HealtHabitTravels: Pilates Retreats | Mind-Body Practice

luxury adventure travel-health spa vacations

May the blessing of light be on you, light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you and warm your heart till it glows like a great peat fire,
So that the stranger may come and warm himself at it and also a friend

--CELTIC BLESSING

HEALTH HABITRAVELS NEWSLETTER
WINTER WORDS - ROOTS OF ILLUMINATION

Firelight animates life like paintings of horses, lions, bison, and caribou on a cave wall. Cast over these are shadows of stag horns. A drum beats. Keen eyed Cro-Magnons - Homo Sapien-Sapiens - the prehistoric peoples of Europe, chant as a clan member performs a stag "dance." Outside the cold could kill, but in this Pyrenees mountain cave, in what is now Green Spain, it's a comfortable 57 degrees. Massive stalagmites and stalactites craft this cathedral like sanctuary into a veritable subterranean Notre Dame. Since no evidence of daily life activities remains at most cave art sites, experts surmise these exquisitely painted chambers were reserved for sacred ceremonies. Having twice visited over a dozen of these caves I'll attest that they are truly sacred spaces. It rocked me to the core to stand only inches from handprints made tens of thousands of years ago on the walls of Peche Merle, Tito Bustio, as well as world famous Altamira, and in the astounding replica at Lascaux. Not only time, but also my preconceptions about prehistoric peoples, instantly dissolved. The handprints were unmistakably left by humans who were as emotionally and intellectually conscious as any of us, maybe more so. Survival dictated that they be hyper-tuned to Earth Goddess forces (Goddess figurines are often found at excavations) more so than we in our climate controlled, techno-dependent 21st century. These peoples, and also 21st century peoples living Stone Age lifestyles, existed on a deep soulfully level - consider the Australian Aborigines and their parallel reality Dreamtime. "Primitive" peoples communed with nature and considered the cosmos a pulsing spiritual entity. We strive to connect with nature, and tap into our spiritual cores through the arts, mind-body-spirit studies, religious practices and holidays built on ancient rituals and ceremonies; by ancient I mean 40,000 years.

When I saw those handprints they reached through time, allowing me to imagine a Winter Solstice gathering some 25,000 years ago, when they celebrated the year's shortest day in an Earth Goddess caves, by honoring animal spirits around illuminating "Sun Spirit" fires. Native Americans held similar rituals in sacred spaces within recorded times. Contemporary Shaman lead winter rituals in the South Western USA at Anasazi ruins that were engineered to register lunar and solar cycles. Ceremonies take place globally at Neolithic Menhirs and pyramids, which serve as functional sacred calendars. For centuries Hunbatz (Mayan Shaman) have followed the Tzolkin, a sacred calendar that places the final end day on December 21, Winter Solstice, 2012. Whether the Tzolkin marks the end of humanity, or the start of a new positive era, is unclear. What is clear is the need for all peoples, from time immemorial, to conduct winter sun-centered rituals. Historian Will Durant claimed "Christmas was originally the Egyptian feast honoring the birth of the Sun." These sun festivals transformed into worship of God's presence on Earth - of "The One" known by many names - Jesus, Siddhartha, Buddha, Confucius and Mohamed. This "One" personifies the essentials of spirituality - illumination, love, forgiveness and peace. The ancients left not only sacred underworld galleries and calendar Temples; they left a legacy of rites that are the holidays that let us illuminate winter. From a favorite of mine, Samhain, aka Halloween, Witches' Sabbat and Calangaef, when the veil between life and death practically disappears and we hang Jack-O-Lanterns to guide roving ghosts and share "Dumb Supper", a meal eaten silently with the dead as guests, through February 1st, Groundhog Day known too as Candlemas, another holiday I look forward to, which represents the reawakening of earth and requires relighting of the hearth, the family of man continues to ritualize soulful illuminations all through winter.

