What is Hypnosis?

What do Albert Einstein, Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, Henry Ford, and Mozart have in common? Give up? All have benifited from hypnosis to make positive changes in their lives.Hypnosis can help you to better understand yourself. It can help you to change bad habits into good ones. It can help you turn your negative or sad feelings into positive or happy ones. It can help you to effortlessly focus on almost anything in your life that you would like to change, while leaving you unburdened by analytical or pessimistic thoughts. Unfortunately, hypnosis and hypnotists have long been portrayed in a negative light by television, films, and other media. Most people are familiar with the image of hypnosis as a traveling stage show in which people are made to bark like dogs or act like chickens. We've been led to believe that, while under hypnosis people are unconscious and unaware of their surroundings. These and other misconceptions could not be further from the truth. A person of normal intelligence can only be hypnotized if he or she is willing to follow the hypnotist's instructions. The vast majority of hypnotists practice in offices not circus tents, and are deeply committed to helping people.To understand how hypnosis works, we must first learn about how our mind works. In simple terms, our mind consists of two components: The conscious mind, and the subconscious mind. Our conscious, or logical, mind performs analytical duties, rationalizes, uses willpower in attempts to change personal habits, and serves as our short-term memory. The conscious mind also contains what is known as the critical factor, which operates automatically when you are using your conscious mind. The critical factor can be thought of as protecting the status quo of your beliefs and must be bypassed in order for you to accept any suggestion that conflicts with your existing beliefs.The subconscious mind is where our brain deals with habits, emotions, long-term memory, and self preservation. It is the subconcious that the hypnotist focuses on. It is the part through which it is possible to bypass the critical factor entirely in order to open the door to positive change in your life. A good metaphor is to consider the subconscious as a hard drive in your computer which the hypnotist reprograms. When you have targeted a specific glitch, such as a bad habit, the hypnotist is able to guide you into a relaxed state where it is possible to reprogram your subconscious with positive suggestions that replace negative elements.Our conscious mind finds it difficult to change bad habits. For example, when a person decides to try and quit smoking, he typically thinks he can accomplish this through willpower alone, however willpower simply initiates the desire to change and is usually unsuccessful at eliminating the problem. The subconscious mind is able to change bad habits by readily accepting positive suggestions. Therein lies the secret to the effectiveness of hypnosis. Through positive suggestion hypnosis changes your beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors which you would like to improve. Some things that you can accomplish with the help of hypnosis are change your eating habits, stop smoking, conquer phobias, and improve athletic performance.If hypnosis is going to work for you, it is crucial to understand that a doubtful or negative response to given suggestions leads to their rejection. On the other hand, if you really want the change and focus on the suggestion with a positive attitude, trusting that it works, the suggestion is accepted and positive change happens. Trusting and believing in hypnosis is the first step to a successful new you! For more information, visit www.performancehypno.com.

Stop Smoking with Hypnotherapy

As an ex smoker, I can completely relate to the challenges involved in giving up smoking and to the feelings of guilt, frustration and embarrassment of being a smoker, when you would really rather not be. It’s just not socially acceptable now days and as a women, the fear of developing the classic smokers face, puckered lines, grey complexion and dark circles was enough to enable me to find my motivation! Fortunately, if you haven’t yet found the support you need to stop smoking forever, hypnotherapy can be an effective solution. Hypnotherapy Herts is a Hyoniotherapy practice based in Hertfordshire. In this article you can discover 5 of the ways in which Hypnotherapy Herts can help you stop smoking with ease and quickly. 1. A Free Consultation – Hypnotherapy Herts provides a free consultation to those who make the decision to use Hypnotherapy Hertfordshire to stop smoking. During this initial consultation motivation is assessed. This is a very important step in your commitment to stop smoking. A good hypnotherapist will not work with a person who is not really that motivated to make the change. If they do, they are wasting your time and money. Hypnotherapy Herts would help you to identify whether you feel things ‘must change now’. 2. Informal Change Techniques: Leverage At Hypnotherapy Herts, a range of techniques are used to move ensure that you will be completely ready to stop smoking for good. One of the ways that this is done is via a process called getting leverage. This basically means helping the client to recognise and experience the impact of the problem behaviour, such as smoking, on themselves and those around them. It involves bombarding you with information about the impact of your smoking behaviour on your body and mind and the dangers of smoking will feel very real to you after this process. It will help you find your motivation and will identify those who are not motivated. 3. Informal Change Techniques: Setting Well-Formed Goals NLP takes goals setting seriously and has developed criteria for goal setting that results in the goals being achievable and likely to be reached. Setting these types of goals involves you acting as if you have already achieved your goals to give up smoking. You will get to really visualise and begin to experience in your mind your life as a person who does not smoke. You will want to move towards this life after this process.4. Formal Change Techniques – There are several formal change techniques, which are effective for helping you to stop smoking. The most appropriate technique will depend on your unique problem. Here are a few: 1) The Swish Technique can be used if you wish to replace a highly contextualised problem behaviour with a more positive behaviour. It works to eliminate behaviours that occur in specific situations after specific triggers. 2) Parts Integration is very useful at uncovering the positive intention of your smoking habit and dealing with incongruent behaviour and feelings. 3) Like To Dislike – This technique is based on information about how we code memories in our brain. We tend to code things we like in a different way to things we don’t like. So, its possible to recode your memory of smoking into something that you cant stand. 5) Hypnosis with positive suggestion. Of course, part of your stopping smoking treatment at Hypnotherapy Herts will involve you getting to sit back and relax whilst your unconscious mind does the learning! During this process you will be guided to a deep state of relaxation, whilst the therapist also directs your unconscious mind with suggestions and metaphors to stop smoking. You will also be supported to develop positive coping strategies. Acknowledge that your smoking habit has served a purpose in the past, in that it has likely been a method for coping. Hypnotherapy and NLP techniques (neuro linguistic programming) will enable you to develop positive coping strategies that serve you in the present and future. Hypnotherapy Herts helps people to stop smoking in one session. In that one session you become a non-smoker and do not want to go back to being one. Free support is also offered for the following 6 months, so that you return for free support if you feel you need it. If you do return to smoking a free top of session is available. These are rarely required.

Your Personal Value System

When I work with clients around their personal value system, we look at the 10 most common values, and we work together to make sure these values reflect firstly, how you treat yourself, and secondly, what you expect from yourself before looking at others.The top ten are: Integrity. Humour. Education. Physical Fitness. Kindness/compassion. Family, Nature/Outdoors, Health, Honesty, Love. But there are lots more.There is no question, if your values aren’t clear to you, and your boundaries aren’t based on your values, how can your customers, your colleagues, even your family possibly know how to treat you, when you don’t know what’s important to you.Look at the important areas of your life and ask yourself “is my life at this level working?” Next, do that in your Personal, Business, Physical and Spiritual parts of your life. Remind yourself that at every moment you make a choice how you live your life and whether to live your life according to your values. And talking of values.What ARE your values? Being aware of your values and using them as the guidelines for your life means being aware and willing to interrupt yourself when you are repeating inappropriate patterns of behaviour and/or reactions to people, conditions and things. So when you see or hear yourself behaving in ways that are not aligned with your values simply interrupt yourself in the middle of learned behaviour that doesn’t bring you what you want.Because you boundaries – or lack of them – come directly from your values, write down your values …. do it now…….. and then ask yourself this question.Do I have this – or do this – for myself. Do I treat myself with kindness? With integrity? Do I take care of myself? Am I totally honest with myself? Can I laugh at myself? Do I love myself? You should be saying ‘yes’ when checking off your values towards yourself. That way you know, and others know what you stand for.For instance, when your boss dumps things on your desk at the last minute, before a long weekend, instead of sitting and stewing about it, do you bring your values into play? Is Integrity one of your values? Kindness? How do you handle that type of stress? Do you freak out? Do you complain to your friends or partners and do or say nothing to your boss. Or do you plan how you’re going to bring it up next week so that it doesn’t happen again?Write down your values. Explain each one in one or two lines and then imagine how each one looks. If honesty is one of your values, how does honesty look? Does it look like a person, or a shape or colour? Or is it an action of some kind? Then do that will all of your values.When that is finished, find a quiet place, turn on some soothing music, preferably without vocals……and close your eyes. Follow your breath and count down to 20 with each out breath so that your mind, body and spirit relax. Now imagine in front of you, on the floor, a large golden circle, and step into that circle…….allow yourself to feel the magic of that circle. Step into that circle. Now bring in your values, and line the inner rim of the circle with them, bring them in, one after the other, in all their shapes, colours and sizes, and let them take their place inside the golden circle with you. Now slowly, very slowly, make the circle smaller, until it just circles your feet and your values are surrounding you. Breathe in the energy of your values and the circle, and feel the energy flowing through your body, so that you take on the energy of these values into every cell of your body, mind and spirit. Feel the golden circle sending light up through your feet and throughout your body, and out of the top of your head. The energies of your values move with the light. And finally connects to the universal energies out through the crown of your head. If you simply do this exercise two or three times a day for a minimum of 21 days you will feel as though you have been re-born! And others will notice the change in you. You will feel more energised and much more comfortable in your own skin.Now you can begin to live the life of your dreams!!!

