Sept 2012 Essential Wellness

september 2012 • resources for inner peace, health and healing

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2012

Minnesota

Open Weekends Aug. 18th - Sept. 30th, 2012, Labor Day & Festival Friday Sept. 28 | 9am to 7pm | (952) 445 - 7361 www.renaissancefest.com

Free Parking! september 2012

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staff

inside september 2012

essential wellness digital magazine Twin Cities Wellness aka Essential Wellness 4270 Honey Tree Pass Danbury, WI 54830 Publishers Dee & Lynn LaFroth ADVERTISING Dee LaFroth sales@esswellness.com 715.259.3047 EDITOR Lynn LaFroth info@esswellness.com ART DIRECTOR Sunshine Sevigny WRITING SUBMISSIONS Click here for guidelines RECEIVE ESSENTIAL WELLNESS BY EMAIL Send us your email to receive twice-monthly Celebrate Wellness e-news and Monthly digital Essential Wellness info@esswellness.com

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8-13 Yoga practice is more than just the poses

BY LAURA ERDMAN-LUNTZ 16-25 Learning the yoga of humility

BY ERIN HOFFMAN 28-31 Authentic Movement taps into inner wellspring of life force

BY ROXANNA RUTTER 34-37 Tai chi helps us realign and reconnect to our true nature

BY COLIN SNOW 38-39 HEALTHY RECIPES Roasted Eggplant With Tahini Dressing

BY SARA TENENBEIN

september 2012

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Therapeutic Coaching速 Certification Program The Meta Institute Presents:

Therapeutic Coaching速 Certification Program, an intensive 15 month, weekend program that brings together the best and most effective aspects of life coaching and therapy. Learn the newest cutting edge skills and techniques to assist people in achieving their goals This program will offer you skills from a wide variety of fields such as: If you are interested in adding to your present skills or considering a career change, call for an information package and application.

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Free Information Session, Thurs., Sept. 13 (6:30-8:30) please call to register

Reiki Trainings & Other Workshops Reiki I

Intuitive Readings by Mary Beth Tracy

Reiki II

Individual, Couples, & Family Coaching Available

Sept. 15, 2012 (Sat. 9am-5pm) $75

30, 45, 60 minute readings by appointment only

Sept. 16, 2012 (Sun. 10am-6pm) $150

Reiki Master Teacher

Oct. 2 & 3, 2012 (Tues./Wed. 2-part evening class 6:30-10pm) $300

Office and Classroom Space Available

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5121 Winnetka Ave., Suite 200 New Hope, MN 55428

september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES

Yoga practice is more than just the poses

Y

OGA IS so popular these days.

The last official statistic on record estimated that over 15 billion Americans practice, and that was four years ago. Yoga is everywhere—athletic clubs, corporations, yoga studios, even in the streets, with our local Guerrilla Yogis group showing up in parking lots. But what most people think of as yoga—the practice of doing physical poses—is but one aspect of this ancient art. In fact, yoga is an entire life philosophy, a way of being that deepens our experience of life.

THE FOUR PILLARS OF YOGA

A well-rounded yoga practice is comprised of four parts.

Think of it as a chair with four legs, each of the legs having equal value. The poses represent one leg, not more or less important than the other three, which are meditation, breathing, and the study of yogic philosophy (such as compassion and truthfulness, among others).

Together, these four aspects of the practice work on all aspects of our being. In yogic thinking, our bodies have five layers, or koshas, each serving a different purpose for physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual.

Continued Page 12...

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BY LAURA ERDMAN-LUNTZ

september 2012

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“Leadership is not just what you do.

It is who you are. Your interior condition —everything from your emotional state to your breath—has an influence on your communication with others.”

—Wendy Morris, MA, Wellbeing Leadership Faculty

Continued Page 12...

