Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside the Spring 2009 issue of our printed magazine, available now from health stores, holistic centres and health spas. Read all the latest views, news and reviews months before they appear on our website.
Spring Vibes
Angel Light Creations
Friday 27th & Sunday 29th March, 7pm-10pm at Oscailt, 8 Pembroke Road, Dublin 4
Janine Thorp will be holding a workshop introducing people to working with universal energies and how to have clear 2-way communication with them. … The skills introduced here can be used for any project you’d like to have help with, including your health, business, art, or even an unknown project, that you would like to take on under the inspiration and guidance of your soul and the universal energies that are your helpers. €100euro (€50 payable in advance)
For more info www.angellightcreations.com or 0879806280 …
Understanding the Gods in the Skies in the build-up to 2012 – Part 1
There is a lot of interest at the moment in the astrological transits of 2012, particularly as they coincide with the ending of the Mayan calendar. As a Psychological Astrologer, one of my roles is to enable individuals to understand the planetary energies that are coming together in the sky over the next four years so that we can work with them in a creative and constructive manner. The manifestations of actual events will be dependant on the choices and decisions of each and every one of us as we are all deeply interconnected yet fundamentally individual. …
Where are you right now?
“Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.” John O’Donohue
Did you know that, on a forty-minute car journey, we only pay attention to our driving for two minutes. For the other 38 minutes, we’re usually thinking about where we should be, what we have to do, what the person walking down the street is wearing. It goes on and on. …
Spirituality and the City
Sundara O’Higgins
Costume Designer
In the past two years, I’ve lived in three different cities; Galway, Melbourne and Dublin. A lot of people said I was mad to go to Melbourne with just €200 and a place to stay for a week, but of course, when I got there, I met the coolest, kindest people in the most random of places and got a job within two weeks.
It really makes me realise that there are no strangers in a city, or anywhere really. It takes one second to make a friend, to make a connection, and that feeling of fear and danger that can be propagated by the media around big cities is really unnecessary.
Cities can reflect the best and the worst of the human condition. Its about humanity and everything that it can teach us on a personal level. The more we can learn about ourselves from our experiences with others, the more we can give out and share and vice versa. …
Positive Personality: Sara Mackenzie
You can’t learn enough about health. I qualified out of The French culinary institute in New York in 2000. I was on my feet 16 hours a day and I was under a lot of physical stress, but I was really enjoying it because I loved what I was doing. However, I was feeling tremendous fatigue.
It took two years for me to get a proper diagnosis, all the while being told, “Oh you‘re depressed. You need an anti-depressant. ” It just didn’t add up that the reason I felt like there were weights in my legs was because I was depressed. Eventually I had a second thyroid blood test that came back abnormal and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. …
Neural Stimulation
The Key to Wellbeing is in your hands!
Does stress, anxiety, depression and illness rule your life? Does the news fill you with fear and hopelessness? Does the chaos of society seem to be leading to madness? All these factors can affect our wellbeing and, specifically, the Nervous System. … Neural Stimulation, a technique that is being used in hospitals, schools, and offices around the world, can be an answer. By the conscious use of the hands and only five minutes a day, it works directly on strengthening the nervous and immune systems and regulating the blood. …
The Behaviour of Change
On the campaign trail last February, Barack Obama spoke on the issue of change: ‘Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek’.
So often, we want to make changes in our lives in relation to health and lifestyle. We usually know what makes us feel good and what changes we would love to make. Yet often, despite all our good intentions, we cannot effect change. Why? What are the most common barriers to change? …
Rolfing: Balance your Body
The name Rolfing® originated from its creator Dr. Ida P. Rolf. Dr. Rolf was, in many respects, a remarkable woman. She received her doctorate in biological chemistry in 1920, after which she worked for the Rockerfeller Institute for 12 years; a major achievement for a woman in the 1920’s.
Rolf had an inquisitive and inquiring mind and she could have made a mark in any field of her choosing. Her inquiry into the structure and alignment of humans came from personal health problems, as she suffered from spinal arthritis. This inquiry led to an investigation of Osteopathy, Yoga, Alexander Technique and Gestalt Therapy, which lead to the work that became know as Structural Integration or Rolfing. …
Eckhart Tolle
Charisma is a curious thing – magnetic, inspiring, unforgettable. In today’s world, an obvious holder of that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ is Barack Obama; a not-so-obvious one is a little Yoda-type character with a shining presence and a soft snorting chuckle who also casts a spell wherever he speaks.
Organisers say his Irish talk to an audience of over 1,000 could have sold out three times over, he was in such big demand. And since then, so impressed was Oprah by him that they did a 10-week webcast class together, tuned in to by millions.
A spiritual guide of our time, Eckhart Tolle is a master at getting people to see how often they spend their lives ricocheting from thoughts of the past to plans for the future without stopping to embrace that thing called the present.
As he puts it: “There is only one moment and it’s always now”. …
2012 – A whole new world
There is a lot of speculation about what will happen on the planet in the year 2012. In his book, Secrets of the Light, Dannion Brinkely claims that “by the year 2012, humanity will experience unprecedented mental and spiritual transformations, coinciding precisely with the Earth’s passage through great physical upheaval.” From my own research into the subject, amid the speculation, I have found some facts.
There exists a Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar, used by the ancient Mayan civilisation, which counts down a period of 13 b’ak’tuns, or 394 solar years. This calendar will finish it’s 144,000 day cycle on December 20th, 2012. Then, as the Winter Solstice Sun rises on December 21st, a major astronomical alignment will take place between the planet Earth, our Sun and the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. …
The Good Life 2.0
Web 2.0 is the term that has come to signify the new upgraded internet, which is community based, interactive and user-driven. What I want to explore in this article is a ‘Good Life 2.0’ – an upgrade for the 21st century of the ideas of the 1970’s self-sufficiency movement.