Health & Fitness with Homeopathy

Homeopathy is so rich in remedial agents that often its practitioners tend to rely on their drugs alone, and to disregard hygiene and other adjuvants to cure. Especially do they fail to work out diets in detail for their pa,tients. It is essential that they bother to do this for a number of reasons. In the first place, for the psycbological effect upon the patient. Patients want to feel that eiery scientific care is being given them, and that (he doctor takes flattering pains with them; and they need something to do, a caU to active co~operation on their part. Especially is this the last case when the actual remedy administration is in so pleasant, simple and sparse a form as Homeopathy prescribes. In the second place, without any drug of any kind, diet can do wonders for many types of cases as modern medicine so ably demonstrates. Let us consider, for instance, the value without any drug, of strict diets in such diseases as: Diabetes, nephritis, high blood pressure, renal colic and the uric add diathesis, arthritis, gall-stones and jaundice, gastric and duodenal ulcer, mucous colitis, visceroptosis, constipation, obesity, and last, but by no means least, tuberculosis and cancer. Every Homeopathic physician must be grounded in the classical dietary treatments; must know w.hen to give a diabetic the Newburg high-fat diet; and the difference between diets for nephritics and nephtotics; must enforce purio-free diets on the chronic renal colics; must be conversant with the Lippe diet for ulcer; and the LaheyJordan diet for mucous colitis (with its cream of wheat and celery, whose roughage combined with the concomitant rest prescribed does such wonders in those obstinate cases). The physician must know how to influence acidity; strong urine, asthma and eczema by dietary means. It is good training for us, and a helpful method of experimental control of our remedies, to start chronic patients who have some one of the above mentioned diagnoses, on diet and regimen plus Sac. lac. without any remedy, and see how far you can improve their condition .. Thus do we learn what scientific common sense will, and will not, do for us. Meanwhile you are getting closer to the patient's true similliml;i1J'l, and can give it in prepa-red ground, with startling and enlightening effect. Diet can often replace the use of drugs-a valuable help for the .Homeopath. Take a patient who has been 'living' on soda bica-rbonate for years. Teach them that soda, chemically alkaline, produces acid, physiologically, in the stomach, and train them to substitute lemon juice and the citrous fruits in general, and watch. You will be amazed that so simple a means will work so well. Meanwhile the soda intoxication symptoms will pass off, and your case values will begin to be unravelled. The physician must also at the onset remove articles of diet and diet habits of eating which hold the patient back from cure, and which cover the spoor on the trail to a 'totality', and therefore to subsequent healthful progress. He learns in this quest the idiosyncrasies to food on t.he part of the patient. These, as every Homeopath knows, are· of great help and import. In tnis connection there is a wise rule: Cbronic cases should not eat to excess that which they especially cra-ve, whereas acute patients may-and sbould-eat largely of what they crave, if the craving comes on with the illness. The most extraordinary lapses from classical procedure shmv admirable results when this rule is followed, But, be sure that it is a true craving, unusual, individualizing the patient's reaction to the (so-called) acute disease. The craving for and aversIons. to food in chronics will, of course, give you sound generals for your hierarchy of symptoms. If, in chronic cases the remedy is given, it will, little by little, enabIe the patient to assimilate that food which he craved, at the same time, quite reasonably, modifying the craving. For example, I have an Argentum nitricum patient who craved sugar and was ill from it, and who, under Arg. nit. no longer craves it, but can 'Cat it with impunity. Similarly, I have a Calcare!t child, who, after Calc., ceased craving chalk and indigestibles and can assimilate lime from the food. In conn::cdon with being made ill by specific articles of food several interesting points arise: Try at first to see whether it is a combination of foods which disagree, or the one given element of diet. A wise professor once told me that almost anyone could eat almost anythinr- if they ate it by itself. Next in the case of certain. acids, try giving cream cheese or cottage cheese with them. For instance, those with whom strawherries disagree, can often take stnnvbcrrics if cream cheese is eaten at the same time; and similarly with tomatoes. T.his also applies to shellfish in some paticncs. Beware the combinations of acids and sugars, starches with meat, III people with delicate di{~estions. Buttermilk will often so alter the colon's 110ra and fauna tbat putrefaction is regulated and much elll be digested which hitherto did not agree. A famous German Homeopath, Dr. Schlegel the elder, told me that if everyone would drink buttermilk die race would profit enormously, and if they would add honey (formic acid) and radishes (which are anti-uric-acid) even mor7 trouble ,would be saved. Remember' that onions help keep blood pressure down (the excitable Italians with their garlic and onions rarely ha·ve hypertension.) In idiosyncrasies of preference rather than actual agRravations, ingenuity will save much trouble. Your child or patient who will not take milk may enjoy it if vichy or seltzer be added, or if milk and cream are mixed balE' and half with ginger ale or sarsaparilla. Or the difference between hot and cold milk may change the dislike. Those needing iron who claim cabbage gives them gas can often take raw cabbage with sour cream dressing. Spinach pureed with egg chopped on it will tcmpt the anti-green child. Cider and raw apples are marvelous for thinning the arthritic patient. Brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup and honey will not haim him as other sweets will. These hints may seem feminine and trivial, but I assure you, they work. I hope the discussion of this paper will provoke much more lore in this line. There is another sphere where diet aids materially in cleansing the system. We have mentioned buttermilk and lemon juice. White of egg, with lemon or orange juice makes a detoxifying liver wash for the bilious. The egg album~n forms albuminates with t.he poisons wbich accumulate in the liver. Tea made from red clover blossoms and drunk, two quarts daily, helps the cancer patients and appears to cleanse the system. (An old German ad;u.t1allt). So far we have not even mentioned the i1l1ponant relationship between certain foods and the best action of our remedies. But surely you all know these symbioses and antagonisms. For example, Aconite and acids do not agree, coffee antidotes the action of Nux vomica. These relationships are legion and can be found in Clarke's Dictionary of Materia Medica and in many other of our classics, under the separate remedies.In Certain theoretical problems of enormous interest to me come up under this subject. For instance, we use articles of food as remedies. What reaction, if any, may these have on patients sensitive to them, even in the crude, comestible form? And vice versa, can we aid the suitable remedy by giving its crude counterpart as a food simultaneouslv? Furthermore, should we not make and prove the whole range of vegetables, fruits and nutriti~e articles, so that WhfO we find a p~tient with an idiosyncrasy to something we can compare his case with the proving of the offending food and. see whether it may not fit and aid? These foods should be proven on tho~e with a sensitivity to them. For instance, I should prove egg-plant, our friend, Dr. Roberts, has proved tomato, and a patient of mine, who is violently ill from even a d~sh of red pepper lurking in the soup-though he has plenty in his disposition-would make an admirable prover of Capsicum. These last considerations are offered to you as 'articles of diet'. Think them over, .digest· them, and give the society a valuable and full discussion ·of this too often neglected phase of concomitant Homeopathy.

Homeopathy For Our Children

Today I find that many moms are looking for the natural route for healthcare for their children. Homeopathic medicine offers safe and gentle care for all childhood illnesses. In Europe & Asia, Homeopathy has a fine history. It is well-recognized in England, France, Germany, India, Greece and other countries. Here in North America, it is still in the early stages of acceptance by moms used to the conventional medical treatment of their children’s health problems. With the rise in interest in organic foods and formulas for children, stores like Whole Foods and Planet Organic are beginning to stock Homeopathic mixtures for ailments such as teething, colic, colds, allergies etc. For those moms who are new to Homeopathy, these are a great way to begin. These medicines are clinically tested and are well-recognized in alternative medicine. The beauty of these natural alternatives is that they offer no side-effects, work quickly and are completely safe. I was a nurse trained in the conventional medical arena and I discovered the wonders of Homeopathy later in my life. I wish I had known this method of treatment for children and adults when I was raising my young family. Whenever new moms are faced with a fever, colic, vomiting, sleeplessness and exhaustion, there are homeopathics ready to help. For example, for colic & teething, Chamomilla works really well for the child who is upset, wanting to be carried about constantly, loving movement and who seems angry with the pain. I have seen Ipecachuana work in one dose in a baby who is vomiting due to a stomach upset from introducing a new food. I have seen sunken fontanelles (the “soft spot” on the head) in infants quickly reverse in some babies with a dose or two of Calcarea carbonica. There are remedies for diarrhea, vaccination side-effects, ear infections and any of the other common reactions to conventional meds such as decreased food assimilation due to frequent use of antibiotics. I encourage young moms to investigate Homeopathy for their children for all childhood complaints from growth problems to common illnesses. These are easily treated and do not recur. Homeopathy is not just a temporary band-aid treatment but offers constant improvement for all conditions in children. This includes recurrent, troublesome illnesses that do not seem to react well to conventional medical treatment. This also includes ailments in older children such as bedwetting, nightmares, anxiety, school problems such as decreased concentration, acting out, temper tantrums, etc. We women have a choice for our children. Use the benefits of conventional medicine such as diagnostic testing, surgery and emergency care and keep in close contact with your family doctor. Try Homeopathy to treat common childhood illnesses before resorting to long courses of antibiotics etc. Homeopathy is definitely worth the time and minimal expense and will, I guarantee, become a permanent part of raising your families. As a grandmother now, my three daughters will attest to the benefits of this wonderful, natural form of healthcare for themselves and their children.

