I have to confess that I am a big fan of ayurvedia soaps and balms so I was really pleased to find a trusted supplier so we could bring some gorgeous soaps and healing balms to the shop (they arrived on Thursday and I have had to be very strict with myself and not buy up all the stock!)

If you have never tried them and wonder what the fuss is all about, here's an article I found on www.livestrong.com which sums it all up nicely.  As with all products, even natural ones, they may not suit everyone, particularly if you have really sensitive skin  and some of the soaps can leave your skin squeaky clean but feeling dry. However,and this is just me speaking for myself here, I feel that the benefits I get from the herbs and oils are worth having to use a little moisturiser or pure oil after use.  - posted by Fi   xx

One of the world’s oldest medical systems, Ayurveda originated thousands of years ago in India. The Sanskrit term Ayurveda comes from the word “ayur,” meaning “life,” and “veda,” meaning “knowledge.” Over the centuries, Ayurveda became the science of life, providing a foundation for a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Ayurvedic medicine emphasizes natural cures and treatments to restore a person's energy and promote healing. The same principles apply to Ayurvedic products such as Ayurvedic soap.

In accordance with the tenets of Ayurveda, Ayurvedic soap contains only natural ingredients, placing an emphasis on plant products and avoiding man-made ingredients or animal byproducts. One kind of Ayurvedic soap would feature a base of vegetable oils, glycerine and then an assortment of healing oils. The soap never uses harsh chemicals. Coconut oils, ginger extract, orange oil and sandalwood oil are a few of the more common ingredients found in Ayurvedic soap.

Used in the same fashion as traditional soap, Ayurvedic soap cleans and refreshes the skin, with its specific ingredients determining its exact effects. According to Natural Therapy Web, an alternative healing community, Ayurvedic soap uses coconut oil to nourish the skin, ginger extract to relax and firm the skin, lime seed oil for deep cleaning, and orange oil to help reduce pimples, blackheads and other blemishes.

Traditional soaps can often strip the natural oils that serve to moisturize and protect the skin, causing irritation. Because they don’t include harsh chemicals, Ayurvedic soaps are much gentler on the skin, helping prevent rashes and blemishes while still being strong enough to cleanse. Manufacturers may also tailor certain Ayurvedic soaps to possess anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties or to achieve specific sensations such as increased relaxation or improved circulation for a sense of warming.

Because it only uses natural ingredients and avoids cheap chemicals, Ayurvedic soap may be more expensive than traditional soaps. Read the product label to ensure the soap follows the true spirit of Ayurveda and doesn’t include any synthetic ingredients or employ animal testing.

This is a really useful description of Ayurveda, taken from the Chopra Centre website.


Q: What is Ayurveda?
A: Ayurveda is a system of preventive medicine and health care that developed in India more than 5,000 years ago. The word Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit root words: Ayus, or “life,” and Veda, meaning “knowledge” or “science.” Ayurveda is therefore usually translated as “the science of life.” However, a more precise translation would be “the knowledge of the lifespan.” Ayurveda offers practical tools, insights, and information for living in balance and health, without interference from illness.

Q: Is Ayurveda a form of holistic medicine?
A: Yes. Ayurveda is a healing system that treats the whole person – the integration of body, mind, and spirit – rather than simply treating individual symptoms. For instance, we know that ongoing stress damages our immune system, and when the immune system is weakened, we are more vulnerable to disease and illness. We also know that when our mind experiences pleasure, our brain releases healing chemicals to our entire body, creating feelings of happiness and well-being as well as promoting health.

Ayurveda takes holistic medicine a step further, treating people not as isolated individuals but as an inextricable part of the whole universe. In India’s ancient Vedic tradition, there is an underlying intelligence that flows through and connects everyone and everything in the universe. Ayurveda sees life as the exchange of energy and information between individuals and their extended body – the environment. If our environment is nourishing, we thrive; if our environment is toxic; we may become sick. Therefore, learning how to eliminate toxicity and surround ourselves with a healing environment is the key to health.

Q: How is Ayurveda different from conventional Western medicine?
A: In contrast with conventional medicine, which has devoted a lot of effort to isolating the differences among various diseases, Ayurveda focuses on the unique qualities of individuals, pointing out that diseases differ mainly because people are so different.

Ayurveda teaches that all health-related measures — whether an exercise program, dietary plan or herbal supplement — must be based on an understanding of an individual’s unique mind-body constitution or dosha. By knowing a patient’s dosha, an Ayurvedic doctor can tell which diet, physical activities, and medical therapies are most likely to help, and which might do no good or even cause harm.

