Monthly Archives: October 2011

Planetary Ages and Stages

Ancient astrologers not only noted the planetary periods of the days and months, but recognised that there were planetary influences as we age.
The Moon influences the first seven years of life, with the child absorbing nutrients from the physical, emotional and spiritual worlds.The mothering influence of the Moon works on the etheric of the developing child and together with the parental influences, loves and nurtures the soul.

Mercury begins to influence the child from the time of losing the “milk teeth” to puberty. The planet of the mind, it governs thought, learning and the beginning of reason. Innate curiousity about the outer world is awakened and the imagination is developed. A quiet discipline to direct the child and good role models are needed as the child of this age is good at imitating adult behaviours.
Venus rules the teenager, from about the age of 15 through to 22. The emotions and reproductive development collide with the pressures of school and study and there is often an internal conflict as they learn to cope with these demands. Venus is the planet of love & beauty, but the opposite traits of laziness and overindulgence can lurk beneath the exterior, manifesting in rebellion and confusion if not supported. Emotions run high, sexual awareness develops and nurturing the spirit to build the solar body needs careful and thoughtful consideration.
From the age of 22 to 41, the individual enters into the age of the Sun, having fully incarnated into their soul. The Sun, astrologically associated with the 5th House, means that the search for life partners and creating a home of one’s own becomes a priority. Responsibility, duty and contribution become part of the way in which life is lived.
Mars – the opposite planet to Venus –  rules the years from 42 to 56. Here many experience major life changes and for women, the “change of life” or menopause also occurs. Generally the children have grown up and there is more freedom for the parent than before. Previous life ambitions may be re-visited and new careers forged. Other changes that occur are the passing of parents or relatives and the immortality of youth fades. The body may start to show signs of “wear and tear” and a meditation practice is beneficial.
Jupiter rules the next, sixth stage of our lives – from 57 to 68 years of age. Jupiter is a time of change in the soul as well as the body and a greater spirituality awakens as we become more familiar with the transience of life and the vagaries of the aging body.
Saturn rules the final stage – old age- from 69 to whenever we die. After many years of hard work, caring for children or elderly relatives, this period can be a period of serenity. Saturn is the bridge between worlds and focusing on the mind in the heart will enable us to cross into the spirit world with greater ease when the time is right. For some, living to a very old age, this time can be difficult, a time of endurance and faith can be tested.

Monday Meditations

Yes, check the calendar, it’s Tuesday! The last 2 Monday evenings have been set aside for meditation and although the group is small, I am getting so much more than I thought possible from it.

I scheduled ten  sessions, each with a different topic and designed for both the regular meditator and the beginner.

Week one began with breath work, using different styles of breathing including counting the breath, and alternate nostril breathing. That one can be tricky if you have a cold or hay fever!

Week two was progressive muscle relaxation. We did going up the body from the feet to the head and then down again in a different style. There are as many variations on progressive relaxation as there are teachers, but I based the first on Ian Gawler’s interpretation and the second was what I use in some of my hypnotic inductions.

We had a short discussion whilst waiting to see if more people were to arrive about Chakras meditations, but we may not touch on this until the Mandala and meditation session in late November.

The mind is much clearer and the manual is on the way to being written. So many other books to read and reference from, but it seems that Mindfulness meditation is the path that I am most drawn to. It is a joy to sit a record the exercises, although there are a few “office noises” invariably just as the session is about to finish. It just means that I treat that as a rehearsal and do it again, and find that I relax more as I get into the flow of recording.

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Eating for Energy

This requires thought…. too often we just grab something quick and easy without awareness and eat it too quickly and too much.

What do you habitually choose?

Breads and carbohydrate rich foods are easy to get access to and have their place if you are involved in an activity or occupation that requires strenuous muscular effort.

Fresh vegetables and fruits are abundant in Australia and even though the price of bananas has been high due to tropical cyclone & flood damage, a few bananas are a better alternative to processed convenience food laden with artificial chemical additives, trans fats and sugars. It is more than worth the effort to read the labels and choose foods that have fewer ingredients listed on them, for your long-term health.

There are some simple rules to observe when eating for energy:

  1. Eat when you are hungry. Sounds obvious, but we often eat when we are not, for a variety of reasons. These could be emotional eating, regulated meal times or that we have eaten too much at the last meal.
  2. Avoid eating at times when you are tired, run down, stressed or ill. Stress causes the body to divert its attention away from the digestive process, so take a glass of water, a few minutes to meditate or calm down and  wait until you are feeling hungry.
  3. Eat slowly and with mindfulness so that you can truly be aware of the flavour and texture of your food and become aware of the life force within it. (assuming you are not eating processed food!)
  4. Plan your meals to occur at regular times. Include snack times, so that you have something to eat about every 3 hours.
  5. Eat breakfast – this should be your biggest meal and dinner the lightest, which is completely opposite to what most of us do. Ensure that your last food intake is at least 3 hours before going to bed, so that digestion can begin effectively.

There are several schools of thought about what you should be eating.

You might want to consider the following:

  • food miles – how far has your food travelled to get to you?
  • food combining – this means not combining carbohydrates with protein or acid fruits. Proteins can be divided into 3 more groups – animal flesh, dairy and nuts/seeds.
  • Mono meals – choosing one particular food for a meal and eating nothing else.
  • Vegetarian –  choosing to forgo eating animal flesh for either ethical reasons or religious reasons. 

Eating for energy is not a diet plan, it is a method of making better choices about what food to fuel your body and for the planet. Learn which foods are acid forming and which are alkaline. Alkaline foods are vegetables, salads, fruit (except plums & cranberries), almonds and milk. Acid foods are all animal proteins, cheese, nuts and foods made from cereals. Check for sugar content. Refined sweets & sugars are metabolized quickly by your body and will result in that “sugar crash” and further stress your body, leading to long-term to insulin resistance in susceptible individuals.

There are any number of websites and books that can further educate you on which foods are best for you. Ultimately it is up to you to experiment with what types of foods give you the most health and energy.  Sue Dengate’s book Fed Up is useful to discover what additives are in your food. The food combining plan devised by Dr William Hay has helped many people regain health. The Polarity Diet by Dr Randolph Stone is a wonderful way to regain energy and health.