On April 27th, Tuesday, from 3:00pm-8:00pm, we invite you to join us for an open house to tour the Brazos Healing Center, learn more about what we offer, and enjoy some refreshments with other community members. We will have a number of demonstrations/talks running on the hour and repeating so visitors can come and go as they please from 3:00pm-8:00pm.  A detailed schedule and more information will be available soon!

Please note that our full schedule of classes begins the week of April 5th. See our calendar for more details.

Seeking more personalized teaching for your meditation or yoga practice?

Interested in understanding how holistic health consulting can help you?

Looking for a greater depth of experience in your own mind-body connection?

Try a private class or consultation with the Brazos Healing Center!

We would love to assist you in meeting your needs for overall health, wellness, and a balanced mind and body.

Packages and pricing are available here.

Holistic Lifestyle Intensive begins in April!

6-Week Holistic Lifestyle Intensive with Filipa Lakos, RN, MSN, AHN-BC – April 12th-May 24th, $400/participant: includes holistic nursing consultation, weekly yoga session, biweekly Healing Touch therapy sessions, weekly follow up visits, and group meetings. Participation is limited. Contact Filipa Lakos to sign up: Filipa[at]brazoshealing; 979-218-9108

Cost: $25/participant

Date/Location: Sunday, April 18th, 2:00-4:00pm, 1651 Rock Prairie Rd, College Station Medical Center Auditorium Room (2nd floor)

This 2-hour interactive workshop taught by certified Kundalini Yoga instructor, Lisa Tauferner, will introduce participants to Kundalini Yoga, a dynamic form of yoga that awakens awareness. It uses sets of yogic postures and movements (asana) with meditative focus, breath work (pranayama), and chanting (mantra). In addition to strengthening the health and well being of the physical body, it is very useful for emotional balance, mental clarity, stress relief, and personal transformation. No previous yoga experience is required and this yoga is appropriate for all. Click here to read an article about Kundalini yoga.

Please contact Lisa Tauferner at (979) 739-4338 or lisa[at]brazoshealing.com with any questions and to sign up. You can show up on the day of the workshop as well.

(Note: This is in the 2-story beige brick professional building with “1651″ on it and it is across Rock Prairie Road from the College Station Medical Center)

Everyone can learn and apply the healing art of energy therapy!

Learn more about Reiki energy therapy and how it can benefit your life through one or both training workshops held by the Brazos Healing Center. Lisa Tauferner, a trained Usui Reiki Master teacher and practitioner, will offer the following workshops listed below. Additional Reiki energy therapy levels (Reiki Levels II and Master Level) and Reiki trainings will be announced at a later date.

All workshops held at College Station Medical Center Auditorium Room (2nd floor)

• Introduction to Reiki Energy Therapy Workshop, February 27th (Saturday), 2:00 pm- 4:00 pm. Cost: $25 per participant. Participants can sign up in advance or sign up at the workshop. See below for sign up contact details.

- This interactive 2-hour workshop will provide participants with an overview of Reiki energy therapy including its history, practitioners’ experiences with this therapy, how it can be used, and practical, simple exercises to access relaxation for stress management. The workshop will include a Reiki energy therapy share opportunity so participants can more directly experience and access this holistic healing art. This workshop is appropriate for anyone who wants to learn more about this energy therapy and possibly explore further training. Should participants decide that they want to take the Reiki Energy Therapy Level 1 training, they will receive a discounted rate for the Level 1 training – more information below.

• Reiki Energy Therapy Level 1 Training, March 20-21 (Saturday and Sunday), 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, each day. Cost: $175 per participant; $140 per participant with participation in the Introduction to Reiki Energy Therapy workshop – Deadline to sign up is March 19th – see below for sign up instructions.

- This interactive 2-day workshop will provide participants the first level of Reiki energy therapy training, which includes learning the background and history of this healing art, overview of energy centers, techniques for utilizing this healing art to help others as well as managing a regular and grounded personal practice, and practical experience sharing Reiki energy therapy with other participants. No previous experience with Reiki energy therapy is required. Participants are required to attend both dates and cost includes training materials and certificate.

To sign up for one or both of these workshops, please contact Lisa Tauferner (Lisa[at]brazoshealing.com; 979-739-4338). More information on Reiki energy therapy can be found here.

Click here for the Reiki Energy Therapy Training Flyer

Beginning in November 2009, the Brazos Healing Center will offer free 2-hour workshops every month to highlight through various themes how holistic health services can enable and support self-wellness. All are welcome to attend all or any of these events.

Please contact Lisa Tauferner at (979) 739-4338 or lisa[at]brazoshealing.com with any questions.

