There are no shortcuts. Even though you will read advertising saying go deeper than a trained Buddhist monk. They also said this about drugs.

According to OSHO, when you are not doing anything at all, as in when all activity has ceased and you simply are just being, that’s what meditation is. Concentration is doing. Contemplation is doing. When there is no mind and you go beyond mind, then we are meditating. Meditation is not against action, you don’t have to escape from life. It simply teaches you a new way of life. You become the watcher not the doer. Doing will always happen like chopping wood and carrying water.

Meditation is a very simple phenomenon yet over the years we have lost our way with many ideas and opinions that complicate the way to our centre.

Over the years I have experienced many different techniques in meditation, from mantras to isolation up a mountain, fasting and painful silent sitting for hours. Which is the best? I cannot possibly give you the answer to this. Each of us has to find it individually on this amazing journey we are experiencing. Sometimes things come to us and we can only accept it in the mind, then some time later it reappears and we are ready to fully experience it. An experience I have had recently is a book that I found in my library which I read years ago for my Chinese medicine study. I remember I was not that interested at the time as it was not from the East or had the flavour of being steeped in history. I was drawn to it just the other day and now cannot put it down as I fully experience the meaning and its depth, which has helped me enormously in my recovery.

The other day I read a Facebook post from someone saying that they had done Yoga and then Pilates in the morning, then had an acupuncture session and massage in the afternoon followed by meditation and dancing in the evening. We cannot possibly process and deal with this much energy change and expect for it to be of true benefit. Maybe the mind feels better for a while as we tick the boxes of things that we think will benefit us on this journey.

Sometimes when starting in the meditation journey we force things or push, thinking there must be some merit in our dedication. This I have found takes us even further away from what we want to achieve. I have found to take the journey of meditation in chunks, small bits at a time until such a time that we naturally take longer in that space of no mind and being the watcher of all the thoughts that come to us.

For me no balanced perspective can be gained without meditation in some form. What are your experiences with meditation?

Where do we start with this massive topic with such controversy, especially from the purists’ point of view?
Over the last 30 odd years I have been a purist and swung the pendulum the opposite way and then back again trying to find what for my body suited me the most. I got confused when research contradicted what I originally thought was true. This was when I started going with how I felt and at the same time still referred to what I had learnt along the way.

Food definition: any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually plant or animal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals.

Food for me is always individually tailored, the hardest part is getting to know your body well enough so that you get optimal nutrition (and so important for me is nutritional uptake as it is necessary for the body to feel and be nourished). We could go on the lists written on food as to what individual foods give us nutritionally, the important question I feel is what is your body absorbing and are there big holes of minerals missing in your food chain?

A good start would be to know if the food is grown organically so the soil would be mineral rich and the plants are healthy. Included in that would also be, is the meat organic or looked after in a way that creates the least stress on the animal as possible?  A great view of this is seen in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s documentary Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Too.

Being more responsible for our food is a great step to insuring that we become healthier. It is very empowering to get to the end product of eating a meal that you had everything to do with in getting it onto your plate, the taste is delicious and full of love. If the organic start is not in your budget then get as much fresh food as possible that has been grown locally that is not in the supermarkets as they tend to dictate to farmers to spray so shelf life is increased. That is why much of the fresh organically grown produce goes off quickly, so best to use if you can within two to three days of purchase.

To say what is the best way food should be prepared is another huge topic and it is not my intention to give opinions either way other than to say all food preparations have some merit. The question I would ask is where do you live, in a hot or cold climate? What, if any, conditions do you suffer from? These are some of the questions that would determine what foods and what preparation methods are best. A long time ago in my practice in the UK an Asian lady was visiting me with several physical problems which I treated with acupuncture, massage and herbs. After several visits her situation improved slightly though not as well as we would have liked. I then asked more about her food and she was now eating a European style diet (trying to fit into the culture) I asked her to introduce more of her food from back home. In a period of 6 weeks the transformation was unbelievable and all pains disappeared, this prompted me to research further and focus more on the individual rather than just following a style or ideology.