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Preparing for

12-12-12

3-Day Pleiadian Seminar with Christine Day Minneapolis, MN - October 12th, 13th & 14th, 2012 In this unique 3-day event, you will: • Develop a greater awareness of your connection to the Universal energies and the cellular birthing that is now taking place within you • Activate a unique crystalline restructuring within your body for the purpose of realigning/reuniting you to your Lemurian heritage. You will move into a fully awakened alliance with the Pleiadian and Lemurian energies

Christine Day - Pleiadian Ambassador

“The planetary energies are moving up. This is affecting all of us, including me. The transformation of humanity has begun.

The Pleiadians have announced that 12-12-12 is a pivotal moment in the history of mankind. On this date, a portal will open to provide an opportunity to reconnect with the Lemurian energy that is part of our heritage.

The Crop Circles at this time will begin transmitting multi-dimensional communications to each one of us, which will create an activation of individual energetic templates for our awakening.”

• In this Seminar you will develop communion with the Crop Circles, which, in addition to assisting you in realigning to your Lemurian heritage, will also activate a new emergence of your sacred Self • Work within the Master Crystal Vortex to birth your new crystalline structure. This activates through your DNA strands, and brings you into a deeper communion with the earth’s crystals • Initiate a connection between your own personal crystal and the Master Crystal Vortex that will enable you to receive your own sacred program • Work with a new series of sacred processes and tools, incorporating sacred sounds to accelerate your evolution

Friday 12th: 12 noon – 6:30 pm Saturday 13th: 9:00am – 5:30 pm Sunday 14th: 9:00am – 4:00 pm Venue: Ramada Mall of America Hotel, Blomington, MN 55425 Price: $312.00 (includes CD)

For more information or to register, contact Serena Poisson iusereiki@cox.net Tel: 619-429-4712 september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES Yoga practice continued...

All of these layers need tending to best support us in our daily lives. Each can get cluttered. We can easily understand this idea with the physical body. “Clutter” shows up as physical tension, low energy or general lack of well-being. When our body is fitter and healthier, we feel better and have the energy to do more. The other layers work similarly.

A “well-rounded” yoga practice is one in which we are supporting all of these layers. Just as the poses work the physical body, meditation works the mental body, breathing the energetic body, philosophy the emotional body, and all of them together help us to enter our spiritual body. Let’s look at each one in more detail.

MEDITATION IMPACTS OUR MIND

Meditation: Then comes our mind. While we get a taste of the peaceful benefits yoga can give us when we are doing our asanas, it is only with a regular meditation practice that we enjoy deep mental cleansing and can access the superb calm that results.

BREATHING SHAPES OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM

Breathing: A yogic breathing practice is called Pranayama, and involves things like slowing our breath, enjoying the pauses at the end of the inhales and exhales, invoking the parasympathetic nervous system response (“Relaxation Response”). In Sanskrit, the word “prana” has many meanings. It means breath, energy, and spirit simultaneously. It POSES AFFECT PHYSICAL BODY is through this practice that we Poses: Poses can easily be seen access our energetic body, our life as affecting the physical body. force.

Benefits to the physical layer are often the first benefit people ex- YOGIC PHILOSOPHY perience when beginning a yoga INFLUENCES OUR practice. Tension in the shoul- EMOTIONS ders melts away, lower backs feel Philosophy: The main premore comfortable, and the relax- cepts for yoga are called the ation at the end, simply fabulous! Yamas and the Niyamas. The 12 www.esswellness.com

Yamas reference how we relate to the world and the Niyamas to how we relate to ourselves. There are five of each. The Yamas are: Compassion, truthfulness, generosity, moderation, and abundance. The Niyamas are: Simplicity, contentment, self-discipline, self study, and surrender.

Until we add the study of these tenets to our practice, we are not truly practicing yoga; we are merely doing physical exercise. Once we begin to incorporate compassion and truthfulness to our practice and lives, as well as the other Yamas and Niyamas, and use it as a tool for self-study, we experience the deeper benefits of yoga. How we relate to ourselves, as well as to the rest of the world, changes dramatically. Our lives are significantly enhanced.