In addition, while Western medicine has tended to treat the symptoms of disease, Ayurveda seeks to eliminate illness by treating the underlying cause. For example, for a patient suffering from depression, an allopathic physician would likely prescribe a standard course of antidepressants and, perhaps, therapy.

An Ayurvedic doctor, on the other hand, would seek to understand the root imbalances contributing to the depression. The doctor would look at the patient as a whole, taking into consideration his or lifestyle, activities, diet, recent stressful events, beliefs, and mind-body constitution. The Ayurvedic practitioner would then recommend a treatment plan taking all of these factors into account.

Ayurveda doesn’t reject the use of antidepressants and other prescription medications – in fact, Ayurveda’s central principle is that we should make use of whatever healing modalities will restore health and balance to the body, including herbal remedies, dietary changes, pharmaceutical medications, meditation, exercise, psychotherapy, and so on.

Q: What are the doshas?
A: According to Ayurveda there are five master elements or mahabhutas that make up everything within our bodies and everything outside of our bodies: space, air, fire, water, and earth. Space carries all the aspects of pure potentiality – infinite possibilities; air has the qualities of movement and change; fire is hot, direct, and transformational; water is cohesive and protective; and earth is solid, grounded, and stable.

Biological systems weave these five forces into three primary patterns known as doshas. They are most easily thought of as mind-body principles that govern our style of thinking and behaving. Vata dosha, woven from the elements of Space and Air, regulates movement and change in our minds and bodies. Pitta dosha, comprised of Fire and Water, governs digestion and metabolism. Kapha dosha, made from Earth and Water, maintains and protects the integrity and structure of our mind and body.

Biological systems weave these five forces into three primary patterns known as doshas. They are most easily thought of as mind-body principles that govern our style of thinking and behaving. Vata dosha, woven from the elements of Space and Air, regulates movement and change in our minds and bodies. Pitta dosha, comprised of Fire and Water, governs digestion and metabolism. Kapha dosha, made from Earth and Water, maintains and protects the integrity and structure of our mind and body.

All three doshas are present in every cell, tissue, and organ – for movement, metabolism, and protection are essential components of life. What makes life interesting is that although everyone has all three doshas, each of us mixes them together in a unique way, which determines the distinctive qualities of our mind and body.

Knowing what your dosha is provides invaluable information that will help you get in touch with your body’s inner intelligence. You can find out what your dosha is right now by taking the Dosha Quiz here.

Q: What is the Ayurvedic perspective on health and illness?
A: The guiding principle of Ayurveda and the other Eastern healing arts is the interconnection of all things. We aren’t simply an isolated collection of atoms and molecules, but are an inseparable part of the infinite field of intelligence. From this holistic perspective, health isn’t merely the absence of illness or symptoms ― it is a higher state of consciousness that allows vitality, well-being, creativity, and joy to flow into our experience.

In contrast, illness is a disruption ― a blockage in the flow of energy and information that creates a sense of separation or alienation from the field. Symptoms and sickness are the body’s signal that we need to restore balance, eliminate whatever is causing the blockages, and reestablish the healthy flow of energy and information.

Q: What are Ayurveda's guiding principles?
A: Ayurveda teaches that the mind has the greatest influence in directing the body toward sickness and health. Thousands of years before modern medicine "discovered" the mind-body connection, the ancient sages had mastered it. They developed Ayurveda as a system for contacting our own inner intelligence (or mind), bringing it into balance, and then extending that balance to the body.

The Ayurvedic principles for restoring and maintaining mind-body balance are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago:

1) Take time each day to quiet your mind (meditate).
2) Eat a colorful, flavorful diet.
3) Engage in daily exercise that enhances flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness.
4) Sleep soundly at night.
5) Eliminate what is not serving you.
6) Cultivate loving, nurturing relationships.
7) Perform work that awakens your passion.

Q: Can Ayurvedic medicine help with physical injuries?
A: Ayurveda has been used for thousands of years to alleviate every type of health issue, including physical injuries. Ayurveda contrasts with the mechanical allopathic approach to medicine in that it looks at the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—but by including consciousness, it is not excluding the physical body. For virtually every physical ailment or injury, Ayurveda offers a healing protocol.

Amethyst
Amethyst has strong energy and this can be easily felt. Amethyst purifies and transmutes all forms of negativity. It provides protection and balance during transition periods. It carries both healing and enhancing properties. It gives a spiritual perspective on life's circumstances. Associated with heart chakra, amethyst can ease a betrayed heart and heal the sense of loss of life and innocence. It increases wisdom and helps you act and think at your highest level.

