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What is Meditation?

March 28, 2014 by Julie Lusk

Let’s define meditation. While guided imagery allows thoughts and feelings to occur while directing and focusing the mind in certain areas, meditation seeks to bring about a state of awareness without thinking. This is not be to confused with attempting the impossible task of clearing and emptying the mind completely, rather, it is about becoming conscious and aware of our thoughts, feelings, physical distractions, and the other senses. This awareness helps us cultivate acceptance, compassion and wisdom. This is the wisdom of self understanding so an appropriate response is revealed. The goal of meditation includes remembering and experiencing the connection between oneself and the divine.

While there are hundreds of meditation techniques, the basic elements include sitting in an upright manner with a straight, but not stiff, spine. Taking time to bring the breath into balance and focus, and using a concentration technique are often incorporated. Concentration calms and clears the mind of distraction making room for the meditative state.

Here are a few fundamental meditation methods. A mantra, which is a word, sound or phrase can be silently repeated over and again; focusing attention on the sensation of the breath can be used; being mindful of the present moment is another practice; and gazing upon an object, such as a candle flame, nature scenes, or holy picture is another approach.

Musical Sound Bath Tune Up

Musical Sound Bath Tune Up
with Julie Lusk

Sound Healing is a wonderful way to improve your wellbeing. During a musical sound bath experience, you will …

Tune yourself with a musical blend of harmonizing tones.

Feel the pure pleasure of letting your heart sing & dance.

Experience a play of enchanting sounds from flutes, chimes, bells, drums, tuning forks, voice, harmonium, and the harp.

Get cozy. Lie down, sit, or move.

Play along with a rattle, drum, or voice. Write, draw, or color. Daydream. Free your imagination.

Enjoy an a-musing path of tuning your inner rhythm, energy & flow.

If online, headphones, earbuds, or external speakers optimize the sound.

Schedule

Book a personal sound healing session: In-person & Zoom sessions are customized just for you. Contact Julie for details and scheduling.
Concerts: In-person & Zoom. For groups or individuals.
Customized Musical Blessings: A Musical Blessing is a personalized, improvised piece/peace. The melodies played can be based upon one’s name, an affirmation or intention, a dream or prayer, or whatever intuitively transpires. Guided imagery can be offered for inspiration and guidance. They are offered for individuals or groups. During a group, a customized musical blessing is played for each person while everyone else enjoys listening to beautiful, healing music. It’s wonderous.

Albums

Blue Moon Rising | Enjoy 16 beautiful tracks of Native American style flute music played by Julie Lusk accompanied by the relaxing sounds of Mother Nature as the backdrop. Digital and CD formats available | Flute music, guided relaxation and imagery, and yoga nidra.

Julie’s Music History
Julie has loved exploring music since childhood. She babysat 5 boys when she was in 6th grade for 50 cents an hour to buy her first stereo.

Julie studied piano from elementary school through college. Crushed but undeterred, she was rejected from the choir in 5th grade. Recitals were a disaster with awful memories of freezing up like a statue. Even though her self-esteem hurt for decades, she never gave up. For years, she only played for her pets.

Julie started playing classical flute when the Lusks owned a music store. She began playing Native American flutes about 10 years ago. Julie also plays harmonium, Tibetan bowls, chimes, didgeridoo, drums, and the harp. Julie was a Drums for Fun member for 15 years.

Julie is Certified by the Sound Healing Academy (SHA) in the Foundations of Integral Sound Healing for Multi Instruments – Level 1. The course covered how to give individual and group sound healing sessions. It included how to play singing bowls, tuning forks, gongs, chimes, frame drum, and voice. Julie studied The Art of Creating Sound Healing Journeys With the Power of the 5 Elements, a 7-week course led by Bodhi Starwater/Setchko and Music Medicine, a 7-week course by Laura Inserra. She completed SHA’s 30-hour course in Integral Sound Healing with Tuning Forks in addition to John Beaulieu’s 4-week tuning fork course.

Contact Julie anytime

Handy Links

Contact us anytime about flutes, lessons & concerts

By appointment only ♥ Not a retail store.

