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Stressed Out?


Turn Your Stress Into Bliss with Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy 
by Camille Llewellyn

Stress is not having things be the way we would like them to be and happiness is accepting them the way they are. Stress shows up in all of our lives to some extent or another. I would like to speak today about the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy approach to stress management.

We all experience stress in our lives. Sometimes it can be unnoticed because it is so ingrained in our lives that it seems to be a part of who we are. Other times it manifests as illnesses, pain, insomnia and emotional disorders. Then we often seek medical help and work to treat the effect and not the cause.

Often it is triggered by transition, loss, weight gain, economic issues or feeling trapped in a life or job that doesn’t seem to fit who we are anymore.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy is an approach that exposes the cause of stress and lets the client come up wither own unique way of treating it. It is based on the fact that everything that has ever happened to us is held in our bodies. By moving in yoga poses many of these trapped feelings or memories are released.  While in poses students are supported by a client-centered dialogue approach to allow them to listen to their bodies and use what is communicated to create new ways of living and being which organically allows them to reduce the stress in their lives. Many of us have not ever taken the time to really listen to our bodies but let our mind interpret and analyze everything that takes place in our lives. Our bodies have the answers and all we need to do is listen.

Yoga in all its forms is a way to lower stress levels. After classes most students feel a sense of calm and well being. If a student has a very disciplined daily practice yoga can evolve in their lives as a way to lower the effects of stress. However most students enjoy their class and then go out and continue the same patterns of meeting stress that they are accustomed to.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy takes yoga one step further. Not only does it give clients the general ability to lower stress levels that comes with yoga but certified practitioners support their clients in a much deeper way. In a yoga class students may feel emotions or notice thoughts that show up during postures or meditation but that is where it ends. Often the student leaves class and has no way to explore what showed up. In Phoenix Rising Yoga one-on-one Therapy, students lie on a mat and are placed in supported yoga postures. They are supported by blankets and the practitioner and students are in charge of how deeply they are placed in the posture. For this reason people with no yoga experience at all can benefit equally from Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy.

They are then asked by the practitioner what is happening while supported in the poses. Students can speak as they listen to what their bodies have to say and often are very surprised at the outcome. They release ideas, emotions, personality patterns, answers to questions and even sources of trauma or fear. After several sessions they may understand the root cause of their stress and begin to make changes in their lives to manage it more effectively. The power of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy is that each session is unique to each student that day and never does their body release more than the student can handle emotionally. So it is safe and personal. Often students use what shows up in the session as topics to share with their life coach or counselor. As a Phoenix Rising Yoga therapist no advice or diagnosis is given but rather a facilitation to explore and discover what needs to be done. The therapist supports and listens but lets their clients inner wisdom create the outcomes.

In the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy group stress management program, students are guided in group Phoenix Rising Yoga and meditation experiences and are then able to discuss in the group what showed up for them. It is a thematic approach that builds weekly to enhance the students awareness gradually to the point that they are then able to change their relationship to stress that is valid way for them.

The certified Phoenix Rising group facilitator supports them to explore even more deeply what shows up from week to week. Students come to their own conclusions of how to use this information. Over the course of eight weeks they are given a daily guide to practice at home and then meet once a week and by the end of the program they have discovered their own unique way of meeting stress in their lives in a whole new way. It is not just a stress management program it is a life management program.

In both of these methods students learn from their own inner wisdom coming from their bodies. It is a non-prescriptive approach and as such it is not something they forget how to do. Because this new learning and way of being becomes absorbed into the very cells of their bodies and not just interpreted by their minds. It becomes the replacement for the stress reaction that was used before.

Continued private sessions after or during the group program can offer support for new life events that take place and dealing with them sooner prevents them from being absorbed by the body and then showing up as a stress related symptom.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Stress management were both founded by Michael Lee over 20 years ago. They are offered internationally and there are over 1000 practitioners worldwide.

Camille Llewellyn, MS, RYT 500, PRYT is a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist and certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Group facilitator since 2005. Both have changed have changed her life radically. “I truly believe in the work and I have been a mentor since 2006 for students learning to be Phoenix Rising Yoga therapists and group facilitators. I have seen amazing growth experiences for both my clients and students.”

The Gentle Spirit offers both private Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy sessions and Group Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Stress Management programs.

Group Program:

8 weeks 2 hours per week Wednesdays 6:30—8:30 PM

September 2—October 21

Plus an all day retreat 9AM - 4 PM September 27

Tuition: $275 which includes practice CDs and Manual.

Register by August 15 and save $50

Private Sessions: $80 (sessions last 75-90 minutes)

Call Camille Llewellyn at 610-653-8548 to schedule both. 

Qigong and Writing Workshop


Have you dreamt of writing a book? Or maybe you would just like to be able to express yourself more effectively. The Gentle Spirit was mentioned in The Philadelphia Examiner for a Qigong and Writing Workshop that we are helping to host on August 14, 15, and 16th. Award-winning screenwriter, Bruce Gelfand will be running the writing portion of the workshop and Jennifer and Jay will be sharing some qigong exercises to move your qi (energy) throughout the weekend - complimenting the writing process. Please click on the following link to read the article. Maybe you will consider joining us?

Take a Breather


When I talk to people about the importance of proper breathing, I get a lot of skeptical looks. Yet slow, smooth, deep and even breathing can change the way you feel, give you an emotional lift, and reduce stress and anxiety!

