Some of my medicinal plants!

I am so delighted to finally have the plants in my moon garden, ahead of then next moon cycle next week. We’ve been in Sark and it has been hot and I could almost hear them asking me to get them in the ground as soon as possible…the marshmallow had already started rooting through the pots!

So here they are, the plants en masse…

And here they are individually:

Gypsywort

Woad and wormwood

Mullem and motherwort

Hyssop

Marshmallow

And this is the pot marigold soaking in sweet almond oil awaiting me finding time to make calendula salve infused with moonlight, sunlight and Reiki, oh and some love…

There’s still a significant number of plants in my parents’s greenhouse needing to be planted out, this is next on the list. The airing cupboard is now full of flowers and leaves drying so I can make teas and oils. Here’s some marshmallow and calendula flowers about to go to be dried.

The beams in the kitchen are being used to dry lavender, sage and rosemary to make beautiful oils. Here’s the sage oil on its way:

I love my plants, they actually communicate. I’m so grateful for their abundance and all they give. It’s a learning curve trying to work out what to do and its costing a small fortune in bits and bobs, but I am enjoying making my own potions and feeling the benefit. The bath scrubs I am enjoying the most, especially with the homemade lavender oil, although the sage oil is definitely potent and great for clearing the energy - very calming when applied to the head.

I made some cough medicine for the boys recently using thyme from the garden. It actually worked! I was really excited about this, despite the amount of honey required by the recipe, made me realise how much we can do to help ourselves, it’s just about finding the time!

I’ve got to learn what to do with the St John’s wort as these are flowering…I shall share photos once those are in the ground too!

Happy Friday!

x

Health and Disease by Lance and Susan Schuler

This extract was written by Lance Schuler and his wife Susan. Lance taught me how to teach yoga back in 2005 in Byron Bay. It wasn’t just yoga he was teaching me, but helping to re-inforce and validate how I felt about health and healing and yet didn’t have the confidence to voice it back then, or to truly understand it. I know it a lot better now having worked with health and healing since then. I still can’t voice it as well as Lance and Susan however, which is the reason I share their words here for you, for anyone who is interested in living a life free from the fear and from dis-ease, who truly wants to come to know themselves and live in a way that is harmonious with nature and with their own innate wisdom. Lance inspired me then as he inspires me now, and I miss being in that environment where I can be surrounded by those who know and feel the same way. There is so much fear in our beautiful planet at the moment, and so many suffering, and yet to know thyself, you are free, so free. Love Emma x

“HOW OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HEALTH AND DISEASE IS ESSENTIAL TO ACCEPTING AND MOVING FORWARD THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC 
For the first time in recorded history our youngest generation of children are now expected to live shorter and sicker lives than their parents, even though medical technology continues to advance and we know more about the impact of poor diet and lack of activity than ever before.
It is as if humanity is at war with nature.
If all of us were to simultaneously jump of the Sydney Centrepoint Tower, we would each fall 10m/sec/squared and we would hit the ground at the same time at a very predictable velocity because we are all subject to Natural Laws - because we are Nature.
Disease is because of the violation of Natural Laws.
If Doctors wish to use the word Dr before their names then they should be teaching. So if teaching, they need to teach people how to stop building disease –that’s what doctors’ real roles are, otherwise they need to call themselves Physicians.
The only way Doctor’s can teach to not build disease is to know it, the only way they can know it is to live it and the only way they can live it is if they have learned it.
Doctors spend over 16,000 hours during their residency and have less than 20 hrs of nutrition instruction. 
Doctors have a nutritional deficiency in their education. 
Our exiting healthcare system is based on treatments, even though 80% of illness is preventable. Lifestyle disease needs lifestyle medicine.
Poor diet is the number one cause of death and disability. If most deaths and disability are related to nutrition, then, obviously, nutrition is the number one thing taught in medical school; right? Obviously, it’s the number one thing your doctor talks to you about at every visit; right? Drugs don’t cure dietary diseases.
Doctors mean well, but they are generally just working with methods that don’t work. (Cut, burn, poison – come on!). The body takes care of itself – it cannot do it wrong. It is always working in your best interest. It is programmed for survival. We are not talking about accidental and emergency care here – this is where medicine and surgery can have a life saving role. 
Our bodies are so complex that we will never work it out and you don’t have to. Do we have to explain it to a dog, possum, or elephant? NO! Instinctively they know. They are plugged into the wisdom of nature called instinct. Medicine as we know it has only been around for about 150yrs – instinct has been around since the beginning of time – listen to it!
All culture and “cures” take us away from nature and that’s an abomination because we are nature. That’s the beginning of the lie that leads us down the path of looking for a cure. Is it not better to stop building disease? Of course it is! Does anything else work? NO!
Why is it that those animals that have no interference from humans die from less than 10 diseases?
One out of every 2.5 people will now get cancer. There are 4,000 rare diseases and over 80 auto immune diseases alone.
Heart disease and cancer are the number one and two leading causes of death and medical error is the third!... Iatrogenic - look it up!!
So what do we use to treat these leading causes of death? We use medicine – but medicine is the third leading cause of death – does this make sense to you? This is data.
The reason this has happened is because we have strayed from nature. We live in boxes, drive around in machines and eat foods that are made by machines.
We are living in a way that we were not evolved to live.
How many of us know how to take care of our body?
Paracelsus said “anyone who is not their own physician by the age of 40 is a fool” and that “health depended on the harmony between man and nature”. To be healthy in today’s world we need to cultivate a reliance on ourselves.
Our dietary and lifestyle choices and the way we think and emote are affecting our health, our environment and the animals we share this planet with. How we think, eat and act are a choice – to either improve the world or make it less… to either sustain the conditions that are supportive to life or worsen them…..

