While in India.....

Will be working on the following Blog:

http://lilypodyoga.wordpress.com

India is magical and full of surprises indeed.

Namaste
X

OFF TO INDIA

To the land of Ayurveda I head to embark on a journey of healing Mind, Body and Soul.
I will be updating the Blog regularly so stay tuned to the photos and videos.
NAMASTE

LilyX

FREE 15 min Ayurveda Consultations

FREE Lifestyle Therapy Makeover consultations.
Change is what we all need.
Hot me with your details.
NAMASTE
X
www.lilypodyoga.com

Mid Winter Newsletter

LilyPod News " Thoughts are subtle forms that can obscure our clear perception of our true nature"                                                                                                               -Vedic Wisdom-   Trust that all is well for you and that winter has so far bundled you with warmth, light and joy. A short but sweet letter to tell you the happenings in LilyPod Land. Content: - Golden milk recipe, the ultimate longevity elixir (thanks to Caroline SG ) - FREE Lifestyle Therapy Makeover consultations via Skype - Kerala - India.  Follow my Blog for juicy videos, photos and tips straight from the source. - Honoring Baby-Boomers - Recipe book - Greece Retreat in September Link to video of how to make Golden milk for supreme health benefits: (Excellent for people with arthritis) Video Recipe: Turmeric Golden Milk http://www.spiritvoyage.com/blog/index.php/video-recipe-turmeric-golden-milk/ FREE 15 LIFESTYLE THERAPY MAKEOVER CONSULTATIONS Indeed. The idea is that I would like to help those around me to get the benefits of this everlasting ancient healing source which has light into all ailments and conditions known to man. Kick-start your practice and daily regime as I help you guide the process. For an appointment (via skype) or questions please send me an email.   I am off to Kerala, South India. I will be there for 3 months so plan to share my experience fully with you!  Follow me on my blog:  http://lilypodyoga.blogspot.com/      HONORING BABY-BOOMERS I am venturing into a path of empowering baby-boomers to maintain their well-being by following Ayurveda principles of longevity and rejuvenation. We all have the grace of having a few of them in our lives so I invite you to please forward this email to them or have them get in touch with me as their input is vital in the process of creation. Thank you for sharing, it means a lot to me. RECIPE BOOK COMING IN THE SPRING One of the greatest gifts we have from mother nature is the gorgeous food we get to plant, harvest and eat. This book is both of an offering & a token of my gratitude for the food that is provided for our survival. Details to come. Pictures speak 1,000 words. YOGA RETREAT IN CRETE-GREECE Dates: Saturday Sept. 8Th to the 15Th Spaces are limited.  Details on my site: http://www.lilypodyoga.com/retreats.htm I would like to finish by reminding you to be grateful of life's little precious gifts. Take a moment each and every day to give thanks, let everything you do be a manifestation of your gratitude.  With masses of Love, Light and Joy.... Liliana x

Yoga retreats with LilyPod

Watch this video and join us in Greece in September:
http://animoto.com/play/nNZQEKIH8rdmaAv8v1Etug

Namaste
X

INSPIRATION

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

NEVER GIVE UP.
NAMASTE
X

On Asana....

- Asana is kind of non-doing, in which we gradually restrict unnecessary physical activity in order to create more internal energy for healing the body and/or clearing the mind - David Frawley on Yoga and Ayurveda