Feng Shui & Fertility

There are many factors in our surroundings that can affect our health and well being in both a positive and/or negative way. More specifically, there are several areas of Feng Shui that can be explored when there are fertility issues. In some cases there are medical conditions that have been diagnosed however there are also many instances where the medical profession has found nothing wrong and the source of infertility remains a mystery.
Regardless of whether you are treating fertility using natural methods such as nutrition or more radical methods such as fertility drugs or in vitro fertilization, Feng Shui can support and increase the results of whatever action is already being taken. There are many important environmental factors to consider especially if you are experiencing any type of health problems.
Geopathic Stress (GS) is a naturally occurring energetic earth line that is toxic to many life forms including humans. These lines form a grid like pattern and their intensity is increased at crossing points. It is very common for someone sleeping on a GS line to experience compromised sleep quality, leading to a lowered immune system, and eventually manifesting into health problems. More specifically, in most cases this will cause decreased fertility and an increased potential for miscarriage.
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) are manmade and result from the presence of electricity in our environment. Like GS, EMF also effects quality of sleep, immune system, etc. Our bodies carry an electric current which is DC or direct current while our homes electrical systems and appliances use AC or alternating current. These two types of current are not compatible as you will have experienced if you ever plugged a battery driven device into an electrical outlet. The resulting smoke, sparks, and inability to operate are similar to how our bodies react to sleeping in an Electromagnetic Field.
Be aware that we may be exposed to GS and EMF energy in our daily surroundings. The goal is to avoid them while sleeping as this is when we are most vulnerable. A good rule of thumb is to keep all electrical appliances unplugged or at least three feet from your body while sleeping.
There are specific areas of your home that can be examined in relation to fertility. The area of a building that is related to Children is the western sector. This area can be enhanced using the Metal element. Be sure the rooms in this part of your home are used on a regular basis. Also they should be uncluttered. This means no physical clutter as well as unfinished projects, things that are broken or unloved. Another area to pay close attention to is the bedroom which can be balanced using elements based on your four pillars. The element related to the reproductive system is water. In essence this means the plumbing in your home needs to be in good working order.
There are several advanced methods of analysis used by the Feng Shui expert and many of these can reveal additional factors that effect fertility. These systems identify specific directions, sectors, or elements that are related to health as well as other aspects of life. Examples of these include:
Ming Kua calculations, based on gender and date of birth, provide information regarding your auspicious and inauspicious directions. These are specific to each individual regardless of where they live or work. Ba Zai provides information about the auspicious and inauspicious sectors of a building based on Lo Pan Compass and analysis of the trigrams, five phases, etc. This information is specific to each building regardless to who lives or works there.
Flying Star is based on a buildings Lo Pan reading and age. These calculations are made using the elements of both time and space which makes it possible to examine the fortune of a building throughout different ages. In this system the area related to health moves according to cycles of time. Four Pillars charts are calculated using time of birth, yin/yang, five elements and a variety of other tools. This provides information on your constitution and character regarding strengths, weaknesses, and helpful elements. Using Chinese medicine an imbalance of elements could be treated using herbs. Using Feng Shui the balancing or supporting elements are introduced into your environment. Elements vary based on your personal needs. For instance wearing metal jewelry may enhance or decrease your ability to become pregnant depending on your chart. Similarly the presence of certain elements in your bedroom can have positive or negative effects for each individual.
Anyone trying to conceive wants to do every thing possible to become pregnant. While they may pay close attention to monthly cycles, nutrition, etc., these are internal aspects. By also examining the Feng Shui of their surroundings, an external environment can be created to support and enhance their efforts.
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Ten Simple Steps To Feng Shui Your Workday

Think about it. Every day we get up, go to jobs we don’t really care for and hold our breath until the weekend. When we finally get to Friday, we are relieved, but it is only for a short time. Saturday’s are taken up with all the things we didn’t get to do during the week because we were working so hard. All kinds of fun stuff like going to the cleaners, waiting in line at the bank and the ever popular food shopping. And please don’t forget the cleaning! Sunday’s if we’re really lucky we can collapse to get ready for another wonderful week. A friend of mine recently commented that she feels she is living a “Ground Hog Day” life and that nothing ever changes.Can changing our perspective and a little Feng Shui help? You bet it can! Here are some tips, some advice for not only getting through your day but enjoying it as well:

Grace your Entrance. To either your building, your office or even your cubicle. Put your name out there for people to see and let it remind you it represents YOUR space and your power. There is a very strong intention in putting your name out to the universe; use it as often as you can.

Bring things from home, things that make you feel good to surround yourself with. Lots of people bring in pictures and it’s a wonderful idea to create the spaces around you with people and things that you love. It can remind you of why you are working so hard and what you hope to achieve through your work.

Think positively! Positive thoughts not only give out good “vibes” to those around you (which you will get back) but thinking in a Positive way increases your energy and you can make better use of your time. Perhaps the author of “The Little Train That Could” knew exactly what he was talking about.

Grace a wall for all your accomplishments. Big or small, all these achievements that you’ve already made in life COUNT. Add to them things that you have never done but always wanted to: That trip to Paris that you never have time to take, ballroom dancing, another night class. Putting what you have already accomplished together with what you hope to create in your future shows you how far you’ve already come and how much further you can go in your life.

What is all this talk about Feng Shui Colors? While it’s true that Feng Shui is associated with different colors for the different areas of your life, primarily think to surround yourself with a color YOU love. You can later use the Bagua and determine which colors are appropriate in which areas from a Feng Shui perspective and add them as accent colors. However, your surroundings should be of colors that make YOU feel good.

Bagua your desk. Here’s a simple thing to do. You can get a Bagua online and print it out. Hold it in front of you with “Career” in front of you and use it as a layout over your desk. The exact center of your desk relates to health, you’ll want to keep that area clean and clear. What’s at the back left? That is your Wealth area and you just might want to put something there that is lucky for financial issues. Feng Shui Consultants will often say a Red Envelope with 3 or 9 coins in it is lucky for that area. Any relationship issues? Try looking at the back right hand corner of your desk. For relationships we ask you to look for things in “two’s”. Two little statues, a picture of two items together, or just two flowers (silk, not dried please) can sit atop your computer. Look at each area of the Bagua and determine what’s best for you to put there based on what you’d like to change or accomplish in your life.

The Five Elements. I know, a little more involved depending on whether you’re doing a room, a desk, or an entire exterior of a home or business. The Five Elements are: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. There is a constructive and destructive force to the elements and you need to be mindful of that when using them. If you put them in a circle with Fire on top going clockwise to Earth, Metal, Water and then Wood you’ve got the right sequence. Some people wonder what to use when doing such a small space as a desk. Your Fire element can be as simple as something with the color red, which represents fire. For Earth? A tiny plant will do fine here in a little ceramic pot. You get the idea. No one even needs to know you’re using Feng Shui Principles!

There’s a lot of fuss about Clutter and rightfully so. If you’re surrounded by clutter please remember that it relates to your mind. You can’t think straight, you can’t find anything or you forget appointments. Whoever came up with the saying “A Place for Everything and Everything in it’s Place” was a genius. Get more organized and you’ll feel much better and more balanced.

In the world of cubicles many of us find ourselves is, there’s not much we can do to bring the outside in. Or is there? A small picture of a landscape that you love or a tiny desk top water fountain that you hear as well as see are different ways to feel in harmony with nature and your surroundings. If you’re lucky enough to have a window, check your view. It’s it’s not the most pleasing sight you’ve ever seen, hang a few sun catchers or a small wind chime. Change your perspective and you just might change your life.

Finally, don’t be so worried about changing things around and doing the wrong thing from a Feng Shui Perspective. There is nothing you can change that can’t be changed back if it’s something you’re not in tune with. Try different things out and find what’s making YOU feel better at work. It may not go with every Principle of Feng Shui but it’s whatever works best for you. And don’t be afraid of change, sometimes it’s good to get things “moving” (yourself included) that have been “stuck.”

While you still may get a touch of “Ground Hog Days” now and then, when you walk into your work space now you should feel a new sense of well being and harmony in your surroundings. That and a good cup of coffee are perfect ways to start your day at work!

How to Find the Best Feng Shui Consultant for YOU

It may be something you’ve been thinking of on and off for a long time. To go ahead and actually get a Feng Shui Consultation. With all the hype around for the last few years and now famous personalities as well as Mayor Bloomberg and Donald Trump touting it’s virtues you’ve finally made the decision to go ahead and go for it.
Many people read books first to see if they can do it on their own. The problem with reading different books is that they are contradictory and sometimes confusing. That is because all Feng Shui Practitioners have their own way of practicing and use different methods to achieve the same goals; good health, prosperity, wonderful relationships, a successful career and peace and serenity for your home or work environment are what we are all seeking to achieve.
Below are some hints and tips to finding a Consultant that will work well with YOU.
· While some websites can seem to draw you in, do check to see what method or methods a consultant applies during a consultation and if you are in tune with them. Some consultants use primarily a Black Sect Method to make transformations; others use mostly Western methods while still others may use a combination of both. You might like to ask them why they practice those methods and see if they are what you are in sync with.

· Find out exactly what a consultation consists of. Will you come out with a good understanding of Feng Shui including the Bagua and how to use it? Will you cover different topics that are very important so you can later look at things through “Feng Shui Eyes”? Some of the topics that are likely to be covered include furniture placement, colors, mirrors and the intentions of using them, what clutter really is and tips for organizing, Transcendental Methods and basic Feng Shui Principles. Hopefully their objective will be that you can then take these newly learned applications to another space, perhaps your office and be able to apply the principles of Feng Shui there as well.

· Ask if they provide Space Clearings and Home or Business Blessings. Are you in tune with Space Clearings and Blessings that have been passed down for thousands of years and if you are, are they performed and is there an extra fee? If you’re not sure exactly what these are or what they are used for, ask! Most consultants find this is an integral part of the process of Feng Shui to thoroughly rid the home from “predecessor” energy and to bless the home (or business) as a way to give it a New Beginning, cleared of all negativity.

· Will there be an examination of not only the exterior of your home or business including landscaping and using the Five Elements but also a complete “walk through” of each room in your home as well? There should be suggestions for each of the rooms in your home, some very specific to Feng Shui including special tips and ideas for bedrooms (to rest and restore), the Health area of your home, careers and ideas to implement in those spaces, and suggestions for every other area of the bagua including your Wealth Areas, Career, Helpful People, your Children (Future) area, Relationships, your Fame area and what it means, Family and Knowledge.

· Check prices. Feng Shui consultations vary greatly from practitioner to practitioner and their prices may or may not be suitable for your budget. It is always wise with anyone you are planning to hire to see if they are Certified (which means they have achieved a certain level of expertise in order to graduate) and how long they have been in business. Feng Shui is a life long process of learning; Consultants that have practiced for many years have seen what the most effective methods are and what applications work the best.

· Ask them if they will follow up with you should a question or problem arise. Some have limitations of time while others will be happy to hear of your progress and will be there for you long after your consultation has ended. Check references!