SO WHAT IS HEALTH AND DISEASE 
Health is life in balance – disease is life out of balance.
Disease is a body instigated process for healing and repair; to re-establish homeostasis. If you treat a symptom 99.9% of the time it’s going to make the disease worse. The symptom is there as your body’s attempt to self-regulate and heal itself. Symptoms are a manifestation of something out of balance – you and your soul, you and your emotions, you and your body, and you and nature. The symptoms are the medicine.
When we take drugs for the disease we are telling the body that we are not listening. When we treat the disease we halt the body’s attempt to heal and repair. The symptoms are the body’s attempt to remove excess waste and when we treat the symptom we increase the body’s toxic load. Even though you will experience pain and uncomfortable symptoms these are signs of the body’s attempts to heal itself and restore balance.
When we treat disease we separate from ourselves.
The only way to address disease is to address the cause. Every action in the body, in disease, as in health, is towards the preservation and improvement of life. What is commonly called disease is in reality, a beneficial and remedial process. Dr Herbert Shelton (Human Life) says, “Health and disease are the same thing – vital action intended to preserve, and protect the body and there is no more reason for treating disease than there is for treating health. The body slides easily into disease when conditions warrant and glides as easily back into health when conditions justify.” 
Convincing people to alter their behaviour to remove the causes is an unprofitable business. People quite naturally, want to feel better with as little effort as possible and their natural psychology equates feeling better with getting better. However, when drugs are taken to relieve symptoms and reduce pain, feeling better does not mean getting better.

Modalities, treatments or therapies that involve drugs, herbs, supplements, manipulations etc may be useful predominantly in the short term to assist with any imbalances and allow time for the person to somewhat recover until they make the lifestyle changes necessary for true recovery to occur. However, if used continuously they really only act as a band-aid unless the underlying causes are addressed. 
When we use drugs, remedies and therapies to eliminate symptoms, and do nothing to address their cause, we do nothing to create health, nothing to motivate change, no reconnection with nature, no evolvement, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and does nothing to protect us from further disease. Treatments and so called cures take us away from the journey of healing.
THE BEST KEPT SECRET IS THE BODY CAN HEAL ITSELF. 
The same innate wisdom that made the body, can heal the body. This is known as – vitalism. And it doesn’t make mistakes; it doesn’t mess up. Everything the body does is a wise response to a perceived stimulus – without exception.
Most acute diseases are self-limiting and resolve with the passage of time.

