I have practiced the bulk of my yoga outside in the past 8 months.  Today is a sunny fall day here in the Midwest and I walked one of my favorite trails to the prairie, full of tall grasses that have lost their green and when the sun shines on them, it truly creates a field of gold (cues Sting’s song Fields of Gold)!  So, I began my sun salutation ( a series of asanas, poses) and as I bent down into triangle pose, I took in the bare trees, the last brown leaves blowing in the wind, the world’s breath. Breath, said to be the most important part of yoga.

In fact, when preparing for a Healing Art Workshop, I researched yoga for the disabled and found that disabled yoga students had profound changes in their lives just by focusing on their breath. Research shows that shallow breathing can cause 50-70% of medical complaints. So, I began to focus on the effects the wind  has on the trees, the grass, the clouds, the lakes, the world!  Wind scatters seeds, pushes sailing ships across the oceans, creates hurricanes, can blow down buildings, and in the form of a tornado can destroy an entire town!

Now back to the tree, standing bare. I became aware that the tree was doing it’s own asanas. Each pose so slow in human terms, yet the results are powerful. Imagine the tree setting up it’s series of poses for the year….Spring Buds, Growing Leaves, Open Flowers, Petals Fall, Fruit Begins, Fruit Ripens, Fruit Falls, Leaves Turn, Leaves Fall, Bare Winter. All the while, the tree supports the life of birds, animals, insects, microbes, humans! Then does the amazing job of being beautiful!

So, yoga and nature seem infinitely intertwined.  Three part breathing can help you focus on your breath (see link below for directions). Next time you are outside, do a few poses, focus on the world around you, the yoga happening in every moment. -Amy Roemer November 2009

To learn how to do Three Part Breathing for better health go to http://yoga.about.com/od/breathing/a/threepartbreath.htm

To view Sting’s music Video of Fields of Gold go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UppX6vP3c4g&feature=related

Two weeks ago, I decided to do an experiment. I would see how many things could I find for free. The point of my experiment being, that if you focus your attention on something (free stuff), you will find it! So, I began by just going about my daily routines, no going out of my way to find free things, just seeing if free stuff would appear before me in my every day errands. The first day, I (or rather my daughter) was presented with a huge yellow smiley face balloon, free…in fact the very pregnant woman working in the store ran outside to give it to her! Next I drove by  a free washer and dryer, then 2 free couches!

In the next few days, I was offered free tea twice, free pizza, free art demonstrations, free cereal, free downloads, I came across free wood, free carrots, free tomatoes, two bags of free children’s clothes, a free dress, free whistle, and 3 free meals. The best of all has to be two free kittens, who are giving our family free love, cuddles, and companionship!

A successful experiment, I think! I once heard of an experiment done on luck where a group of people who described themselves as lucky and a second group who described themselves as unlucky, both were asked to walk on a sidewalk for one block. A one hundred dollar bill was placed on the sidewalk. The results were overwhelming, the people who felt they were unlucky, did not find the money, even though they literally  walked right over it, whereas the group who felt they were lucky found the $100!

So, consider yourself lucky and start looking for all that free stuff that is out there!

For free stuff in your area, check out www.freecycle.org

-Amy Roemer October 13, 2009

Four versions of the Life Art Healing logo.

You may have noticed our lifearthealing logo, the header on our website. The beautiful turquoise symbol with it’s edges curling up and lines connecting together that is echoed in white with a purple background, was discovered by my twin brother, Dean, designer and creator of this website and many more beautiful sites (www.deanwetherbee.com). When I asked Dean to create a website for us, he said yes, without hesitation. I knew he would do an amazing job, but what I didn’t know, was that he would research symbols of healing from all over the planet! He found a symbol in virtually every culture on earth!

He pointed out to me how incredible it was that art was used to communicate healing everywhere on earth for thousands of years! This symbol is Hindu scrollwork, Dean also found the celtic trinity knot, that many may be familiar with, which represents the 3 elements of being:  earth, land, and sea and life connectedness. The eye of the shaman, a diamond within a diamond with a circle in the center, is a Native American symbol for healing and medicine.  So, nature and connection to nature, spirit, self all have been visually represented. How powerful art and healing are, and how interconnected the two seem! Coincidentally, did you notice that EARTH is in the center of lifEARTHealing? I love it! Thank you, Dean! -Amy Roemer October 9, 2009

You can now order Reiki Healings from lifearthealing.com! Just click on the “Order” tab above to see details!

Reiki can be given and received remotely! Meaning that the healer and recipient do not have to be in the same room, same state, or country! Remote Reiki is a great way to boost your healing journey and get a bit of lifearthealing if you live outside of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area or if you are just busy and don’t want to add one more appointment to your list!

If you do live in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area or are planning to visit, we offer in person Reiki healings!

Give the gift of healing (remote or in person)! Amy Ryan gave me a gift certificate for a Reiki Healing and now I am a Reiki Healer and it has positively changed my life!

Click on the Order tab above for details about each of these healing options!

Healing Workshops and Workshop Gift Certificates…coming soon! Contact us to receive one now!

-Amy Roemer October 5, 2009

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/everything_else&id=7021110

Most People in the Western World have more than they can do in one day. Adding exercise, is often so overwhelming, we just don’t do it. A gym, the cost of a gym membership, people watching me, where will I find the time, yoga classes, yoga mats, yoga clothes?! The list of reasons not to goes on! I am here to say that I have been in the same boat! During my pregnancy with my daughter in 2004/05, I was on bedrest and experienced preeclampsia, both causes of speedy weight gain! For the first time in my life, I weighed over 200 pounds! After my daughter was born, I slowly lost weight by taking walks with her every day.