· Most importantly, I believe, is finding someone you are comfortable with. Most of us do an interview with our clients prior to the consultations to see what specific areas they want to address or may be having difficulties in. Finding someone you are comfortable with discussing such important issues such as health conditions, financial issues and partnership or love concerns are essential for us to know what best may help your specific concerns.

Mirror, Mirror in Feng Shui

Today, Feng Shui and the use of Mirrors is a subject I cover separately during a consultation. I ask my clients to be careful in their choice of mirrors and their placement and primarily see that they are unaware of the power of mirrors.

In Feng Shui, mirrors have the potential, depending on your intentions, of creating several feelings and principles and we should keep them ALL in mind when using them. The have the power to “pull” people into a space and are therefore used sometimes to grace someone into your space. For example, if you walk into a home or business and you hit a blank wall, you want the person to feel welcomed and graced. Mirrors, properly placed, can help do just that.

They are also used to intentionally “push” negative or unpleasant energy away. For this reason, many consultants advocate the use of a Bagua mirror over their front door. The intention behind this is simply to deflect any street energy and keep your space as your own. They are especially beneficial over the front door when you live in a cul de sac or you have something facing your house, such as a school.

However, in your home they also can give you the feeling of being pushed out. I always suggest to my clients to have someone hold a mirror and try different placements to see how it FEELS before hanging it. If it makes you feel graced and welcomed, you can be sure it will be well placed. Although if you feel that the mirror is pushing you away, choose another placement for it.

Did you know mirrors should always be bigger then your head? It’s a simple reason really, though not thought of often. We are surrounded by our Aura’s (our energy field) and when a mirror only fits your face or head we are cutting off our own energy field which should always surround us.

If you have been reading about Feng Shui you have probably seen that almost everyone agrees that mirrors are best left out of the bedroom. There are several reasons for this and they are all important. Depending on your bed placement and the arrangement of your furniture, you can feel pushed out of your own space while trying to rest and restore. A mirrored headboard, for example, can make you feel like you’re being pushed right out of your bed, even if you don’t feel it consciously. You may not be sleeping well and not realize this is the reason. Mirrors facing you are not a good idea as well; waking up to your own image every morning when you are not at your best is not a good idea. If you don’t want to take down these mirrors, a simple and inexpensive idea is to balance them so you don’t see your reflection. Putting a tall vase of silk flowers, for example, is an easy method to not only avoid seeing your own reflection but to add color and elements to the room.

For closeted mirrors that span a large size of the room, if you don’t wish to remove them they can be covered at night by semi-sheer curtains which will add a different look and texture to the room and help you accomplish better sleeping patterns.

Finally, one important point when hanging a mirror. Remember they intensify anything they are reflecting. Before hanging the mirror, make sure they reflect something lovely. You can use them to reflect outside, thereby “bringing the outside in” or a beautiful piece of artwork that you’ve hung which will add more color and texture. Make sure they are not reflecting a bare wall!

Tips for mirrors and all things to do with Feng Shui need not be expensive or difficult to create. Use your imagination and get some help from a professional if you need it and you can create the balance and harmony you are seeking for your home or office.

There's No Place Like Home, The Feng Shui Home

Whether you’re moving into a new home or coming home every evening to one you’ve lived in for years, you should feel that you’re entering your own sacred space or haven. A place where you feel happy to be and can leave the days stresses behind you as you enter.

Using the principles of Feng Shui helps to support and balance you throughout your home from the moment you enter the front door. Through the art and science of Feng Shui, literally translated to mean “Wind and Water,” you are seeking to create a peace and harmony in your home for you and your family.

Although this practice has been in use for thousands of years, many people are still not familiar with it. It has been practiced through all these years by Chinese, Asian, Tibetan and even Native American cultures using all different forms, yet has for the most part been neglected here in the United States.

At least, until Donald Trump starting speaking up about its virtues. Other prominent people came forward as well to tout its powers including Mayor Bloomberg, Bill Clinton and numerous celebrities and stars.

Feng Shui employs many principles including the use of color, the mindful art of placement, balancing The Five Elements and beautiful, esoteric blessings and “cures” that have been passed down through the ages to help homeowners achieve a balance and harmony they may have not previously had in their homes. We believe your home should be your retreat and we seek to implement inexpensive, easy to implement principles to support your health, your career, your family, your wealth and abundance in all the areas of your life.

Feng Shui is especially important for new homeowners. Through the rush of packing, closing, moving and other last minute things, Feng Shui is often left undone. We often think in Feng Shui terms of what we call Predecessor Energy, more commonly thought of as the energy left behind from previous occupants. To make a space truly your own, we seek to rid the home of any previous energy from anyone who has lived there prior to your moving in.

Energy can get stuck; if a home was left under unfavorable circumstances, there is a “feeling” left behind of arguments, sadness or grief and other unpleasant energy. Feng Shui Consultants clear that out to truly make the space your own. We then believe you are starting fresh with not only a new home but one that supports your goals and dreams for the future in all aspects of your life.

What does a consultation by a qualified consultant consist of? Most of us like to sit down and speak with you at length, ask a series of questions to determine what particular aspects of your life may need more attention then others. For example, if you don’t have a partner but are seeking to bring one into your life, if you’re looking to change careers, if you’ve had health issues, the circumstances under which you moved and anything you may know about previous owners of the home.

All these factors are taken into account including many more to help you transform the energy in your home into one that supports and balances you. Whether using a Bagua or Compass method, Feng Shui should be explained to you in as much depth as possible so you can take your new found knowledge and use it in other spaces in your life, your office for example. An exterior blessing and interior space clearing should always be included as well as an exterior evaluation of your home and property to advise you about any possible “missing pieces” or other areas that require special attention. A complete walk through of your home should be done, including suggestions for each and every room and what you can do to keep a positive flow of energy in your home and your life through simple and inexpensive methods.

Grandmaster HHH Professor Lin Yun reminds us that Feng Shui is 90% of your Intentions and only 10% of the cures and changes you are making. Remember to infuse your thoughts and goals with the Intentions you want to create for your new space, make the changes your consultant recommends and watch your own personal transformations begin.

Chinese Baby Names

It is not uncommon for a Chinese couple to seek the services of an astrologer to find a suitable Chinese baby name for their new born child. It is believe that a suitable Chinese baby name can improve the luck of the child and give the child a more auspicious life path.The methodologies for selecting a suitable Chinese baby vary between the different schools of thoughts but most of them are based on the principles of Yin and Yang as well as the Five Elements.Chinese characters are made up of strokes. The odd number strokes are Yang while the even number strokes are Yin. For example a character composed on two strokes is Yin while another character composed on 3 or 5 stokes are Yang. The total number of strokes used in the name matters. Depending on the school, a certain range of strokes are auspicious while certain other ranges are not.In most schools the date of time of the baby’s birth is also required to compute the Ba Zi or Eight Characters. From the eight characters, the astrologer can determine the useful element. This is usually but not necessary the element is that most lacking in the chart.Let say that the element that is most lacking in the chart is water. In this case the astrologer will find a name that is associated with water. Obvious names would include water or ocean. Less obvious is winter which is also associated with water. For someone lacking in the wood element, suitable names include wood, forest, spring (a season of wood) or a name of a plant.Another technique is to find a Chinese name that comes with the required element. Most Chinese characters are composed of basic characters. For example the character for the word ‘stove’ a made up of the character fire and earth. Therefore if you lack fire or earth you can call yourself stove! Not the best of example but I hope you understand the principle!These are by no means the only methods. Let me give you an example. In the old days, where infant mortality rate is quite high, parent resort to giving their child very lowly names like Cow or Pig hoping the evil spirits will miss them hence allowing them to live to a ripe old age!Now you now why someone not so good looking is called ‘Spring Beauty’ while an obvious beauty is called a ‘Pig’!

Find Your Balance with Flowers - Before, During and After Pregnancy

Flowers have symbolized the expression of our emotions for centuries. We offer flowers upon births, deaths, and marriages. We present a large bouquet of roses to someone special. We deliver flowers to those who need cheering up or get well wishes. Dining tables are adorned with fresh cut floral arrangements. It follows, then, that flowers also hold an amazing ability to heal and calm emotionally and physically.Pregnancy is an amazing, miraculous, and sometimes trying period of a woman's life. The sheer delight of having a baby is also accompanied by changes - changes in one's body, changes in how one feels through the nine-month period. There are changes in how others perceive and treat you. One may experience change in their personal (family) relationships, and even changes in how one lives through the day, as the pregnancy term advances. The subtle yet powerful healing system of Bach Flower Remedies supports emotions, moods and attitudes - turning negative ones into positive ones. This natural support, in turn, strengthens the immune system and allows for a healthier emotional outlook and therefore and healthier turn out for all of our mind, body and spirit(s) life situations.Dr. Edward Bach, a noted physician, immunologist and avid researcher discovered flower remedies (classified as energy/vibrational medicine) during the 1920's and 1930's. He felt that preventative medicine should take precedence over treating symptoms. He knew once harmony and balance was achieved, healing was promoted. Bach® Flower Remedies work according to an individual's personality type, mood and emotional outlook. Once we achieve balance in mind, body and spirit we become more of "who we are" and live life with more energy, direction and purpose.The essences are derived from tree blossoms, wild flowers, and waters from the English and Welsh countryside. They are licensed homeopathic remedies governed by the FDA and have been used for over seventy years by physicians, dentists, veterinarians, psychotherapists, chiropractors, and lay people. Flower essences are virtually free of side effects and can be used as a complement to other forms of treatment from infancy through the senior years.Flower essences are typically taken under the tongue - four drops, four times daily. They can be sipped in a beverage or even placed on the pulse points (wrists, ears, knees, and ankles). Some place twenty drops into their bath water, while others place drops of flower essences into an atomizer and humidify the room with the healing essences, to set (or correct) the mood in the room.Consider discussing your options in taking flower remedies before, during and after your pregnancy with a registered flower practitioner. It could be important, in addition, to discuss the correct flower remedies available for your partner, other children, and the new baby, too. Mimulus is a wonderful remedy for the period of time you are afraid -of the birth, the pain, concern for the baby, or fear of being a good parent. Elm is helpful for those times when this new state of your life has brought on feelings of being overwhelmed. Walnut is certainly helpful for protection from others' influence, and to help ease in the transition of pregnancy to birth to motherhood. Interestingly, Impatiens offers patience for the exciting period of time when the baby is about due, and you "just can't wait"! Use Olive for the extreme fatigue related to the energy used during gestation, and is especially helpful (with Rescue Remedy®) for the exhausting period related to the birth process itself.Crab Apple is especially useful on stretch marks, and for those times when you are uncomfortable or not so accepting of the changes to your body during the pregnancy. Be aware that Rescue Remedy Cream is wonderful to use on stretch marks, as well as hurting nipples from nursing and even a great help on diaper rash!Discussing all your healthy options with a registered Bach practitioner encourages individuals to identify feelings, commit to smoother change, and allow a wonderful process to be natural and peace filled The practitioner will familiarize you with the flowers, discuss events and attitudes you may be facing, and help formulate a combination of essences that will help lessen negative feelings, and improve the hidden strength within in you to be and experience what is meant for you in order to have a happy and fulfilling life. Certainly, when discussing issues with another, one finds relief and new direction in putting problems into perspective, and gaining insight and inspiration to heal, grow and change.Flowers - what a wonderful way to find your balance!