One strives to implement these concepts into a yoga practice, both on the mat and in daily life to fully embrace the yogic path.

This is not to say that yogis are out there spending hours tending to all five layers all the time. There are often times when one layer needs more attention than another. If our day has been

stress-filled, the physical and mental bodies need the work more than others. As I get older, I find I am less in need of asanas, and more in need of meditation and breathing. Through the deepened experience of living that yoga affords you, you will know which layers of your being need more of your time.

Laura Erdman-Luntz, MA, ERYT (500), has been a Yoga Instructor for over 20 years and a teacher of Yoga Teachers for 15 years. She teaches weekly public classes in Eden Prairie, MN and private classes at corporate locations throughout the Twin Cities.

Her internationally renowned Yoga Teacher Training program is taught in and around Minnesota as well as in Mexico and Costa Rica. www.MuseLaura.com, www.MuselanYogaTeacher.com.

september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES

Learning the yoga of humility

D

O ROT H Y, WE’RE not in Kansas anymore. More accurately, Dorothée, nous ne sommes plus dans le Kansas.

That was me: A city girl from the Midwest, practicing an Indian tradition, listening to a mix of Sanskrit and French, all in a college town in Europe.

Prior to my trip to Aix-enProvence, France, I enrolled in a teacher training program at Sun Moon Yoga in Mankato, MN, and naïvely, I thought the transition abroad would be seamless. After all, I was highly experienced; I had practiced both Iyengar and Baptiste Flow, and now I was a teacher

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trainee. I was practically an au- me to a place I affectionately rethority, right? Pas vraiment… fer to as The Lion’s Den, because it almost ate me whole. I emailed studios I wanted to visit, notifyKNOWING ALL ABOUT FRENCH YOGA ing them of my arrival and ask I’d studied the French lan- ing questions about the classes, guage and culture for over 16 but The Lion’s Den never replied. years, including living in France Typical French. Why would for two periods of study, so it someone bother with email when seems logical for me to assume they could be enjoying fresh frothere would be cultural differ- mage with a baguette? ences in the way the French react to and teach yoga. Maybe I was DON’T SMILE BUFFOON & too busy soaking in the café life, WEAR SOCKS but I somehow didn’t put deux Nevertheless, I showed up for and deux together there, leaving class, smiled brightly at the inme blissfully unaware of the cul- structor, and introduced myself tural blunders I was soon to en- as the American woman who had dure. I was cocky and arrogant, emailed a week prior. Madame and I deserved to be knocked on responded with a tight-lipped, my derrière.

My most memorable stop led Continued Page 20...

BY ERIN HOFFMAN

september 2012

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Shamanism Training Program

Healing the Wounded Spirit, Soul Retrieval, Recovery From Trauma, Space Clearing, Depossession 速 Avatar EPC Personal Development St. Louis Park, Sept. 15-23, 2012 12 month Shamanism Training Isanti, starts October 6, 2012 Contact Mary Stoffel 763-444-8146 mlstoffel@innovatord.com www.humanimal.com www.practicalshamanism.com

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Studio Location: 1810 Webster Street, Hudson, WI

Set Sail: A Feng Shui Personal Credential Program Get introduced to the concepts of Feng Shui and learn how to implement them into your own space. The program is comprised of one-hour teleseminars to introduce you to the integration and implementation of Feng Shui as a personal lifestyle in an easy and manageable way.

9-week virtual program starts September 20, 2012 @ 6:00PM CST More info @ www.windwaterschool.com Contact Lisa to register today! lisa@windwaterschool.com

september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES Learning the yoga of humility continued...

“Oh, we don’t read emails” and shrugged off my introduction as insignificant. I should’ve known better. What was I thinking, smiling away like an idiot? It is in my Midwestern nature to smile big and often, but to the French, smiling Midwesterners come off as total buffoons.

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The French smile, bien sûr, but toothy grins to perfect strangers are generally an indication that a person is one crêpe short of a full-course meal. Strike one.