How to Make a Yogatini

July 10, 2017 by Julie Lusk

How to make a Yogatini ~ Inspired by Tracey Rich

Ingredients:

Yoga mat
Fresh air
Music
You

Mix:

1 part Ocean sounding breath – also called ujjayi breath
1 part Salutation to the Sun – See video here
Practice barefoot in the grass or on a sandy beach for some great grounding time. Here’s more about it.
Stir in your own music, flow, fun, and friends.
Cool down with Shitali Breathing
Finish with some floating yoga nidra bliss.
Have a beautiful summer and c ome Yoga with us!

Benefits:

Calorie Free
Gluten Free
Feelings of freedom, happiness, and joy!

Click now for more Meditation, Relaxation, Guided Imagery Techniques & Articles

Ocean Sounding Breath: Ujjayi Breathing

March 28, 2014 by Julie Lusk

Ujjayi is pronounced oo-JAH-yee or sometimes “ooo” as in cool and “ji” as in hi
Time: 5 minutes or longer

Summary: The Ujjayi Breath, also called the Ocean Sounding Breath, is a yogic breathing practice that builds on the benefits of Dirgha Breathing, the complete breath. Meditative and calming, it creates concentration while it creates stamina and endurance. It produces a calming and meditative quality. This breath helps relieve sinus problems and can diminish headache pain.

The Ujjayi is performed by taking long, slow and deep breaths (the complete dirgha pranayama) while creating a special sound in the back of the throat that sounds like the ocean waves. Although you will breathe in and out through your nose when doing Ujjayi, it is easier to learn first by breathing through an open mouth while whispering the sound of “home” or “Om.” Doing so will allow you to experience the open feeling in your throat that is used in Ujjayi breathing. When practicing, notice how your lips are slightly open when whispering the “ho” or “o” sound. Also notice the open feeling in your throat. Maintain the open sensation in your throat as the sound changes into “mmm.”

Listen to the sound at the back of your throat as you continue breathing out. Repeat several times drawing out the “mmm” sound more and more each time. This is the Ujjayi sound, a unique, audible Darth Vader-type sound. This same sound and feeling in your throat is used for the inhalation as well.

Next, close your mouth and continue breathing in and out through your nostrils while maintaining that feeling and sound in your throat. When done correctly, there is a slight constriction in the glottis (the opening between the vocal chords) during inhalation and exhalation. Once mastered and the breath is refined, the sound is made by fully relaxing the same area of the throat.

Let’s begin. Either come into a comfortable seated position with your spine erect or lie on your back. Begin by taking long, slow and deep breaths through the nostrils. Allow the breath to be gentle and relaxed as you slightly activatet the back of your throat creating a steady ocean sound as you breathe in and out. The sound need not be forced but it should be loud enough so that if someone came close to you they would hear it.

Gradually, lengthen the inhalation and the exhalation as much as possible without creating tension anywhere in your body, and allow the sound of the breath to be continuous and smooth. Keep the pitch and intensity of the breath consistent and even throughout. Practice breathing so both your inhalation and exhalation are equal in length and duration.

Continue practicing, allowing your inhalations and exhalations to follow a circular flow that is continuous and almost seamless, leaving as little space between the incoming and outgoing breath as possible.

Remember to relax into your breathing; there is no reason to rush. Another breathing pattern to practice after your Ujjayi breath becomes smooth and seamless is to hold the breath for a few seconds at the end of the inhalation and/or at the end of the exhalation. This tends to produce more focus. However, never hold your breath if you have high blood pressure.

Solving Holiday Stress

November 29, 2010 by Julie Lusk

Solving Holiday Stress

Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Nicholas, Kwanza, Winter Solstice, Navidades, Hanukkah, St. Lucia Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s, the holidays are inherently stressful.

Decide now whether this year will be full of the season’s stressful traps or fulfilling with plenty of treasures to be thankful for. Now is the time to set priorities and make the necessary changes so the holidays are inspiring and energizing instead of a drain. It’s especially important to pay attention to what your needs and wishes are for your body, mind, and heart while finding the balance with sharing with others.

Operating on automatic can add even more stress causing unhappiness, sickness, poor relationships and lack of energy. Why not improve your ability to handle stress by practicing the following effective ways to cope with stress. I DARE you to Relax! Please check out the CD’s down below too. Each provide helpful tools and techniques for renewal. They make excellent gifts too.

