For centuries, the art of fragrance has been practiced from the Temples of Luxor in Egypt with milk and honey baths of the pharaohs and queens to the spas of today with massages and herbal wraps. Aromatherapy has been used throughout the ages to heal the body, awaken the mind, and soothe the spirit. Practitioners also consider aromatherapy to be the art of using fragrances to affect or alter a person’s mood or behavior for the better.

The most important thing to consider about aromatherapy, of course, is to determine what scents smell good to you. When choosing a fragrance, pure 100% unadulterated essential oils are best. Sample several different brands of the same fragrances to find which you like the best. Some well known and excellent brands of essential oils include Prima Fleur, Amrita, Nature’s Alchemy, and Aura Cacia.

Here are just a few of the wonderful things you could do for yourself or a loved one with aromatherapy:

Breathe easier during a cold or flu by keeping a small bottle of Eucalyptus handy.

Relieve sore muscles and body aches by adding Balsam Fir, Sage, or Rosemary to oil or lotion and applying the mixture along with a warm compress.

Alleviate dry skin and heal and moisturize your hands and body by adding a few drop of Rosewood, Sandalwood, or Lemon Verbena in a good lotion or cream and applying generously.

Relax or have a great night of romance or a dreamy night of sleep by adding a little Rose or Jasmine oil with some sea salts in your bath. (If you buy real Rose essential oil, it can get expensive.)

Energize by using a citrus soap in the shower.

Enhance your mood by trying scented candles or your own favorite fragrance.

Learning and working with aromatherapy is fun and fragrant, so breathe deeply and enjoy the art of fragrance.

Reference books: The Aromatherapy Book, 375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols, and
Herbal Body Book, all three by author Jeanne Rose. Also, Aromatherapy A Holistic Guide by Ann Berwick

Essential oils: Purchase at Whole Foods, most health food stores, and at Alchemy Arts (where I teach classes).

Classes: Email Deanne Lozano for more information at seekerlight@sbcglobal.net

Technorati Tags: art of fragrance, Aromatherapy

The word chakra (pronounced shock-rah) is derived from the Sanskrit word cakram, meaning wheel, sphere, or vortex of light. For thousands of years, people on many different spiritual paths, especially the Indian Hindus and Tibetans, have believed that the body contains different chakras or energy points, and that these chakras can be balanced for overall well being. Often associated with yogic practices, the chakra system found its way to Western culture in the 20th century.

Working on the chakra system is the practice of balancing the chakras in the body. Practitioners believe that working on the chakra system is important because it helps to keep a person healthy on all levels — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

According to practitioners, there are numerous chakras throughout the body, but the ones that are most well known are the 7 which reside along the spinal column, as well as the ones located in the palms of the hands and on the bottoms of the feet. These spheres or wheels of light are energetic connections to the various systems and organs in the physical body as well as the subtle energy bodies. The chakras work with each other to help keep the physical body active, balanced, and strong.

Seven Main Chakras

Name: Root Chakra, Sanskrit name Muladhara
Description: Red with 4 petals
Location: Base of the spine
Purpose and Activity: Grounds ones energies to the earth. Works with the primal energies such as survival, security, and safety.

Name: Naval or Sacral Chakra, Sanskrit name Svadhisthana
Description: Orange with 6 petals
Location: Inch or two below the naval
Purpose and Activity: Connected to one's creativity (e.g., creating a new business or having a baby). Works at the intuitive or “gut” level.

Name: Solar Plexus Chakra, Sanskrit name Manipura
Description: Yellow with 10 petals
Location: Just beneath the breast bone
Purpose and Activity: Center of personal power. Helps one to transform and manifest; provides a strong sense of self respect; makes those things happen in our life we choose to create.

Name: Heart Chakra, Sanskrit name Anahata
Description: Green or pink with 12 petals
Location: Center of the chest
Purpose and Activity: Balance of In and Yo, Yin and Yang, male and female. Compassion and the connection to self love and the ability to love others without judgment.

Name: Throat Chakra, Sanskrit name Vishuddha
Description: Light blue with 16 petals
Location: Bottom of the neck
Purpose and Activity: Connection to one's ability to communicate. Enables one to speak one's truth and to truly listen to the truth of others, to hear their story.

Name: Third Eye Chakra, Sanskrit name Ajna
Description: Indigo with 2 large petals, each having 48 tiny petals within them
Location: At the brow center between the eyes
Purpose and Activity: Connection to insight and to one's angels, guides, ancestors, and animal spirits. Helps psychic connection to others — clients, family, friends, and pets.