Madame informed me that the class, labeled Traditional Hatha Yoga, was entirely breath-based and went on to

explain the pranayama technique used. I practically cut her off, explaining that I knew my pranayama—I was a skilled ujjayi breather. What else could there possibly be to know? I may have forgotten the smiling bit, but I was sure to let her know I knew how to breathe!

I put my bag on a hook in back, grabbed my Viking-purple mat, and walked nervously into the studio. Not so fast!

Madame stopped me, glanced down, and asked where my socks were. “I took them off, of course,” I replied, puzzled. She promptly shook her head and

told me to go put them back on. Merde! The French have a deeply-ingrained aversion to bare feet, and you’ll never see a French man or woman walking in bare feet anywhere but the beach. (But then, at the beach, everything is bare. God bless Europe!) Even in a yoga

studio, the French fear of foot fungus trumps Indian tradition.

“Great,” I thought, “Now she thinks I’m mentally impaired and unsanitary.” Strike two.

Continued Page 24...

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Transform & Live your Yoga!

Yoga Teacher Training Begins September 2012

Visit Us! Relax, Breathe & Smile!

Course Catalog & application is Online at: www.yogaprairie.com Licensed & Registered Yoga School 200 hr. in September, 500 hr. in January

september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES Learning the yoga of humility continued...

CONFUSION REIGNS

ROAR LOUDER

Did I know what I was getting myself into? Was I going to embarrass myself again? I went to stake out a spot and saw that everyone had thin carpets, not sticky mats. Was this some kind of trick?

I asked if I could use my own mat and was grateful that the answer was yes. Finally! Some small piece of familiarity! I pushed aside the magic-carpet-looking piece of fabric and laid out my well-worn mat. I was ready.

I proceeded to spend the next hour in utter confusion. It showed on my face, and it undoubtedly showed in my stiff and insecure body. We spent the practice going through no more than 10 postures, each with a mini-savasana afterward.

What was this? Instead of trying to figure out what in the world kind of yoga it was, I should have simply accepted the obvious; it was French yoga. And who was I? I wasn’t so much a Minnesotan in that room, or even an American—I was The Confused One.

The final pose was The Lion, which I’d never done before, and it showed. I was on my knees, sitting back on my heels, propping myself up with fists, sticking my butt back, neck up and tongue out, and making strange, audible, exhaling sounds. “I’m a lion,” I kept telling myself, “I’m a lion.” Predictably, Madame came over to adjust me, instructing me to open my eyes wider, stick my tongue further out, and make more noise. I didn’t feel like the King of the Jungle. I felt like a sideshow freak at a circus.

At the end of a restless savasana, I gathered up my mat, peeling my dignity off the floor with it, and went to thank Madame for the learning experience. “Maybe next time you should come to the beginner class.” Strike three. Yogini out.

I took classes at three other studios in the same town, but it was the Lion’s Den that gave me a lesson in humility that I’ll never forget. But isn’t that

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what we’re trying to do with our yoga?—let go of ego so we can get out of our heads and deeper into our bodies?

Ultimately, it was an experience that left me feeling as though I was part of some French experiment in culture— combine one part Minnesota, one part India, and one part France. Beat well. Add a dash of cluelessness, a pinch of embarrassment, and a generous scoop of confusion. Bake for three days in the hot, southern sun. Let cool, and enjoy with a nice glass of rosé—but be sure to leave your socks on as you partake.

Erin Hoffman, M.A., RYT, teaches regular vinyasa classes at Inspiring Actions in Hudson, WI and Big River Yoga in St. Paul. She led her first “Yo-Cation” with Inspiring Actions students to Paris and the south of France this year.

To learn more about classes offered at Inspiring Actions, visit our website at http://www.inspiringactions.com/

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COLONICS DETOXIFICATION OXYGEN BAR and so much more!

612.824.4041 | calhounnaturalmedicine.com 3033 Excelsior Blvd, Ste 585, Minneapolis, MN 55416

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Serving Highly Sensitive Women (HSPs), MCS, EI, SAD =?

