http://www.wellnesstraining.com/ http://www.celebratingtheinnerhealer.blogspot.com/ Suzen Sharda Segall, Wellness Personal Trainer/Consultant, designer and facilitator of BodyArts Therapeutics, has provided an integrated approach to health and wellness for a wide variety of populations, internationally,for over thirty-five years

More Return Mountain: Return to the Garden

Great news! Due to iffy weather Thursday the 25th - we postponed this introduction to Qigong - Chinese Yoga standing exercises - and I have another opportunity to share it with you in the most uplifting environment - The weather promises to be beautiful Saturday the 27th. Hara breathing......mindful walking.......centering and grounding with gentle standing stretches and balances practiced for thousands of years in China and Korea to promote radiant health and spiritual development.

Even if you are not in the 'burgh, you can see a glimpse of the garden as well as my demo of The Tai Ji Dance of the Five Elements (the moving meditative form we practiced last Saturday)


How cool is this - 24-7 cyber-chi with me in the comfort of your own home/garden -- even in your pj's!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF4C_IznfXQ

Also: Those bringing a container will receive a clipping of a luscious water plant from Victor's Koi Pond -- you will have a wonderful vital momento to keep the garden experience alive with you at home!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xPejuPvKg


(sorry I've been technically challenged to actually place the videos on this blog entry. When you can take fifteen minutes or less - do watch -- I designed it so that with even two minutes of your time - you can benefit with some centering and grounding for yourself - on call!!

Many Species - One Planet - One Future
I See You ~ Namaste ~
Yours in Wellness, Gratitude, Vitality and the Rhythm of Nature,
Suzen Sharda Segall
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:© Suzen Sharda Segall 2010, CelebratingtheInnerHealer.com http://www.wellnesstraining.com/ http://www.celebratingtheinnerhealer.blogspot.com/ Suzen Sharda Segall, Wellness Personal Trainer/Consultant, designer and facilitator of BodyArts Therapeutics, has provided an integrated approach to health and wellness for a wide variety of populations, internationally,for over thirty-five years

End of Summer Self-Care Saturdays

From the Wellness Calender for the 'burgh: Self-Care Summer Saturdays
with BodyArts Therapeutics:


The first one is a collaboration with Patty Lemar at The Waldorf School on S. Winebiddle Street Saturday August 6th from 9 am - 5 pm

We've planned a fun day filled with fresh discovery of: local, organic foods, simple cooking, restorative yoga, connecting with one another, reconnecting with ourselves and our earth. Lunch and healthy high tea plus a resource packet are included in the package.

The second one, is scheduled for September 10th 9:15am - 4:00 pm

in Monroeville's Green Wholistic Awareness Center on Cedar's Campus.

I'll introduce my YeSSS Method of Restorative Yoga in a two hour morning session. Each participant will have prescriptive suggestions on how to feel better using this system - taking home some simple, easy to use techniques for first-aid bothered by pain, stiffness or fatigue.

Mid-day we'll enjoy a plant-based locally produced organic lunch with introduction to mindful eating practices.

After enjoying a mindful walk on the property - complete with permaculture project, I'll guide a standing and seated series of Chinese Yoga (qigong) and Hara breathing. My new signature serenading will accompany both the morning and afternoon sessions and if we're lucky the Gong may even be sounded by my colleague, Kundalini Yogi, Satyajeet Singh.


Please note: At each of these events, I will introduce participants to the two extraodinary technologies I've been sharing in BodyArts Therapeutics that are having a profound impact on almost everyone who's experienced them. I will have some on-hand for purchase.

To register for the Saturday Self-Care Samplers go to meet-up open yoga

September 10th at The Holistic Awareness Center Monroeville

Reserve by September 2nd for special discount

Please Keep hydrating! I love fresh lemon or lime halves squeezed in my water - and coconut water for instant refreshment - how about you?

Return Mountain: Return to The Garden

Get Grounded, Centered and Joyful with Fresh Air QiGong and

The Tai Ji Dance of the Five Elements

Summer seemed to be flyin' by and I felt the urgency to plan a couple of reunions in Pittsburgh for Tai Ji Players who enjoyed times past with me in Fox Chapel, Oakmont, Verona, Berkeley Springs, SouthSide Slopes and Aspinwall wonderful community park settings, and for new-comers who'd like to put their toe (and then both feet!) on the earth with us.

