Crystals, Rainbows and Healing Thoughts

64 Arts

So we’ve talked about crystals and we’ve discussed meditation, now it’s time to combine them and add a third element: chakras.

Chakras are energy centers that begin at the based of your spine and extend up to the top of your head, totaling seven (though there are minor chakras up into the twenties that correspond to other areas of the body). These centers correspond to areas of the body, have assigned colors and have been matched with certain stones. There are diets based on chakras and healing modalities focused on targeting damaged centers. Chakras are very big in New Agey woo-woo, but even in the non-woo they’re pretty interesting.

Here’s the cliff-notes version:

Name Part of the Body Color Crystal
1st Root Skeleton, lower body Red or black Jasper or hematite
2nd Sacral Bladder, circulation Orange Carnelian
3rd Solar Plexus Adrenal glands, stomach Yellow Tiger eye
4th Heart Immune system, lungs Green with pink Malachite
5th Throat Lymph nodes, neurological Blue Turquoise
6th Third Eye Pituitary glands, central nervous systems Indigo Lapis lazuli
7th Crown Pineal gland Violet Amethyst

And that really is a nutshell-summary, but you get the picture, right?

Notice how the colors from the root to the crown follow the acronym for the color spectrum? Good old ROY G. BIV, learned it in childhood and find that it’s still useful!

One of the first guided meditations I participated in used this color progression and visualizing a staircase as it’s main vehicle. It was a lengthy meditation, nice and slow so that each color had time to become fully materialize in the mind’s eye before moving on. One of the more amusing parts of the meditation was at the end, in the 8th level (pure white light and the destination of this particular meditation) when the guide mentioned that once you were comfortable with the stairs you could hurry the process up–use the escalator or elevator on future trips.

This turned out the be useful because future sessions, on my own this time, I would move faster through the colors to my destination.  Sometimes, though, I would get stuck on a certain color. It wouldn’t materialize or I couldn’t hold onto the color with my mind and I’d slip into a different color, usually the one just before the troubled one.

Turns out, this is a way of finding chakra imbalances and, some believe, pinpointing areas of disease (sometimes mentioned and thought of as dis-ease to highlight the out-of-whack-ness of the body). Knowing where the problem is can help you work through it and resolve any imbalances or ailments.

Which is where the crystals and colors come in. Skilled chakra therapists can pinpoint issues, apply the right crystals and bring things into alignment through energy manipulation. Depending on your self-awareness (which, hey, you’re considering your chakras and travelling through them–that’s pretty well on the path!) you can begin to align your chakras, yourself, or at least have a clue where to start when you visit your regular doctor for a persistent issue.

50 Shots of America–Michigan

Sips
Talk to the Hand

Talk to the Hand

On the cruise last January one of the couples we shared our dinner table with was from Michigan. The demonstrated exactly where by holding up their right hand and using it as a visual aid. Apparently this is a regular thing for Michiganders as the lower peninsula does resemble a mitten. (The UP–Upper Peninsula–is sometimes considered the bridge.) Because of this, the name for today’s cocktail came before anything else:

Talk to the Hand

4 fresh Cherries, 3 stemmed
3/4 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz Kirschwasser
1.5 oz Ginger Ale*

Muddle the 3 stemmed cherries with the vodka and kirsch in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake like your trying to keep warm while ice-fishing. Add the ginger ale and stir a few times to combine and allow the ginger ale to cool, then strain into a chilled cordial glass. Garnish with the remaining cherry.

*Use Vernor’s for authenticity. Next best would be some ginger beer for flavor, last on the list being the dry-er (read as, less sweet) ginger ales from the grocery store. Still acceptable if that’s all you can find, though.

Even though the first European settlers of The Great Lakes State were French Catholics (a nice, peaceful trio of Jesuit missions that actually got along fairly well with the Native Americans of the time) who helped establish the peninsula as a major fur-trading center, Germans have become the largest single ancestral group in the centuries since then. They’re also the largest producer of cherries in the country–hence the kirsch.

My research turned up the fun fact that a Michigan pharmacist was the guy behind Vernor’s ginger ale. Thanks to progress you can find it outside it’s original area (even down here in Florida from time to time). What made Vernor’s different was the extra fizziness, the sweet taste and the souped-up  ginger taste. It was even an integral part of the ice cream soda known as the Boston Cooler (which has nothing to do with town in Massachusetts): ice cream and Vernor’s. Yum!

Deep Breaths and Shallow Thoughts

64 Arts

In other words: Meditation 101

I used to be horrible at meditation. If I couldn’t stop my mind from running down 45,000 different tracks when I was tired and going to bed how on earth was I supposed to calm my mind enough to focus (or not, depending on  how you look at it) during the day when I’m running at double that?

The answer? Start slow!

Simple and Quick

I participated in one of Kimberly Wilson’s teleclasses a while back and she began the call with a simple meditation. Oh, great, I’m thinking, I am so out of my element. Then she led us through it and I was amazed: even I, Miss Type-A high-speed brain could manage this.

And here’s how it worked. Sit with your legs crossed, hands on knees, and with each deep inhale think the work “let.” At each exhale, long and slow, breathe out the word “go.” Let. Go. Rinse and repeat for a couple of minutes.

That’s all there was to it and it really did relax me, and allowed me to focus on the teleclass instead of all the other things I could have been doing for that hour.