Honoring the Time of Menstruation

In Chinese medicine, the time of menstruation is a delicate one. During this time, the body is more susceptible to illness caused by climatic factors (Wind, Damp, Cold, etc.). The Uterus, considered a Special Organ in Oriental medicine, is particularly vulnerable at this time, since it opens to allow the menstrual blood to flow. This opening also allows climatic influences, particularly Cold, to invade. Cold in the Uterus is a syndrome that can cause a wide range of manifestations: vaginal discharge, premenstrual pain relieved by warmth, scanty menstrual flow, dark or black menstrual clots, aversion to cold, aversion to pressure in the area, heavy, sore or stiff legs, and even infertility. So in order to safeguard one's health, it is important to be attentive to one's daily activities during menstruation.Even Western medicine has learned that during menstruation, the function and strength of the immune system is down, making it more likely for you to get sick.In many traditions, particularly the Native American, the time of menses is a sacred one that should be attended to with care and reverence. According to Native American tradition, when a woman is "on her moon," she is to honor that time with quiet introspection, meditation, and communion with her inner divine feminine nature. It is not a time to be very active and busy with the affairs of the outer world. It is possible, even for a modern working urbanite, to bring a sense of sacredness and care into this monthly phase. Women who do feel a profound deepening of their relationship to themselves, the earth and the subtle cycles of life.Here are some practical suggestions from traditional Chinese medicine:* Refrain from unusual physical activity, like aerobic exercise. Don't do more than what your daily routine requires.* Don't go swimming, as this allows the Environmental Influences of Cold and Damp to invade the Uterus. Avoid short skirts for the same reason. Pants are best, long skirts are OK. In general, avoid drafts, and cold or damp environments.* Refrain from sex. Besides being additional physical exertion, sex during menstruation can disrupt the flow of Qi (life energy) and Blood in the Uterus, contributing to many long-term problems related to menstrual function and fertility.* Allow this time to be one of more quiet and rest. Be kind to and care for yourself.

Building Sacred Traditions in Birth

During the past 19 years, my apprenticeship with birth has challenged me to redefine my concept of boundaries, trust, fear and responsibility. Today, if I could make one statement about building a birthing community it would be this -- build on what you know and believe is sacred. I say this to women and families, the true architects and builders of all authentic birthing communities. Claim what is sacred to you and insist that your birthing traditions reflect the most intimate and holy desires of the soul.I know what is sacred to me; over the years, I have learned what is sacred to others. Always mysterious and profound, it takes us out of our mundane reality and puts us in touch with "the more." To connect with the sacred is to access our source of passion and personal power, our depths, our art, our imagination, our true selves. The most memorable aspects of my midwifery and the most important have been discovering and sharing elements of the sacred with the women and families I serve.I remember, early on in my days as a midwife, my partner, Jackie and I were attending women in a small town in rural Georgia. One of our clients, a Mennonite woman named Louisa, carrying her sixth child, began labor early one spring morning. Things progressed slowly and we spent the day taking endless lovely walks through the alfalfa fields. As evening fell, we received a call from another client in the same town informing us that she too was in labor. It was decided that Jackie would go to be with Kathy, and I would stay with Louisa. As Jackie left we hugged each other tightly and locked our eyes together, wide and searching. This was the first time we would be going to a birth without each other. This would be the first time one or both of us would be catching a baby and performing the duties of midwife alone. As the night progressed, Lousa's labor seemed to stand still. Kathy on the other hand moved fast through the midnight hours and at 5 am, Jackie called to say that Kathy seemed ready to push and would I be able to come over and help. I can still hear Jackie's voice as she whispered her concerns about the size of the baby's head and her fear that Kathy would have a huge tear. During this night, Louisa had been alternately resting and trying to augment labor by walking, pacing, crawling, bathing, massaging. We both knew she would not be having her baby any time soon and when I spoke of leaving for a short time Louisa's voice cracked a bit as she said she guessed that would be all right. Her eyes told a different story. Her eyes said, as plain and loud as any voice in the stillness of the night, "Please do not leave me for any reason."Louisa is my friend; Jackie is my partner. Louisa is still in early labor; Jackie is worried about shoulder dystocia."Let's pray about it," whispers Louisa and we both quickly drop to our knees beside the bed, a soft light playing about our faces in the early morning. I am acutely aware that an important decision will be made in the next few minutes. I know that the answer to this prayer will affect what happens here between Louisa and I and will affect the whole fabric of birth until the end of time. We kneel quietly for a few moments as we are drawn into the sacred. Then I hear Louisa begin to speak to God. She seeks strength and courage for herself, wisdom and guidance for me. In my own words, I pray for the same. As we rise from our knees the air is very still between us and in this exquisite moment, nothing else exists except my ability to respond to her need and hers to mine. "My place is here with you," I say quietly and as she rushes to hug me, tighter than Jackie, the stillness vibrates with meaning and power. We understand each other completely for this one moment. Our eyes lock, wide and searching for a confirmation that we have touched the deepest places in our souls. As we smile at each other, we know it's true.Six hours later, Louisa and I drive over to Kathy's house to pick up Jackie and welcome Kathy's 10 pound, 2 ounce newborn son, Christopher, onto the planet. No dystocia; a tiny tear. It was a year for boys-- early the next morning, Louisa and her family welcomed Michael into the world. Jackie and I were honored to attend.We are all waiting expectantly to experience the sacred with one another. I find the calling to midwifery incredibly powerful because we have a constant opportunity to rub elbows with the Great Mystery and hopefully facilitate the sacred in the life of those we know and come to love. With that calling also comes incredible responsibility. The ability to respond to the sacred presumes the maturity to put aside individual expectations of how an experience should unfold and defer to the parents' intuitive grasp of what is highest and holiest for them.When we remember that the knowledge of birth is within us, we find we need to rely less and less on others to create the experience for us. As in some spiritual communities, many of us are realizing that we wish to rely more on our intrinsic knowledge of God than on priests and pastors to give us the authority and permission to access the divine. It's the same with birth; it's the same with healing. When possible, we can and should do this under our own authority, with less and less reliance on practitioners, whether they are midwives, doctors, therapists or priests. This is not to say that practitioners are not important: they are, and they will be for many years to come. But I have learned from encouraging others to share their experience with me that practitioners are not always necessary.In Louisa's case, my presence with her was important and initially felt very necessary. In connecting with a deeper part of her soul, I became aware that the place she went to and shared with me was her place of ultimate goodness and generosity of spirit. She was willing to give up her need for my company to make things better for Kathy and Jackie. In that sacred moment, her goodness was revealed to both of us. The experience we shared was ultimately not about whether I should go or stay, but about who we are, what revelations are granted to us and how we honor and cherish these gifts of the spirit.A few years later, still working in rural Georgia, I was called to attend Lorraine and Henry with their fourth child. Lorraine had a different midwife for each of her first three births, and she and Henry had considered not having a midwife at all for this birth.Lorraine and Henry were deeply spiritual people and wanted the sacred element of their birth recognized and protected. As a couple, they were committed to birthing under their own authority. Their wishes were that we should all become close friends during the pregnancy. Prenatal visits were a time of catching up, having dinner, listening to the stories of their lives and sharing bits from mine. We kept charts, checked blood pressure and pee. We palpated the baby, measured fundal height and talked about birth incessantly. It was understood, however, that my role at the labor and delivery would be integrated into their experience of what is sacred. I would not be checking heart tones, doing any vaginals; indeed, I would not speak to or look at Lorraine during labor and I would not be in the room unless specifically called. Obviously, I would be doing no coaching, breathing, massaging or catching. Lorraine, traditionally a heavy bleeder in the postpartum and during her periods, asked that no herbs or homeopathics be administered unless requested. This felt so good to me. Invited into this sacred realm, I would now be taught what had meaning to this wonderful couple and what did not. They were teaching me how to be the midwife they needed. In return, I shared my knowledge of birth through the stories of other families I had attended. My presence was important to them but not necessary for their birth to unfold in its profound and mysterious ways. As I sat in the house during labor, I was overcome with gratitude and love for Lorraine and Henry and for the family traditions they were building. When Lorraine started to push, I was invited to enter the birthing room-- not to look or speak but to sit in sacred space with them and share this holiest of moments as a friend and midwife. Her birthing was beautiful, Henry caught another son, Lorraine had her traditional heavy bleed and peace reigned.I learned that Lorraine and Henry are powerful, responsible people who are reweaving the fabric of consciousness on this planet. I learned that midwifery is primarily facilitating the sacredness of bringing forth life on this planet. And I learned that my conceived ideas about bleeding more than two cups after delivery were slightly absurd and entrenched in the paradigm that says there is only one way to look at things. Some women need to lose more blood than others do... now I follow the clues.In the ten years since attending Lorraine, I have learned hundreds of ways to facilitate birth. Always, it involves standing back and learning how the parents wish the birth to unfold. Countless families place a great priority on directing their own care and want a conscious and sacred relationship with birth. The more it is their own experience, the more the concept of a sacred birth has a place of reverence and value in the culture. Couples assure me that when they are managed or facilitated by someone else, even by loving and caring midwives, it becomes less of a peak experience for them and harder to effect a change in consciousness. Rules that are imposed prevent the experience from flowing in a natural direction. Forced to follow a secular path rather than its natural sacred path, the numinous, magical quality of birth has been sacrificed for what the practitioner believes to be the perfect or appropriate experience. If we replace sacred with safe, psyche with techne, we cannot expect parents to grow richer and stronger in character. Now, I have no routines or birthing rules-- to me, every birth is deliciously different and unfolds in its own unique way. When couples direct their care in a responsible manner, I can be comfortable in many types of situations.When I worked with Vicki and Mark, she spent most of her second pregnancy healing from her first birth. Each prenatal brought a new rendering of her traumatic story-- a story that each of us has doubtless heard in one form or another-- a hospital birth catapulted into technical overdrive, caregivers who were not caring, violence and sexism that in any other arena would have resulted in a lawsuit. In essence, Vicki, Mark, and their daughter, Aliesha, were physically fine but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually devastated. Being a deeply spiritual couple, it was a long way back to the light. Vicki approached her impending birth with a fair amount of anxiety and trepidation, but when the day came, she breezed through labor and delivered her daughter, Megan, born in the caul, into the waiting hands of her husband and her midwife. A year and a half later, she stood in her bathtub and delivered her third daughter into Mark's hands. I was in the next room. Two years later, Mark called me on the phone when Vicki went into labor. I lit a candle, said my prayers and waited to hear. After three hours, Mark called to say that Vicki had birthed her first boy. A year and a half later, Mark phoned to ask a question about the placenta after the birth of their second son.From Vicki and Mark, I learned that some couples prefer that their midwife be a dear friend who can be trusted to hold a space of prayer and meditation rather than hold a hand or perineum. I learned that autonomy is more important to some than symphony. And while I do not think that birth is only sacred or even more sacred when just the parents are present, I learned that it can be. I learned how to be comfortable in whatever role the parents choose for me.I have not given up or abandoned the clinical areas of my practice that also serve families well. Of course I still do vaginals, check heart tones and carry oxygen. But for me, it is imperative to create a practice in response to the needs and desires of birthing couples and birthing communities.In sharing these stories, I am addressing midwives who value the sacred enough to listen to women and their families and to change their comfortable existing birthing practices to respond in kind. I am searching for midwives who realize that it is not the care providers who create the birthing community and then invite mothers and fathers to join them. Parents create birthing communities that are built on their concepts of what is important and necessary. Into their community, they invite midwives who are willing to learn as well as teach.These days, I am honored to teach Sacred Midwifery to women who value the ancient ways of our Grandmothers, who believe that the sacred means trusting the natural unfolding of birth and the intrisic authority of the parents. A major tenent of what I teach is that we all hold a strand of the web, a spoke of the wheel. We are all equally valuable and should be equally visible.The great poet, Rumi, tells us, "Out beyond ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. I'll meet you there." That field is the place of the sacred birthing community, where families can learn and teach and flourish.

