Mindful Parenting with Consciousness

Three years ago, Denise and I did a workshop on Mindful Parenting. We spoke to our participants (mostly clients from INDIGOBaby) about breastfeeding, co-sleeping, working from home and all natural remedies for the kids.

Do you remember this poster?

We just wanted to share the insights, knowledge and skills we learned through the art of parenting. We knew deep inside our hearts that the call to parenting was very challenging and it molded us into different beings! Because of our children, we have made major changes in the way we live our lives. In fact, INDIGObaby was born because of our very own sons. Without them, we would've never made the shift to a more natural, authentic way to living life -from the products we use, to the food we eat, to the schools we've chosen (*Waldorf Education) and activities we choose to do day to day. All that has changed and change is good because then you can gauge that you have grown :)

Now that I have been introduced to Kabbalah, I'm so honored to invite you to Michal Berg's upcoming lecture on Spirituality for Parents. Spirituality (Yoga & Kabbalah) and the toughest but most fulfilling job on the earth - Parenting, helps me become the best version of myself. To merge the two together in a lecture topic is so very interesting as most of us can benefit from this..whether you are a parent or not, you ARE someone's child!

I lifted the event details below from the Kabbalah Philippines website. Feel free to repost and share on your facebook walls, twitter feeds, etc. See you all there!

Spirituality for Parents by Michal Berg

As parents, teachers and guardians, we simply want what's best for the children in our lives. We want them to be happy, to achieve success, to love and be loved. But in today's rapidly changing world, this is proving to be a more daunting challenge.

Michal Berg is the President and CEO of Spirituality for Kids (www.sfk.org) and a mother of five. She is deeply committed to bringing spiritual programs to parents and children everywhere. Her vision is to provide even very young children with universal spiritual tools to help them discover their potential.

Michal lectures on the topic of spirituality for parents, connecting with mothers and fathers who are passionate about developing a mindful foundation for raising their children. She shares her insights, her experiences, and what she has learned from communicating with parents around the world.

It is Michal’s deepest belief that not only do parents assist in the spiritual development of their kids, but that children play a significant role in a parent’s spiritual growth.

Join Michal for her first speaking engagement in the Philippines as she discusses how to parent our children with a loving consciousness that contributes to their spiritual growth as well as our own.

Parenting With Consciousness with Michal Berg

Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Venue: TBA
Early bird rate: P500 (Until September 30 only)
Regular lecture fee: P750
Sponsorship seats: P1,000
Text: 0908 899 8442
Email: philippines@kabbalah.com

Empowering Mothers

It's so inspiring to see that more and more mothers are choosing empower themselves through mompreneurship and creative work-from-home businesses. If this is something you would like to pursue to be able to watch your children grow, then sign up for these events!

THINK BIG: The 1st MOMPRENEUR SUMMIT will feature info-packed talks by top influencers in entrepreneurship, marketing and the internet.  With the support of its co-presentor, PLDT KaAsenso, THINK BIG! will be a gathering of mompreneurs and aspiring mompreneurs set to take their business to the next level through proper visioning, planning and strategy. 

Registration fee is P3,000 per person

inclusive of conference kit, lunch, morning and afternoon snacks.

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A WAHMderful Life: A Work at Home Moms 101 is a one-day workshop for is for moms who want to find their bliss working from home while making a home. This is for stay at home moms, moms who want to start a home-based business, moms interested in working from home via outsourcing or telecommuting, women who are interested in starting a online business ... or anyone (single ladies, even dads!) who want to know more about starting a work-from-home career. DETAILS Date: Saturday, October 27, 2012; Time: 9:30 am to 4:00 pm Venue: COWO - Ground Floor, Suntree Tower, #27 Sapphire Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Price: * Regular rate of Php 1,300 * Early bird rate of Php 1,000 (PAID before Sept. 20, 2012) * Group discount of Php 1,000 for 3 or more participants WORKSHOP SCHEDULE 9:30 AM: Registration 10:00 AM: Welcome Remarks and Opening Video 10:15 AM: Talk 1: "WAHM Revolution": We'll talk about WAHM-ing worldwide and the trend of "location independent" careers by women worldwide 11:15 AM: Forum 1: Working Girl to WAHM (Featuring real stories & testimonials) 12:00 PM: Lunch Break 01:00 PM: Session: Are You Made for the WAHM Lifestyle? 02:15 PM: Talk 2: "Rocking the WAHM Life" with Open Forum featuring a panel of WAHM moms 04:00 PM: Wrap Up, Picture-Taking, Certificates

