by Sebastian Deans FwSS
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What comes to Mind when I say the word ‘Heart’? ... Heart …

Do you see the organ in our chest with its constant beat that changes appropriately to our conditions and feelings? Or perhaps the Blood that is ceaselessly circulating around the body, filling all our veins and arteries, filling every part of us?

Maybe there is more of the metaphorical Heart? The centre of our feelings, where we can know the joys of simply being alive, “lifting the spirits”, or the suffering of knowing too much sensitivity to life’s harsher sides, “utter heartache”. Maybe the centre of our lives in general, who we are; from our everyday personality to the basis of consciousness itself and the heights of Spiritual interconnection with all that is.

​The next day we were closed - no clients, no school - nothing… Our Centre team convened an emergency meeting. We looked at the  Centre’s finances and we cancelled every possible expenditure, from  cleaning to dustbin collection… We resolved to form a collective - to  work together - for each other, for our clients and for our students. We  decided to work on an equal footing, putting our trust in our community  to support us and our work. 

We looked at our strengths: we had 20 years of experience of  delivering online learning to the worldwide Shiatsu community and  we had personal connections throughout that community; we had a  large, long-term and loyal client base; we had all our local students and  graduates and a network of connections to the other Shiatsu College  branches and teachers.  
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And we had each other! We are a group of 5 - with the kind of bond  and implicit trust that can only be formed by sharing the very special  qualities of Shiatsu with each other. We had been working, practising,  teaching and creating online training together over many years. It was  time to bring all that we could offer for the benefit of our community  in this extraordinary worldwide crisis. We set up twice weekly group  meetings on Zoom to plan ahead and organise our work. ​

By Nicole Drummond. Edited by Dinah John.

Do you hate the cold? Me too! So why on earth would you try this therapy...? Because the health benefits will blow you away and the positive results start immediately.

I first heard about the Wim Hof Method a few years ago when I watched a short documentary about ‘The Ice Man’. The film showed how this Dutch athlete, Wim Hof, taught two reporters how to walk up a freezing snowy mountain in their shorts, resisting the cold by using a breathing technique and ‘cold therapy training’. I filed it in my mind as a bit mad, curious, and not relevant to my daily life.

However, what I really didn’t pick up from the documentary was the potential for extraordinary health benefits from this simple, accessible technique. ​

It has 3 Pillars:
1) Breath - a simple breathing technique, in 3 to 4 rounds (10/15mins)
2) Cold - a cold shower (2mins)
3) Commitment - do it every day

I came to it as I was suffering with some stress-related inflammation. I was in pain, which was making me feel low and - apparently randomly - the Ice Man kept popping into my mind. So, I followed my intuition and looked him up again…
 
My journey began as I started by signing up for the free mini class which gives you all you need. At first, I couldn't believe how simple and quick it was. Techniques need to be complex, lengthy and challenging to be beneficial, right? Nope! Like he said, I began to feel it immediately.

What benefits has it given me?
The first for me is the HUGE boost of energy caused by the breath work. I felt like my energy levels increased by at least a third. Then I felt more positive and enlivened, as I had reduced pain - due to reduced inflammation. The breathing was also a big stress release for me - and I felt more relaxed.
 
In terms of the cold shower, well the shock of the cold water is strangely addictive. It wakes you up and makes you feel alive, ready for the day. It is also very empowering as you learn to move out of your comfort zone. It helps you to realise what you are capable of, engaging your mind to shift your levels of tolerance and endurance.

It quickly I brought me to wild swimming - as my tolerance for the cold shifted dramatically and I wanted a way to push myself further. I go swimming with my friends and this has been a wonderful gift to have in my life. I have also noticed improved immunity in the last 6 months. I haven’t caught a cold for example, when normally I might during the winter season, even when my immediate family was pretty unwell.

What is the science - how exactly does the technique work?

• The Breathing

The breathing and breath-holding takes in additional oxygen, which puts the body into an alkaline state. This then strengthens your immunity as it supports the reduction of inflammation in the body. The breathing also supports stress reduction, rebalances the nervous system and detoxes your body.

• The Cold

The cold reduces inflammation and also improves immunity. It enhances the body’s own mood boosters, so is a natural mood enhancer and stressbuster. The power of the cold burns fat and increases metabolism. It leads to increased will power, heightened focus and better sleep.
 
Who would benefit from it specifically? It can be good for anyone working with:

• Depression - for mood regulation
• Chronic pain conditions, such as arthritis - for pain reduction
• Autoimmune disorders - for higher energy levels
• High stress levels - for stress reduction
• Low energy levels - to boost energy

 
If you are interested to learn more you can read his book, The Wim Hof Method or check out his website or YouTube for lots of free information and videos. I can also recommend The Fundamentals class, an online 10 week course.