Something else I learned–though weather it was on the call,  from a yoga podcast or if I read it somewhere I cannot remember–was the theory of hand placement when meditating. You’ve probably seen images of yogis meditating with palms up, thumbs and middle fingers touching? Right. Supposedly palms up denotes being open to enlightenment, information or whatever whereas palms down is a go-away gesture. And go-away isn’t a bad thing, by the way, it can be very helpful if what you’re after is decompression or internal balance.

There are all sorts of reasons to meditate, after all.

The 3-Part Breath

Another technique that can be done quickly, anywhere or anytime, is the 3-part or yogic breath.  It’s an instant centering mechanism and can quickly diffuse internal emotion to help with tense situations or decision making moments. It’s like instant clarity.

First let’s do a teensy bit of anatomy. You need to be able to identify 3 parts of your torso: you chest (ribcage area) is pretty simple, your belly (another easy one) and your diaphragm. The diaphragm is a muscle that sits just under your ribcage and above your belly. If you’ve ever had singing lessons or played a wind instrument you probably know good and well where the diaphragm is.

The 3-part breath is accomplished by breathing into these areas in turn over a slow count of 4, holding and then releasing them in reverse order. So you begin your breath in the belly, letting it expand, moving into the middle of your torso as it fills and, finally, letting the chest fill as it raises and your shoulders open up. When you exhale, release the air from  your chest, first, then your diaphragm, followed by your stomach. Repeating this 2 or 3 times is a great stress reliever in traffic or any other charged situation.

While doing this the other day I realized it has a lot in common with isolations used in belly dancing (undulations and rolls, specifically) so you can consider it a mini workout, too!

Finding a Guide

When you want to go deeper into meditation but still feel uncertain about your ability to shut out all the distractions, guided meditations are the way to go. Usually combined with some soft background music, the guide will gently walk you through relaxing and quieting your mind. This frequently involves visualizations (staircases, green glades, waterfalls and other imagery). Don’t worry, though, a good guide will give you all the info you need to get the right picture in you mind.

I’ve had some incredible experience with this sort of mediation including some very emotional moments (doing this in private is highly recommended).

Since you have someone else’s voice to concentrate on, these sessions can be longer–anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour–with the likelihood of you being distracted greatly diminished. These are also the meditations that like to focus on a specific goal: detoxing, inner peace, releasing negative energies–even weight loss or smoking cessation ( the usual cautions apply as with any drastic lifestyle changes: take it slow, give yourself time and stick with it through any wobbles).

While you can find a lot of free mediation resources online (there are several podcasts available through iTunes, for instance) I had the synchronistic joy of meeting someone last week who deals with binaural meditation–a combination of specific rhythms and tones along with Andy‘s voice leading you to absolute relaxation. I hadn’t heard of this sort of meditation before, but after trying out the 20 minute sample meditation he offers (through Binaural Journeys) I’m definitely keen to know more. I was so relaxed–it’s like getting a massage but without having a stranger feel you up!

Meditation offers a lot of benefits: relaxation, clarity of thought, an aid in lifestyle changes, spiritual enlightenment. You can do a quick meditation to set an intention for your day or use it to wind down at the end of a busy one. It can also be useful in healing, which we’ll talk more about in the next post.

Have you ever tried to meditate? What was your experience with it?

A Salad Without Scandal

Nibbles
Watergate Salad

Watergate Salad

I’m so excited, I’ve already got 2 recipes to try out in my hunt for the essential summer dessert!

The first comes from an old high school friend via Facebook and it’s fitting in a way: I didn’t know what it was really called but I remember having it on occasion from the Shoney’s buffet when Mom would take us on kid’s nights (single mom with a teenager and 2 young boys, gotta take those nights when you can find ’em!).

Watergate Salad

2 pkg Pistachio Pudding Mix
1 20-oz can Crushed Pineapple
5 oz (half a bag) Mini-Marshmallows
1 8-oz tub Whipped Topping

Gently drain the crushed pineapple–just whatever is on the top of the pineapple mush; too much liquid will make a soupy salad, not enough and you’ll have paste. Mix the pineapple and pudding mixes together, add in marshmallows then fold in whipped topping. Refrigerate a couple of hours to overnight. Top each portion with a maraschino cherry or some chopped walnuts.

Back then we just called it Fluff and it came in green and pink. I didn’t eat it all the time and, honestly, I won’t be making this too very often because whoa is it sweet! Still, it’s nice and fluffy and sugar-laden, perfect for a pot-luck or picnic. It’s fairly stable* considering there’s whipped topping and not milk involved, though you should do your best to keep it cold–wilting salads just aren’t cool.

Oh, man, that’s a really bad pun. But a really good salad.

I’ve got a cranberry-raspberry confection coming up next week but whose recipe will there be to test after that? Why not throw your recipe into the ring-mold and see what happens?

[*ETA: After 2 days in the fridge the marshmallows will start to become one with the fluff–don’t make this too far ahead if you like your mini-mallows a bite apart from the rest. Maybe this is why I never remembered there being marshmallows in the restaurant version?]

Limoncello Diary-Week 3

Sips
Limoncello after 3 weeks

Limoncello after 3 weeks

Not much difference, huh? I suppose it’s just doing it’s think but…

Hey, 3 weeks and we add the sugar syrup and see what’s what. Until then it will occupy space on the bar and remind me that time is ticking–

This week went *so* incredibly fast, it’s almost August!

Anyone else have their own Limoncello going? Are you doing it the long way, an abbreviated version or did you just give up and buy a bottle instead?