The basic message for food is to make it simple and not to cook with too many food category combinations, also staying away from processed food wherever possible.

Whilst this article is not giving any food answers for the person out there who wants to know what to eat to help a specific condition, my belief is that with a certain amount of help from a professional who is not set in you being a vegetarian or a raw food junkie, a balance can be found and your body can reach optimum health.

If you would like further help I am offering consultations for anyone wishing to do so over Skype or FaceTime, Happy eating!

As always, your comments/thoughts on this topic are welcome.

In fact for most people, myself included, a word that sends fear down their spine and most times running from the thought of it. Definition by the medical dictionary says that cancer is not just one disease but a collection of 100 diseases, it goes on to say that if not controlled its two main characteristics are its ability to grow and move from one site to another, and can cause death. Research now is becoming very interesting in that there is more understanding from other points of view and it seems that we have been somewhat duped into believing firstly, the concept of cancer, and secondly, in the treatment of cancer.

My interest in this subject has recently been intensified after being diagnosed with a malignant tumour in my bowel in August 2012. No research at the time was possible as my case was an emergency with bowel blockage and imminent surgery scheduled in Munich. This then led to complications after the surgery where I was put in an induced coma and had further surgery to save my life. I spent 4 weeks in intensive care and a further 5 weeks in a ward recovering and learning to walk again. I dropped 20 kgs and no muscle to get me moving easily again.

The next part of my journey was back with my family to gain some strength and this was the best and most valuable part of the recovery. We connected, we cried, we learnt how to communicate more clearly and deeply. It was a massive awakening for us all, especially for me after spending so much time with myself and fears.

I then entered an Orthodox/ Alternative clinic near Munich run by a man called Dr Douwes who has literally helped thousands of people with many types of Cancer. The treatment at that point was only possible with private payment and many Aussies were there. Most having got sponsors or help from family to enable their treatments. In my case I was fortunate to have a client who very kindly paid for two weeks of treatment which was enough for me to get the all clear before Christmas, and another chance to be with my family and friends enjoying life in every moment.

The links I provide below have been an invaluable source for greater understanding. I am now able to view Cancer with a better understanding and awareness.

My journey and learning continues and my intention is to help as many people as I can face their fears before they manifest, and to give tools and medicine to deal with the modern afflictions that we have created. I wish all beings ease with their suffering, and all fears faced with the hand of love and family.

In health,

Neale a.k.a Devayan (another story)

Links
Klinik St Georg
German New Medicine
Healing Naturally By Bee

Back Pain – this condition affects a huge percentage of the working population, from the sedentary to the actively sporty. I remember some studies done on the mechanics of the back when I was studying Osteopathy way back in my early days of this healing journey. For the average male at 10 stone and 5 feet 8 inches, bending one degree forward from the upright position, the poundage stress put through L5/Sacrum is around 500 pounds. This is on one point of the back and is a mighty amount of pounds. For those who don’t understand feet, inches or pounds obviously this doesn’t mean a great deal, unless you have suffered from acute spasm of the back and felt even the slightest of movements, creating either more spasm or acute pain. When experienced, never forgotten.

Back pain is understood in many alternative modalities in different ways on how to treat. My experience in running a skeletal pain clinic in the farming hot bed of Yorkshire for 17 years tells me you need to assess each individual case separately and listen to all the cues the body is making to inform firstly the person suffering the pain, and secondly the practitioner assessing the condition.

Common things to look out for:

• Aches that come and go – does the ache go with movement and heat?
• Sharp pain – does the pain go with rest and cold?
• Recurrence of these pains – is it associated with stress from work, late night habits, eating too late, going to bed late, alcohol consumption, coffee, consumption of pain killers and anti-inflammatories, sugary food increase, change in environment, travelling a lot?

Later on in my growth as a practitioner and studying Chinese medicine with its vast knowledge of energetics (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) I learnt that the individual approach is key to successful management and healing of these very painful conditions.