Christmas Newsletter 2011-2012

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SEASONS GREETINGS !!  PEACE is my Christmas wish for all beloved beings on planet earth and beyond. It starts with making peace with ourselves - first and foremost. " And until all humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis, wars will continue to be waged, and everything that has been carefully built up, cultivated and grown will be cut down and destroyed, only to start all over again "                           Anne Frank,                    Wed May 3rd, 1944     Wise beyond her years. "BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD"                              - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Topics: Ayurveda Montreal: As of January 2012, I will be working out Montreal's premiere school for Toga Therapeutics. Yoga Re:Source. Available by appointment only. INDIA: It is official, I am off to India March 1st, 2012 for 3 months to study Pancha Karma. Not running a retreat there per say but if anyone is interested in checking out Ayurveda's mother land: KERALA, do not to hesitate to come and visit: http://www.zamorins.com/index.html Follow my blog: http://lilypodyoga.blogspot.com Why a PH ALKALINE DIET ? I have come across quite a few people lately with issues with acidity in their systems so I decided to include something about it. Lets be honest, our diet is predominately acidic due to high sugar, fat, dairy, coffee, meat,  process foods and alcohol we consume on a regular basis, this causes inflammation and aging as well as unnecessary stress in our system, eventually leading to disease and breakdown. You may be suffering from chronic fatigue,dryness, frequent colds, headaches, yeast infections, acid indigestion and/or gastritis and were not aware of the possible causes. NOW YOU KNOW. You can easily reverse those effects by being mindful of what you eat. Its all about awareness. The following is a quick guideline of foods TO AVOID, and to ADD. FOOD TO AVOID: Coffee, tea and chocolate Alternatives: Rooibos & herbal tea, carob for chocolate. Bread. Alternatives: yeast and gluten free, sprouted grain breads as well as brown rice, oats, wild rice pasta. Meat, Dairy, eggs and farmed fish. Alternatives: go veggie all the way, goats milk products are in fact medicinal to the body according to CTM, nut milks. Condiments such as: jams, jellies, soy sauce, vinegar, yeast, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, butter and canola oil. Alternatives: naturally occurring sweets such as dried food, maple syrup in moderation, braggs, ghee, olive oil. Nuts and seeds: cut back on peanuts, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, Brazilian nuts, macadamia nuts. No alcohol. FOODS TO ADD: Most alkaline: Cucumber, kale, spinach, broccoli, parsley, sea veggies, all sprouts, natural salt. Moderately alkaline: Avocado, beets, peppers, cabbage, celery, collard greens, endive, garlic, ginger, green beans, radish, red onion, arugula, onions & quinoa. Mildly alkaline: Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrot, chives, leeks, baby potatoes, peas, rhubarb, grapefruit, buckwheat, lentils, tofu, goat milk and almond milk.

YOGA RETREAT - GREECE 2012 I have changed my mind about returning to Morocco. Although I loved every second of it, I realized that there is plenty of other gorgeous destinations to explore PLUS I would like the sea to be of bathing plea sent temperatures and to enjoy the beach without hassle. I may have found the perfect lux villa in Crete with in the county of Rethymno and this could be our nearest beach: And this our Yoga Shala: There will only be space for 8 people at this stunning secluded retreat. If you are interested, it would be ideal if you could find a traveling partner that you do not mind sharing a bed with as finding single bed accommodation in Greece is almost impossible. Or your partner or significant other like to join. Even better. Possibility of renting a catamaran for a day :-) Price will be around 850 Euros per person, all inclusive. Drop me a line to let me know. Spice it up: CINNAMON: Medicinal benefits: Latin Names: Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, Cassia Cinnammon. It is a small tree that grows in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Egypt. It is one of the oldest spices. In traditional Chinese medicine, Cassia Cinnamon is used for colds, flatulence, nausea, diarrhea and painful periods. Its also believed to improve energy, vitality and circulation and be particularly useful for people who tend to feel hot in the upper body but have cold feet. In Ayurveda, Cinnamon is used as a remedy for diabetes, indigestion and colds and is often recommended for people with Kapha constitution. It is believed to improve the digestion of fruit, milk and other dairy products. LilyPod Recipe Book Out in the Spring of 2012. Now you have no excuse to eat poorly. NAMASTE

Going to Inida to study Pancha Karma

Leaving March 1st, 2012
 If you would like to come on a health detoxification retreat,
Visit the website of where I shall be.
http://www.zamorins.com/index.html
Namaste
X

Asana practice

Asana practice that does not end with meditation is not fully integrated into a true Yoga practice.

It does not produce the healing stillness that Ayurveda seeks.
Yoga is all about SATTVA guna.
Namaste
OM Ritam Namaha
X

Big realization....

The self is already realized.  We are already one with the divine but the conditionings of the mind veil that fact and put up instead our mental activity born of ego and desires as who we are. - When the mind's disturbances are calmed, then the light of pure consciousness can shine through it and reveal the nature of everything that we see. - David Frawley - One of my Gurus.

Ayurveda in Montreal

http://www.balnea.ca/ayurvedic
Come see me.
Thursday to Sunday
Namaste
X

AHIMSA, Meat and Yoga video

http://youtu.be/WIwuRggk7ls

Knowledge for Fall 2011

" If one becomes the Ocean,
One no longer can be overwhelmed by the waves "

- David Frawley.