Ammonite
Ammonite is believed by feng shui experts to be associated to the scales of Qilin, the Chinese mythical beast, because the patterns and colours on it are the same as scales of Qilin. Therefore the stone brings wisdom, riches and illustrious sons. The 7 colours of the stone also signify the 7 chakras of human body. In recent years, experts of feng shui had discovered the 70 million years old ammonite that is believed to be a powerful wealth stone.

Aventurine
Aventurine brings education luck, abundance and prosperity. It is also a suitable energizer to nurture self-potential in studies, sales, doing business and career advancement. It promotes inner growth, self-initiative and personal development. Good when taking examinations.

Carnelian
Put 9 tumbled carnelian crystals in a bowl and placed it in the Northeast corner of your home. This will help you to approach new situations with an ‘open mind’. To help your child or yourself studying, hold a carnelian crystal or a citrine in your hand or place it on the Northeast sector of your desk. When placed by the front door will invoke protection and invite abundance into the home.

Celestite
A large piece of celestite in a room will heighten vibrations benefitting health and well-being.

Citrine
Citrine is the wealth stone for feng shui pratitioners. Due to the high demand, it became expensive. After displaying or wearing the citrine, many people claim to receive windfall, upsurge in finance and improved income. Citrine helps heal self-esteem issues and encourages a bright outlook and happiness. On health side, it is said to improve stress-related digestive problems.

Place a large piece of citrine in the Southeast corner of the home. You can place them on a cash box or carry the crystal in your purse or wallet. Since citrine has the ability to bring wealth to its owner, it is also known as the Merchant’s stone.

Clear Quartz
Placing clear quarts in the Career area of the home can aid intuition as well as to encourage the making of the right career decisions. A clear quartz pyramid placed in the South will boost up your recognition and fame, it also improves your promotion prospects and reputation.

Fluorite
Placing Fluorite on a computer can help protect you from harmful emissions.

Hematite
Black tourmaline and hematite provide strong protective energies. Hematite possesses magnetic effect. This stone is used to enhance logic thinking, rational thinking, mathematic ability and depth of technical knowledge.

Tumbled hematite is often used for its grounding and centering energy as well as for the protective qualities. If your child get overexcited easily and has trouble concentrating or focusing, several pieces of hematite can be placed in his or her room to help with a grounding quality of energy. To benefit from its protective qualities, you can place several tumbled hematites either inside or outside your front door. For example, if there are big pots with plants on both sides of your main door, place the hematites at the base of the plant pot or on top of the soil.

Jade
Jade is used to reduce negativity and improve love, courage, wisdom, chastity and justice. It also promotes balance, harmony and tranquility. These stones are exellent for recovery after an unpleasant experience such as minor surgery, funerals, loss of job or divorce. Jade provides peacefulness and endurance when worn. On the medical side, jade strengthens the heart, immune system and the kidneys. It helps to purify blood and encourages a long life.

Placing a jade item in the East is said to bestow long life, wealth, health, generosity and wordly wisdom.

Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli intensifies psychic power among the intuitive. It stimulates mental strength and intellectual precision.

Moonstone
Moonstone placed in the Children area of the home is believed to enhance fertility. Women like this stone because it can rejuvenate the hair and skin and reducing water retention. The stone also provides protection for travellers.

Rose Quartz
Feng shui practitioners use rose quartz crystal to heal a broken heart as well as to improve love and romance. It emanates specific frequencies that promote heart healing.

Selenite
Placing a large piece of selenite in the house will promote a peaceful atmosphere.

Smoky Quartz
Smoky quartz clears and transmutes negative emotions. It stabilizes mood swings and grounds all negative energies. This crystal helps to clarify thought and remove bad dreams. Smoky Quartz also counters burnout, vengeful thoughts and fear of failure, as well as the tendency to over-eat, drink or smoke as a reaction to stress.

Sodalite
Sodalite helps alleviate insomnia caused by overactive mental chatter. The crystal provides mental focus, dispels irrelevant thoughts and maintains logical reasoning with regard to emotional situations. Sodalite also promotes trust and enhances companionship. Its blue color represents the water element.

Turquoise
A beautiful blue turquoise crystal in the Northwest area of the home encourages mentors and universal support.

Where to Place Feng Shui Crystals

• Place a clear crystal ball near the entryway of your home, in its Southeast sector (area that controls wealth and luck in a building) for secure good financial fortune. You also can attract good fortune into your shop by placing a crystal near your cash register.