And so we have celebrations of light happening everywhere. The Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah begins three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice and spans the darkest time of the year. Hindu's observe Dwali, their Festival of Lights, in November. The Buddhist's Bodhi Day falls on December 8th, marking Siddhartha's enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree. Korean New Year's day of renewal takes place December 21st, winter Solstice. Christians assemble in illuminated churches and cathedrals to celebrate the Earthly birth of God's Son. Early Christians celebrated Christmas on the pre-existing Roman holidays of Saturnalia and Brumlia, which recognizes the Sun God's journey to the underworld. Norse invaders brought Yuletide to the Celts. Yule marks the rebirth of the Sun God, and includes symbolic burning of the log. Observed by African-Americans and Pan Africans, Kwanzaa or First Fruits, starts December 26th. It may be a "new" holiday for many, but actually dates back to ancient Egypt. It was revived in North America in 1966. Like Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, Kwanzaa focuses on family unity and inward reflection. Awareness of multicultural holiday roots can rekindle the true purpose of these holy days for all of us, especially in these days of possible war, uncertainty, and disconnection from nature. More than ever the season demands that focus on constructive, replenishing, and healing acts of giving. Today's winter holidays come not only with all the traditional trimmings and good tidings, but also with modern traps that can lead to physical over-indulgence, spiritual deprivation, and stress and depression; all by-products of commercialism. I remember when stores didn't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. This year the borage began before Halloween! It's enough to turn anyone into a jaded old Scrooge, but not if we pay attention to the why behind holiday activities. Without knowing it my husband and I have created an almost traditional Buddhist "Bodhi Day" Tree for the last five years by stringing red chilly pepper decorative lights on our living Ficus plant. We thought we had a "California Christmas Tree", but we're happy to have this multi-faith tree in our home. Like many of you we're drowning in gift catalogues. With only a couple of shopping weeks left the pressure to buy is on. Gift giving can be wonderful if the gifts are heart felt, like those given by the original Santa, the legendary miracle worker St. Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas died in 350 AD and was known as "the friend of children" but his magnanimous gift giving spirit lives on as the multicultural Santa loved worldwide. Dutch settlers brought Sint Klaus to New Amsterdam (New York) and in 1823 Clement C. Moore's "The Night Before Christmas" made him a celebrity. He's a true Globe trotter known in China as Shengdan Laoren, France as Pere Noel, in South America as Papa Noel, in Finland he's Joulupukki, in Russia ded moroz, and in Germany he's Kris Kringle, which derives from the German term "the Christ Child", making him yet another personification of "all giving" illumination on Earth. I suggest we take time to find the pure essence of the ancient rites and ceremonies behind our commercialized holidays so that we give gifts that provide illumination for ourselves, those we love; gifts that replenish, rather than deplete, Mother Earth.

For more on holiday origins visit www.mythinglinks.org and select Yule.

And here are ways to give from beyond the mall:

Plant a tree. Give healing herb plants loved ones will use year round. Hand make or bake anything. Create art or write a story, a poem, a song. Give home candle or bath product making kits. Provide a home for a stray animal. Visit nursing homes. Teach a free-bee class in your specialized field. Do an early spring-cleaning and pass your used stuff on to homeless shelters, etc...And if you do buy electronics keep that illumination sun worship concept alive and check out the amazing solar products www.realgoods.com has a large selection.

Consider giving a gift in some ones name to organizations like:

www.heifer.org Provides livestock to the needy worldwide to encourage sustainable living. Check here in the New Year for details on Health Habitravels spring fundraiser for Heifer.
www.janegoodall.org: Checkout Dr. Goodall's Roots and Shoots programs
www.globalfundforchildren.org - Helping children worldwide
www.worldwildlife.org - Dedicated to global wildlife preservation

Provide mind-body-spirit gifts:

Books : Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver; Abraham -A Journey To The Heart of Three Faiths by Bruce Feiler - at www.amazon.com
Music: Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around www.amazon.com
How about gift certificates for Yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonic, Tai-Chi studio classes.
Visit www.wisdommedia.com and explore their calendar for possible life-changing travel, festival, seminar and conference ticket gift ideas.
Go cultural and give museum memberships and theater tickets.
Send someone a day-spa pass or give a body treatment certificate.
Send someone on a Health Habitravels journey or retreat.
Explore new treatments, such as this one explained by Ruby Masters of Los Angeles:
Our Luminous Light Bodies
   We all possess a luminous energy field that surrounds our physical body and informs our body in the same way that the energy fields of magnet organize iron filings around it. Our light body is an orb that enfolds us to the width of our outstretched arms and it pulses with color. Above our skin there are streams of light that flow through the acupuncture meridians. Between the skin and the membrane of the luminous orb are currents that swirl into whirlpools of light. We are light bound into living matter. Every living thing around us is made of light, bound and packaged in different forms and vibrations.
   Our light bodies are vital and responsive to all that goes on in our lives. When we are sick or suffering emotionally, dense energies interfere with the healthy flow of the light currents in the luminous field. Healing occurs when the light body is cleansed and cleared of dense and chaotic energies.
   There is a Shamanic healing practice known as an illumination, which balances and attunes the energy body. Releasing unhealthy energy through the illumination process can lead to positive changes in our lives.
   For more information, or to make an appointment
   contact Ruby Masters at ruby2day@earthlink.net.

For me memories and traditions are the best gifts. They last a lifetime and beyond. Nanny, my grandmother of Scottish descent, gave me early holiday memories when I helped her bake when starting at age 4. I'd sit on the kitchen counter as she taught me to roll and cut Scotch Cake or shortbread dough into Christmas cookies. I bake and give these cookies as gifts every Christmas. Nanny never told me this but it's a custom in Scotland to give shortbread to the "first-footers", those who are first to enter your house after midnight on New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve 2003 I'll be starting this new tradition among my friends. If you have someone to pass a recipe or tradition on to don't hesitate. They'll treasure it always, and gift it to others.

SCOTCH CAKES
Soften 1 C. butter. Mix in ½ C. powdered sugar. Mix in 2 C. flour, ½ tsp. salt, and finally 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring. Chill until firm and roll out on floured board to ¼" thickness. Cut with Christmas cookie cutters - snowflake, Santa, Christmas tree, angle, star etc...place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in 350 oven until lightly brown, about 15 minutes. Once cooled decorate with:

Butter icing: Cream C. butter into 1 C. powdered sugar. Add a small amount of milk or cream to thin to spreading consistency. Divide in quarter amounts and flavor as you wish, suggestions ¼ tsp. rum flavor, ¼ tsp. mint flavor, ¼ tsp. almond flavor. Add food dye (holiday colors) to each ¼. Have fun "painting" the cookies.

Serve with made from scratch Ginger Tea, recipe from The Wicca Cookbook, Recipes, Ritual and Lore - by Jamie Wood and Tara Seefeldt, published by Celestial Arts, available at www.tenspeed.com and learn more about Jamie Wood at www.jamiewood.com. The book's full of recipes, history and rituals.

GINGER TEA
In a saucepan combine 1 large knob of fresh ginger - sliced - with 1 cinnamon stick, several lemon slices with several whole cloves stuck in them in 4 C. water. Bring to a boil then simmer 15-20 minutes. Sweeten with brown sugar or honey to taste. Strain and serve hot. An excerpt from the book -
"Certain customs are so entrenched in Wiccan culture that it is difficult to conceive of our celebrating without them. Two such traditions are the imbibing of ginger tea and the trimming of a tree at Yule. Ginger has a heartwarming quality that goes hand in hand with the loving environment created by gathering friends and family for the Yule celebration...ginger tea is believed to possess the ability to strengthen the lungs and kidneys. The significance of displaying a tree during Yule is connected to the rebirth of the sun. Ancient pagans believed that by bringing in an evergreen tree that grew from the warmth of the sun, they would be symbolically inviting light into their homes and lives. They decorated the tree with candles as another means of calling in the light Later they adorned the tree with fruits, nuts, and pinecones, all of which had been nurtured by the invigorating sun..."