Vessel of Voices Interdisciplinary Alternative Therapies ~ Heart-Centered

Roxanna L. Rutter, Ph.D. 763-391-2764 or 510-495-5643 (mobile) http://vesselofvoices.com Call for Special 2012 Rates

Aslan Institute Eagan, MN & St Paul Studio for Retreats

september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES

Authentic Movement tap inner wellspring of life fo

I

IN THE BEGINNING . . .

N THE grand scheme of things, movement is integral to the evolutionary process.

Without movement nothing manifests into form; there is only the formless. Thus, by its very nature, movement is about polarities (duality); the original polarity being form and formlessness. At the very beginning of a human life a woman breathes rhythmically, creating a movement that gives birth to a new being.

With baby’s first breath, s/he sounds her/his arrival (in a moving body). Before technology and the industrial age, there existed, amongst indigenous peoples, a most beautiful practice of the expectant mother listening from within for the signature

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sound of the life she carries.

(Angeles Arrien, 1989). At time of the baby’s birth, she calls out her baby’s signature sound; a sound welcoming baby to Earth!

IN THE PRESENT . . .

Our cacophonous, hightech world has whirled a great distance from such heart and soul-centered practices. The old Chinese proverb/blessing, “May you live in interesting times,” rings true for every one of us.

Indeed, a juicy time to be alive!

A multitude of doors are opening, from quantum physics to biomimicry, revealing a universe far more. Science and spirituality dance together for, perhaps, the first time. This wondrous dance reconnects spirit and soul with mind and body.

In the in-formation age we

know so much, move our bodies so little, and long for transformation. For many of us, we feel the impulse, cry and call from our bodies, our voices to do something different, to take action, to get moving, to go on pilgrimage, to break free from that which has shackled and shut us up. It is my hope and passion to contribute and do my part to correct this imbalance, both personally and through my life’s work.

PRACTICE OF AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT

Authentic Movement (AM) offers a subtle and powerful form to tap into an inner wellspring of life

Continued Page 30...

BY Roxanna l. Rutter,

ps into orce

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES Authentic Movement continued...

force beyond the ego. Participants discover movement patterns, deepened connection to self, broader range of expression through creative pursuits and relationships, and a growing embodied

in response to sensations, emotions, memories, and/or images.

Sessions are collaborative and exploratory. The studio is a sacred space and lab simultaneously science and spirituality moving together.

“Every motion that springs forth from this silent life is a vibration and a creator of vibrations.”

ideas, or ego. Trust deepens in the second stage and through free association in movement s/ he begins to recognize a repertoire of movements in the third stage. Emergent themes of one’s psyche show up and experiencing the emotions leads toward freed energies and embodied transformation.

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT AT VESSEL OF VOICES

awareness. AM is practiced in myriad ways, from therapeutic to contemplative dance to conflict resolution with groups and communities.

In its simplest form, the ground form, we have a witness and a mover. The witness (teacher, therapist) sits on side of the studio, as close to a clear, compassionate presence as possible. She holds the greater responsibility for consciousness.

The embodied presence of the witness observes without expectation, with compassion and openness. The mover (student, client) moves, with eyes closed,

“Movement, to be experienced, has to be found in the body, not put on like a dress or a coat. There is that in us which has moved from the very beginning. It is that which can liberate us.” —Mary Starks Whitehouse Authentic Movement is a perfect form for integrating the arts and mystical practices. Body of the Mystical Heart women’s groups are half day workshops to three day retreats where AM is uniquely augmented with sound (Voice Movement Therapy, Tibetan Healing Sounds), painting, drawing, and integrative heart meditations. Time for moving and practicing the art of

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Movement as a practice becomes its own stream of life, stretching muscles of courage into a buried past, stepping boldly into a new ground of being.