DARE to Relax includes: D = Diet; A = Attitude and Awareness; R = Rest, Relaxation and Relationships; E = Exercise.

DIET: Don’t deprive yourself of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals that can help you reduce the effects of daily stress. Stress uses up your supply of vitamins A, B and C which can lead to feeling irritable and tired. Calcium is essential for your central nervous system to function normally. Without enough, your nerves become frayed. If you consistently eat well-balanced meals, you can fortify your system giving you the nourishment to guard against the harmful effects of stress.

Eat a nutritious breakfast

Choose fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains

Choose baked or broiled food instead of fried

Cut down on too much fat, salt, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, additives and preservatives

Maintain a healthy weight

Choose holiday foods with care. Eat the special things that are delicious and bring you in touch with warm memories. You really don’t have to eat everything to get the taste of the holidays.

ATTITUDE AND AWARENESS: Research shows that as much as 75% of illnesses are the result of experiencing too much stress. Not being able to handle stress properly can decrease the effectiveness of your immune system. Become more aware of how you respond to tension and stress in your life and begin to make adjustments. Are you responding appropriately? Could you be over-reacting? Is it possible to avoid or change a situation that causes you anxiety? By improving your awareness and improving how you react to stress, it might be possible to avoid some of your headaches, stomachaches and other problems. Try laughing. Laughter is like internal jogging. It aids digestion and improves alertness and productivity by sending blood and oxygen to your brain and increases the production of the body’s catecholamines.

Learn to accept situations you can’t change; give in once in a while

Learn to communicate with others; talk your worries out

Take one thing at a time; don’t take on too many changes at once

Manage your time more effectively; don’t procrastinate

Be positive and realistic

Express your feelings in healthy ways

Create variety in your work; do old things new ways

REST AND RELAXATION: It is much easier to handle stress if you are rested and know how to remain calm. Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night is essential. Although recreation and being diverted from stress is helpful (playing a sport, watching a movie) true relaxation is different. It involves giving yourself an honest break from activity and excess stimulation. Breathing deeply, smoothly, slowly and from the diaphragm is relaxing since it too sends a fresh supply of blood to the brain and throughout the body. It oxygenates your system and even slows down the heartbeat.

Plan leisure time; take breaks

Spend time on a hobby; seek new interests

Schedule some quiet time alone every day; meditate; pray

Have fun, play and laugh

Cut down on noise levels at home and work; turn the radio or TV off

Replenish yourself with therapeutic relaxation, guided imagery and affirmations. See the suggestions for CD’s below to feel rejuvenated improve your outlook and help your health.

EXERCISE: When under stress, there is an increase of adrenalin in the system as part of the flight or fight response, which can drain you of energy if not effectively released. Exercise regularly to work stresses off positively. This can improve your productivity and increase your energy. Be sure to choose physical activity that you enjoy.

This may be the year to tamper with holiday traditions so the spirit and meaning of the holidays are once again filled with tidings of comfort and joy.

Help for the holidays. These CD’s will replenish your energy and renew your outlook. They make great gifts too!

Wholesome Energizers CD

Listen often to release stress, refresh your outlook and feel calm. Feel rested, rejuvenated and ready for the rest of the day. Introduction and 3 tracks featuring a relaxation exercise, beautiful guided imagery and helpful affirmations to bring your energy back. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

Wholesome Relaxation CD

Experience deep relaxation, inspiring imagery and affirmations to enhance your personal health, increase strength, and improve your overall well-being. This is used by Good Samaritan Hospital, American Heart Assn, American Cancer Society and others. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

Price: $16.95

Price: $9.99

Power of Presence CD

Gain the benefits of meditation with comfort and ease. You'll soon solve workplace stress and easily handle personal challenges and health issues. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more... Digital downloads are available.

Real Relaxation: Yoga Nidra CD (Shop @ Amazon / iTunes = We are sold out temporarily)

This takes you into a deeply relaxing and powerful state of being fully aware while being in the state of deep sleep.

Its many benefits include:

Listening for 1 hour equals 4 hours sleep
Improves immunity
Increases heart health
Relieves stress
Brings inner peace and balance

Digital downloads are available.

CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...