A MEDITAION FOR THE LITTLE ONES - RAINBOW

This is a meditation for your little ones. It is best done before nap time or bed time or whenever your child is feeling most relaxed.

I based this meditation around the seven main chakras of the body. Each chakra has a different vibrational frequency, corresponds to certain organs and represent different emotions and feelings. It is said that when the chakra wheels are spinning with ease and vibrancy then you will be physically, emotionally and spiritually very well.

This is a nice way to introduce the chakras to your children or just an awareness of the different states we can be in. No matter what, this meditation will make your child feel lovely and relaxed and intrigued by this magical rainbow. Enjoy!

RAINBOW

Lie down and snuggle into your bed and get comfortable. Softly close your little eyes and lips. Start to take some big deep breaths in and out of your nose. Feel how the cool air goes in as you breath in and then how warm air flows out as you breathe out. Your deep breathing is making you feel very relaxed. You start to drift off to a wonderful dreamy place.

You are lying on a grassy hill underneath a big shady tree. The golden sun trickles through the leafy branches, warming your face and body. The sweet smell of wildflowers is all around you and in the distance you can here a gentle river flowing. As you watch puffy white clouds pass by a beautiful rainbow stretches out from the sky and lands at your feet. All the colors begin to flow over your body sending a feeling of relaxation and peace.

The red swirls up your legs making them glow with lovely healing warmth. The red that's like the colour of a shiny apple makes you feel safe, nourished and grounded.

Just below your belly button the colour orange glows radiantly out of you. The vibrant orange that's like the soft inside of a mango makes you feel strong and creative. You feel as though you have the power to be whatever you want to be.

Your tummy now beams with a yellow as bright as the sun or a juicy lemon. The lovely yellow colour all around your tummy makes you feel confident and worthy of all the love and kindness the world has to offer.

Creeping up to your chest you see the colour green radiating out of your heart space. The green is bright like the leaves on the trees and the grass in the meadows. It fills your whole body with deep love and joy. It makes you feel very peaceful, from your head to your toes.

Now imagine your throat glowing blue. The blue is as magnificent as a clear blue sky on a summers day. The blue flowing over your throat makes you feel as though you can say and express yourself in any situation. You feel able to tell people your when you are feeling good and when you are feeling bad. You feel free to speak your truth.

See the space between your eyebrows shimmer with a beautiful purple. The purple is like the soft purple you see on the petals of wildflowers or a sweet plum. This purple shimmering out of your third eye ignites your imagination and intuition. You feel confident and trusting of yourself.

Imagine the top of your head is radiating out a brilliant violet colour like the violet shade of a bunch of succulent grapes. The violet streaming out the top of your head brings you a feeling of utter bliss. Any worries or fears you have are left behind as this beautiful colour brings you a feeling of connection to every living thing in this world.

As you lay on your grassy hill beaming with all the colours of the rainbow you cant help but smile. All these wonderful colours make you feel so content and peaceful. The energy of these colours are very special to you and you can imagine them flowing over your precious body whenever you need to feel more relaxed, joyful or loving.

Now start to wiggle your toes and fingers. Take a few deep belly breaths, then slowly open your eyes and move around as you feel energised by the rainbow shining bright inside of you.

Astrid xx

LOVE LIVES AND LOVE DIES

The thing is... Everything wears off and changes. But, we become addicted to first encounters and certain feelings. Especially love and sex. We become addicted to that love you experience when you first meet your flame. That insatiable, gut flipping, heart pounding lustful love that can almost drive you insane with desire and need for that other person. But it doesn't last. Like a yoga practice that is sustained over time by conscious modification and gentle manipulation to adapt to the changes in body and life, so are our intimate relationships.

I write this not as an expert on this topic. I'm anything but! I write this as a goodbye to a belief that life is always juicy and passionate and lived in a state of high. I have chased that high through little blue pills, reckless sex, fads, vanity and yes even through a misunderstanding of my yoga practice. 