LilyPod's Chanel for Yoga and Ayurveda videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/lilypod72?feature=mhee

Pranayama for the doshas video

http://youtu.be/PBZD5ewkClE

5 Tibetan Rites, The fountain of Youth video

http://youtu.be/STnv2fWUnCc

Photos if LilyPOd Morocco retreat Sept. 2011

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150803101615533.744218.581470532&l=3188954929&type=1

Jillian McKee writes an article for LilyPod on Benefits of Yoga on Cancer patients

Yoga Offers Peace And Harmony For Those With Cancer

If there is one thing that cancer patients desire above everything else, it is a high quality of life. Standard medical treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and pain medications) often cause significant physical pain and considerable mental stress. Cancer, and cancer treatment methods, negatively impacts a patient’s life on many levels. One alternative therapy method, yoga, can reverse these negative effects and restore balance.

Time and again, yoga has revealed significant benefits for cancer patients. Yoga offers peace and harmony to people suffering from a loud and disruptive disease. This unique alternative therapy can greatly enhance the lives of cancer patients, improving their outlook and overall health.

Yoga employs meditation, breathing exercises, and precise positions called poses. The term “yoga” comes from an ancient Sanskrit word for “union,” and yoga is just that -- it unites a person's mind, body, and spirit. Through physical form, mental thought, and deep breathing exercises, yoga promotes whole-body peace, harmony, and relaxation.

Yoga Programs In Cancer Treatment

A recent medical study by M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston looked at the integration of yoga into breast cancer treatment care plans. Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M. D. Anderson, says complementary therapy (like yoga) can improve the harsh, unwanted side effects of treatment. The research proves it.

While the 2005 study examined the benefits of yoga in women with breast cancer, other studies have explored yoga's effect on people with other types of cancer. Prostate cancer, skin malignancies, leukemia, rare aggressive cancers like mesothelioma that is triggered from asbestos exposure -- the type and form of cancer does not matter. Yoga’s mind-body connection has great value for a patient’s physical and emotional health.

What The Research Shows

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer treatment programs use yoga to control breathing, body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism, and a number of other functions. Yoga contributes to a patient's health and well-being by lowering stress, relieving pain, and improving fitness.

Yoga is not a cure for cancer, nor is it a replacement for conventional medical treatments. But the evidence points to a remarkable complementary therapy that can do wonders for a patient, when combined with traditional medicine. Most cancer patients who do yoga experience very few problems or complications with the therapy. And the peace and harmony it brings to a person’s mind, body, and spirit can even accelerate the recovery process.

It matters not whether a person is facing a treatable form of skin cancer, a short mesothelioma life expectancy, or stage-4 pancreatic cancer. A yoga program, tailored for the individual illness and need, is an excellent way to harmony and balance during or after treatment.

Is Energy Medicine a part of your Health Care? By Lauren Young

Health & Wellness

Is Energy Medicine a Part of Your Health Care?
Lauren YoungAugust 22

Energy Medicine refers to a broad range of therapies that all have one thing in common.  They all consider that the human being consists of a physical body capable of thoughts and emotions, but also has an energetic system that supports and nourishes the physical, emotional and mental, with all of these systems being tightly integrated.

The integration between our emotions and our physical body is obvious to anyone who has gone through a period of great stress.  By using emotion altering techniques such as meditation and visualization, a person can actually impact on the physical body, triggering its ability to auto-heal, an ability often referred to as the placebo effect.  What is less commonly understood is that there is an energetic component to this mix and that both an individual’s emotions and physical body can be directly affected via energetic intervention.

To put things in perspective, let’s examine a few of the more widely accepted therapies that are based on an energetic understanding of the human being.  Perhaps the most widely known system is acupuncture.  Acupuncture has been around a long time.  One of the classic texts of acupuncture, still held to be largely valid today, is Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s Medicine Classic), believed to have been written in the second century BC. 