Aromatherapy in Pregnancy

After a century of highly medicalized prenatal care and childbirth, the trend in recent decades has swung back toward natural, gentle birthing techniques. Midwives and doulas, once frowned upon by the medical establishment, are now being welcomed into hospitals, oftentimes replacing doctors at the pregnant woman’s bedside. Much has been written about the benefits of water, hypnotism, and naturopathy in prenatal care and childbirth. This article will focus on the use of aromatherapy to ease the discomforts, relieve emotional stress, and maintain good health of mother and baby throughout pregnancy. Each pregnancy comes with its own set of discomforts, arising from ordinary fluctuations in hormones and bodily changes. While diet and lifestyle changes are sometimes necessary for best results, many irritations, included those noted below, can be alleviated by the use of essential oils. When selecting oils, purchase only those of high-quality, which have been distilled for therapeutic use, and are free of additives. Due to the heightened sense of smell during pregnancy, limit blends to one or two oils at a time; you needn’t purchase every oil on this list. Try a couple and see which ones you like best. You will see that many oils have overlapping qualities. Nausea, headache, and morning sickness, which are often the earliest complaints in pregnancy, can be treated by diffusing essential oils into your breathing space. Not only can doing this counteract diagreeable odors, but using oils with antiseptic properties, such as lavender or tea tree, will cleanse the environment of harmful airborne bacteria—protecting against colds and flu. To diffuse, simply mix 3 drops lavender with 1 drop peppermint and 1 drop eucalyptus in a bowl of water. Or if you prefer, specialized diffusers on the market heat and vaporize the oil molecules, which spreads the scent faster and farther into the room. If you are going out, keep a cotton handkerchief and a vial of lavender or peppermint with you. Place 1 drop of lavender or peppermint on the cloth and hold it over your nose, inhaling deeply, to prevent headache or nausea. Cool or warm compresses can do wonders to restore a feeling of balance and wellness. Fill a bowl with warm or cool water (whichever appeals to you.) Add 3-4 drops of lavender, and drape a flannel across the top of the water to pick up the film of oil. Wring out the flannel and place it on the forehead or front of the ribcage. For warm compresses, cover the flannel with plastic and add a towel. Citrus oils, such as orange, lemon, grapefruit, and bergamot, are safe to use in early pregnancy and have uplifting qualities. They are particularly effective in alleviating vomiting. Add 7 drops of any citrus oil to 1 ounce olive oil (or another carrier oil) and massage over the abdomen for best results. Varicose veins respond well to cypress, geranium, lemon, and lavender oils. Use any mixture of these oils in a warm bath (total 6 drops), with alternating warm and cool compresses(total 4 drops) on the affected areas, or in a massage oil (total 7 drops essential oil per ounce olive oil). When massaging, use gentle strokes from the foot upward, being careful not to apply too strong of pressure where the varicosity begins or ends. Women who complain of hemorrhoids and swollen anal tissue may find relief in taking a cool sitz bath with 6 drops lemon oil. To prepare the bath set a large plastic tub in the bathtub and fill with water. Add the oils and stir to spread. Keeping legs and feet outside the plastic tub, lower yourself into the water and soak for 20 minutes. Follow up with an aromatic massage of 7 drops cypress and 7 drops lemon oil in 2 ounces olive oil.Another ailment common in pregnancy is edema, or water retention. Lavender, geranium and rosemary oils combat this condition by stimulating the lymphatic system to drain excess fluids from the body. Gently massage the feet and ankles, using upward strokes, with a combination of these oils in olive oil; or try a cool footbath with 3 drops geranium or lemon oil and 3 drops lavender. Almost every woman earns at least a couple stretch marks by the end of her pregnancy. These can be prevented or reduced by topically applying a blend of 1 ounce each of wheat germ oil and hazelnut oil with 4 drops neroli, 2 drops carrot seed, and 2 drops geranium. Massaging the blend into thighs, hips, breasts and belly every night and morning will nourish the skin and help maintain elasticity. Please note that there are some essential oils which should not be used during pregnancy as they are known abortifacients. These include basil, fennel, myrrh, parsley, sage, and thyme. Other oils which are emenogogues are listed in some texts as unsafe during pregnancy, while promoted in others. Cedarwood, chamomile, clary sage, cypress, jasmine, juniper, lavender, marjoram, peppermint, rose, and rosemary should therefore be used with care.

