Connecting with nature through hiking can be a sure way of lifting the spirits and decreasing stress in addition to physically exercising the body.  Since we are interconnected with Mother Earth, our soul will be replenished when we engage in outdoor activity that takes us to the heart of this union.  On this past winter solstice, I had a magical hike to an Ohlone Native American site in the Santa Cruz mountains called Turtle Rock.  The huge boulder perched high on the mountain ridge looks like a gigantic turtle frozen and preserved.  There is a sacred creation story that has been passed down that attests to the power of this location which gifts wonderous views.  One of the most magnificent you will find!

Legend goes…the turtle’s shell contained all the souls of all beings before any animals or humans existed on the Earth.  Turtle came upon land and made its home at this glorious spot.  On the winter solstice during sunset, the rays of the sun shone straight into turtle’s back and the turtle’s shell split open to release all the captive souls.  The Ohlone gathered at Turtle Rock every winter solstice to hold special rituals and celebrate at this sacred rock. 

Hands on healing, meditation and prayer attract the highest form of energy and consciousness.  Because the Ohlone used this site as a place of healing and ceremony, the land has become a nurturing energy vortex.  These are formed by human interaction with Mother Nature and her energy field.   An energy vortex is made of spiraling pools of energy and this natural vortex attracts the flow of prana (breath, energy, life force) to its center.  You are bathed in the life forces of Mother Earth! 

I was truly soothed as I looked out at the majesty of the mountain ranges and saw clear out to the ocean.  A group of us gathered and soaked up the healing energy as the sun began to set and cast its glow on Turtle Rock.  As legend has it, the sun shone directly through the meeting of two smaller rocks and on into the crack down the middle of Turtle Rock.  A sense of release, freedom and aliveness was ever so present.  On any given day, I am exalted by the energy of this sacred location as I hike along the ridge trail to its glory. 

Experience Turtle Rock for yourself during Dragonfly Healing Center’s March half-day workshop!  Exhilarate the soul!  Raise consciousness!  Honor the reverence for nature as lived by the Ohlone tribes that occupied this spiritual land.  Heal and energize body, mind, heart and soul!

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Testimonial

"I have invited Melissa to lead holistic hikes with the college students to help them connect spiritually. The students love the hikes and really enjoy Melissa's approach because they feel comfortable, have fun and learn different ways to connect with each other. Students especially enjoyed a walk to the local Rose Garden in which Melissa helped students be mindful of how they were walking, and what they were feeling in their bodies. She then led the students in some light yoga once we arrived to the Rose Garden. Even students who typically do not participate in spiritual or mindful activities had a really great time."

C. Cervantes,
Resident Minister at Santa Clara University

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FREE gift!!! 

“Like” our Facebook page OR comment on our blog and receive a complimentary holistic hike!

Form your own group or join an organized hike.

Stress can have a detrimental effect on the body.  It is increasingly becoming illuminated as being the silent killer.  Stress is a factor that is common to the human condition, and how we manage stress is crucial to health, wellness and our very survival.  However, not all stress is harmful, as certain stressors may actually spur helpful reactions such as personal growth and achievement through challenge.  Though, most stressors have been correlated to negative impacts on health and general well-being.  Prominent conditions linked to stress are hypertension, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, neck aches, low-back pains, and skin problems.  These have been classified as the “diseases of civilization”.  In addition to physical declines, stress influences mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a person.  With stress having a multifaceted effect on the individual as a whole, the impacts of stress become far-reaching in areas of society, community, workplace, and relationships.

Mindfulness meditation is a vital component of wellness that decreases the harms of stress.  Mindfulness may change your life…

Mindfulness is a type of meditation that involves formal and informal practices.  In formal practice, you take some amount of time everyday to stop and meditate.  With informal practice, you allow the mindfulness practice to flow into all aspects of your everyday life. 

Through research and studies of the effects of MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), a multitude of benefits have been found.  Mindfulness has been shown to transform emotions and lift the spirit; help decrease and alleviate several physical health symptoms and cope with pain in the body; increase brain functioning and cognitive attention abilities; and cultivate inner resources and resiliency that bring peace, joy, life balance and vitality.

Mindfulness is simply awareness, which in actuality is not so simple.  Mindfulness requires that you intentionally pay attention to the present moment with an attitude of non-judgment.  Mindfulness meditation is an embodied practice that cultivates a healthy relationship with the self.  This personal and friendly relationship with yourself extends to create healthier relationships with others.  Therefore, your personal practice of mindfulness may also change the communities in which you engage as well as expand and reach to affect the entire world. 

Knowing yourself is powerful!  And it is also a major challenge – quite possibly the most difficult work that you can implement.  But what work is more important?  Mindfulness cultivates the deep listening that is required to truly come to know your own self in body, mind, heart and spirit and how these are displayed in the world. 

