Holistic Feathers

The fae folk in our garden looked very cute in the London snow this morning …

Tortoise-racing in the snow (c) www.holisticfeathers.co.uk

Faery in the snow (c) www.holisticfeathers.co.uk

Headstands in the snow (c) www.holisticfeathers.co.uk

Where's my mint umbrella? (c) www.holisticfeathers.co.uk

Sally the splendiferous garden snail (c) www.holisticfeathers.co.uk

read comments (0)

“When the soul becomes divine it becomes a diamond, reflecting the divine light and forming an aura of delicate tints around itself. Such is the perfect human soul; the human soul aspires towards perfection”

~ Peter Deunov

read comments (0)

It is no secret that I love the snow and welcome any visiting snowflakes with open arms – as my friend, Caryl of Charms of Light, wrote in her blog yesterday, snowfall gives us a chance to let our Inner Child shine brightly!

Our longed-for snowfall arrived quite late yesterday afternoon, around 3.30pm, and so I did not have the gift of daylight to capture by camera the peace and soft beauty surrounding us by this sparkly white blanket gently covering all that it could.  Our front garden looked like a giant bouncy layer of bouncy, silken marshmallow … walking down the path gave my heart a real lift, the crunching sound of snow underfoot making me smile as my own Inner Child awoke with a start.  This morning our back garden is covered in pretty patterns where tiny prints have been made by visiting blue tits, starlings and robins seeking food and nourishment; our front garden clearly shows the solo path of our neighbours cat, George, on his way home during the night.

The snowfall also highlighted to my partner and I just how much our busy lives impact heavily on our ability to make the most of our beautiful seasons, particularly here in England.  Although we are ardent snow-seekers, we try hard to make time out of our busy schedules to appreciate Mother Nature throughout her yearly changes.  For us, snow gives us a gentle nudge to slow down a little bit and appreciate all that we have, take in the beauty surrounding us.  Society nowadays decrees that we must have everything now-now-now, no patience or time to enjoy what surrounds us … mass hysteria leads to panic-buying but you know, we can live without milk and bread for a few days!

This morning there had been no further snowfall but a drop in temperatures again during the night meant that the blanket of snow was shimmering brightly from the glow cast by the street-lamps.  Unusually for me, I stayed in bed while my partner got himself ready for work … with a cup of tea lovingly made by him, I sat in bed wrapped up in a cozy pashmina and propped up by my fluffy pillows.

I sat in quiet contemplation, looking out of my bedroom window and soaking up the stillness; the peaceful sounds of birds chirping while the skies were still cloaked in their midnight blue hues.  Directly outside of our window, our purple beech tree sparkled as if her branches were made of diamonds; droplets of melting snow had been caught by Jack Frost and these crystalline globes glittered magnificently in the lamp’s rays.

As dawn made her debut, the skies gradually turning through various pastel shades of blues and lilacs into the snowy-pink shades which I dreamt of waking up to as a child.  The occasional crunch of passing footsteps reminded me that we are not alone in this winter wonderland …

This morning I focused on gratitude in my meditation practice – grateful for the safety and warmth of my home, for living in such a beautiful part of the world; grateful that my family and friends are safe, that we have enough food to keep us going even if the lorries can’t get through … and I am grateful for being able to work from home (even if my clients are unable to get through to us because of the wintry conditions, or the postmen are unable to deliver their products from our online shop!), grateful that we have electricity and gas.  I find myself also grateful that we spent so much money on fixing our old boiler throughout 2009 as she seems to be bearing up well; I am also extremely grateful for our new double-glazed patio doors at the front and back of the house, which helps to reduce the draughts in our beautiful Victorian home.

What are you grateful for on this wintry morning?

read comments (1)

On the surface of our world right now
There is war, violence, and craziness
And things may seem dark.

But calmly and quietly
At the same time
Something is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
And certain individuals
Are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up.

This is a global co-operation
That has sleeper cells in every nation.
It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy.

You won’t likely see us on T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.
You won’t hear from us on the radio. We don’t seek glory.
We don’t wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

We are in every country and culture of the world
In cities big and small, mountains and valleys
In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

Most of us work anonymously
Seeking not recognition of name
But profound transformation of life.
Working quietly behind the scenes

You could pass by one of us on the street
And not even notice.
We go undercover
Not concerned for who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.

Many of us may seem to have normal jobs.
But behind the external storefront
Is where the deeper work takes a place.
With the individual and collective power
Of our minds and hearts
We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all.

Some call us the Conscious Army
As together
We co-create a new world.

Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency
Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking. Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music
Photography ~Smiles ~Kind words
Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites
Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves
In our own unique ways
With our own unique gifts and talents.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
That is the motto that fills our hearts.

We know this is the path to profound transformation.
We know that quietly and humbly
Individually and collectively
We have the power of all the oceans combined.

At first glance our work is not even visible.
It is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.
And yet with our combined efforts
Entire tectonic plates
Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come.

Love is the religion we come to share
And you don’t need to be highly educated
Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

Love arises from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse
Of all living beings.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Yet don’t forget, we are all here supporting you.

We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.
For in this spiritual conspiracy
All are welcome, and all are loved.
The door is always open.

~ Brian Piergrossi

www.thebigglow.com

read comments (0)

As many of you know, Holistic Feathers is known as a chocolate-lover’s sanctuary, so much do we love Raw Gaia’s Raw Chocolate Face Mask and melts!!

So how could we possibly resist this gorgeous new video from Humanity Healing Foundation, entitled Chocolate Wisdom?

