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Late Summer greetings to you all. May the recent showers be filling your gardens with blossoms and refreshing your yards with all the miraculous shades of green.
A lot of us have had a FULL summer to say the least. I know Paul and I have tried to squeeze out as much fun as humanly possible! While it can feel nostalgic and even a little sad that summer is ending, the tide is changing. The pull towards autumn is approaching with the subtle crispness in the morning breeze, the school children excited for their new year, and adults returning to some sort of routine and structure.
It's a perfect time for me to look at my own life. On a hike the other day, I told my husband if my life ended today, I don't think I would have any regrets (a bold statement I know). But truth be told, saying it out loud actually made me question it. Would I really? Sure, there are still dreams to be had, but does that mean I would have regrets? It was and is worth exploring.
This time of year inspires me so deeply to really look at my own life. Every day this week I plan to ask myself what is truly important? What will really matter in the end? Is the way I'm living each day, each moment of each day really in alignment with my highest aspiration and deepest longing? It's a midpoint in the year to examine, to realign if you will. No matter how young or old, you don't actually have to wait to ask those probing questions: Are you living the life of your dreams? Are you living in such a way that you won't wake up one day and realize half of your life is over and you have regrets? I know I want to answer those questions with an affirmation, that I left no stone untouched, no dream and no piece of the earth unexplored, and no experience untried. I wish the same for you!
The summer, though trying at times, has allowed me more time with family and friends; I've spent more time with my sisters; appreciated time to know my parents and mother-in-law more deeply; shared so much closeness with my husband; cultivated Spirit more; walked in the woods more; had more gatherings; enjoyed beach vacations; and listened to the sound of the rain, the wind, and the waves.
So, I guess what I'm advocating is living the life you love. Let life lead you to the places where your heart expands and you feel you are in the right place at the right time serving in the right way!!
Namaste,
Anisha
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Monthly Pangu Yoga Class
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We are happy to announce a new, monthly Pangu Yoga class at blue lotus yoga & movement arts in downtown Raleigh.
No yoga experience is required for this class, which will give you a brief overview of the history and benefits of Pangu Yoga and Master Ou's Pangu Shengong. This form has been shortened from the original to simplify the movements and accommodate those with less time.
Pangu Yoga includes a mantra, visualization, and a special breathing, connecting you deeply to the energy of Pangu Shengong throughout the practice. The practice opens with a gentle flow of postures and pranayama, and ends with a deeply relaxing savasana. But what gives it such special and unique qualities is that you receive the benefits of both Pangu Shengong and those of Yoga, allowing the you to absorb more love and energy from the universe. This class is sure to refill your well and rejuvenate the spirit.
Upcoming Pangu Yoga classes at blue lotus
12:30-2:00 pm, Saturday, September 15
12:30-2:00 pm, Saturday, October 20
$25 for new Pangu Yoga students; $16 for repeat students
The extended practice continues to be offered in a two-day workshop format, allowing students to delve deeper. Check Anisha's schedule for workshop dates in early 2013.
Pangu Shengong, Pangu Tai Chi, and Pangu Yoga are three different practices with different features. They do not replace each other; however, they can facilitate, foster, and enhance each other. In other words, each shines more brilliantly in the other's company. If one can practice all three, the result will be even greater. I would suggest that those who have the interest and time give it a try.
- Master Ou Wen Wei
Read this article to learn more, or visit the Ananda Healing Arts website.
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Pangu Shengong Saturday Group Practice
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Students of the Pangu Shengong Moving Form are invited to join Anisha and Paul for group practice every Saturday morning. This is a great opportunity to learn more Pangu theory, stay motivated, and ask questions in a group setting, the benefits of which Master Ou often speaks. The strengthening of your own Qi, heart, and soul is the most important.
Pangu Shengong Group Practice
No charge
10:00-11:30 am, Saturdays
Check the schedule on Ananda Healing Arts' website for dates and locations.
If you would like to be added to the email distribution list for group practices, email Paul Fraser or call 781.775.6933.
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Meet Tracy Sturdivant
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While Anisha travels with her teacher, Master Ou, to Macau, China, in late September and early October, her friend and colleague Tracy Sturdivant will be available for Anisha's clients who may need an acupuncture treatment during that time.About Tracy  Tracy has worked in the health care field for more than 26 years and is dedicated to building a bridge between Eastern and Western medical philosophies. She earned her Masters in Acupuncture from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, Maryland, after completing a three-year course of study and clinical practice, and also holds a bachelor's in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tracy also is a certified instructor of Pangu Mystical Qigong and is currently working on certification in Medical Qigong. Tracy Sturdivant. M.Ac., L.Ac.
East-West Traditional Acupuncture
919-291-5001
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Foods to Balance the Earth Element
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The benefits of Acupuncture are many, and they are greatly enhanced when patients incorporate lifestyle changes, including exercise, nutrition, and self-cultivation of Qi, or life force. Over the next few months, we'll look at the healing benefits Food as Medicine. We are entering a time of seasonal transition, and Earth is a stabilizing force during such a time. After all of the activity of spring and summer -- nature's time to grow and bloom -- Earth can help us to become centered and balanced in late summer, as we organize ourselves for the autumn harvest and begin to prepare for winter, the season of rest. The Earth Element is about this perfectly balanced time in between.  Earth allows us to nurture ourselves and others and to feel sympathy and consideration. It provides our core and a centered place to which to return. When Earth is out of balance, we experience worry, over-concern, circular thinking, desiring sympathy, and an inability to cope. In this time that calls for balance, how do we allow ourselves to be physically and emotionally nourished, to connect with ourselves, and to become grounded in who we truly are? Since the Stomach and Spleen/Pancreas organs rule the late summer, we can nourish ourselves with the most basic element of all: supporting the digestive organs with good, grounding food! Late Summer Foods- Enjoy naturally sweet foods, which support healthy Spleen/Pancreas energy, and avoid refined sweets, which disrupt Stomach and Spleen/Pancreas balance.
- Round, yellow/orange, naturally sweet veggies are optimal Earth phase foods.
- Suggested foods: millet, apricots, scallions, squash, adzuki beans, yellow peppers, yellow zucchinis, pears, apples, watermelons, turnip, onion, cabbage, peas, pumpkin, parsley, fennel, horseradish, vanilla, walnuts, arame, chicken.
Late Summer Herbs- Licorice root -- naturally sweet digestive, mild laxative
- Catnip -- nerve tonic, calms nervous stomach
- Parsley -- diuretic, female reproductive tonic
- Chamomile -- digestive tonic, nerve tonic, stimulates appetite
- Lemon Balm -- nourishes nervous system, boosts self-esteem
This Earth Season embodies balance, stability, nourishment, and being grounded, and the late summer is a time of integration with ourselves, and with the world around us. Take this time to get rooted in the world, and prepare for the bountiful harvest to come. |
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Connect with the soft breath of late summer's gracious breeze. Allow it to touch your heart and soul today; allow it to ground and uplift you as it swirls the simplicity of understanding through every cell in your body and thought in your mind.
~ Brenda Christina
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