BE - LOOK - FEEL - AMAZING
Today's biggest challenge is learning how to have stress in our lives but not let stress 'have' us. To become a 'master' of how we fluidly and easefully move through life: lighter, freer, more connected, able to handle whatever comes at us, wherever the road leads, with confidence, assuredness and a sense of humour. To be connected to a sanctuary, so deep in ourselves, that however bleak and scarce life is in the external world, we are constantly nourished and free.
This, in itself, is a journey of ever-unfolding Self-Mastery. It may sound a grandiose idealogy and to some, even self-indulgent, but on a day-to-day level, doing something that cultivates: space, balance, peace, compassion and a deepening loving perspective and connection to ourselves, the world, our reality and our parts in that, is possibly the only way forward in these times. If we end up becoming fitter in mind and body, more vital, open-hearted, expansive in our views, and better friends, partners, lovers, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers....well frankly where's the negative?
This is a life-long journey, that has no winning line to cross, no medals awarded at the end. It's in itself no big deal and at the same time, the ultimate deal. For, in those times of relating, when we might expect other people to know us, do things for us, make us happy, feel whole, tell us we're loveable and we don't know these things for ourselves, then should those sandcastles we've built our self-worth on, get washed away by the tide, we’re lost, trying to swim back to a shore we’ve never stopped to understand and get to know for ourselves.
A vital element to SHED's creation was to encourage progressive degrees of Self-Mastery - using mind/body practices to bring a dropping downwards and inwards to the heart of who we truly are and in that is the cultivation of a spiritual practice, in whatever form that may develop for that individual. Western ways teach us to look outside of ourselves for the answers, SHED teaches us to go in. When we feel good, we know we are heading in the right direction, when we feel bad and buy into negative thoughts, we know we're moving away from that natural state of well-being. Our bodies (the vehicles we use to get ourselves around the planet) love to move, to feel fit and full of vitality at whatever age we are.
This is not self-improvement, which is in itself, a mind structure, it's an experiential practice of ever-deepening release: naturally and easefully, shedding the layers of 'stuff' we have all accumulated over time. This works somatically and through the visualisations and meditations you will hear within the practice and those you can download and tune into in your own time. A key element of meditation and stilling the mind, is not so much to stop the mind from thinking (which is what it does best 24/7) but to relax and calm the nervous system which is what gets worn out and frayed. Ever deepening layers of meditative states shift mind states, old beliefs, negative thought structures, etc we literally start to think better thoughts and change our realities. It's a multi-layered subconscious journey, once the conscious mind is settled, trusting, then the unfoldment can begin - it's a powerful, transformative, life-enhancing practice - as we shed our old stuff, we make space to shed compassion, love, peace and feel lighter, freer and more expansive with an ever-deepening re-connection to the universal field of consciousness.
The stressors in our lives are doubtful to get less but the way we handle, react and work with stress can. Stress negatively impacts us: it wears our immune systems down; creates acid and inflammation in our systems which is a root cause of disease and even if we stay physically active this acidosis/inflammation picture and a lack of good minerals/proteins in our diets can cause loss of muscle tone and we lose our youthful, sexy and vibrant health. Many of the changes in health that have been deemed the normal result of aging are in fact the result of long-standing sedentary lifestyles and poor eating choices that we all face in the 21st century. When we talk of health, it wants to be not a question of the lack of symptoms that we focus on (or a mind-set of being 'lucky' we didn't get a disease) but, more importantly, cultivating a deep connection to our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, so that we create on-going health and in turn an expansive zest for life at whatever age. SHED is therefore, underpinned by naturopathic philosophies: to lighten a body's internal stress from 21st century external stressors and toxins (ie to move from an internal picture that is stagnant and dark to one that is fluid and light) and naturally encourages healthier food choices and suggests other modalities to help cleanse and create more light and openess.
SHED The Method, begins as a physical practice of mind/body exercise and deepens consciously and sub-consciously as a person practices. Everything we have thought and how we perceive our reality, has resulted in where we find ourselves today - negative thoughts and emotions get held in our bodies at a cellular level creating tension, contraction and stagnation.
A key element to SHED is that it is a progressive, series-based practice, that grows as the individual develops on a tangible basis, with differing levels and options throughout the practice and the series.
Better health, vitality, energy, skin tone, fitness levels, concentration, flexibility, sleep and relationships and more, can be the rewards for taking a few simple steps to be, look and feel amazing.