Aromatherapy in Labor and Delivery

Childbirth is definitely one of, if not the most difficult labors a woman faces in her lifetime. Today, much is written about gentle, natural birthing options, which are healthier for mother and child. By providing a proper state of mind and natural analgesic, aromatherapy can be used to create a memorable, magical birthing atmosphere. This article will explain some of the best ways to prepare for childbirth using essential oils. One of women’s greatest fears when approaching childbirth is that of damaging the delicate perineal tissue. Doctors and midwives ask whether you would prefer to have an episiotomy or risk a tear. Why not prepare the perineum beforehand with soothing massage? Studies have shown that women who perform daily perineal massages in preparation for childbirth are 30% more likely to deliver over an intact perineum. Besides making the tissue soft and supple, the massage can mentally prepare the woman to relax these muscles and open outward in response to pressure, a skill that will no doubt come in handy when the baby is making his way into the world. Ideally, you should begin daily 5-10 minute massages at six to eight weeks prior to term. First, empty your bladder. Soaking for 5-15 minutes in warm water and lavender oil can relax the vaginal wall, making the perineal massage more comfortable. If you are doing the massage yourself, place one foot on the seat of a chair or the side of the bathtub; otherwise, a partner can perform the massage while you sit back comfortably with your back resting against pillows. Mix 1 ounce wheat germ oil with 3 drops lavender and 1 drop geranium. (Sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, and cold-pressed olive oil are good substitutes for wheat germ oil. You can also use a blend of the oils.) After dipping into the massage oil, insert your thumb or middle fingers into the vagina just enough to stretch the perineal tissue, approximately two to three inches. Press the vaginal wall back toward the rectum, massaging in a U-shaped motion. Gently stretch the vagina open for 20-60 seconds, or until you feel a tingling or slight burning sensation. Stretch both the inner portions as well as the outer rim of the perineum. Make sure to wash hands thoroughly before and after perineal massage, and discard any unused oil. Wherever you are planning to give birth, aromatherapy can be utilized. For use during labor and delivery, add to your suitcase your favorite essential oils and oil blends, an aromatic diffuser (electric models are the best for use in birthing centers and hospitals), flannels and bowls for compresses, and a plastic tub for sitz baths. Make sure to practice with your partner so that he or she is ready to serve you in your hour of need. Discussing your wishes with your health care provider is also a good idea, so that you don’t end up in a battle of wills just at the time you planned to create your ideal birth environment. The following essential oils are ideal for labor and delivery. Due to the heightened sensitivity to smell during labor, it is best to use only a couple oils at a time. Neroli, bergamot, rose, or frankincense help relieve fear and anxiety, and promote relaxation between contractions. These are good oils to use in your diffuser. Lavender is good for aches, and helps in balancing and calming the laboring woman. After your cervix has dilated to at least 2 cm, you may consider taking a 30 minute lavender bath. Studies show that this can improve progress in labor and significantly reduces the need for drugs. Between contractions, a foot or lower back massage can soothe and stimulate pain relief. Add 20 drops lavender and 8 drops clary sage in 4 ounces of olive oil. Jasmine, lavender, or clary sage compresses can stimulate or strengthen contractions, and cool compresses to the forehead keep you feeling refreshed. To prepare a compress simply add 3-4 drops essential oil to a bowl of warm or cool water. Drape a flannel over the surface of the water to absorb the film of the oil. Ring out cloth and apply to area. 1 drop peppermint oil offered on a handkerchief can ward off nausea, or can be used as a pick-me-up during the transitional phase, when fatigue may settle in. If tension is preventing you from opening the cervix during contractions, an abdominal massage or a compress of 8 drops Spikenard, 7 drops Jasmine, and 3 drops lemon verbena in 4 ounces olive oil can help. Evening primrose oil massaged directly on the cervix can also assist in relaxing the tissues. Whatever turn your birthing takes, allow the effects of aromatherapy to penetrate your mind and relax your body.

What Doctors Say about Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood and placenta-derived stem cells have great potential to expand your family’s treatment options for a variety of serious and often life-threatening diseases. That’s because stem cells from the placenta and cord blood may be successfully used to treat diseases by regenerating healthy blood cells in place of abnormal ones. In fact, stem cell transplants have been used to treat serious diseases in children and adults including various cancers such as acute and chronic leukemia, certain lymphomas, and many other diseases. To date, there are approximately 80 diseases for which stem cell transplants have been used to treat patients.(1)In light of these promising results, many doctors encourage expectant parents to consider the value of cord blood banking. "Cord blood stem cells are an important lifeline to a healthy future. These cells already treat such life-threatening diseases as leukemia and sickle cell anemia and we have every reason to believe that they will be instrumental in changing medical treatment in the future," explains nationally renowned pediatrician Harvey Karp, MD.(2)Increasing Availability and Compatibility Locating a suitable stem cell transplant match from public registries can be difficult and is often time-consuming. In fact, more than 30% of patients requiring transplant are unable to find a suitable match.(3) However, once collected and stored at the time of birth, placental and cord blood stem cells provide your baby with an exact match for a potential stem cell transplant for years to come. "[Banking your placental and cord blood stem cells] is the only way to ensure a perfect match to these stem cells if he/she ever needs them in the future," says Dr. Karp. The statistical likelihood of finding a suitable donor further decreases for children of ethnic or racial minorities or adopted children. For these families, private cord blood banking, which can only be done at the time of birth, improves the likelihood that a suitable transplant match will be immediately available. Otherwise, without a privately banked unit, a search could take months and still be unsuccessful.Family members may also benefit from private banking, as there’s a stronger chance of a suitable match for other family members when using your own baby’s stored stem cells versus those from a public registry. According to an April 2005 report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the highest probability of transplant success comes from cells that have a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) identical match on all six markers.(4)The body uses HLA markers to identify which cells belong in the body and which do not, and the highest probability of an HLA match on all six markers is from a related donor. In fact, a study done on the outcomes of cord blood transplantation from related and unrelated donors shows that the transplant success rate from related transplant donors is double that from unrelated donors,(5) and that number increases if the transplant recipient is using his or her own stem cells. Improving Successful TreatmentCurrently, for successful stem cell transplantation, stem cells must survive in the body after effectively engrafting into the bone marrow. There are many medical risks at this stage that reduce the probability of successful engraftment, including graft-versus-host disease and tissue rejection. Preclinical studies conducted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a leading cancer research institution, indicate that adding placental stem cells to cord blood stem cells enhances engraftment due to the higher number of CD34+ (blood forming) stem cells available for transplant. The placenta, in fact, is ten times richer in CD34+ stem cells than cord blood. Research has shown that these primitive cells play an important role in the speed and probability of the stem cells engrafting upon transplant. In addition, a 2002 study revealed that CD34+ stem cell dose was the one factor consistently identified as significantly associated with the rate of engraftment, survival, and a decrease in treatment-related mortality. (3)Using proprietary technology, “LifebankUSATM is the only private stem cell banking company that offers collection of stem cells from both the placenta and the umbilical cord,” says Dr. Richard Rothenberg, a board-certified OB/GYN. “This dramatically increases the number of stem cells retrieved.” By collecting from both the placenta and the umbilical cord via LifebankUSA’s PlacentaCord banking service, families can as much as double the total number of CD34+ stem cells banked compared with cord blood banking alone. Should the stem cells be needed, PlacentaCord banking improves the likelihood of successful engraftment, and with it, the likelihood of restoring the patient’s health. Banking For Future Therapeutic PotentialThe stem cells you store at a cord blood bank today may become even more beneficial in the future. Research is constantly underway to find new medical uses for stem cells, including treating Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, diabetes, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), cardiac repair and spinal cord injuries. In time, through the use of cord blood and placental stem cells, life-saving treatments for these conditions could become a reality.Whether you choose cord blood banking because of specific health concerns or simply as an extra precaution against the unexpected, should the need ever arise, you’ve taken the steps to provide an extra level of protection for your baby and your family. The chance that a child will use his/her own stored cord blood stem cells during his/her lifetime is estimated at 1 in 400 (J.J. Nietfeld and F. Verter). These odds may increase if there is a family history of certain blood disorders or cancers. The potential risks and benefits of stem cell transplantation vary and depend on many factors, such as the amount and quality of the cord blood stem cells collected, the HLA compatibility between recipient and donor, and the client’s overall health.

Bedbug Infestations

A bedbug doesn’t hurt when it bites and it doesn’t carry any disease; however, it can still be a nuisance. Some people experience an allergic reaction to the bite, while others scratch the bite areas and irritate the skin. But even without skin irritations, just knowing you are going to be a blood meal can cause you to not want to sleep in your bed or can cause you to lose sleep.What does a bedbug look like?Bedbugs are parasites, often mahogany or brown in color or red after it has had a blood meal. Its flat, broad, oval body has six legs, antennae, and it is about ¼ to 3/8 of an inch in size. Bedbugs don’t fly, but they do have incredible flat bodies that help them to hide in tiny cracks and crevices.What is the life cycle of a bedbug?The adult female lays one to 12 eggs per day on a rough surface or in the cracks and crevices where it hides. Nymphs emerge from the eggs six to 17 days later ready to eat. The nymphs need a blood meal to molt and they reach maturity after molting five times. If the temperature is moderate, the life cycle from egg to adult can take place in less than a month. If food is scarce and the temperature is not ideal, the nymph period can be prolonged for months. Adult bedbugs are known to survive as long as 12 months without a blood meal. How do Bedbugs infest your home?Cleaner households and better personal hygiene has helped in the decline of bedbug infestations over the years; however, cleanliness is not a factor in why or how bedbugs infest a structure. Bedbugs stow away and are carried into your home in luggage, furniture, clothing, and bedding. They often infest dwellings with a high turnover of occupants, such as hotels, motels, dormitories, prisons, and cruise ships. People who have stayed in infested dwellings can unknowingly bring bedbugs home with them in their luggage, shoes, and clothing. Bringing home used furniture or clothing can also be the origin of an infestation. Where do they hide?Bedbugs hide in dark secluded places during the day and they prefer fabric, wood, and paper surfaces. They can be found in the folds, seams, and tufts of mattresses, in the bed framing, and in other upholstered furniture in the bedroom. They feed at night and like to stay close to the source of food during the day. In heavy infested structures, they can be found hiding in cracks and crevices around doors, floors, molding, and windows and in carpet and rugs. They are also known to hide behind electrical switch plates and picture frames in a bedroom.How do I know I have bedbugs?One clear sign that you may have bedbugs are the mosquito-like welt you wake up with in the mornings. A bedbug bite is painless, so you will probably not feel the bite when it occurs. If you consistently wake up morning after morning with whelps on your body, then you probably have bedbugs. Other evidence includes bloodstains from crushed bugs or rusty or red spots of excrement on the bedding, on clothes, or on the wall in the bedroom. You may also find egg shells, fecal spots, and shed skin. A sweet, musty odor can also be present in the bedroom in severe cases of infestation. Bedbugs don’t carry any diseases and they usually go unnoticed by the sleeping victim; however, some people have experienced allergic reactions to the bite requiring medical care. Most people experience minor skin irritations of red, itchy welts that go away in a day or two, only to be repeated the next day by even more welts from the enbites. Often, the anxiety of the constant nightly attack causes people to lose sleep.