FLOW: Farm, Yoga, Samba Weekend

September is a few days away and I'm so thrilled to be inviting you to our next FLOW event - A Farm, Yoga & Samba weekend retreat on September 22-23 at the Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in Bulacan, just 2 hours away from Manila!

The FLOW yummy mums have always wanted to hold a retreat in an organic farm because we love nature and expose our kids to natural surroundings as much as we can. Some of you know that I even moved to Palawan to start an organic farm with my family. Now that I'm back in Manila, I look forward to hosting events outside the city such as our next FLOW retreat :)

Some reasons why you should join our next retreat...

Bamboo Grass Palace for Sunrise Vinyasa Yoga

Meals will be served at the Grassroots Cafe

Interact with farm animals

Our retreats are kid-friendly!

Take a dip in the rain collected love pool

Walking Meditation

Natural green surroundings have the ability to relax our senses

Infinite possibilities for imagination, creativity

Learn how to make Theo & Philo chocolates

Wake up to greens and fresh air

Another shot of the Bamboo Grass Palace

Event Itinerary

Sept 22, Saturday

8-930am Arrival of guests at the GK Enchanted Farm

9:30am: Icebreakers
10-11am: Farm Tour
12nn: Lunch
2-3:30pm: Theo + Philo chocolate workshop
4:30pm: Yin Yoga
7pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Samba Bonfire

Sept 23, Sunday
6:30am -7:30am: Sunrise Yoga
8am: Green Smoothie workshop & Breakfast
10am-11am: Harvest time at Farm or other farm activities
12nn: Lunch
2-3pm: Back to Manila

Package rate per person is P5,500 which includes the following:

• Organic Farm Tour
• 1 Sunrise Vinyasa Yoga class
• 1 Sunset Yin Yoga session
• 1 Samba session with Escola de Samba de Manila
• Green Smoothie Workshop
• Theo & Philo Chocolate Workshop
• 2D/1N stay at the GK Enchanted Farm
• Meals & Snacks
• Flow Bag with freebies

Gather all your friends and join us for some nature fun! Register online here.

For more info on our retreats and events, check out www.flowsurfyogasamba.com, be our fan in Facebook, follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. 

Yin Yoga Detox with Victor Chng

some of my favorite Yin Yoga poses :)

Over the long weekend, I immersed myself at Victor Chng's Yin Yoga intensive workshops at Beyond Yoga. I have met Victor and attended his classes at the Asia Yoga Conference in Hong Kong two years ago. His style is very different from that of Paul Grilley, Bernie Clark or Sarah Powers. Since he is Asian (Singaporean-Chinese), he is deeply influenced by Traditional Chinese Medicine and has integrated it with the Yin Yoga practice.

Victor has been a Hatha Yoga practitioner for many years until he met Paul Grilley in 2005. He trained with Paul on Yin Yoga and Anatomy then with Sarah Powers afterwards. He continues to undergo continuous training with them. (as well as Scott Blossom of Shadow Yoga, I hear!)

Here are the workshops intensives that I joined and my thoughts & lessons from each :)

Freeing The Hips, Sacrum & Lower Back
I honestly did not have notes during this class because I forgot to bring my notebook :P But I did have an awesome practice and felt REALLY HOT afterwards. I asked a fellow classmate and she said she felt the same! Perhaps this brought about detox symptoms?