• In the Northwest sector, put one crystal to promote the most lucrative and productive relationships with business partners and mentors. To optimize the results, you can use 6 crystal balls in accordance with 6 (the number of Northwest). The element of this area is metal and crystals represents earth, earth produces metal in the productive cycle.

• To enhance love and romance, you can place two crystal balls in the Southwest corner of the bedroom or living room. Two is the number of the Southwest. Normally people place two rose quartz hearts or a full bowl of rose quartz crystals in this area.

• Maximize the success, wealth and family harmony by placing between 1 – 6 pieces of crystal in the centre of the home or the corner diagonal to the entrance. Negative energy can be deflected from entering your home by placing a clear crystal ball in entryway or opposite your main door at eye level.

• Sharpen learning energy with the placement of a clear crystal in the educational sector or Northeast of a student’s room or on the desk itself.

• A faceted crystal can be hang from the rear view mirror to clear the flow of energy. A crystal pendant in a window acts to transform hard energy or “sha” coming in from the street into soft energy or “chi” in your car.

• Combining crystals with all the five elements in a bowl and place it at the Eastern sector of your house will help to create a harmonious and calm effect for the whole family. Water element crystal is blue or black in colour, earth crystal is brown or yellow, metal crystal is white in colour, wood will be green and fire is red or pink.

• For those who are having difficulties in their finance, place some crystals with metal coins in a metal bowl. Then place the bowl at the West sector of your home in order to generate some good luck.

• Cleanse your crystals after you bought them or receive them as a gift. This is to reset the crystal’s vibration to be receptive to the new place and owner. Some people may recommend salt water to cleanse it while others use pure water soaking followed by exposure to the sun. There are also some people who recommend flushing crystals with running water. The most effective way recommended by some feng shui masters is to cleanse them using the chi-refreshing “singing bowl”.

 I would like to add a couple of observations following on from the video about meditation posted earlier. It's a good technique. They refer to it as a beginners method, but it seems to be the case with meditation that people start with a basic form, they get really into it, they "progress" onto more "advanced" forms and methods, but at some point they seem to come back to the basics.So beginners methods are ALSO what the masters do.

There are a great many forms of meditation, and they are as varied as food ( imagine trying to compare Angel delight with smoked salmon?). So trying one form and not getting on with it is no basis for dismissing other forms. That would be akin to saying "I don't like blue cheese so I'm not going to take a chance on oranges".

Of course, not wanting to do so is the only reason you need! But whether you realise it or not you have been meditating since the moment of your birth. Meditation is simply the act of focusing your awareness on something, so whatever you re thinking of at a particular time, that's what you are meditating on. 

Most people though, when they talk about meditation, are talking about mindfully, deliberately placing your awareness upon something, even when that something is Nothing. Some meditations are very physical, some involve movement, or making sound ( such as a mantra, or shamanic drumming, or chanting). Some involve silence, stillness, or playfulness, or prayerfulness. Some meditations are thousands of years old, some were invented last week. 

I first tried transcendental meditation back in the late 70s... it was OK, but it didn't get me so mad for it that I carried on. Not for long anyway.

I forgot all about meditation for several years, until I came across paganism in the mid 80s, and particularly shamanism. Shortly after that I meditated under the tutelage of a Vedic master. That, combined with the shamanic experiences profoundly changed my life. And since then I have meditated in many different ways, but those two are my "go to " forms. 

But the form doesn't matter. You really ARE meditating anyway, and the more you meditate on something, the more you bring it into your life... so be mindful in where you place your attention. And if a style doesn't suit you, try a different one because you are the pilot of you own journey. You are steering, so only go where you want to go. But also be aware that sometimes you will find it hard, uncomfortable, and challenging, because we all have unpleasant stuff within us that needs to be released, or we might find that our bodies struggle at first with the rigours of certain disciplines. And some things are simply challenging by their nature. 

Just keep your focus on the highest qualities you can conceive of, and see what happens . 

Neil

I love this really simple guide - it's helpful without being too mysterious!  Listening to music before you get going is a good tip.  We'll review their Binaural Beats and share our thoughts later.  Enjoy!

Here are some crystals which can help with studying or taking exams.  Keep them on your desk, by your computer or wear them in a pendant or bracelet.  We can help make simple pendant wraps or bracelets if there is a stone you would like to work with or we have pendant and keyring cages at the shop.  If you would like a pdf version of this list, contact us and we'll sent one to you!