Wednesday lunch dates in August 2015

Delicious, wholesome raw vegan meals for two.  Click here to read about this wonderful Wednesday special from Table for Two Made for You—for the month of August 2015 only.  

NEW: Yoga Photo-voucher Christmas gifts!

 THOU ART YOGA Photo-voucher option 1
Photography: Elspeth Duncan

THOU ART YOGA Photo-voucher option 2
Photography: Elspeth Duncan

A unique Christmas gift:
"REFLECT. CONNECT. PROJECT."
(Voucher for one Kundalini Yoga class)

Give your loved ones the gift of transformation with this Thou Art Yoga photo-voucher for one Kundalini Yoga class.

$60TT

This keepsake voucher (suitable for beginning, intermediate or advanced students) comes in the form of a greeting card featuring an original Thou Art Yoga photograph. Class details are written inside the card, with ample space for you to add your own message.

Vouchers valid January to end of March 2012

For more information and to order your Thou Art Yoga photo-vouchers by 15 December contact me:
786-2539
Email Me

Click here for general Thou Art Yoga class details.

Thank you.

Elspeth

A Unique Christmas Gift

Please click on image to enlarge flier and see details.

N.B. Price of $100 quoted in TT dollars, for copies of the book available in Trinidad & Tobago.
Those living abroad can purchase their copies of Daisy Chain from amazon.com

Give the Gift of Transformation

The ideal gift for a loved one who wants a positive new start and healthy commitment for 2011 . . . and beyond. 

At only $350TT, the Thou Art Yoga Passport entitles its holder to ten consecutive pre-paid Kundalini Yoga classes, starting Jan 2011 (East & POS). 

Perfect for all levels, including those who have never practised Yoga—but want to. Visit http://yogapassport.blogspot.com for details.

Give Love

Sample (2 pages & cover of calendar): 

Please click on the image to see details more clearly.

* 

No more sitting on the fence, wondering at the last minute what gifts to buy. 

Ideal as a Christmas/New Year's gift:

12 of my natural heart images put together in a compact desktop CD calendar.
A reminder that Love is all around us—a reflection of who we are.

Only $70 each.
Special limited edition.

Please place your order(s) early, while stocks last.

Elspeth
786-2539

Ready for Love?

INVEST IN LOVE: the ideal gift

Please visit this link http://tinyurl.com/27vvzby to see the available selection of natural heart photos—a reminder that Love is everywhere and comes in all forms. The ideal gift for you and/or loved ones . . . for any special occasion or "just because."

Orders have already started coming in. This week, the first batch of requests will be processed. If you already know which hearts you would like to order, please contact me with details by Thursday 4th November to ensure that your images are produced with the current set.

Pricing and other information
4" x 6" - $100TT ($1US - $6.3TT)
8" x 12" - $250TT
Discount of 10% for wholesale orders

Each order:
(a) is printed and heat-sealed on hard board with a hook, for hanging and easy framing.
(b) comes with a special "Love Note"

FOR INFORMATION & TO ORDER:
Email Me
Or call: (868) 786-2539

Average production 3 - 5 days.
50% downpayment on all orders. Balance upon delivery.
Special arrangements (inc shipping & handling) for international orders.

Christmas orders close 15th December.

(Copyright signature on thumbnails not included on prints)

Love at first sight

Gloxinia

On Friday one of my yoga students  who was unable to make it to last week's Humee Hum Brahm Hum gave me this flowering plant as a gift. She couldn't remember the name of it, so I said I would ask my father (who's a Botanist).

Later, I emailed to let her know that it's a Gloxinia. She emailed back with this site and indicated what the Gloxinia flower stands for: Love at first sight.

Great gift. Better yet when it's mutual.

Crystal Received

Just before going into yesterday's yoga class, Claudia appeared with my crystal. The moment of receiving the package and having her explain a few things was like having a birthday all over again.

I haven't taken a photo of the crystal pendant, but it is lovely, finely crafted with sterling silver with an additional small amethyst piece worked into the design. The quartz crystal is from Tibet. (Claudia gets her crystals from all over the world).

The pendant came in a sheer pinkish bag with gold roses and leaves on it. In that bag were also two cards (see bottom of this post). All of this was in a larger white paper bag which contained a rolled piece of paper with information on crystals—what they are, how they can heal and how to cleanse them. Also included in the white bag were two sticks of fantastic-smelling incense (sage and something else) and a tiny ziplock bag containing a little bundle of a scented herb (sage?) wrapped in pink netting and tied with a small pink bow.