Now that we know about our microbiomes and viromes can we really believe that "germs" are predominantly the main cause of disease?
Or are these so called pathogenic ones just co-existing with us - whose roles are to "clean up the mess"
And just like the flies do not cause the compost - are these "pathogenic germs" inside us to restore balance?
And our jobs therefore would be as simple as to stop building disease inside and outside us. 

Address the cause, learn the tools, do the work, then live the solution yourself.
Health comes from healthful living.

The secret to recovery: Stop the repeated injuries 
Acute disease or accidents are generally from single or less frequent injuries such as food poisoning, infection, insect bites, car accident etc. Whereas chronic disease is the result of thousands of injuries - to the arteries, joints, and other tissues over prolonged periods of time. Even though the force, frequency, and means of impact differ; the mechanisms of repair are still the same, whether the injuries occur once or a million times. 
If your health is getting worse it is not because your body is failing you - efforts to heal never stop - not for a moment. Again your body is always working in your best interest. It is programmed for survival. The reason for your continued distress is because the damage is ongoing. FOR DISEASE TO PROGRESS, INJURY MUST OUTPACE HEALING. Reversing disease is simply a matter of STOPPING THE ONGOING INJURY, which is usually self-induced. Greater recovery is expected the sooner the repeated injury is stopped. (There is a point reached where disease can become irreversible, because the injury is too severe and/or the body is too worn out to recover however, even than spontaneous healing can still occur – don’t underestimate the miraculous healing powers of the body).

4 APPROACHES TO HEALTH 
(Comparison between Medical, Alternative, Natural Hygiene)
1) Does this approach teach people that they can take responsibility for their health, resulting in them feeling empowered, and in control of their lives or does it led them to feeling victims of their fate?
2) Does this approach focus on identifying and removing the cause or does it just focus on removing the symptoms?
3) Does this approach respect the fact that all physical healing can only be done by the body itself?
4) Does this approach take into consideration every aspect of an individual, including their psychological and emotional health or does it just focus on a particular organ or body part? 

SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN 
We need to educate ourselves about the causes of health not the treatment of disease.
Our bodies know what to do – we need to relearn how to listen to it and trust it. 
Health sovereignty – self responsibility, not farming out our responsibility to others. We have lost how to care for ourselves. We have been programmed that the governments and doctors can make us healthy, better and heal us. They do not know how to do this, nor are they healthy themselves. 
Doctors study disease not health. We go to doctors like priests to be absolved from our disease, not to learn about health. 
You need to know that your health is largely in your own hands and no one else’s. Especially not to those who have invested interests. Health is the natural spontaneous consequence of healthy living. Become your own doctor. The more conscious you are the less support you need. 
This doesn’t mean you don’t ask for help or accept opinions. It means that we need to be responsible for our own health, to care for our own being and that of others and the earth. 
We are constantly in healing and recovery, what if it was about living? That’s the goal. Healing now is recovery from our artificial living.
We don’t mind dying – we just don’t want to be the cause.
Our current model is outdated and disempowering. 
Dr Michael Greger calls the leading cause of disease as, “not telling the truth.”
The food and medical industries have been manipulated for profit and control. Today the masses no longer think for themselves and have lost trust in their innate and instinctive healing ability. They turn to an industry and governments that have no interest in keeping them healthy. According to independent reports by the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, a wing of the American Congress, and the World Health Organization (WHO), 85-90% of all medical procedures used by today’s medical establishment are unproved and not backed up by scientific research.

To discover and understand the cause of disease, you will first need to let go of the idea that disease is something that must be fought. Healing is accepting, allowing and supporting, not fighting or resisting. Healing can occur when the body can use its innate healing capacity and is not overrun with a fight (treat) or flight (ignore) response situation. 
There is something to be learned from every situation, including disease. A person’s willingness to face, accept and grow from the issues that dis-ease brings up turns disease into a purposeful and potentially uplifting experience. There is an underlying cause of every situation, even if it seems unrelated. You as consciousness, are the only true source of that energy and information that runs your body. Your presence in all things including your body, what you do, eat, drink, feel and think determine how well on a physical level your cells are able to control and sustain your physical existence. Disease is a provider of new life. Disease only “strikes” when a part or parts of us are not alive anymore, physically, emotionally and spiritually. 
The wound is where the light enters – means that grief, pain, suffering is where you grow. 
The Cosmic Intelligence is holding us responsible for our universal health - both body and planet. 