Class photo after the Hips, Sacrum & Lower Back Series

Yin Yoga & The Energy Body: An Introduction to the Therapeutic and Meridian Application

Modified Dragonfly using props

• There are 3 layers, levels or planes - the gross or the physical, the energetic (where we deal with emotions) and consciousness (at seed level). He says that people get sick when there is disconnection in one of the 3, when there isn't flow. For instance, you have a seed thought or dream of wanting to be a pilot but your actions doesn't translate to that...let's say you are working in a call center and you don't have the drive or initiative to do what it takes to go for your true calling. Or another example I can think of is when we constantly stop ourself from voicing out what we truly feel or truly want to say (seed level consciousness). Day in and out you are not living your truth. This will cause blockages and eventually will take its toll on you.
• "An emotional imbalance will lead to a disfunction of the organ." I've written about this here. Science and conventional medicine is finally accepting that we are connected..our thoughts and our emotions will lead to our realities. Remember this basic mantra, "Thoughts become things!" Have you see the movie, What The Bleep Do We Know?  Watch it to see the power of your thoughts shaping your reality!
• "We need to accept that we are beyond the physical" -now, this is a universal truth. Kabbalists have the same view. Our physical world only comprises of the 1% reality. We are just on the tip of the iceberg, you need to go deep (as yin does to connect to the energetic body!), there is still a whole new realm, the 99% reality!
• In Yin Yoga, we basically work on the main meridians of the body. Working on our limbs (arms & legs) provide energetic stimulation on our main body. Our main body is where our organs are which are our power outlets or main batteries. Hands & arm balances work on our hearts and lungs while our legs work to detoxify our liver, kidneys and spleen. 

From all the classes I took under Victor, I would have to say that this is my favorite. In my classes, I've always put emphasis on the body to energetically heal itself through Yin Yoga.

Here I am getting comfortable in Half Saddle

Improving Digestion as Key Towards Better Health

• I have to admit that I was initially confused during the lecture of this specific workshop because Victor primarily believes in a Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic approach to food which uses a lot of cooked warm foods (as opposed to the raw vegan diet with a lot of fruits which is somewhat considered cold to the stomach). He says that you prepare/cook food to be easily digested so you cut into small pieces and put on fire.
• The stomach is in a central location, if it has no power, the circumference will have no power as well. The center has to regulate/monitor the other directions. Therefore, a good digestion will give you a very long life.
• 7-9am is when our stomach meridian is actively digesting food. It is when the dragon awakes. So we must eat our breakfast during this time or have food in the stomach by then. Have your lunch before 1pm. 12noon is ideal because our body clocks follow the energy of the sun :)
• NEVER have meals with an iced drink. In fact, maybe it's best that you never drink anything cold. When you do, you numb the stomach making you eat MORE :P This is why all the fastfood meals offer iced teas or softdrinks in the package, aha!
• Meridian of the stomach is the same as the beauty line for the...face!

Victor with the Yin Yoga teachers of Beyond Yoga

Detoxifying The Body - Working The Liver and The Gall Bladder Meridian

• The liver and gallbladder meridian line is found at the side of the breasts below the armpit region. Always include poses that release the sides.
• Detoxification depends on the quality of the liver. The liver only works when we are asleep. The liver's hours are between 11pm to 1am so if you are still awake, you are making the liver work extra hard to keep up with your body. You need to be in deep sleep in order for your liver to heal your body.
• The liver is responsible for solid waste, bowel movement.

Victor Chng c/o Jane 

Tao of Yoga - The Foundation of Integration

• The state of TAO is when the Yin and Yang energies are balanced. Victor promotes both a Yin and Yang practice because we need both.
• In nature (as in life), everything goes through phases: a stage of expansion and contraction. There are really just 2 seasons- summer and winter. Autumn and spring are merely transitions.