Brazos Healing Center Workshop Dates for Spring 2010 – All workshops held at College Station Medical Center Auditorium Room (2nd floor)

(Note: This is in the 2-story beige brick professional building with “1651″ on it and it is across Rock Prairie Road from the College Station Medical Center)

• April 17, 2010 (Saturday), 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm: Erase the Stress: April is Stress Awareness Month by the Health Resource Network – what better time to learn more about ways to manage stress and maintain a more healthy overall lifestyle? Various easy to practice techniques will be discussed to support ways of managing stress and participants will have the opportunity to share their own techniques.

Click here for the Spring 2010 workshop flyer

Click here for the March workshop handout.

Click here for the February workshop handout.

Click here for the December workshop handout.

Click here for the November workshop handout.

Subscribe to our e-news to get the latest updates.

Yogi Tea is a health-promoting beverage and a tonic for the whole body. It strengthens the nervous system, energizes the body, clears the mind, and is both a remedy and preventive measure for colds, allergies, and other illnesses. Yogi Tea is best made two quarts at a time. It can be stored in the refrigerator or even frozen. Simply heat tea and add milk and honey when you’re ready to drink it.

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a 3-4 quart pot. Add cloves and boil for one minute. Next, add cardamon, peppercorns, cinnamon, and fresh ginger root. Cover and boil for at least 30 minutes. For best flavor, cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours! When ready, remove from heat, add black tea and let cool. Strain tea. When ready to drink, add soy or dairy milk and sweeten to taste with honey or maple syrup.

Drink often!

(Source: YogaYoga.com)

Dr. Oz on Nightline touting the idea of using energy therapy (Reiki) and other modalities to complement standard medical care in order to holistically treat his patients.
Heart to Heart With Dr. Oz

Here Dr. Oz is on his show recently recommending Reiki.

Shared via AddThis

Shabd means “the sacred word.” The sound vibration of the Infinite goes into the breath, and then into the core of the being. The best time to practice this meditation is at night before retiring. If practiced regularly, sleep will be deep and relaxed, and the nerves will regenerate. You will find that you think better, work better, love better, and live better. It gives radiance which gives patience, the first condition of real love.

1) Sit in Easy Pose.

2) Place the hand in the lap, palms up, right over left. Gaze at tip of nose, eyes half-closed.

3) Inhale in 4 equal parts (or “sniffs”), mentally hearing the sound Sa Ta Na Ma (pronounced “suh-tuh-nah-muh”). You can mentally count 1-2-3-4 instead.

4) Hold the breath, mentally repeating the mantra 4 times for a total of 16 beats (instead of the mantra, you can count 1-2-3-4, 4 rounds each). Then exhale in 2 equal strokes mentally projecting Wahe Guru (pronounced “wha-hey goo-roo”). As before, you can think 1-2 as you exhale in two strokes rather than the mantra. As you wish!

Continue for 11 minutes. Slowly and gradually work up to 31 minutes.

Sa Ta Na Ma (derived from Sat Nam): a bij or seed mantra that is used often in Kundalini yoga. Roughly translated, it means “I identify with the highest truth of my identity.”

Wahe Guru: Wahe means “wow” or “ecstasy” – an exclamation of the joy of existence. Guru means that force which brings one from darkness into light.

In reading an article in the latest installment of Yoga Wisdom, a free e-newsletter provided by Yoga Journal, I was struck by the timeliness of the topic: meditation as a means of quieting the mind.

Numerous students, especially more and more over the past couple of years, have posed questions about meditation – either addressing their own practice and knowledge about it or just simply requesting it as a part of our class to relax more deeply and mitigate stress.

One sentence that I enjoyed in the article sums it up best about the mind and meditation: “Quieting the mind doesn’t have to mean shushing your many inner voices. By letting them have their say, you can discover the all-encompassing stillness of Big Mind.”

Okay, but now, I wondered: What is ‘Big Mind’?

Essentially, the article covers the different voices that we encounter (the different ’selves’ of ourself) during meditation and the process of going within. While this can sound quite strange to someone new to meditation, most of us can identify with the different thoughts (and ‘voices’) that go through our mind in the span of a day. It can feel maddening and frustrating at some points, like a runaway train, when these thoughts are in control of us rather than the other way around. “The monkey mind,” as one fellow yoga teacher’s daughter described it. “Meditation is about taming the monkey mind,” she said. Indeed!

In the article, the author mentions the Nonseeking Mind. In Kundalini yoga, this is called the neutral mind. It is the state of the mind where you are not seeking nor judging, but Being. Once you reach, dhyana, this  state of meditation, you access the Big Mind, or as I like to understand it – your Higher Self and the part of you which is part of the greater all. Heavy, eh? Well, just know at least that with this state of mind, you have tamed your monkey mind and are able to be in a relaxed state without being unconscious. Awesome? You bet.

Read more about the Big Mind meditation here and try it for yourself. I welcome your comments, suggestions,  questions on and experiences with meditation.

Humbly on the mat taming my monkey mind,

Lisa