Name: Crown Chakra, Sanskrit name Sahasrara
Description: Golden violet with 12 golden petals in the center surrounded by 960 violet petals for a total 972, but it is referred to as the thousand petal lotus.
Location: Top of the head
Purpose and Activity: One's connection to the divine, as one sees it. Symbolizes detachment from illusion as well as one's purpose and destiny.

Enjoy the connection.

Technorati Tags: chakra, energy points, yogic practices

Participating in these sacred sound events is a unique experience. At these concerts, you lie on the floor with the top of your head facing the gong. People who have attended these concerts many times like to be as close to the gong as possible. Some people bring pillows and blankets to be comfortable since most floors can be hard. Rudis starts with a short lecture about the gong — how it is made and used in this way, why it works, and his own experiences with the gong. Then the lights are turned down and the gong bath begins softly at first, and then increases in intensity becoming both loud and seemingly crashing, and yet is strangely comforting as the sounds wash over and through you.

Each person's experience is very different. Some say they see colors, and some say it sounds like voices of angels singing, and others feel stars and planets dancing around them. Some people even say they experience the divine. But what ever their experience is after the concert, everyone enjoys talking about what happened. I, myself, will be attending one on Wednesday, August 29th, at East Meets West, a store on Lawrence Avenue, in Chicago, and I can’t wait to see what happens this time.

Technorati Tags: vibrational energy work, healing bowls, sacred sound

On May 31st, I was honored to be invited to a Wesak Celebration, during the full moon in Taurus. In a beautiful setting at East Meets West, a store front on Lawrence Avenue, a place more temple than store, we gathered together (about 18 of us) to chant and bring in a wonderful and powerful energy for ourselves and our world.

Energy of Enlightenment, Peace, Harmony and Abundance for All

The vibration in this beautiful temple-store filled with lovely and sweet smelling roses and beautiful statues of Eastern deities — Buddha, Kwan Yin, Tara, Ganesh, Shiva, Laxmi, Saraswati Durga and others — filled me with such joy.

The worries of my day just melted away in the profound light that filled my heart and soul as well as the space in which we all chanted.

We then shared food and drink and our feelings about the chanting.

I asked my friend Mary Huddleston, who led the chanting, about her feelings about that night and what her chanting and her work mean in her life (Q & A below).

My last thoughts: may we all chant, pray, meditate, or quest for blessings for our world family.

Deanne

What would you like people to know about the celebration?

In many traditions the spiritual festivals and celebrations are connected with the cycles of the moon. In the month of May, the first full moon in Taurus is called the Wesak moon, when the Tibetan Buddhists honor the birth, enlightenment and death of the Shakyamuni Buddha. It is considered one of the four Great Festivals of Tibetan Buddhism, a highly auspicious time.

This year, according to the Rigpa Calendar (Tibetan Lunar calendar), the Wesak celebration was observed on May 31st. Spiritual practice is emphasized because the effect of our actions is multiplied by 10 million. So, it seemed to me that this would be a great opportunity to gather as a group to focus our intent and prayer energy on love, compassion, healing, and peace.

My teacher Thomas Ashley Farrand hosts a gathering like this every year. It lasts for many hours, and they chant Sanskrit mantras invoking healing, peace, and universal compassion. Sanskrit is a sacred language that resonates with our energy centers. By chanting, either aloud or silently, we raise our personal vibration, invoke archetypal principles/qualities such as prosperity, healing, spiritual light, and advancement, and collectively send love to the planet. Chanting in a group multiplies the power of the mantra exponentially. So gathering to chant in a group offers all kinds of opportunities for us to help one another, our planet, and ourselves.

What does chanting and doing this work mean to you?

I consider Sanskrit mantra and chanting to be an amazing gift and opportunity. Mantra is an integral part of my daily practice. It has changed my life in so many positive ways. When I first found Sanskrit mantra in this lifetime, it just felt like I had reconnected with an essential part of myself. Chanting these ancient mantras connects me to an eternal lineage of saints, sages, and seekers, ordinary people like me. It helps me to connect with what many of us want, what we have always wanted: to live a happy life, to alleviate suffering, and to experience a spiritual connection with the great mystery. Each time I work with mantras, I feel that I am doing a little bit more to work towards enlightenment and to pray for others and support them on their spiritual path. It feels very empowering and beautiful to me, and I am very grateful to have reconnected with this spiritual practice.