In the ground form a mover often progresses through five stages of development, reflecting the healing process and spiritual unfoldment. Each person’s movement journey is unique; each mover and witness collaboration creates its own rhythm in relationship.

Briefly, the first stage is the mover’s search for movement which emerges from within, not controlled by thoughts,

witnessing are balanced.

The art of clear, open hearted witnessing is key to evolution of our consciousness, individually and collectively. The act of witnessing takes practice; it is elegant, it is embodied and allows for an exquisite experience of unity in higher states of consciousness.

Two groups are scheduled: Fall at Aslan Institute, Eagan.

Limited to 11 women. Saturday afternoons, Sept. 29 and Oct. 20. http://aslaninst.com/? page_id=96 http://vesselofvoices.com/classes_mn.htm Individual sessions available by appointment; mention this article for 50% off, September only for new movers.

Roxanna l. Rutter, Ph.D. artist, licensed psychologist, and spirited adventurer. Founder/Director of Vessel of Voices (www.vesselofvoices.com), located at Aslan Institute, Eagan, MN. Contact info: 763-391-2764 (vm) Vessel of Voices Genuine Trans-formation for Highly Sensitive Women, Girls http://www.vesselofvoices.com september 2012

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“Assisting People to Achieve Powerful Shifts in Consciousness”

Transformational Healing Akashic Readings House Clearings Travel Tours Classes Wave Dance Bodywork Jaci Loos (651) 436-1418 msloos777@comcast.net www.wavedancebodywork. byregion.net

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september 2012

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES

Tai chi helps us realign a reconnect to our true na

M

Y FIRST meeting with tai chi took place in Britain back in the early 80s. The instructor was Richard Farmer, Founder of the UK’s premier Tai Chi School, Rising Dragon Tai Chi. I became his assistant and after an apprenticeship of eight years, a qualified instructor. Richard is now the Honorary President of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain and mentor to the teachers and students of the school I founded: Natural Step Tai Chi. While listening to and watching his demonstration 30 years ago, an awareness beyond that of my familiar sense of self was touched by the grace, flow, and dignity of his movements.

Often described as “medita-

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tion in movement,” the playing and exploration of tai chi as both a health and spiritual practice became a regular daily occurrence for me. I had just embarked on a very demanding career as a primary school teacher and playing tai chi became a necessity as the means to find some solace and grounding at the start, middle, and end of many stressful days.

Even after 30 years this process of practice, the path of tai chi, continues to resonate with me today, to gently unfold and reveal itself as a welcoming companion that provides constant nourishment for mind, body and spirit.

In this lineage one begins tai chi by re-connecting awareness with the physical body. We enable this through an exercise that allows us to find a naturally aligned, postural step forwards. From this place we begin to know and ap-

preciate what it is like to take a naturally aligned step in life, living each and every day not from a place of just surviving it but from being truly alive to it and with it.

And so, Natural Step School of Tai Chi (NSSTC) was established as a way to offer guidance for empowering others to realign and re-connect with the natural ebb and flow of life through the direct experience of ones own true nature.

A VERY SHORT HISTORY OF TAI CHI

There are many stories and legends associated with the origins of tai chi. Its philosophical root derives from Taoism which is at least 4,000 years old. One story ascribes the movements of tai chi to Bodhidharma, a monk Continued Page 36...

BY COLIN SNOW

and ature

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MOVING TO HEAL OURSELVES Tai Chi helps us realign continued...

famed for bringing Buddhism from India to China and founding the original Shaolin temple (527 AD). These movements were integrated with the cultivation of non-violence and peaceful mind by the monks. This developed into a practice of self defense which didn’t contradict their vows or disturb their meditative state of mind.

Whatever the truth is, tai chi has stood the test of time over hundreds if not thousands of years. This is a remarkable testament to its continuing effectiveness as a healing art form that originates from probably many ancient wisdom traditions because anything that doesn’t work usually becomes obsolete.

MANY SCHOOLS OF TAI CHI

Tai chi today tends to fall into two categories with elements of each found in the other and there is plenty of variety. So like bread, it’s all bread but there are many types to choose from.

