Newsletter

It is strange and wonderful to be back in the world after my 10-day silent Vipassana meditation course. It was an incredible journey, both extremely challenging and rewarding. Meditation or mindfulness is exercise for the mind, just as working out is exercising for the body. Without a focused and aware mind we can easily be plagued by unpleasant memories and thoughts.

I have personally found meditation is extremely effective for improved mood, improved concentration, decreased stress, and increased overall happiness. However, this is a practice that must be done daily to notice the benefits. A meditation course is a great way to be introduced through an intensive learning experience. I learned, by personally experiencing it, that all thoughts manifest themselves in the body as sensation. By being aware of these sensations I can now control my emotional reactions. In this way I was able to let go of a lot of past emotional baggage.

For example, imagine you are driving and you get stuck in a traffic jam, you’re also late for work. You might notice that before you react with stress and annoyance, which does nothing to change the circumstance by the way, you feel your thoughts first in the body. For me I get tension in my neck and shoulders. Now I am aware, I acknowledge that I am experiencing a sensation that I have previously conditioned myself to react to with aggravation and stress, I remain calm and I accept the reality as it is. What’s the worst that will happen anyway?

Other than that February will be a busy month with two workshops about making homemade skin care. These are super fun hands-on workshops that teach you the basic skills and tricks to make your own skin products. We tend to pay a lot of money for creams that are mostly water and can contain any number of potentially harmful and hormonally disruptive chemicals. Why not learn to make your own?