When you're stressed, you tend to take shorter, shallower breaths, which don't supply as much oxygen to your body. This actually increases the amount of stress you experience. Because breathing is fundamentally linked to the way you feel mentally and physically, simply changing the way you breathe will enable you to handle stress better.

You probably can't remember the last time you sat quietly and simply focused on your breath — but with a little effort taking a breather can become a regular activity. Today, I want you to do a five-minute exercise that will allow you to become aware of your breath, slowing down your heart rate and reducing your stress level in the process.

It's simple: Close your eyes bringing your eyesight within. Listen within. Breathe through your nose and your skin. Adjust your breathing to be slow, smooth, deep and even. There should be no noise from your breathing. Just sit and be aware of your breathing. The breath will become soft and unbroken like silk.

How does paying attention to your breath change how you feel? How does it change your breathing? You may be surprised how relaxing this small step can be. Anytime you feel stressed or anxious going forward, do the five-minute breather to return your body to a state of calm. 

If you would like more than just five minutes, please come to one our classes at The Gentle Spirit's Center of Awareness. We have classes that range in length from 45 minutes for a quick lunchtime recharge to classes that last an hour and a half to all day workshops. Please visit our website www.xinleinstitute.com for more information on our class schedule.


XinLe Institute: The Center of Awareness

We are so excited!!!.....XinLe Institute: The Center of Awareness is finally opening its doors on Monday, May 11th!  The Center occupies Suite 101 in the same building that we have our clinic, The Gentle Spirit. Our address is 800 Main St., Suite 101 and 105, Hellertown, PA.
Jay will be teaching our first qigong class this Monday, May 11th at 6AM. For this month only, to celebrate our grand opening, we will be offering all of our classes for just $10. This is one way for us to thank our friends/students for their continued encouragement and support. For the daily class schedule and monthly workshop schedule, please visit www.xinleinstitute.com



May

The new earth quickens as you rise.
The May Queen is waiting.
Feel the pulsing ground call you to journey,
To know the depths of your desire.
The May Queen is waiting.
Moving through the night, the bright moon's flight.
In green and silver on the plain.
She waits for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Her temper stings if you refuse to taste Her honey.
Surrender as enchantment brings
The first light of dawning.
Move with Her in sacred dance, through fear to feeling.
Bringing ecstasy to those who dare.
Living earth is breathing.
Loving through the night in the bright moonlight,
As seedlings open with the rain.
She'll long for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
-   Ruth Barren, The May Queen is Waiting

Happy Earth Day!


http://www.wondercliparts.com/holidays/earth_day/graphics/earth_day_graphics_13.gif

Earth Day is April 22!

By now, I'm sure you know how committed Jay and I are to helping others create more of a conscious awareness of their external and internal environments. True harmony and well-being exists within ourselves and it also exists between us and our planet as well. We're all interconnected and interdependent and part of a larger whole. With Earth Day upon us, it's important to remember that in order to create change in your world and the world around you, you must first feel the change within yourself. 


Connecting with Nature

The image above is the Chinese symbol for Wind.  It is also the symbol for spring - wind - time - rain, which is an idiom meaning rain is timely in spring. 

As you sit and meditate connecting with nature today, be grateful for the strong winds and the rains we are currently experiencing. The wind could be symbolic of your own spirit. The wind may represent changes in your life. The greater the force of the wind, the greater the change ad the rains will help wash it all away. 


Celebrate Spring!

Awaken to Spring

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

—Percy Bysshe Shelley

Feng Shui

OfficeFengShui01.jpg Feng Shui 2 image by AyashiLVJ

Feng Shui is about creating harmony in our lives. It's about letting go of old patterns that no longer serve our well-being. Feng Shui uses techniques that are thousands of years old to bring harmony internally, as well as externally to one's home and business. It looks at many areas of one's life (health, wealth, family, relationships, career, friends, fame, children, and knowledge) to determine blockages within the home or business, that might cause some type of issue, and then offers different types of "cures" that can be used to alleviate the problem. The methods for analyzing a space and the "cures" to correct the problems can vary from esoteric modalities used for centuries to technological solutions of our current timeline. Both must blend in harmony to created balance in one's life.

The purpose of life is to create harmony in all things allowing your consciousness to evolve beyond time and emotion, the duality of the illusion. Healing and working on yourself - is part of the equation. When you are in a space where feng shui has been used to create balance - you will experience harmony in all levels of your soul's awareness.

The Gentle Spirit offers Feng Shui Consultations. Please call us at 610-838-4975 to set up your appointment today!

A Poem by Shayna

My goddaughter, Shayna, spent the day at The Gentle Spirit on Tuesday. Jay and I had the opportunity to give her a qi healing session in between our appointments. Shayna wrote this poem immediately after her session and we are honored that she shared it with us and is allowing us to share it with all of you. 

My Spirit is sacred
And my body its temple
To nurture and protect 
Will bring Love to its center
For I am a masterpiece
Carved from this Earth
And a path has been growing 
Since the day of my birth
Leading me forward to shores unknown
Where harmonizing waves will form before my home
And light will settle ahead of every stride
For I have found the courage to live and then subside
And my spirit will carry on all of these treasures
Even if the ties to my body are severed
Because Love is infinite
Love is All
And Love will conquer long after I fall.

~S.L. Renzulli


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