When she was 9 months old I had lost about 35 pounds from the walks, when a tumor was discovered in my leg. I had 2 surgeries and it turns out, 2 golf ball sized tumors that were removed from just above the bone on my upper thigh. My surgeon made a 5 inch incision all the way through the muscle. So, I couldn’t walk for 3 weeks, with a full 8 weeks before I could really walk well, after each surgery! That certainly put my weight loss on hold and after I healed from that, I slowly began taking walks again, one of my favorite exercises!

Though I was extremely grateful to get through those surgeries with my leg and health intact, I had another 40 pounds to lose! I wanted to get back into yoga, but the time and cost, as a stay at home mom, made me hesitate. Then, I remembered a sun salutation that my friend, a yoga teacher in Los Angles, had taught me! I could do the sun salutation ( a series of poses meant to flow together) in two and a half minutes! I could do it in my bedroom after my daughter fell asleep at night! It was quiet ( and with the invention of the iPod, you can listen to music while you yoga and not wake a sleeping child or disturb a sports watching husband!). I didn’t need any special equipment or fancy work out clothes! And so I began. Two and half minutes every night. If that’s all I did, at least I exercised and kept in the habit. If I did more, by either holding each pose for longer or doing repetitions of the sun salutation, I felt great!

Now, I do yoga almost every day as part of my walks. I love to do it outside! I feel better and stronger than I have in my life! Wisconsin winter is coming…plan on seeing me out there in my thermals and snowshoes stretching away! If you can find two and a half minutes in your day, you can do yoga every day, in your home, hotel, outside, anywhere!

P.S. With the addition of yoga to my walks, I lost the rest of the pregnancy weight and got back to my ideal weight! It can happen! -Amy Roemer September 30, 2009

To create your own yoga sequence, go to http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/sequence_builder

Reiki is an ancient Japanese form of healing. Reiki means “Universal Life-Force-Energy” and is a system for channeling that energy to someone for the purpose of healing.

It was rediscovered by Dr. Usui in the late 1800’s, though Reiki energy goes back over 2, 500 years in Sanskrit Sutras and writings of Tibetan Monks and Enlightened Masters. Reiki addresses physical, emotional, mental and spiritual imbalances.

Reiki healers serve as a vessel that supplies healing energy where it is most needed. Reiki Healing Energy provides means to balance the human energy fields (Auras) and energy centers (Chakras) to create conditions needed for the bodies healing system to function.

The Reiki practitioner assists the client to heal themself spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically by a simple laying on of hands and/or hands held slightly above the clients body. By the use of ancient healing symbols the practitioner channels the Universal Life Force energy allowing it to flow where is needed to bring the energy centers into alignment.

When I do Reiki, I can see a clients’ chakras and feel if they are out of alignment. I energetically pull them back into alignment and give my client suggestions on how to keep those chakras in balance. If  a client’s throat chakra is off to the left, I know that they are having issues with communication with women (left symbolizing female) and are likely to experience colds, sinus issues, ear/hearing problems, respiratory issues, etc…

I also see colors around the body, I interpret their meaning for the client as well. For example, I recently worked on a woman who had a beautiful green color around her head. The color green and the placement of it (over her third eye and crown chakras) told me that she was on a path of healing, that she was thinking and studying it, but needed to ground herself and bring action to what she has learned in order to bring healing to her life. -Amy Roemer September 30, 2009

If you are new to meditation or familiar with it, you probably know that one of the main challenges is not only sitting still, but quieting the mind! In 1996, I began meditating, after learning about it at the Self Realization Fellowship Center in Los Angeles, CA, where I lived for 16 years. (I lived in L.A. for 16 years, not at SRF, though that would be nice, it’s gorgeous!). At first, I found I could sit and somewhat calm my thinking for about 2 minutes! With visions of yogis in Tibet sitting on mountain tops for hours on end with flies buzzing around them, staying still and calm no matter what, my 2 minutes hardly seemed like an accomplishment or worthy of saying that I actually meditated! This is where the practice begins, though. By being gentle with ourselves. We did not learn to walk through a mall in one day! Imagine a baby trying to get from Macy’s to Nordies in their first steps! Even the most motivated fashionista couldn’t learn to do that without first taking one wobbly step and falling into their parents’ arms. So, take a breath, get comfy and take your first step. These days, I can meditate for a good 20 minutes at a stretch when I make the time for it. Otherwise, I do 2, 5, 7 minutes, whatever I can to stay in the habit. When my mind goes to thoughts of the day, I just do my best to go back to the silence or focus on my breath. Eckhart Tolle says that every moment is a meditation. So, some days, when I’m at the park playing with my daughter, I just look up to the sky or a tree and take a breath and clear my mind. It’s amazing how much that simple moment can center me and keep my day in perspective!

Amy Roemer September 24, 2009

On Sunday, September 27th, 5 lucky people are attending the run through for lifearthealing’s first Healing Art Workshop! They are gathering at Amy Roemer’s home for an amazing and inspirational day and we are grateful for their willingness to help us on our journey of teaching 5 simple steps to healing your life and healing through art! It’s the kind of day I love, inspirational talks, walk in nature, yoga, meditation, and painting, of course!