By making these observations you start to understand something of the nature of the condition and these are what the practitioner is looking for to evaluate how to treat you specifically.

Australian statistics re back pain:

• Nearly 70% of Australians will suffer back pain this next year
• 80% of Australians will suffer back pain at some point in their lives and 10% of these will suffer disability as a result
• One in four Australians has significant back pain now
• Back pain doubles and sometimes triples such feelings as worthlessness, hopelessness, sadness, and the feeling everything is an effort
• Australian businesses spend $1 billion each year in direct or indirect costs.

A big factor that is applicable to most of us is that we don’t always know how to relax and let go of all the tensions that we create in our body. This is particularly relevant at this time of the year leading up to Christmas. We often have a million and one things to do or complete that stress levels become very high indeed. Our body reacts to this stress in the form of tension. What does this tension then do? Mainly block the energy channels and lead to an increase in all symptoms. If you already suffer from a bad back, then watch that you are not neglecting the powerful aspect of the breath to help relax. Shallow breathing is a common symptom of tension, and relates to poor movement in the diaphragm, which puts pressure on the back.

So my message to you this Christmas is please remember to relax and take it easy…Your back will thank you for it!

For more techniques on breathing and relaxation, we released a downloadable meditation CD last month which is available for purchase here.

It’s been a while since the last newsletter and this one is written on the back of being in hospital for the last 9 weeks overcoming a situation that in my mind could not possibly happen to me. So writing this now I bring a deeper clarity than ever before, with more humbleness and greater appreciation of what we call health, and the influencing factors that affect us all in unique ways.

Sometimes these things come along to wake us up and change our perspective of how things operate in us or in nature that we could not have previously entertained in our thinking.

My situation took me away from Australia, a place that has been home for the last 7 years, and back to Europe, my original home, to understand some aspect of my past that I hadn’t dealt with (even though I would have sworn this work I had already undertaken and dealt with). Through this whole episode of hospital and orthodox medicine I was able to gain valuable insights, sensitivity towards myself, and discovered boundaries that I had never felt before.

As a Fire element I experienced a tremendous shock from the hospitalisation and the changes that I have had to accept in my body. My joy was gone initially and a deep sadness had overtaken my whole being.  On many levels I am now able to empathise with so many more beings who are also suffering. This was a massive awakening, as I thought I could already empathise with those suffering before entering hospital.

Working with some amazingly gifted people here in Germany with a great vision of health, offering seminars and retreats, was the reason I thought I came back to Europe. Now with this experience I have gained something deeper still, and the work that I am now doing has much more clarity.  I feel I am getting another opportunity to find balance. I am blessed to still be here enjoying this journey of life. My dream is to help people with this deeper insight and clarity, to continue to work towards easing people’s suffering as much as I can with my humble abilities.

I am pleased to finally launch my recording of meditations and teachings in a downloadable CD. I touch on the very subjects I have written above, about helping others become awake without necessarily undergoing the pain and suffering I have gone through. These tracks were recorded in Australia before I left. I was amazed when I had finished as to how smoothly the recording flowed, having covered everything I wanted to say in one sitting without a break, notes or prompting.

I feel like the phoenix rising from the ashes, and as Arnold Schwartzenegger in the movie The Terminator says “I’ll be back!”

The condition Insomnia is becoming more and more common and will continue to be increasingly so as we move away from our cycle that is connected to the sun. This is termed the Horary cycle in Chinese medicine. This cycle, or connection to the daily movements of the sun, trigger many responses in our body, including our hormones through the endocrine glands. This response also affects our nervous system and organ system, which functions optimally around the energy of the sun.

As much as we like freedom, we are conditioned in our body to perform certain things that are regular and naturally occurring. With our hectic daily schedules, we try to change this functioning (such as not going to bed before midnight) and we consequently come across obstacles in the way that the body is working.