I'm over fighting the suffering. If you live you suffer. Oh there is joy too, don't you worry! But my god there is suffering. I'm over being sold that we can live in this constant state of high happiness. I quite like my suffering thank-you-very-much. Its where my stories come from. Its how I become deeply compassionate and driven to help others. Its in my suffering I find my truths as if they are sunbeams seeping down like golden honey through blotchy grey clouds.

Gardening teaches you a lot about love actually. One season you have an eden of greenery to feast on and be nourished by and the next season its eaten by disease and pests. Human relationships are also blessed by seasons of calm and abundance and tested by sullen winters of mistrust, resentment and even falling out of love.

I think perhaps the key is always knowing that love is going to change and changing with it. Its also trying to sober the lustful junkie in our fragile veins by loving ourselves more and more everyday. Filling us up with our own joyful spirit and purging the idea that someone else will do this for us seems to me, a step towards long lasting relationships. Having warm lips to trail kisses along your neck is just a bonus really..

Love Astrid xx

HOW TO BE A MINDFUL MAMA

Mindfulness is a common term used in meditation circles and among the new age spiritually intrigued.   It cultivates an image and feeling of blissful stillness and deep inner peace. We often here yoga and meditation teachers telling us to "empty the mind" which as a parent seems near impossible most of the time, but I have a different take on the word mindful and how it can benefit the journey of motherhood. 

When we break up the word it becomes mind-FULL. How about instead of trying to constantly empty our minds we fill it up with the present moment. As mothers we have an abundance of opportunities to fill our scattered brains with beautiful appreciation and awareness of the sensory experience of motherhood. Here are some ways to to slow down a little, reduce stress and become a more mindful mama x

• Start the day with cuddles and kisses. Lots of them! I use to wake up resentful of the lack of sleep I had, the crying out for "breakfast now mama!" and the fact I couldn't slide back under my duvet cover until the sun had at least properly risen. Now when my children's little pink fingers slip the blankets down and climb their warm bed bodies in next to me, I squeeze them and I kiss them until they scream "stop it mama!" and then I hold them closer a little more. Children, especially young ones, are still so in their bodies. This means that physical contact and plenty of it is incredibly important and beneficial for their physical and emotional wellbeing. Up until the age of two they still think they are attached to their mother. We need to nurture this physiological aspect of our children and it starts by becoming aware. Start the day by being mindful of the close physical connection our children need to have with us and squeeze love and kindness out of your body and into theirs then watch your day unfold in a whole new way.
• Cultivate ritual and gratitude. Another important morning aspect for us is saying a little blessing over our breakfast and then I sit with them as they eat and ask them what they are grateful for today. They usually say "I'm grateful for my porridge and toast! or for mummy and daddy!". This brings in mindfulness by making sure you, mama, eat a proper breakfast first and foremost. We then become mindful of how blessed we are in our lives and also rituals such as these force us to connect with our families and to become mindful of what our loved ones are thinking and feeling. Even if it is just how much they love their toast! Here is the blessing we use at meal times. It is a Waldorf inspired verse: Blessings on the blossoms and blessings on the fruit, blessings on the tress and leaves and blessings on the roots. Thank you for food!
• Give yourself timeout. I recently attended a parenting seminar and one of the best things I learnt was that timeout for children doesn't work but instead you can give yourself time out. I can become very overwhelmed by my children's tantrums and anger. I never knew such little people could fill me with so much stress and rage! Now I try as calm as possible to say "Mummy is going to the bathroom" (or wherever I can hide out for a moment) and take myself to timeout. I may cuss a little under my breath, rub my head and then start taking a few big deep breaths. I remind myself that I have reached my limit and that's OK. It's important to be mindful of your own feelings and to energize yourself first before tackling stressful situations such as toddler meltdowns. I then remind myself that my children are very little, need love and understanding but clear boundaries too. Be mindful of your own limits and reducing stress by having mama timeouts. Don't forget those big deep belly breaths. They really help calm a fraught nervous system.
• Find one thing, one act of love, to be your meditation and do it with mindfulness every single day. It can be anything from sipping your morning coffee, to kissing your loved ones goodbye or pulling soft woolly socks over your babies toes. Whatever you chose, do it with full presence and give it your full attention. Become aware of the smells, the way it feels against your skin or the sound of what you've chosen. Immerse yourself in the small details of your chosen moment. Remember that you can find peace and stillness in the most smallest of acts and they can fill you up with a warmth that feels like the sun is beaming out from inside of you. 
• Love your body. Do this today or a soon as possible:  Buy yourself the most luxurious, creamy and heavenly smelling body lotion. Then every day smother lashings of it over your beautiful life giving body. Massage it in to yourself the way you would massage a lover. With tenderness, kindness and a lot of love. Breathe in big inhales and exhales as you do this and smile at the parts you love and hate about yourself. In fact, linger a little more on the parts you hate as they will be needing extra love. When we become mindful in acts of self love, we step out into the world with an inner confidence knowing that we have taken a moment in our day to honour these mama bodies that give so much on a daily basis. 
• Have in breath and out breath moments in your day. A common complaint among parents of today is the busyness of it all. We are constantly rushing from one thing to the next, never stopping, never taking a moment to just be and breathe. We think our children's days have to be filled to the brim with activities and constant stimulation. In breath moments are those times when the kids are running around, dinner is being cooked, washing is being hung and mud pies in the garden are being thrown around with shouts of glee! Out breath moments are sitting in mamas lap to read a story or hear a soft song sung, slow walks through nature and watching clouds pass by on cosy blankets outside. Be mindful of having these slower moments in your day for your children and yourself. They will help to gather your thoughts, re energize and bring peace back into the home.