With loving kindness Susan and Lance”

Health Is Your Wealth

‘Health is your Wealth’ as we say in Ayurveda.  If ever there was a time for recognising this, then it is now. We cannot buy good health, it is something we have to cultivate ourselves to the best of our ability.

One of the things I love about Ayurveda, other than the fact it is from the Vedas, which makes it ancient, and it focuses on not just the body and the mind but also…ta da da…the soul...is that it helps to promote good immunity, which is fundamental to the prevention of disease.

In fact one of the main objectives of Ayurveda is the prevention of disease through strengthening the immune system, which makes the immune system a significant element of Ayurveda. As we all know, our wellbeing is dependent on the body’s resistance to dis-ease, and the immune system plays a significant role in the prevention of, and recovery from, disease. 

What we also know is that some are more prone to disease than others. For example, among persons living in infected surroundings, only some of them are found to be affected, while others are left without any effect. It shows that the pathogenic (bacterium, virus or other microorganism) causes require particular favourable conditions and susceptibility of the individual in order for disease to form. Without these conditions, they will be destroyed by themselves. Thus the stronger our immunity, the safer we are from disease.

 In Ayurveda, the focus is not on the prevention of disease, per se, but on strengthening the immune system as a whole. In this way we can maximise ‘ojas’.  Ojas is a Sanskrit term which can be translated as ‘vigor’ or ‘essence of vitality’. Essentially, ojas is the vital energy that governs our immunity, strength and happiness – three things we want in abundance. If our ojas is weak, then our health, our spirits and our energy, decrease.

Like any hereditary characteristics, immunity is also inherited and greatly influenced by several other factors such as diet, environment, way of living, age, mental state, development or growth and pathological conditions of the individuals. In Ayurveda, factors affecting the immunity are classified as follows:

Factors that lessen immunity:

·      Mental stress such as fear, anxiety, anger, grief

·      Poor diet and nutritional disturbances

·      Lack of sleep

·      Excessive physical exertion/exercise

·      Alcohol, drugs and smoking

·      Severe infection

·      Injury, accidental or surgical

·      Excessive loss of bodily fluids

·      Wasting

·      Season, environment and age

·      Severe constitution derangement 

Factors that enhance immunity

·      Balanced diet appropriate for constitution

·      Mental peace

·      Proper exercise

·      Favourable climate

·      Characteristics of race and generation in which birth took place

·      Genetics of parents

·      Constitutional characteristics (vata, pitta, kapha)

·      Adolescence

·      Proper mental stimulation

In the ancient Ayurvedic texts (of Charaka and Vaghbhata), we are told the features of a healthy person include the following:

Dosha (one of three biological energies circulating within the body) – the doshas that are present in the body and the mind (vata, pitta and kapha) must be in a balanced state in order to keep a person healthy. When the balance of the doshas is disturbed, then this can lead to a state of disease and impact on the immune system.

Agni (fire) – in order for an individual to stay healthy, their digestive fire (‘agni’) must be balanced and effective. When the digestive fire is weak, this can cause many diseases. It is well known that the health of an individual is dependent on the strength of their digestion. 

Waste products  – the excretion of faeces, urine and sweat must be balanced.

Tissues  – the seven tissues of the body must be in a balanced state and able to function properly.

Senses – the sensory and motor organs and mind must be in equilibrium and able to discharge do their duties properly.

Mind – the state of mental health is more important than physical health. Look after your mental state! 

Soul – awakened consciousness, unifying body and mind for eternal health and happiness – hoorah for that!

So how can this be achieved?

·      Eating for your constitution, being aware of the impact various foods/drinks have on your digestive capability, and resulting mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Avoiding foods/drinks that don’t support your wellbeing on all those levels. Lots of vegetables and fruits. Avoiding cold or raw as can be difficult to digest properly unless your digestive function is brilliant! Nourishing soups using coconut milk and light spices, white rice, chicken, white fish, pulses, cereals, soft cheese, pitta bread that sort of thing. Think nourishing and warming (but not spicy).