“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death” ~ Anais Nin

With thanks, as always, to Spirit Library for enlightening us!

read comments (1)

GPs should prescribe meditation for depression, says Mental Health Foundation

Meditation therapy should be routinely available on the NHS to treat recurring depression and to help tackle Britain’s growing mental health problems, according to a new report.

Full article discovered on Times Online – 5 January 2010 – Author: Sam Lister, Health Editor

The study, commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation, found that fewer than one in 20 GPs prescribed meditation therapy for patients suffering depression, despite NHS guidance suggesting that it could halve depression relapse rates.

The report calls for much wider use of “mindfulness” treatment, which combines meditation with orthodox “thought training”. The report argues that if more GPs offered the therapy it would sharply reduce the financial burden of depression, which costs Britain £7.5 billion a year.

Mental health specialists said that greater use of meditation would reduce an over-reliance on antidepressants. They said that while the drugs were effective, they did not help address the possibility of future depressive episodes.

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which has its roots in Eastern philosophy and Buddhism, trains people to focus attention on one place instead of allowing the mind to be “hijacked” by emotional issues, regrets, worries about the past and future, and other distractions. This can be done in a number of ways, for example by focusing on breathing, parts of the body, or movement.

Holistic Feathers teaches and practises a similar form of mindfulness meditation for relaxation, called Art of Being Still

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issued guidance on meditation in 2004 after studies suggested that it might bring benefits.

Five years later, only a fifth of GPs said they can access the treatment for their patients, and just one in 20 regularly prescribes the therapy, according to the Mental Health Foundation report Be Mindful.

MBCT costs on average £300 per patient for a course of two-hour sessions over eight weeks. Since patients are treated in groups of up to 20, the cost is said to be much lower than one-to-one cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).

A key difference between the new approach and traditional CBT is that patients are seen between episodes of depression, and not when they are in the grip of the illness. Another difference is the inclusion of meditation, as research has shown that relying on CBT alone to prevent recurrent depression does not work as well.

Mark Williams, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford, who contributed to the report, said that meditative therapy enabled people to switch off “brooding recrimination” and, while acknowledging these thoughts, move beyond them.

“People begin to see thoughts and feelings as a temporary weather pattern in the mind, and realise they don’t have to judge themselves,” he said.

More than 100 studies, some involving Buddhist monks, have shown that brainwave activity changes during meditation, and that areas of the brain linked to controlling emotion are bigger in people who have meditated regularly for five years.

Mindfulness training has also been shown to increase activity in the pre-frontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with positive emotion that is normally subdued in depressed individuals.

One in 10 people in Britain is affected by clinical depression — defined by a range of symptoms within a single two-week period — and 50 per cent of sufferers experience it more than once. After two bouts of depression, there is a 70 per cent risk of relapse, which rises to 90 per cent after three episodes.

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said that doctors prescribed antidepressants too often. “Mindfulness-based therapy could help prevent thousands of people from relapsing into depression every year. This would have huge knock-on benefits both socially and economically, making it a sensible treatment to make available, even at a time when money is short within the NHS,” he said.

“Depression tends to come back for many people, with the odds of further bouts increasing each time. A single episode is serious enough, but having the illness return year after year can have a devastating impact on people’s jobs, relationships, and their chances in life generally.”

The case for making MBCT available on the NHS relies on two key studies of patients with recurring depression. One, undertaken ten years ago, showed a 37 per cent relapse rate for patients given MBCT, compared with 66 per cent for those not given the treatment. The other, conducted in 2004, showed an even bigger difference between the two groups, with relapse rates of 36 per cent and 78 per cent. Another recent trial in Exeter, with results published last year, indicated that MBCT is at least as effective at preventing relapses as antidepressants.

Jonty Heaversedge, a South London GP who learnt to meditate at a Buddhist centre and believes the practice can improve many aspects of health, said: “Depression is something that affects a huge number of my patients, often year after year, with devastating consequences. MBCT gives them the opportunity to develop a healthier, more accepting relationship with their thoughts and feelings.”

(c) Times Online

You may also be interested in reading another story via Times Online, recounting an individual’s experience of using mindfulness meditation for treating her depression: Mindfulness therapy pushes the bad thoughts to one side

read comments (1)

I stumbled across a book in our local charity shop a few weeks ago … “Handbook for the Soul”, foreward by Marianne Williamson and edited by Richard Carlson and Benjamin Shield. At 50p, it seemed like a snip of a bargain and so it sat on my shelves at home, waiting for an opportune moment to dive in.

It’s a collection of wisdom from over 30 different spiritual writers, including well-known authors such as Jon Kabat-Zinn and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (two personal favourites of mine), Thomas Moore, Ram Dass and Wayne Dyer.

It looked at me this morning as I stepped into my office … and taking a look, it has 30 different stories so a perfect read to kick-start my New Year off with a look at the soul in a gentle way. One story per day should do it, methinks!

The book covers:
* Soul in everyday life
* The heart of the Soul
* Journey of the Soul
* Rekindling your Soul
* Lessons of the Soul
* Soul communion
* A return to Soul

I’ll let you know what I thought of the stories at the end of the month. As I am a on a quest for the first quarter of this year to take time out for myself and regain full health in the process, it seems apt that the book that should leap off the shelf is not a self-help or coaching book, but rather a look deep into our souls.

What are you reading in January – and how does it reflect your chosen personal path for this coming year?

read comments (0)