The basic premise of acupuncture is that there is a vital energy (Qi) that sustains the body and gives it life.  This Qi circulates throughout the body in a system of meridians (like flow lines or highways).  Simplistically stated, when some part of this energetic highway system gets blocked or overcharged, then the body does not have what it needs to sustain proper health, and “dis-ease” then results.  This “dis-ease” can take many forms.  As an example, a weakness in the energy flow affecting the immune systems of the body can result in infection taking hold within the body.  Another example would be that an imbalance in the flow of Qi caused by emotional stress or trauma can result in digestive problems.  By treating the energetic imbalance, both the physical and emotional complaints can be directly improved.

The professional acupuncturist can diagnose imbalances in the flow of Qi.  Once a diagnosis is reached, then the acupuncturist can increase or decrease the flow of Qi along the meridians that require correction.  Acupuncture has documented results in dealing with a wide variety of conditions, including many conditions where western medicine has no effective treatment protocol.  Because acupuncture is using the body’s own energies to help the body heal itself, treatments are generally safe and are often used as alternatives to medicine or even surgery.

Another type of energy medicine that is gaining popularity in North America is Homeopathy.  The underlying premises of homeopathy are quite different from those of acupuncture. One of the fundamental principles of homeopathy is the “law of dilutions”.  This law holds that the lower the dose of a remedy, the more effective the results will be.  Homeopathic remedies begin with natural plant extracts which are then diluted to a point where virtually no active molecules remain.  The belief is that the diluted remedy contains the essence of the original substance and that this essence will interact with the patient’s physical, emotional and energetic being to produce the desired improvement.

Unlike acupuncture, homeopathy has only been around a few hundred years, being first proposed by a German physicist named Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18^th century.  Homeopathic remedies are best delivered by a homeopathic doctor, who will take into consideration the full situation of the patient in determining the remedy.  A case history will include not only the physical symptoms, but will also explore in depth the emotional and mental well-being of the patient so that the diagnosis will result in a solution that considers the whole patient.

A lot of homeopathic remedies are readily available over the counter in pharmacies and health food stores.  Some of these are highly effective – Rescue Remedy from Bach Flower Remedies is great for getting past a short term trauma (especially with children) and Arnica is often used in homeopathic form for muscle soreness and arthritis.  Homeopathic remedies are completely non-toxic and when properly used can be an effective alternative to medication.

Many other forms of energy medicine are becoming increasingly available within the North American marketplace.  Many of these involve interactions with a therapist who is using their own being (usually their hands) to transmit or impart energy to the patient.   Some of these therapies have a long history, such as Qi Gong, which like Acupuncture dates to the time of the Yellow Emperor in China, or Chakra healing which dates back even further into the East Indian culture.  Most are more recent such as Reiki, which was discovered by Dr. Usui in Japan in 1922 and was first taught in the west during the 1970’s.  Therapies that began in the last two hundred years include Cranial Sacral Therapy, Healing Touch, Body Talk and others.  While each technique is different, often these practitioners are channelling either their own energies or a “universal” energy into the patient, or are in some other way working to enhance the patient’s own natural energies, removing blockages and enhancing the energetic flows.  A key ingredient in these treatments is often the intent to heal and to do no harm.

Numerous forms of energy medicine can be practiced by the individual themself.  Yoga, Tai Chi and some martial arts are considered by many to be practices of energy medicine as they work directly on the integration of the physical, the emotional and the energetic.

There is little scientific documentation on the efficiencies of many types of energy medicine, in large part due to a lack of western research.  However, more and more established institutions are beginning not only to explore these therapies, but to accept them into their array of healing tools.  Brigham and Women’s Hospital is a teaching hospital affiliated with the Harvard Medical School.  Included within their organization is the Osher Clinical Centre for Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies.  The Osher Clinic is offering as well as researching such therapies as Acupuncture, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Therapeutic Tai Chi and Yoga along with other alternative therapies.  As these therapies become both better known and better documented, we can expect to see more medical organizations responding to their clients’ needs with holistic, non-medicinal approaches.

References:

National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine – http://nccam.nih.gov
History of Traditional Chinese Medicine – http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/history/zhou.html
Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute – http://www.afcinstitute.com
Homeopathy – http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/
Cranial Sacral Therapy – Upledger Method – http://www.upledger.com/
Cranial Sacral Therapy – Methode Surrender – http://www.methodesurrender.fr/
International Institute of Medical QiGong – http://www.qigongmedicine.com/
Reiki.org – http://www.reiki.org/faq/HistoryOfReiki.html#usui