·      Those who are pitta (fire and water) inclined, being mindful of excess heat in the body, especially if you’re suffering with stress, migraines, infections, acidity, stomach ulcers, inflammatory conditions and loose stools, tendency to anger easily, avoiding tomatoes, chilli and red wine. 

·      Those who are kapha (water and earth) inclined, being mindful of excess mucus, especially if you’re feeling sluggish, lazy, sticky, heavy and cold and digestion is slow, feeling unforgiving and avoiding dairy products and heavy foods if so.

·      Those who are vata inclined (air and ether), being mindful of feelings of anxiety, insomnia, nervousness, suffering with cold hands and feet and constipation (rabbit droppings) avoiding ‘bird’ foods such as nuts, seeds and dried fruits. 

·      By maintaining the proper functioning of your digestive system, only eating when hungry and avoiding too much snacking.

·      Yoga for promoting mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Practising gently to nourish and support constitution, not create imbalance or exhaust you.

·      Taking adequate rest – use Yoga Nidra where you can. 

·      Appropriate exercising such as walking and swimming.

·      Socialising with friends and family (in light of social distancing this will need to be done at a distance for now).

·      Avoid ingesting anything that depletes you such as alcohol, smoking, drugs, junk food, screen time.

·      A clean and clear environment – spring clean and get rid of the junk and clutter.

·      Getting out into nature where you can. Walking on the beach or the cliffs. Noticing the sun and moon cycle, noticing the stars at night. Listening to the birds.

·      A positive outlook. Reducing exposure to negativity from the news and social media. Mixing with positive people where you can.

·      Surrounding yourself with colour. Avoiding black, for example, which can sap energy.

·      Wearing/holding crystals.

·      Ayurvedic medicine where necessary (you can talk to me about this).

·      Doing things which make you happy such as reading, writing, art work, singing, watching happy films. 

·      Smile and laugh as much as you can.

·      Connect into your heart. 

·      Giving yourself Reiki if you are Reiki attuned.

It seems so important to me that instead of focusing on the fear and anxiety that the Coronavirus has caused for many, that we focus on the positives, and doing what we can to promote our immunity and our health and wellbeing. Every cloud has a silver lining, and taking responsibility for our health and wellbeing should be up there, with recognising the simplicity in life again. I hope this article helps, let me know if I can help through Ayurveda or otherwise! [Happy to shop for anyone who can’t get out!].

 Love Emma x

Ten years of sea swimming - the joy!

As I approach the ten year anniversary of all-year around sea swimming, I can’t help thinking how much life has changed, so that sea swimming has become normalised (as has chakras and crystals), which can only be a good thing.

Even doctors are nowadays prescribing sea swimming for depression as a friend of mine recently discovered. It was a bout of depression and anxiety that initially brought me to all-year around sea swimming. Depression was familiar, but anxiety was new to me and I was gripped by a ridiculous fear of leaving the house and was weepy and emotional, slightly paranoid too. 

I’d been overworking, teaching too much yoga and channelling too much Reiki without protecting myself properly or establishing good boundaries. It was a lesson learned. But nonetheless at the time, it was a little traumatic as I wasn’t familiar with the intensity of the feelings of anxiety and fear of leaving the house.

I stopped working, I had no choice, and took myself off to the doctor who referred me to the local mental health service for CBT. She prescribed Prozac too, but as with previous prescriptions for this drug, I knew that the pharmaceutical route was not for me, depression in my experience is a depression of the soul and this was a wake-up call; I wasn’t listening to my heart, or honouring my soul; my spirit was low.

One of my friend’s, who had a history of depression, invited me to join her sea-swimming, she said that it has really helped her when she was feeling low. I was aware by then of the healing power of nature, and E had encouraged me into the garden, and at the advice of my Ayurvedic doctor I was getting my hands in the earth and weeding – as if weeding out the weeds that were causing my depression, my inability to access the light. I was keen to try sea swimming and appreciated my friend’s support.