Balinese Mask : Spiritual Force Behind

IntroductionBali is an island, which throughout the ages has been influenced by many other cultures. While Bali’s religious root stems from animism and ancestral worship, Hindu mythology and Buddhism have been major influences. However, regardless of what they were practicing, one factor has always remained constant: “Life in Bali is governed by religion” . Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the art of mask making derived as a religious act, rather than a quest to create aesthetic beauty. Masks thus give form to godly and chthonic forces and are used in theatrical performances to teach adaptations of Indian Sanskrit Texts . In addition, theatrical mask dances are used for, “planting and harvest celebrations and at times of transition in the lives of individuals and communities”. Mask dances, such as Topeng, also discuss politics of the past and present, and morals. I will further discuss the masked dances in another section of this article.Theatre in Bali, Indonesia is more than a distinguished discipline; it is a performance entwined with every day life. Theatre, like all art, is a part of the religion and culture in Bali; thus all Balinese participate in art in some way. Furthermore, music, dance, costumes, and drama are not separate entities, but rather pieces of Balinese Theatre that rely on each other to achieve their ultimate purpose: Creating unity and harmony between the three worlds. In this article, I am going to discuss Balinese masks and the religious-socio-cultural role they play in Balinese Theatre.Balinese Beliefs & MythologyThe Bali Hindu religion, the foundation of the ordered Balinese society, pervades every aspect of life. Bali Hinduism, which has root in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism, adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenes, who inhibited the island around the first millennium BC. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. However, even art shop masks, those wood masks made in an unconsecrated assembly-line manner to be sold to tourist, have been known to become possessed. A former director of Bali’s Art Center has a concise explanation: “If you make an attractive home, someone will want to live in it.” A desirable propositionAccording to Bali Hinduism, for every positive principle or constructive force there is an equally powerful destructive forces. These are sometimes referred to as forces of the right (high) and forces of the left (low). The two elements ideally coexist in balance so that neither assumes too much power. Maintaining this precarious equilibrium is a constant preoccupation for the Balinese, who prepare daily offerings to satiate the spirits and keep them under control as well as plead for blessings.Offerings, or banten, vary according to the nature of the ceremony and whether they are intended for a high or low spirit. They may consist of combination of incense, flowers, old Chinese coins, fabric, betel nuts, arak (liquor), holy water, palm-leaf decoration, and food. The food is not actually meant to be eaten by the gods but functions as means by which the people give back what rightfully belongs to the spirits. The most significant moment in the life of offering is its dedication. After that, what happens to it is important. Consequently, offerings to low spirit, which are left on the ground, are usually scavenged by chickens or dogs. The larger offerings to high spirits are taken back to the family home after residing for a while at the temple, and the edible parts are then consumed by family members.Balinese temples, embellished with a decorative display of stones carvings, consist of breezy, open air courtyards, surrounded by a wall and entered through a large split gate. Once inside the entrance is a free standing wall (aling-aling). Beyond the wall is a large, open area with many small shrines of various sizes, each dedicated to a different god or goddess. At temple festivals, the normally somber shrines are highly decorated, and worshippers come to pray and dedicate their offerings, then retire to talk with friends. A festival is a highly social occasion, culminating in a live performance of mask dance or puppets presented for all to enjoy-local villagers and guests as well as the spirits of visiting deities and ancestors, and even an occasional tourists.The dance and masks dramas that are performed at the temples as part of the odalan are considered important offerings to the god and goddess. The deities would be hesitant to attend any birthday celebration where there is no entertainment. A mask dancer makes an offering of his skills each time he performs, in some cases serving in a capacity similar o a priest. Wali dances, those permitted to occur in the inner sanctum of the temple complex, are directed toward the deified ancestors, who are honored guests, and tend to be involved with spirits rather than plot, character, or story.Balinese Mask PerformanceMasks performances have been important rituals on the Indonesian island of Bali for over a thousand years. Although many ancients societies used wooden masks to celebrate their religions, Bali is one of the few places where the ritual art has never disappeared and is, in fact, thriving. Wood carvers are producing more beautiful and more elaborate wood mask than ever, and thousands of people worldwide collect these compelling objects. The proliferation of Balinese artists and performance groups indicates that the tiny island is undergoing a cultural renaissance, the centerpiece of which is the tapel-the beautiful Balinese masks.Masks may represent gods, animals, demons, or humans and can be whole masks or half masks depending on the dance they are used for. Masks can also be sacred or non-sacred depending on their purpose and preparation. Because the mystical theatre in Bali has captured the attention of so many foreigners to the land, non-sacred masks are made abundantly for sale. However, the best of the mask carvers have not abandoned their calling to create the sacred, consecrated masks when they have a “feeling” to do so.The Balinese classify the masks of heroes, clowns, and low spirits according to their qualities. The dashing heroes (often incarnation of gods), beautiful queens, and virtuous kings are describe as halus, a Balinese word meaning “sweet,” “gentle,” and “refined.” Low spirits, animals, and brutish types, including antagonist kings, are referred to as keras, or “strong,” “rough,” and “forceful.” There are certain distinctions in between, which usually encompass the clowns and servants.The three types of wood masks used in these dramas depict humans, animals, and demons. Human-looking masks can be full face or three-quarter face (extending to the upper lip), or can have a movable jaw. They are expected to resemble certain character types rather than specific people. Heroes and heroines are stereotypically handsome, with refined features matched b the movements of the dancers. The coarser a character is, he more exaggerated the features are: eyes bulge, mouths and noses thicken, and teeth become fangs. Color is also employed to reveal character of mask.Animal masks are mythological rather than realistic. Conscious of the distinction between humans and animal, the Balinese emphasize the difference by designing animal wood masks that seem closely related to demons, even for magically powerful and god-related animals like the heroic and delightful Hanuman, the white monkey of the Ramayana epic. Birds, cows, and even frogs have gaping mouths and horrendous protruding fangs. Protuberant eyes with black pupils stare from golden irises in masks that can hardly be called attractive despite elaborate crowns and earrings.Perhaps the most exciting wood masks are those of the witches and what are called low spirits. The low spirits, who can be troublesome if no appeased, are sometimes describe by Westeners as demons. This is inaccurate, since low spirits have power to perform good deads and provide protection. The Balinese do not separate the supernatural from the natural. The spirit world is a living force that must be recognize and appeased through rituals and offerings. Because the Balinese grant the masks powers that befit their roles and society, the masks of witches and low spirits are the largest and most grotesque of all traditional masks. The imposing wigs on most of these wood masks magnify the head and stature of the wearer. A basket device attached inside the construction holds it to the wearer’s head. Since the arrangement is relatively unstable, dancers often steady their unwieldy wood masks while they perform.In some parts of Bali, trance is a frequent part of ritual; elsewhere, it is nonexistent. In Calonarang and Barong mask dramas, trance is common. The subject matter of these dramas is witchcraft, the supernatural, and the battle of positive and negative forces. The major characters, Durga, the Goddess of Death as Rangda, and Barong Ket, Lord of the Jungle, battle with every ounce of magical power they can harness, occasionally assisted by armies.Kerambitan in southwest Bali is one of the areas known for highly active spirits and the frequencies of trance possession. A dancer who once worked as director of Bali’s Art Center tells a story about the Rangda and Barong masks of Kerambitan, his village: “Our priest had a dream that Rangda and Barong masks must be part of the village temple, so we had them created in the prescribed manner. Once they were brought to their temple home, they began fighting with each other while they were inside their baskets. They created so much noise and tension that the masks had to be separated.” Although the Rangda mask was moved to another temple, the two mask still fought and the Rangda mask was moved to another village. On the mask’s birthday, the day they were both consecrated, they had to be united in the temple again. Rangda was brought from the other village, displayed in the ceremony, and then immediately put away.Balinese Mask With Supernatural EnergyMasks are regarded as powerful receptacles for wandering spirits. A wooden mask filled with divine energy becomes tenget (metaphysically charged). Made from a particular wood that is cut at specific times, tenget masks are generally associated with a certain number of rituals. Wooden masks in a tenget state may lose some of their special energy over time and need to be “recharged” in a special ceremony Initiations of renewed or new masks, called pasupati, can involve as many as ten days of feasting, performances of dance and Wayang Kulit (shadow puppets), cockfights, and processions. A high priest is called to officiate the exact moment when the “body” of the wood mask separates from the “head” (spirit) and the god inhabiting the wood mask is “sent home”. After the newly vitalized mask is returned to the temple, another set of ceremonies is held to invite the spirit back to the wood mask. The powerful mask of Durga, Goddess of Death and Black magic, and sometimes called Rangda is occasionally tested to see if its power is still burning. If explosions of fire come from the eyes, ears, head, nose, or mouth of the mask, it is considered sakti (sacred or powerful). It is placed in the village cemetery in the middle of the night during an especially auspicious time called Kanjeng Kliwon Pamelastali, a powerful time when spirits are present and must be acknowledge with offerings.Sacred wood masks are never displayed on walls as works of art as in Western homes, but are kept in simple fabric bags with drawstring tops. The color of the bag is important-whether yellow, white, or black-and-white checked-because color symbolism affects the spirit of the wood masks. Once encased in the bags, the wood masks are placed in baskets, which in turn are stored within the temple complex. If a wood mask belongs to an individual, it will probably be kept inside the family temple. Sacred wood masks are only displayed for their birthdays, which will be apart of an odalan, or temple festival. Dancers unveil their wood masks when commissioned to perform at an odalan. Only rarely is a wood mask uncovered in order to be reconditioned: the paint refreshed, worm holes filled, and gold leaf touched up. This is never done casually, but in conjunction with elaborate rituals.Masks made from the same tree are felt to have family ties. When a tree produce a knot like growth, it is called beling, which means “pregnant.” Care is taken not to damage the tree, and when the cut is made, a special ceremony is held to appease the spirits of the tree. If these rituals are not followed, a spiritually powerful tree could use its energy to cause destruction. In Singapudu village, home of two Bali’s most renowned woodcarvers, wood is no longer taken from an especially tenget tree that grows at the edge of the village. Two priests performed the requisite ceremonies before removing wood, but within a week both died of