It may seem like we can trick the body in the early stages. But nature will always have its say—which is, that we are connected in a very powerful way to the sun and its movement (even when we cannot see it in the sky). Oriental Medicine and Taoist observation had this knowledge thousands of years ago and yet we are still questioning this connection with our skepticism and rush towards…what?.

Our sleep is Number One in the recovery of our system, recovery at a deep level. You just need to observe young children and the amazing turnaround they have when getting the right balance of sleep and timing of going to bed. We, of course, as adults are the same except we have a lot more STUFF to deal with that stops us getting to bed at the right time to recover enough to function optimally. Add to this a generation of poor habits (creating deeper problems) and confusing messages given out by the media and popular magazines around health.

To counter this, we need to come back again to the principles of health and life. These principles are what hold Oriental Medicine together and create a solid foundation that we need to observe and, wherever possible, stick with. With the speed of life, and particularly what is being asked of us, everyday sleep is of even more importance.

Helpful ways to connect us back to the restoration of sleep:

• Start to understand the morning and afternoon as Yang moving toward Yin.
• Encourage yourself to engage in more Yin ways later in the day rather than revving your energy up with Yang activity or adrenal-pumping excitement.
• Don’t eat sweet things late at night or have coffee/tea.
• Create a routine in your life that is geared toward you getting to bed before 11 pm.
• Play relaxation music or mediation CDs to encourage an altered state that quiets your mind’s chatter (rubbish).
• Visualise or pray about what you want from deep and restful sleep.
• Keep these habits for at least 21 days and the body intelligence does the rest by reconnecting you back to nature.

You would think “What is there to write about on this subject, as we do it all the time and is a fundamental aspect to life?”

Well, it is a sign of how much we have disconnected from that fundamental nature, that we now spend time reading and exploring the breath as if it was new and someone had just invented it.

Maybe we are waiting for science to do detailed studies before we believe how important it surely is. This is a pattern of some people and science becomes the only medium to release their fear and trust. As a lot of you know, working with the breath can help release any fears and create capacity for more connection to our true and healthy selves.

Many activities involve activating deep breathing. For example, the further you want to progress in a sport or activity, the more you need to learn to relax the chest and diaphragm to get maximum effect.

The breath is not just a physical movement. It has emotional, spiritual and mental aspects to it, as do all organs in the body. It is with this connection to the deeper parts of an organ that we truly start to understand the awesomeness of this life and the gift of our body to transport us around.

When we come into life we take a breath in, and as we come to the end of this life, we release and breathe out. In between we are practising in and out. The more we can relax and slow down the breathing (unless being chased by a bull) the more we preserve and create health in the cells…and the longer we can enjoy the experience of living fully.

The biggest muscle involved in the breathing mechanism is the diaphragm. This is often underused as we become accustomed to intercostal breathing, along with shoulder breathing, or panting when things are fully blocked in this mechanism.

Many of the ancient cultures know the importance of Breath. Some have detailed information and practices that pivot around breath work and the use of the body/mind to help this flow of breath.

In the current pace of life, with all its stresses and time-defined structures, we are holding on too much – unable to let go. This leaves us tired, uptight and vulnerable to breakdown. So in breath work we focus on the breathing out more than the breathing in.

This may seem strange to some, that you would focus more on one aspect than another, especially when we look to do things in balance. Because we have come so far away from balance, breathing out and learning to let go helps redress this imbalance far quicker than any other method that I have come across or practised.

We know that the mind is such a major influence on the body. In this state of life we are currently in – 2012 and the predictions from the Mayan and Hopi traditions, we are told that things will only heat up towards the end of the year with the intensity and stresses. So breath – breathing and particularly letting go – is going to be very important. Do not take it lightly and put it off. Find those spaces to practise, even when at traffic lights with that annoying stop signal.

Many years ago I was asked by a health magazine “What if you only had one tool left to use with people, what would it be?” I replied “To be able to teach the breath and healing from it, as I regard it with that much importance”.

I will be running a Specialty Spa Weekend covering the topic of breath at Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat in the Gold Coast in January 2012. For more details, click here.