I’d been an avid surfer during my teenage years so was frequently in the sea all-year around, albeit in a wet suit. During my twenties, while I had stopped surfing by then, I hung out with a group of friends who were passionate about the sea and we’d frequently do the ‘weaver run’, often on our walk home late at night from the Rockmount, either at Cobo or Vazon. This involved removing our clothes and running as fast as we could into the sea at low tide, risking a weaver fish sting!

We’d also meet regularly after work during the summer months to swim at ‘Barnacle Point’ off Albecq or from the rocks near Fort Houmet, eager to connect with the sea after a day spent sat in soul-less offices. Towards the end of my twenties, I started travelling regularly, to Australia mainly, to undertake my yoga training, and I’d swim every day in the sea. Back home in Guernsey though, I might go a few times during the summer, but I didn’t make a habit of it.

So now I was keen to see how connecting with the sea might make me feel.  My friend collected me one mid-morning and drove us to Petit Bot, where we were the only people on the beach. It was this that positively affected me as much as the sea swim. I was so used to working during every hour that I had available to me, that I rarely took time to get out during the day time, and it felt odd, like a whole new reality was presenting itself to me – one where you allowed yourself to go to the beach during ‘normal’ working hours and do something for yourself, namely swim!

The swim itself was amazing. For the first time in days I wasn’t pre-occupied by the stomach churning anxiety and emotional sensitivity that this brought with it. Instead, I experienced myself very much in the present moment, of being shocked awake in the freezing cold sea! I couldn’t believe how much better I felt afterwards, as if something had literally been awoken in me; my mind calmer, my body more grounded than it had been for a long time, my energy cleansed, and my soul nourished by this interaction with Mother Nature.

I was hooked almost immediately and haven’t looked back since. I took a few months off from working, and went sea swimming daily, either with my friend, and the other ladies who swam at Petit Bot at that time, or with E watching from the beach. My mental wellbeing improved significantly during this period, and I always accredit sea swimming for this. 

Not only did the physical act of getting in cold water help to ground me in the present (and therefore ease the anxiety and depression) but it also helped me to look at my life and re-prioritise the way that I was living it, with daily sea swimming becoming an essential part of this. It created a shift in my perspective too, and I started to feel joy again, how could I not, as I took in the beach and the sea and the sky above; a true blessing and I started to feel gratitude again – my thoughts became more positive.  

It took him a while but a year later, in the following March, E started swimming regularly with me and hasn’t stopped since. This began our mutual love of Petit Bot and we have swum there regularly ever since, sometimes daily depending on our schedules and the extent of the shore break, which seems to have gotten worse over the years! 

I swam in the sea throughout both my pregnancies, swimming the day before both boys were born. I was back in the sea as soon as I was out of hospital too, albeit I wasn’t able to swim as I had to have Caesarean sections for each of them. I wasn’t meant to be submerged in water, but I just needed to cleanse my energy and stand in the sea up to my waist, feeling its coolness and hearing its sounds; grounding and soothing after the trauma of birth!

Both our boys, Elijah and Eben, have fairly much grown up at Petit Bot! I remember the first time we took Elijah, fresh out of hospital and both of us going into the sea at the same time, as we’d done so many times previously, him in his car seat sat up on the pebbles at the top of the beach. We suddenly realised that this probably wasn’t appropriate, a helpless baby left on his own on the beach. It was just such a bizarre concept for us both, and this began our tag team effort, taking it in turns to swim ever since.

We’ve many photos of the boys on Petit Bot in various stages of development, car seats to crawling, toddling to running, and now climbing the rocks! We’ve seen the beach at all stages of tide, in all weathers and all times of the year; we know it well and love it dearly, there’s something special about knowing a beach. Our favourite time of year is October, when the summer visitors have left and the dog walkers are yet to arrive; we’re pretty much guaranteed to have it to ourselves. But we do have it to ourselves a lot of the time, especially early in the morning, and we’re always grateful for this.

We were tickled last year to be gifted, quite by chance, a Guernsey calendar, and were quite surprised to find a photo of us for the month of January (the person who gave the calendar to us didn’t realise this!). I contacted the photographer and she said she had met a friend at Petit Bot the previous January and had seen us walking down the beach, me carrying Eben in a car seat, and Elijah and E walking beside me, about to go for a swim, and thought it looked a lovely family scene. She kindly gave us a copy of the photograph, which I’ve posted above.