Mindfulness to me is bringing all the goodness that is in life into our minds and acknowledging the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings too. Life as mama can sometimes feel like you are amidst a big stormy sea with crashing waves all around, dark murky water with no bottom in sight and no compass to direct the way home. Just know that we have all been in that ocean and in those dark times. Just stop, breathe and you will find the calm beyond the fury of the storm. It is always there. You know it is. That peace resides in you no matter what and if you want it, it is there to take your hand and lead you into being the mindful mama that you always were. xx

FIGHTING CHRONS DISEASE - MY WELNESS JOURNEY

"Teach everyone around you how to care about you, by how you care for yourself" Elena Bower

My illness crept up on me slowly. It started with little twinges of pain in my belly, to feeling a little more tired than usual. Then the nausea started, the pain after eating and the blood in the bowel movements and then the black cloud of depression came looming over. One day, I woke up and just couldn't get out of bed. I was so sick and so fatigued I couldn't even walk. I would crawl my fragile 47kg body to the bathroom and that was about all the movement I could muster. My husband had to take three days off work to look after our children while I recovered my strength. I was so scared about what was happening to me and I remember ringing my parents in tears, fearful my body was completely failing me.

Eight months later and after many doctors appointments, tests and diet changes I was diagnosed with Chrons Disease. In a way I was relieved. At least now I knew what I was working with and could finally start my road to healing. A week after my diagnosis I flew to Los Angeles to start my new life with my husband and children. For the first month I was here I had very little symptoms and thought perhaps the change of environment was all I needed to kick this thing. Perhaps I wasn't so sick after all. We were in the sunshine, swimming in the sea and spending a lot of time in nature. Life felt good again! Unfortunately, some stress and poor eating led to a bad flare up and I was right back to square one again. I have now gotten to the point where I am unable to manage my life of being a functioning human being, a mother and happy participant of this world so I am having to make some radical changes.

To begin with I am in the early stages of working with an incredible holistic health coach called Jenna Jones. She is supporting me with my wish to treat this disease without medication and head on with a healing diet, yoga, meditation and other holistic remedies. My next step is moving back home to Australia to live with my parents for a month. This is so I can have around the clock support as I get the treatment I need and to have lots of care for my children while this happens. I'm going to miss my husband so much but he fully supports this time away and knows how beneficial this time of rest will be.

So what is Chrons??

Chrons disease is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. It is associated with inflammation of the lining of the GI tract and this is what can lead to flare ups.

Symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Frequent diarehhea 
• Blood and mucus in bowel movements
• Chronic bloating and gas
• Constipation
• Bowel obstruction
• Nausea
• Rapid weight loss 

Causes:

• Immune system problems
• Genetics
• Environmental factors

This is what I'm doing now to heal:

I am recording what I eat and how I react to certain foods everyday. I have cut out all nightshades, gluten and wheat, dairy, red meat and caffeine from my diet. I have started a very blood cleansing yoga practice in the mornings and a restorative yoga practice in the evenings. As I write this I am suffering from a flare up so a chicken broth is simmering away on the stove, ready to eat and hopefully soothe my very upset tum. I am also trying to be very kind to my body and to tell it good things like "Hey, those are some good functioning legs you've got going on there. Keep up the good work legs!"

And so my journey begins. I know I have a long road ahead of me but I want to share it with you and reach out to others who may be suffering. I will be trying some pretty quirky alternative ways to deal with Mr Chrons... Sweat Lodges and Reiki are on the agenda!! I hope my story and my stories of recovery to come inspire you to take control of your health issues, deal with emotional traumas and live with a little more bounce your step. 

I would like to leave you with my one of my favorite mantras that will hopefully lead us to work in harmony together while we share and help eachother...

Om Saha Na Vavatu
Saha Nau Bhunaktu
Saha Viryam Karavavahai
Tejasvinavadhitamastu Ma Vidvisavahai
Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi

May God protect us both together

May God nourish us together

May we gain energy to know the truth

May our study together be filled with light

May we not oppose eachother

Om peace peace peace

Astrid xx

MONDAY MOTHERLY WISDOM - MOTHERHOOD IS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

I think everyday we are presented with moments to deepen our spiritual practice and to tune in with God. We think we need a flash yoga mat and pretty leggings. We think we will only find enlightenment by sitting upon a mountain and meditating for hours, for days or years. We seek spirituality outside of ourselves and we look for it in other peoples lives. 

It is no secret that motherhood is all consuming of time, energy and at times our sanity! But, what if motherhood was our yoga? What if we could use it as our spiritual practice? By nature mothers have a deep desire to feed their newborn baby at the breast. Giving her life sustaining nectar to a person that really does no know her. This is compassion and love. In fact, we show compassion and love on a daily basis without even realising it. Think about what you did today. You fed, bathed, cleaned, cuddled, kissed, played, worked, soothed and set about unconsciously enhancing the life of another. The basis of spiritual practice is serving others, showing compassion and connecting with something greater than ourselves. This is motherhood! 

If we look to our long arduous days of caring for our small humans with an awareness on nurturing and cultivating our spiritual practice through them, I believe, something magical might just happen. You see, I have begun doing this . A week ago I was strung out, completely drained from the sleep deprivation and complaining on a daily basis that I never get time for ME. But since I have changed my perspective and begun seeing every opportunity with my children to learn and practice my spirituality and faith, my days are no longer met with wondering how far away bed time is . They are fuller and there's a lightness to them. I am still tired but the anger and hopelessness has been stripped away. I still get frustrated at my toddler when she doesn't listen to me (ever!!!) but I'm learning to question my reactions and to practice more patience. I would still like time to myself but I am finding quiet moments amongst the chaos to drop down from my mind and into my body and to just breathe.

Now you may be reading this and thinking "A spiritual experience would be my baby taking more than a 40 minute nap and being able to pee alone!" Trust me I know how you feel! However, I have been miserable fighting what is my life. My life of early mornings, many times awoken at night, tantrums, mess and being knee deep in poo every.damn.day. I don't want to be miserable, so I have decided to live fully in the present and allow the sweetness of this act to break my heart open and release all that toxic resentment and just embrace this journey. Children are little tyrants at the best of times but they also know how to be authentically themselves, live in the moment and exude a joy that us oldies can only hope to experience again one day. 

I feel they have a lot to teach us. Our children are the perfect beings to begin practicing mindfulness, compassion, gratitude, kindness and grasping the moments when joy floods your veins and thanking God for this incredible gift of connection and for being brought back home to what is true for all of us and that is our ability to LOVE.