I had a very unique invitation to be hosted at the Feng Shui Garden Sanctuary of special friends of the arts, the children, the earth; who are heart-centered community-builders and meditators. (I could really go on!)

So if you are nearby, you are invited to go barefoot and get grounded in my playshops in the 'burgh and I encourage those who are elsewhere in the world to do the same in your own yard/cement porch. Simply lying on the grass - or sitting and reading - barefooted are effective practices - if you can stay there at least forty minutes (the recommended time researchers have stated)

In Victor and Vincenne's feng shui garden, Saturday Aug. 20 and Thursday Aug. 25th 9:30 am I'll be guiding some specific favorite centering and grounding simple exercises - from qigong and energy medicine and sharing The Tai Ji Dance of the Five Elements that has served me well for more than thirty years.

Breathing in the natural beauty, love and light the guided standing barefoot practice will surely be inspired and inspiring - with dear friend Victor Beltran posed behind the video camera. So stay tuned for a few video productions I will finally have to share - and geography - space and time will not again be limiting the opportunities to share the practice!!


Many Species - One Planet - One Future
I See You ~ Namaste ~
Yours in Wellness, Gratitude, Vitality and the Rhythm of Nature,
Suzen Sharda Segall
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:© Suzen Sharda Segall 2010, CelebratingtheInnerHealer.com http://www.wellnesstraining.com/ http://www.celebratingtheinnerhealer.blogspot.com/ Suzen Sharda Segall, Wellness Personal Trainer/Consultant, designer and facilitator of BodyArts Therapeutics, has provided an integrated approach to health and wellness for a wide variety of populations, internationally,for over thirty-five years

Return Mountain: Immersing ourselves in Self-Care

The old people came literally to love the soil. They sat on the ground with the feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the Earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with their bare feet on the sacred Earth. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing.

Ota Kte (Luther Standing Bear)
Lakota Sioux writer, educator, and tribal leader

Well, what a wonderful suprise vacation I'm beginning tomorrow! Invited to share the driving to Lenox, MA for a few days of R and R at Kripalu Institute - a breathtaking natural setting in the Berkshires - where I can practice what I preach... Great timing really, as I'm planning special events every Saturday in the 'burgh - Self-Care Summer Saturdays in the City........rich with the bounty of summer vitality - in a splendid variety of venues for my BodyArts fans.

I am deepening my personal practice at Kripalu communing with the trees and earth sparked this week having taken in Warren Grossman's book as well as his set of essays.
No doubt the upcoming August BodyArts workshops I'll lead will be sparkling with some fresh jewels from these gifts.


The first Self-Care Saturday in August is a collaboration with Patty Lemar--another passionate foodie who loves sharing and encouraging others with easy prep yummy gluten and casein-free organic foods. We'll all prepare lunch together and even a healthy high tea. We're even including exploring the East Liberty Farmers' Market and there will be some special grounding outside of The Waldorf School -

The second week-end's natural setting will give us the opportunity to be inside a Green space - and outside mindful walking enjoying the unique new permaculture project . Both this August 13th and August 27th - similar programs -different venues offer a great way to 'put your toe in the water' and get an introduction to BodyArts Therapeutics with the creator of The YeSSS Method of Restorative Yoga plus Chinese Yoga (qi - pronounced 'chee' - gong) and The Tai Ji Dance of the Five Elements. Also included is a guided mindful eating practice and a Wellness Resource packet.

During the floor work, using special props, each participant receives prescriptive suggestions on how to feel better using this system - taking home some simple, easy to use techniques for first-aid if bothered by pain, stiffness or fatigue.


And although not a full day immersion, the Return Mountain: Return to the Garden two hour events also in the 'burgh, promises Getting Grounded, Centered and Joyful with Fresh Air QiGong and The TaiJi Dance of the Five Elements in the pristine Feng Shui garden complete with waterfall Koi fish pond, and delightful hospitality by the visionary artist who designed it. Those who dare go barefooted will experience a new dimension in literally re-connecting to nature...those who re not, I promise alternative direct connections...(ya just gotta be there!) (August 20 and 25)


Each of these Self-Care Saturdays are recommended for seasoned practitioners as well as new-comers.