Growing up on the West coast of Guernsey and spending much of my time on Vazon beach, knowing that beach like a second home, it has been lovely getting to know more of the South coast of this stunning Island I’m lucky to call home. More recently I’ve been swimming at Saints with a small group of ladies, perhaps three or four times a week, on the way to drop Elijah to school in the morning – he loves it as he can climb the rocks and get some fresh air before going in the classroom. 

This has added a whole new dimension to sea swimming, allowing me to connect with another beach, and one that needs to be approached on foot (or bike in our case) so is even more private than Petit Bot, attracting a couple of other sea swimming groups; the sunrise can be spectacular in the winter months. Also, it has caused me to develop a beautiful relationship with the other ladies, brought together by our love of sea swimming and spending time outdoors in nature. 

We might swim at Fermain sometimes too, especially on a full moon, where we howl at her rising ahead of us, sometimes skinny dipping, sometimes not. I have to say though, that this is my favourite way to sea swim, it doesn’t get more natural and uplifting than skinny dipping and winter is the best time for this, at least you’re less likely to bump into anyone else coming to the beach!

I should make the point though, that these days I’m rarely in the sea for long. I used to swim maybe 5-10 minutes or so in the winter months, but a few years ago I started to get really cold afterwards, not helped because I was in the midst of sleep deprivation and just found it was taking me all day to warm up, not so pleasant. These days, especially in February, I might only be in for a minute or two at most, but even this makes me feel better, and well worth the traipse down to the beach and back up.

I can’t imagine our lives without sea swimming now, it’s become a part of our life, something that we make time to do, which will often determine the rest of our schedule, especially on the weekends. It’s the first thing we do when we have been away from the Island, getting our fix of Guernsey sea on our skin, and a definite if I have been working energetically with people and need to cleanse. It’s amazing and I’m always keen to introduce others to sea swimming so they may feel the benefits for themselves.

 The benefits of sea swimming for me:

 ·     Cleansing my energy;

·     Grounding me in the moment - you don’t think about much else when you’re in the sea, other than how cold it is, how long you might stay in and whether you’ll get caught by the waves.

·     Energising me.

·     Connecting me to nature so that I notice the tides, sunrise and sunset, and seasonal and moon cycles.

·     Feeling like you’re getting away from the rest of the world.

·     Slows life down, you can’t possibly be rushing or stressed on the beach.

·     Listening to the sound of the sea and watching the waves, both of which I find soothing for the soul.

·     Shifting a bad mood!

·     Raising the spirits and easing any depression

·     Reducing anxiety by the connection of feet literally to the earth (well sand really, but you know what I mean) and the sensation of the cold water on skin, getting you out of your head and into your body.

·     Strengthening your immune system – I’m not sure how that works, but I’m pretty sure that sea swimming plays a role in me rarely being ill, I’ve not had a single cold yet this winter (touch wood!). 

·     The special relationship you create with other sea swimmers as you share this mutual love for the sea.

·     It’s free, and the very act of getting onto the beach and getting into the sea and having a little swim is good for your general fitness. 

·     It has strengthened my connection to Guernsey and helped me to feel extremely grateful for living on this beautiful Islands.

·     It makes me feel alive and happy.

Seasonal shifting

Driving on my own, on an early Sunday morning to a course I was leading, I was struck by the joy that is the changing season.

I love summer and I never want it to end, but when it does, the pitta in me is grateful for the change. This is especially now, with children, where I am lucky enough to spend a considerable part of the summer on the beach. This is wonderful, but a challenge for my pitta, which has most definitely been out of balance this summer, especially with the earlier-summer-exam-stress.

 Pitta comprises the elements of fire and water and pitta people can be aggravated by too much sun exposure and by the summer season (the pitta season). Pitta people are often athletic and driven people, competitive, hard working and ambitious. They have a tendency to like to control things and have high expectation for themselves and others. 

They like nice things and a lovely (and often luxurious) lifestyle. They like to consume hot and spicy foods, tomatoes, caffeine, alcohol and stimulants like chocolate – thinks that feed their fire! They have a tendency towards frustration and anger, and can be impulsive, jealous, envious and get really annoyed by people.