Do you remember The Good Life, the TV show that ran from 1975 to 78? It was one of Britain’s favourite sit-coms, which popularised the notion of getting out of the rat race and being self-sufficient. In some ways, it probably did more to put people off even trying. Tom and Barbara, Richard Briers’ and Felicity Kendal’s characters converted their suburban garden into a farm, kept pigs and chickens, and grew their own food. On one memorable occasion they even converted their car to run on methane, which kept on breaking down. In a light-hearted way, they showed how hard it was, and is, to be different to those around you, and the kind of courage it takes to be so. …
A New Concept in Makeup
For ten years I sought a skincare that could heal my problematic skin. Needless to say, when our skin isn’t looking good, most of us try to hide it under heavy makeup. I found it tough having to endure the breakouts as an adult, especially when there was no acne during my teen years. I became aware of our skin’s ability to rebel against everyday chemicals found all around us. Switching to natural/homemade products was my first step, and then I discovered powdered mineral makeup. …
Positively Newsworthy
A Delicious Deal of a Meal
The team here at Positive Life magazine recently went for a belated Christmas dinner in Oliver‘s Eatery at Vaughans Eagle House, Terenure. While organising the night out, Paul told me that the restaurant he chose had received a Michelin Star. This evoked in my mind, images of posh, rich people eating the highest quality food. On the way there, Paul told me it was in a pub. This evoked a whole other set of images in my mind. It wasn‘t until I got there and experienced how these two could combine so perfectly that I realised what a blessing Oliver‘s Eatery truly is. …
Client Attracting Secrets offer you 3 simple goals.
To get more clients, make more money and have more time off to enjoy it all!
By Siobhan Guthrie and Kieran Haughey
I have to be honest, when people talk about being a complementary practitioner, rarely do they consider themselves to be in business. Let’s face it, as practitioners, we are driven more by helping others than making millions. In fact we’ll often hear “money’s not important”, especially when it comes to deciding what you’ll charge! …
A Juicy Business Opportunity
The Apple Farm in Tipperary was set up in 1968 when William and Ali Traas moved from Holland to grow apples. At that time a lot of Dutch farmers left Holland, as there was not enough land to farm.
In the early years in Ireland, the family grew many crops, including fields of flowering tulips and vegetables such as peas and brassicas. However, the flavour of the apples here was spectacular, and the farm came to specialise in fruits such as apples, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries and cherries, most of which are sold directly from a shop on the farm. …
Turn over a new Tea leaf
Solaris Botanicals, a Galway-based Organic Tea company specialises in blending internationally award-winning organic Speciality and Herbal Teas. The Solaris Tea range has won 6 Great Taste Awards in 2 years and was awarded Best Irish Organic Grocery Product in 2007 & 2008. Joerg Mueller, founder of the company is a Medical Herbalist and Master Tea Blender.
Tea is the second most drunk beverage after water in the world. …
Cherry Good For You!
John Carey, a man who lives and breathes his nutritional cherry juice product, CherryActive, believes it literally cured him of his crippling gout. John had always enjoyed a healthy, fit lifestyle and, like many young people, took his health very much for granted. But ten years ago, aged only 28, he woke one day with an excruciating pain in his right toe, which was horribly swollen. …
The Truth about FAT
In today’s fat-phobic culture, an important message has been lost: ‘Fat is essential to life’. Despite the advent of the low-fat diet revolution over 20 years ago, obesity rates are on the increase and eating less fat has in fact made us fatter!
Saturated fats are found mainly in animal products. Although they have important roles in the body such as protecting our internal organs and transporting fat soluble vitamins, over consumption can raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol that increases the risk of coronary heart disease. However, small amounts are great for using in high heat cooking (baking, roasting etc), as they are not easily damaged by heat. …
Spring Recipes
Spring is in the air, a new beginning, a time to shrug off the excesses of winter and get ready for Summer. There is a natural urge to lighten our diet, get up early with the sunrise and be more active. All of this is in preparation to help our energy rise up just like the sap in the trees for the more active and energetic days ahead.
Tabouli is a Middle Eastern dish traditionally using couscous. Here, Dorene Palmer, CEO of Divine Foods, uses quinoa, an ancient South American grain, packed with protein, calcium and gluten free. It is light and easy to digest. …
IRISH INTERNATIONAL MIND BODY SPIRIT FESTIVAL
The Mind Body Spirit Festival is a unique day out, offering visitors the opportunity to experience the world of complementary health, holistic therapies and natural healing techniques, with over 200 exhibits. This extensive programme which includes demonstrations and more than 120 free lectures, performances, and workshops, makes the festival a great day out for everyone and paves the way for alternative approaches to lifestyle development.
Here at Positive Life, our own experience of past festivals has been life-changing, with new insights being discovered, new friendships being forged and new healing techniques being tried and tested, sometimes with amazing results. Some things work for some people and others for others, and we advice you to trust your intuition when looking at what will work for you. …
Homocysteine Health
We are all becoming more aware to the importance of being health conscious, and feel the effects of our modern day lifestyles which include convenience foods and little or no exercise.
The media are making us more aware of the importance of eating a balanced diet, full of fresh fruit and vegetables, and how we should try to avoid foods high in sugar, fat and salt. Smoking is completely out of the question, and drinking alcohol should only be done in moderation. If we follow these guidelines we will be more likely to live longer healthier lives. …