Stay tuned for reports of my adventures in paradise (Kripalu) and later on from participants in these guided Self-care explorations Celebrating the Inner Healer - the oneness of nature. And do tell of yours!!

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal

and give strength to body and soul. John Muir

Many Species - One Planet - One Future
I See You ~ Namaste ~
Yours in Wellness, Gratitude, Vitality and the Rhythm of Nature,
Suzen Sharda Segall
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:© Suzen Sharda Segall 2010, CelebratingtheInnerHealer.com http://www.wellnesstraining.com/ http://www.celebratingtheinnerhealer.blogspot.com/ Suzen Sharda Segall, Wellness Personal Trainer/Consultant, designer and facilitator of BodyArts Therapeutics, has provided an integrated approach to health and wellness for a wide variety of populations, internationally,for over thirty-five years

Meet Nomi and Friends: Fresh Raw ideas FYI

You might think that as a raw food author and chef that she would think she had "tasted it all". But much to her delight,Nomi Shannon was tantalized by many of the recipes she discovered in inviting contributions from her universe. Adding several new spices, oils, and flavors to her own recipes, she said 'I was like a little kid in a candy shop!My already yummy marinara sauce became ambrosial by adding a few drops of essential oil of basil!)'

Try these recipes yourself and *dazzle* your taste buds.

Cantaloupe Cactus Cooler
(by Cecilia Kinzie, from her chapter in What do Raw Fooders Eat?)


Yield: About 32 ounces

1 Nopal Cactus Leaf (spines removed)
2 cups coconut water
2 cups chopped Cantaloupe
2-4 drops liquid Stevia
squeeze of lime

Carefully remove spines from the nopal cactus and chop
into pieces.Add all ingredients to the blender except for
the lime. Taste for desired sweetness and top off with a
squeeze of lime.

Luscious mango-cucumber soup with fresh citrus oil
(by Amy Bacheller)


Yield: 4 cups, 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes


2 mangos peeled and cut in chunks
2 cucumbers peeled and cut in chunks
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
¼ cup coconut water, filtered water or orange juice
¼ teaspoon Himalyan salt
¼ cup mint leaves
2-4 drops 'Citrus Fresh' Young Living Essential Oils
¼ cup sprigs of mint for garnish


Blend all but last two ingredients until smooth and creamy,
adding more liquid if needed. Add Citrus Fresh essential
oil to taste and blend briefly.


Garnish with mint leaves and serve. This yummy soup can be
stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up
to five days.


Raw Coconut Yogurt
(by Amy Bacheller)

3 cups Thai young coconut meat (approx. four coconuts)
½ cup Thai young coconut water
¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon probiotic powder (I use Ejuva)
2 drops Ginger Young Living Essential Oil
1 drop Nutmeg Young Living Essential Oil


Blend coconut meat and coconut water until smooth, creamy
and slightly warm, adding more water as needed. Add
remaining ingredients, blend briefly. Pour the mixture into
a covered quart glass container, leaving room for expansion.


Place in a warm area, covered with a cloth. Allow to rest
for about 12 hours, depending on the desired tartness.
Store in a covered glass container in the refrigerator for
up to one week.


Comments: Try flavoring with different Essential oils such
as Cinnamon or Clove. Sweeten with Young Living Stevia
extract. Mix the yogurt with fruit and top with granola
or chopped nuts.


Both Amy's recipes above are adapted from the eBook: 'Using
Essential Oils in Raw Cuisine' by Amy Bacheller.

Many Species - One Planet - One Future
I See You ~ Namaste ~
Yours in Wellness, Gratitude, Vitality and the Rhythm of Nature,
Suzen Sharda Segall
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:© Suzen Sharda Segall 2010, CelebratingtheInnerHealer.com http://www.wellnesstraining.com/ http://www.celebratingtheinnerhealer.blogspot.com/ Suzen Sharda Segall, Wellness Personal Trainer/Consultant, designer and facilitator of BodyArts Therapeutics, has provided an integrated approach to health and wellness for a wide variety of populations, internationally,for over thirty-five years




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