Win Hof is a real light of a human being too - extremely positive, enthusiastic and caring. It's infectious. The technique is definitely not just for fit young men who want to be able to climb mountains in shorts! As a mum with a toddler, it is perfect - I can do it all in 15 mins whilst my daughter has a little screen time. It gives me a HUGE boost of energy, it’s empowering, focuses my mind for the day and is so simple. I am definitely a fan. Why not try it? You never know what delights and benefits it might bring you.

The Dao' is often translated as 'the way' but more directly it means avenue, road or path... It is the fundamental Way Life is, the path it takes, how it emerges and does its thing then returns to something that is not it... In the west we're not often used to talking in this way but let us see what we shall see:
 
Returning... This is giving us a sense of a cyclical movement; if something is returning its already gone 'out there' - once it has returned to its origin then it can also return to wherever 'out there' is again and so on eternally. Just like leaves on a tree: that which is of the dark earth goes up and out, grows into being a leaf, slowly declines until dropping down, disintegrates back into the dark of the earth.

Yielding... This is a softening and allowing, much like water; there is movement as if it is always surrounding things and finding a path of least resistance with it, thus where is it not? This can describe something of its way being beyond time and space - there is no space where it cannot be so no time it does not occupy or encompass 
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​All things... This means not only all the material of this entire universe and how that interacts (and each of us is a part of that) but also all the potential thoughts, feelings and actions we may take in life. When we're just being and doing then there is something that we're not being or doing and so duality occurs and carries on; and most old cultures and texts encourage us to find some kind of harmony in this duality.

On this evolving blog page, the team will be recommending books that have inspired them, in the hope that it may support you on your healing journey too.

There will be a range of titles which will also feature in our quarterly e-news, so join the mailing list if you would like the suggestions to drop into your inbox. 

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran 
Book Recommendation from Basti Deans

This is a book I feel lucky to have grown up with. In all areas of my life, as well as in my practice, there are threads and themes of something that this book has to offer.

Although within Shiatsu there are obvious books to grab for information, techniques etc, I prefer looking into the books that have underpinned the knowledge or perspective to which this practice and others grew (for example the great 'Tao Te Ching' - I feel everyone would do well to have access to this). 
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The Prophet, however, brings such a poetic sense of interconnectedness and love - an expansion of self into a spiritually-encompassed yet everyday perspective - that I often read it to my students as an equal to some of the great ancient texts.

In my household this is what was known as a 'bathroom book'... Whilst sitting with a spare minute one can open at almost any page and within seconds be realising life anew.

'No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.'

Ganesha Mudra
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Bring your palms to touch in Prayer position at chest level.

Then swivel your hands so that your fingertips point toward opposite elbows, with your right palm facing your heart.
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Bend your fingers and slide your hands across each other until your fingers lock. Keep the shoulders softening down the ribs at the back and the spine growing toward the sky. Repeat on the other side. This can be done sitting (on the floor or a chair) or standing. Take a few breathes in each Mudra.
 
Benefits of Ganesha Mudra are: to lift your spirits, boost your confidence and to relieve stress and tension.
 
It is named after the Hindu deity who removes obstacles!

Garuda Mudra / Eagle Seal

Sitting or standing, turn your hands so that the palms face up while keeping your elbows dropped towards the ground. Cross your right hand over your left, clasping your thumbs. Creating an Eagle image. Take a few breathes here.

Benefits of Garuda Mudra/Eagle Seal are: to cultivate perseverance, commitment and discipline and to help balance your energy.
 
Garuda Mudra is named after the eagle ridden by that Vishnu, the lord of preservation.

Balasana/Child's Pose
 
Kneeling on the floor - if ankles are tight please use a rolled up blanket under the top of your ankles and possibly one on the floor to cushion the lower legs. Touch your big toes together and send you pelvis towards your heels, then separate your knees to about the width of your hips - or play around with where feels comfortable for you.

Exhale and lie your torso down between/on your thighs. Broaden your sacrum across the back of your pelvis and allow the front of your pelvis/hip bones to nestle down onto the inner thighs. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of the pelvis while you lift the base of your skull away from the back of your neck. You can place your forehead onto the floor or play with letting your head turn from each side.

Lying your hands on the floor alongside your torso, with palms up, try releasing the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor. Feel how the weight of the front of the shoulders draws the shoulder blades wide across your back. You can also explore moving your arms forward, palms on the floor, lengthening away from your head.

Balasana is a resting pose - try staying and breathing for 30 seconds to a few minutes. To come out of the pose, first lengthen the front of your torso: head gently lifting off the floor, then with an inhalation walk your hands on the floor and up your thighs to bring you upright back to a kneeling position. Or you can bring the palms to the ground, so you can press into your hands and come up onto all fours/'table top'.

Benefits include: gently stretching the hips, thighs and ankles; calming the brain; helping to relieve stress and fatigue. It also helps to relieve back and neck pain when done with head and torso supported - perhaps with a bolster.
 
bala = child / asana = posture or pose

To end - rest comfortably with your legs up against the wall.