Some teachers like to focus on the martial art aspects, while oth36 www.esswellness.com

ers incline towards delivering the health and meditative benefits.

Sometimes teaching which falls into the second category will understand and offer guidance in the spiritual path of tai chi and the Four Principles. What is the purpose of a true spiritual path?

To reunite with the stillness, which by direct experience of any gifted moment, is undisturbed by the movement of thought.

HEALING AND EMPOWERING SELF

One of the distinct advantages of tai chi over other Western exercise systems is that the movements, if correctly taught, will be low impact, graceful, easy to learn, and enjoyable. As a consequence tai chi becomes very accessible to all, regardless of age, ability, or current level of health. It requires no special clothing or external equipment and once learned it empowers and informs practitioners wherever and whenever they choose, for the rest of their lives.

We live in a culture that

would appear to provide a fix-it antidote for anything that has a negative impact on our physical or social well-being.

Unfortunately this fix-it culture creates a very linear and fragile way of living life because it excludes any preventative measures to ensure that we don’t reach that point of needing something to be fixed.

Tai chi is preventative medicine at its best, while offering an amazing array of health benefits that are both physiological and psychological in nature. Contemporary scientific and medical research is growing and conclusive in that many common acute and chronic ailments have been relieved and in many cases overcome through the regular practice and integration of tai chi.

BECOMING STILL THROUGH TAI CHI

Parallel to the healing process that begins in the body, the experience of practice invites the meditative qualities of stillness, space and presence to

guide us towards the creation of inner peace and understanding.

This empowers the practitioner to release themselves from negative conditioning, fear and reactivity, replaced by the creation of space for just being with the natural movements of life.

Once inner alignment with our truth and absolute acceptance of what is becomes established, greater love for ourselves and others will become wholly integrated into our everyday lives.

We then live life more from the heart than the mind, which is the third principle from this lineage and particular path of tai chi.

Colin Snow is the founder and principal instructor for Natural Step School of Tai Chi in Minneapolis. For information on workshops and classes, go to www.

NaturalStepTaichi.com or Colin: 612-377-6469. Š NSSTC llc.

All rights reserved, including the right to change or reproduce in whole or in part except by permission from a representative of Natural Step School of Tai Chi.

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MeRedone.com’s Healthy Recipes

Roasted Eggplant With T Me, Redone is a blog written by Sara Tenenbein, where the theme is health, happiness and a touch of humor. In this column, Sara brings us her most popular healthy yet delicious recipes.

I

had this dish at The Hummus Place last week. It was so incredibly delicious; I had to try to recreate it at home. Eggplant is very sweet and delicious is summer months so this made for a perfect Saturday lunch. The dressing is wonderful on chicken, fish, and salads so I made extra.

Sara Tenenbein is the author of Me, Redone and travels the world finding healthy recipes with her husband Steve and their dog Bea Arthur.

For more recipes and other healthy content, visit www.MeRedone.com.

Contact her at: sara@meredone.com or 646.783.8363.

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Sara Tenenbein

Tahini Dressing INGREDIENTS: • 2 medium sized eggplants • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil • Sea salt & pepper • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or basil as garnish Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease a glass baking dish with olive oil. Slice the eggplant lengthwise in thick slices (at least 1/2 inch).

Season both slides of the eggplant with salt, pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes, rotating once halfway through. The eggplant should be mushy and the edges almost crispy. Remove eggplant from oven and sprinkle with salt. Transfer to serving plates, drizzle with 1/4 of the dressing and sprinkle with parsley or basil. Add the additional dressing in a side bowl and serve. Enjoy! Serves 4

Dressing: • 4 tablespoons tahini (well mixed) • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice • 1 clove of garlic, grated • 3 tablespoons hot water • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt • 1/4 teaspoon cumin • 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander Whisk all ingredients together. Add more hot water if the consistency is too thick.

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Live Well.

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