Some Yang poses after our Yin

with Victor Chng after Tao workshop

Finale dinner for Victor Chng at People's Palace

If you have been practicing Yin Yoga regularly and are interested in pursuing teacher training in Singapore this December 8 onwards, please check out http://www.yinyogainasia.com/100hr_tt.php for more details :)

Beyond Yoga regularly offers Yin Yoga classes in Quezon City and soon at The Fort as well! Check out their website at www.igobeyondyoga.com

Good Times

And just like the good old days, we hung by the pool and swam with the kiddos :) Yummy Mummies always and forever!

Even in the city, we FLOW.

Last August 4, was FLOW IN THE CITY at Beyond Yoga studio in Tomas Morato. It was a full day FLOW affair organized by the women behind Flow:SurfYogaSamba Weekend Retreats- Denise Gonzales-Bernardo, Monica Eleazar-Manzano and Noelle Hilario. “We wanted to bring the FLOW experience to people who are unable to leave work or family for out of town retreats which we offer 2-3 times a year”, Noelle says. “This is also a chance for regular retreat participants to get together for a reunion party”, adds in Monica.

The activities for the day included Neuro-Linguistic Program (NLP) talk by PJ Lanot, Antigravity Yoga by Monica Eleazar-Manzano, Zumba by Sharon Yu, Inner Dance by Pi Villaraza and a Green Smoothie workshop by Imee Contreras of Sunshine Daydream.

For the NLP workshop headed by PJ Lanot, the participants did communicative exercises with the use of personality and modality mirroring.  These are essential tools in dealing with others at work and at home.

Everyone was so excited to learn the art of flight from the Antigravity Yoga class by Monica Eleazar-Manzano. 

They all learned how to get into inversions like Back-belt Spider Man and Booty Wrap Monkey while enjoying the anatomical, therapeutic & hormonal benefits of being upside-down!

“We absolutely love heart thumping activities so we invited Zumba certified dance guru, Sharon Yu, to conduct a Zumba Party class”, Denise says. It was one-full hour of non-stop Zumba fun- which included lots of dancing, sweat and calories burned! MIO Watch Philippines representative, Ferdinand Aguila joined the class and measured the calories burned with his watch and awarded one lucky participant after the class! 

Participants had unlimited supply of Lightwater and Vitamin Boost to replenish lost vitamins and minerals from all the dancing and sweating.

Pi Villaraza of Bahay Kalipay, Palawan facilitated the Inner Dance process, which brings the concept of FLOW into spiritual form. In this healing modality, we embrace the fact that we are essentially all energy, all vibration. Transformation takes place when we ‘flow’ from one’s birth purpose, Villaraza states.

Imee Contreras and Toni Bernardo of Sunshine Daydream Live Foods gave a short demo on the benefits of the raw food diet and how to integrate this into our everyday fast-paced lives. Simply by adding some green leafy vegetables to a fruit smoothie, we are taking in lots of live enzymes that can do wonders for our health! 

All participants were given Goody bags filled with Goody ouchless accessories and other goodies by sponsors; Browhaus gift certificates, Mio Watch gift certificates, Lightwater and Vitaminboost bottles to keep us hydrated all through out the day, Moringana capsules and tea packs for an immunity boost.

Those who registered and came early were also given a set of gift certificates, earrings and rings from ENVY, gift certificates from STRIP and Nail Rituals organic foot and hand spa gift certificates which was given out by PBA-star Renren Ritualo, himself.

After a long day of workshops and activities, we had a fabulous feast sponsored by Kashmir Indian Restaurant and Dimsum & Dumplings. All the ingredients used for the vegetarian siomai and siopao are 80-90% organic plus fresh herbs and seasonal vegetables are used in food preparation as well. Kashmir Restaurant, Manila's oldest fine dining Indian restaurant, brought some good-ol Indian pica-picas: vegetarian samosas, pakoras and potato tikkis.

ANC’s Green Living TV crew with host Paolo Abrera were also present the whole day to cover the event.

To catch other more exciting event from FLOW, visit their sites:

www.flowsurfyogasamba.com

www.facebook.com/flowsurfyogasamba

www.twitter.com/surfyogasamba

www.flowsurfyogasamba.multiply.com

Instagram flowsurfyogasamba