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Women of the World – March Event:

“Mindfulness as Self Exploration and Investigation: Realizing the Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit Connection to How You Show Up in the World”

Saturday, March 10th from 6pm-9pm in San Francisco
Organizer: Lucy Keoni 
Speaker: Melissa Green, MS, MA 

SEE DETAILS AND RSVP HERE

What kind of body vehicle are you cruising with?  No matter what conditions may burden and afflict our bodies, we can set intentions to care for and nourish whatever temple that we are in.  We create this connection by bringing a deep awareness to our state of physical existence.  When I did this many years ago, I realized that my body was a representation of a Southern style all-you-can-eat buffet, with an extensive dessert bar!   I have always loved food and being raised in Alabama, eating was the most favorite past-time.  I never thought that I would turn away from enjoying a multitude of fried foods, ham hocks, buttery cheese grits, and mounds of sugary snacks.  It would be a travesty for a Black woman from the South to not eat fried chicken!  Oh my….

However, when I began to deeply explore the feelings and sensations in my body, I found that many of these foods were not serving my body in a way that gave ease of digestion and increased vital energy.  This attention and mindfulness began to transform the way that I saw food.  I increasingly became able to identify if I was actually “starving” as opposed to when I was eating as a reaction to an emotional or mental charge or to fill a void in my soul.  Through having a loving partnership with my body and learning to listen intently to its needs, I slowly moved into a vegetarian lifestyle with a healthy balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.  I do not claim that vegetarianism is for everybody, but I do teach that deep listening is for all of us. Our bodies are mostly the same, though entirely unique at the same time.  What works for us individually can be determined by the knowledge from research that we have on physical health in conjunction with the knowledge provided by our own inner wisdom. 

We will discover that the body craves to be treated right according to the needs that will give it the most effective functioning and balance.  We will also understand that just as a computer sometimes requires a re-boot, our bodies may perform better with intermittent re-boots in the form of cleansing and detoxing.  Eating in this manner along with workable exercise plans and activities, we realize a body that is vital, thriving, and flourishing.  Now, at the age of 39, I am styling in a body that is exponentially more fit than it was in my 20’s.  See for yourself how minding your body can enrich you with a temple to be proud of!

Other reasons to eat mindfully – check out this article from the November 2011 issue of Scientific American Magazine.

Food We Eat Might Control Our Genes

Scientific American Magazine, November 2011

By Anne-Marie C. Hodge
Scientists find rice microRNA inside human cells

“You are what you eat.” The old adage has for decades weighed on the minds of consumers who fret over responsible food choices. Yet what if it was literally true? What if material from our food actually made its way into the innermost control centers of our cells, taking charge of fundamental gene expression?

That is in fact what happens, according to a recent study of plant-animal micro­RNA transfer led by Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanjing University in China. MicroRNAs are short sequences of nucleotides—the building blocks of genetic material. Although microRNAs do not code for proteins, they prevent specific genes from giving rise to the proteins they encode. Blood samples from 21 volunteers were tested for the presence of microRNAs from crop plants, such as rice, wheat, potatoes and cabbage.

The results, published in the journal Cell Research, showed that the subjects’ bloodstream contained approximately 30 different microRNAs from commonly eaten plants. It appears that they can also alter cell function: a specific rice microRNA was shown to bind to and inhibit the activity of receptors controlling the removal of LDL—“bad” cholesterol—from the bloodstream. Like vitamins and minerals, microRNA may represent a previously unrecognized type of functional molecule obtained from food.

The revelation that plant microRNAs play a role in controlling human physiology highlights the fact that our bodies are highly integrated ecosystems. Zhang says the findings may also illuminate our understanding of co-evolution, a process in which genetic changes in one species trigger changes in another. For example, our ability to digest the lactose in milk after infancy arose after we domesticated cattle. Could the plants we cultivated have altered us as well? Zhang’s study is another reminder that nothing in nature exists in isolation.

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Testimonial

 “Melissa's ability to connect with me as an individual made me feel safe and comfortable.  Her calm and soothing voice during the guided meditations really helped me to tap into a state of mindfulness.  The mindful eating exercise that Melissa led was very eye-opening and made me evaluate what it is that I am putting into my body.  The hike and meditation we went on was very powerful, as Melissa pointed out setting our intentions.  Her ability to connect with the mind, body and spirit in Mother Nature was a very grounding experience.”

M.Y., Business Accountant in San Francisco

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FREE gift!!! 

“Like” our Facebook page OR comment on our blog and receive a complimentary Mindful Eating session and consultation! (1 hour by phone or in person)

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Dragonfly Healing Center March Workshop:

 “Mind Your Body: Mindfulnes​s for Exploring the Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit Connection”

Saturday, March 31st from 1pm-5pm at Jikoji Zen Temple and Retreat Center

This is a Co-Ed workshop (all genders welcome!)

See details and RSVP HERE!!!