Astrid xx

CREATING RITUAL

We only have to look to nature and the world we live in with its seasons and rhythmic changing to know how important and magic ritual is. We are evolving rapidly as a race and with that, a lot of ritual has been lost. We no longer rise with the sun and rest when her shimmering majesty the moon appears. We force crops to grow out of their natural season and environment. We alter our body clocks to fit in with our hectic lives instead of working with nature and our inner compass to guide us through the day. There is hope though and it comes with creating evening and morning rituals. 

There are countless ways to do this. Here is what I do to create a piece of harmony in my day.

We must begin in the evening.

Once little babies are tucked away in bed I head to the bathroom. A candle is lit in order to begin the wind down of my sensors and to let my body know that sleep is approaching. This dimming of light actually helps the release of mealatonin which is the hormone necessary for sleep. I massage some oil into my body and practice some pranayama while doing so. Usually just big deep breaths in and out. Into a hot steamy bath I go. Sometimes i'll drop a little lavender essential oil onto the bottom of the tub which releases a heavenly scent when mixed with the hot water and steam. I use a gentle soap to cleanse the oil and the day away. Generous amounts of moisturizer is applied after my bath session. Dozy and in a state of relaxation I curl up in bed with a hot cup of Golden milk. This deeply healing and sleep inducing drink is an Ayurvedic medicinal beverage made from turmeric paste which is known for its anti inflammatory and immunity boosting properties (recipe for golden milk below). Phones, computers and any other technological device is removed from the bedroom as they cause the nervous system to become over stimulated. I now put my nose into a good book or if anxieties are looming I journal my thoughts and release them onto paper. Little snuffles from my son often means hes ready for a nighttime feed so I turn out the lamp and nestle into him while he suckles away. I try to say a little prayer before drifting off to dreamland and thank my lucky stars for everything and everyone in my life.

And now the morning.

I am usually awoken early by my children but if you don't have little people prying your eyes open at sunrise then try to set your alarm for around 6am. Your alarm should be peaceful and rhythmic. Nothing too startling. Heavy with sleep I lie in bed for a moment and breathe in the new day. I try to flood my mind with positive thoughts so I start on a high vibration. A candle is lit and an intention is set for the day. Slipping into some comfy clothes and shoes I'm out the door for a big walk and yoga. I do a special breathing exercise while walking to get my nervous system up and going and I also repeat some positive affirmations. My incantation at the moment is "Everyday I know my worth more and more". 

Once I reach my local park I roll at my mat and settle in to a 30-40 minute practice. On days I am particularly tired or feeling worn out I will skip the yoga and just sit somewhere where the morning sun can warm my face and do a peaceful meditation. Before I walk in the door of my home I try to center myself and leave all my negative thoughts at the door and ask God that I be a blessing to my family today. This is a beautiful ritual my husband taught me. 

I fill my now hungry tum with a hearty helping of warm porridge. Always topped with seasonal fruits, kefir yogurt and honey. A big cup of chai tea ensues. And now I am ready for the day. Ready for the carrying of babies, the cooking, the sweeping, the peek-a-boos, the going this way and then that way and then the twirling around. The ebb and flow of life.

Golden Milk: Recipe and Photo from Healthy Holistic Living 

Step 1:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Turmeric powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Pepper
• 1/2 cup filtered water

Mix all ingredients in a small a small sauce pan and mix well. Turn the heat to medium high and stir constantly until the mixture is a thick paste. This does not take long so don’t walk away from the pan.

Let this mixture cool then keep it in a jar in the fridge.

Step 2:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk. I use raw milk but you can use almond, coconut or any other milk you prefer.
• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon or more of your Turmeric paste
• Honey to taste

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients except for honey in a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium. While heating make sure you constantly stir and do not bring to the boil. Add honey to taste. You can also mix with your favorite chai tea or even a smoothie!

Here is a good video on how to make it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYCQb2YNGt4 

Astrid xx