Health and the maintenance of it are a balance of many factors, some are more obvious than others. Chinese medicine gives us some insight to the ways in which we can create a balance of the energies that keep us healthy. The biggest factor I believe to achieving this goal is following certain principles underpinned by Oriental medicine, which creates the foundation to build from.

My teachers have always kept it simple and based in Nature therefore easy to follow or observe in the Nature that surrounds us.

What is a principle? Definition: an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct.

The principles that I use in the very beginning of working with, or treating a person, are:

1.   Awareness, what is our awareness of the current situation we are faced with? Other respected people’s awareness of our situation can often be very beneficial in enhancing our awareness.

We need to be honest and we often need that birds’ eye view of the situation that gives the clarity. Breathing and taking a pause brings greater awareness than rushing and doing the “same same”. Meditation can give better perspective and clearer awareness.

2. Clear, this is about releasing old ways/patterns/habits that keep us blocked, stuck. Even the words that we use keep us stuck, and the careful use of words can clear many poor relationship issues with others and ourselves.

Food – a big one in our society , we often numb ourselves or hide/protect our issues by eating. Exercise – another way that we can punish ourselves and develop unhealthy habits that when cleared, release a fresh new outlook and energy. So, clearing is getting rid of what is not needed and becoming more specific and efficient, in order that energy can flow easier.

3.  Movement, this is moving in the direction that will give the biggest benefit to the action/task you are wanting to develop, it is no good going to a gym and punishing yourself if you are depleted of energy to begin with. A better option is to try a yoga class or Qigong. By using the previous principles, our knowing becomes clearer, and moving in ways that support our well-being becomes easier.

Moving in the natural direction with food would be clearing out all the de-naturalised foods in your cupboards, check ingredients, if you do not know what the ingredients are or mean, they are no good for you.

4. Nourishment, who wouldn’t want to be nourished? This can be on the 4 levels – on the Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual.

With the previous principles working, nourishment comes far easier, we will naturally get nourished when doing the best for ourselves. These principles are constantly being used and nature prevails.

Without methods, we are just at the mercy of our “normal” self which is the programmed, socialised self. Using principles such as these help get us to where we want to go safely, on a path that has been walked before and proved to be safe.

We will continue to explore these principles in more detail through our e-book series.

Natural medicine, nature cures, alternative, complimentary, are they the same? Should I have a massage or find out about past lives? Do I do a colonic or have acupuncture? Is shiatsu the same as acupressure? Maybe just stay as I am and hope everything will get better with time! Many questions, many paths, some from authentic roots and firm foundation, others chop suey.

Having walked this path for the last 30 odd years I have been called a hippy, a dreamer, a weirdo, to name a few, most of the opinions I don’t share but understand where they are coming from.

Rules and regulations around herbs, food and therapies all strangle and deplete the essence and true nature of the original intention. Fear dominates our society and our masculine’s fight towards survival intensifies. What to do?!

Our western mindset is towards searching outside of ourselves, finding a saviour, a guru, standardising right and wrong – an absolute. Yet our individual journey is unique, being quiet and listening is one of our hardest tasks. We miss so much in our speed/haste.

In the traditional skill of health and well being, we learn to be in the moment – don’t push so much, stay centred and breathe. Go within wherever possible. We develop skills that we were originally born with.

Have patience. Develop your knowing, your intuition. Be guided by knowing (not some other planet being!).

Already that is a lot to deal with, just reading through this blog.

As one of my teachers has said many times, our questions can lead us to the answer. When we get stuck, we are asking the wrong questions or in the wrong way, e.g. should I have massage for a niggly back pain or go to the Osteopath? If you know these modalities, check inside yourself with the questions, and listen to the answer of your body. Or get clever, go to an Osteopath who also does massage! Once we find these pathways to our knowing it becomes easier and easier to know.

For the next few months, we will focus on how to better understand this knowing. I will share with you the basic principles that will help guide us on this journey of discovery.