When there is too much pitta, pitta people are prone to loose stools and excess stomach acid leading to ulcers and acid reflux. They are susceptible to red skin conditions and hormonal imbalance too. This is when the rage may appear too!

If you can relate to any of this, then perhaps your pitta has been out of balance too and you will rejoice at the shift that the seasonal shift will bring to you. Already my pitta feels soothed by the cooler mornings and evenings, and I relish the calmer energy, and the changing light that is brighter and sharper than summer, and brings with it a much welcomed settling – like a breath of fresh air, which finds me almost sighing with relief (as much as I love summer!).

Autumn is the vata season. Vata comprises the elements of air and ether, and so it’s the turn of those with a tendency towards vata to be potentially aggravated by the seasonal shift. It’s worth noting here that you don’t have to have a predominantly vata constitution to be affected. We will all have an element of vata, and some of us will have a tendency for this to be aggravated (like pitta and kapha) from time to time depending on how we are living our lives. Certainly I find that my pitta imbalance brings with it a vata imbalance.

Vata people like change and movement, and like to flit around, snacking on the go, rather than taking regular meals. They like to eat bird food (think nuts and seeds) that help them to fly even more up in the air, trying to get lighter and lighter Sometimes they are living so much in the air and up in the ether that they chop and change their minds and don’t always get things done, or manifest on the ground, in this world.

When out of balance, vata people have a tendency towards nervousness, anxiety, fear, indecisiveness and worry. They can suffer with tics, tremors and twitches. They can also suffer with light and disturbed sleep, and can be prone to constipation and excess wind (too much air!). They can also feel cold and scattered and airy and their skin might flake (reflecting their flakiness).

So look out those of you who have a vata constitution or a tendency for vata imbalance, as this seasonal shift could affect you. There are simple things you can do to ease the imbalance, such as eating nourishing and warming foods, avoiding the bird food, taking warm baths and oil massage, establishing a regular and daily routine with regular times for eating, sleeping and working etc., calming and grounding yoga, yoga nidra and body scans and some light exercise like walking and swimming.

Those of you with kapha tendencies might find yourself challenged by the winter months ahead, but you should be OK during autumn, as long as you keep warm. Kapha people are cooler and slower and their digestion tends to be sluggish with excess mucus. When kapha is in excess, they can be prone to weight gain and excess sleep. They can also be prone to attachment and greediness. So you might watch out for these tendencies if you know that you have kapha in you (a combination of earth and water). 

I haven’t yet found out if I’ve passed my Ayurvedic exams (I don’t get the results until November) so I am not yet able to practice professionally as a lifestyle and diet consultant but I’m always happy to try to help on a case study basis if you feel drawn to Ayurveda. 

Ayureda uses a combination of diet, lifestyle and medicine to effect positive change, balancing the dosha (fault) and restoring harmony and balance. It sounds easy but can sometimes be a touch challenging – our diet patterns are well ingrained and we are often asked to focus on new tastes. The lifestyle changes can also be confronting because our lifestyle patterns are also well laid. The medicine can sometimes taste bitter and we have to remember to take it at the prescribed times, which can be tricky.

But all of this, all of the changes that are asked of us and our reaction to this can be both revealing and potentially healing. There is a reason that we are out of balance in the first place and that dis-ease may have appeared (mental as much as physical). So we need to start to do things differently, to unravel the imbalance.

Sometimes however we don’t need to do very much.  Sometimes the imbalance can be re-balanced just by the seasonal shift. So to all the pitta people, enjoy the cooler and clearer skies and the routine that this new season brings as the schools return and everyone catches up on the summer months of activity. 

Here, I’m back to teaching yoga and there’s a whole heap of retreats ahead which is exciting, as I do love retreating a little from the chaos of the rest of the world and especially as the light dims and we are encouraged to retreat inwardly in any case. There is a joy in seasonal shifts, another opportunity (as if we need more hey!) to let go and flow into the unknown. 

So enjoy the flow, and hope to see some of you soon, on your yoga mat or at Reiki.