BODY:

And we all know 'Tis the Season to fatten up for the cold weather and make resolutions to trim down in the New Year. Rather than wait for January here are some movement and relaxation tips to lighten and light up your holidays. The Holidays can augment stress and depression. Suicide rates rise at this time (see Health Habitravels Fall Newsletter for natural remedies for seasonal depression.) Practice stretches and Yoga and get your heart rate up above 120 BPM 3 Xs a week to melt away aches, pains, and the blues. Fire up natural high producing endorphins. Indulge in a favorite cardio activity - ski, ice skate, snow board, take a brisk walk with or without the dog, attend fitness, dance or mind/body class, swim in a soothing heated pool. Gather with friends for Caroling. Bolster your immune system with Echinacea, nettle, and seaweed ingested as sushi or sprinkled like salt on foods. Try these seasonal specific movements:

1. FLEX:
Arthritis reacts to cold, damp weather. Gentle stretches lubricate the joints and reduce stiffness and inflammation. A simple Standing Forward Bend: Uttanasana in Yoga terms, a Roll-Down in Pilates terms, stretches your back and hamstrings. If your back is weak you may want to perform the move by leaning your back against a wall and rolling down only to where your range of motion allows. You can also hold the pose by placing a chair in front of you and resting your head against folded arms on the seat. Do this move whenever you feel stiff, whether from sitting too long at the computer, on a flight, when you get up in the morning, as a prelude to any activity.

ROLL- DOWN: Like it sounds, stand erect, inhale then exhale, drawing your abdominal muscles in to support your spine, as you roll down, head first followed by shoulders and torso, one vertebrae at a time. Release tension in your upper body. Hold this position through several deep breath patterns, or repeat several times at a moderate pace.

2. CONDITION:
Many winter activities done on ice in the sleet, snow and rain require core strength for balance and strong, supple legs and ankles. Make these moves a regular part of your exercise program

DOUBLE KNEE STRETCH: Lie on your back then draw you knees toward your chest, your chin toward your chest and reach you arms toward your ankles. Inhale, then exhale as you reach your arms past your ears and above your head and your legs out to a 45-degree angle. Feel your lower abdominals scoop in toward your spine with each exhale and you return to the start position. Repeat 10 times. Rest your head down and hug your knees to your chest resting.

FOOT WORK: Stand. Hold a chair and place the soul of a foot on a tennis ball. Do this with both feet to "ground" yourself, work your foot tendons, stretch leg muscles, and indulge in a reflexology treatment. Then with bare feet, grasp small objects - bottle tops, pens etc...Finish standing on one leg, the other just off the floor, rotate your foot 10 Xs one direction, 10 Xs in the other to strengthen and stretch ankles and leg muscles. Roll down into the Down-Dog, with tailbone up in the air, back flat, weight evenly balanced between your straight arms and as straight as possible legs. Shift your weight back and forth between legs to stretch your calves. Roll to standing, bundle up and head for the great outdoors either close to home or in far flung exotic zones. Wishing you and yours peace within and a happy, healthy Holiday season. Visit again in the New Year for insights on renewal.

Bring me a string of lights to frame the darkest window
And a fragrant welcome wreath to hang upon the door
And let me give out gifts that can't be boxed
That need no gold or silver ribbons to glow.
Gifts that brighten the lives of all
From the richest to the poor.
Gifts of equality, prosperity, peace and hope,
Of laughter love and joy,
That shine the desire in each of us to open our hearts,
And join as one string of lights,
Glowing in our giving,
And then giving more.

Bring me a divine angel, who's open wings lift spirits high.
An angel who guards a living tree,
It's branches adorned with ornaments,
That are rich with global lore.
Lore that speaks to all of us,
No matter our religion, race or creed,
Of our collective need
To learn from the past,
To celebrate and treasure the present,
And bring all hearts and minds together.
To shine as one string of lights around this thriving globe,
And strive toward a glorious future
Where peace takes precedence over war.

- View past issues of the Health Habitravels newsletter -

ecotours-sustainable tourism-cultural tours