The energy with which Claudia gave this gift to me was so loving and out of the blue. All I can say is Wow. It's great when people follow what they feel and give to others as their spirit directs them to give ... without worrying about what the person will think of them or the gift.

As one of my yoga students pointed out, I seem to receive special gifts on Tuesdays. At a recent Tuesday yoga class, I had just collected Lynn's pocket book from the Post Office and was showing it to her before the class.

This is the wording on Claudia's call card, in case anyone is interested in seeing what she has to offer:

Claudia's Crystals

868 473-1408

claudiascrystals (at) yahoo (dot) com 

(N.B. I wrote out her e-mail address like this so robots crawling the web for addresses to use for spamming won't detect it)

Individually hand crafted wearable art made from the finest stones from all over the world, wrapped by hand with sterling silver, creating unique one-of-a-kind pendants for you or that special person in your life ...

Gift of a Crystal

The small piece of quartz I found

The other day at the yoga retreat I was walking on the stony road leading to the house and found a small quartz crystal. I kept it in my pocket.

At the beginning of the retreat, because the room was full of participants, I placed my mat outside of the northern verandah door. Inside, near the doorway to the front verandah, there was a woman who had a large crystal in front of her mat. At some point during the session, I automatically got up and moved my mat to the eastern doorway, so that I was next to her. I noticed that she had many more crystals all around and on her mat.

During one of the rest periods, we got to talking. Turns out she is deeply into crystals and makes fantastic jewelry with them (some of which she was wearing). I showed her the little piece of quartz I had found and half-jokingly suggested that maybe the little quartz piece felt drawn to her crystals (its distant cousins) and wanted to be near to them—hence my getting up out of the blue and moving next to her.

Yesterday I got a great email from her with the message that she couldn't stop thinking of me and my crystal and she was compelled to make me a Quartz pendant as a gift. When she laid out her quartz points in front of her with the intention that one is for me, a particular Quartz popped out at her. She says it's the most sacred of all crystals, known as a Record Keeper. (Read more about Record Keepers here)

Amazing gift. Can't wait to receive it.

Unexpected gifts

Usually when eating watermelon, I sit in the driveway with Jasper. I toss the seeds under the pine tree. The seedlings sprout quickly but, between Jasper stepping/lying down on them and the hot sun scorching them, they don't survive. Lately with all the rain, the seedlings actually started getting big and spreading rapidly. Yesterday I noticed these three little gifts emerging ... with more on the way.

Admit something

Full moon (blue moon) shot taken on 31 December 2009

This morning a friend in London sent me the below piece, which she received from someone she knows:

Admit something.

Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me"
Of course you do not do this out loud
otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still, though,
think about this,
this great pull in us to connect
Why not become the one who lives with a full moon
in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in the world
is dying to hear?

(Credited to Hafiz)

Making Love

I've already worked on the non-edible part of the Tongue Lingers love packages ... and may get started on the edible part today. Orders will be ready for Thursday.

The Gift of Life

Find more photos like this on Give it to me Raw

Some of my raw creations
*

Yesterday I started putting together the gift I'll be giving my godson Luc (age 8) for Christmas. He doesn't read this blog, so mentioning the gift won't spoil the surprise. I'm sharing this because someone out there may be wracking their brain, trying to figure out what to give someone (child or adult) ... and this blog post may come to the rescue.

This is a gift for all ages. It's also ideal because, once taken care of and attended to, it will continue to give to the recipient and loved ones all through the year(s).

The gift will also get the recipient into activities that are necessary in today's world:
(1) reducing, reusing and recycling
(2) planting our own organic food

I'm giving Luc three troughs, each containing rich, moist, fertile, dark brown, earth from Santa Cruz. The troughs are apple crates (crates that apples came packed in - available for free from any fruit vendor). This is an example of 'reusing', rather than purchasing expensive plastic crates from plant stores. The apple crates are perfectly good vessels that would otherwise have been tossed into some landfill.

Trough #1 contains basic seasoning: chadon beni and chive (will add other herbs too)
Trough #2 contains 4 green cabbages and two melongene plants
Trough #3 contains 4 lettuce plants and some more chadon beni

Maybe I'll buy a child's watering can to go with it.

This is a good start. Pretty soon he will be able to harvest his own crops ... although, these are the kinds of foods that children generally don't like.

But maybe he'll start to like greens because he's growing them.

Based on my own experience as a child, I'm assuming he'll enjoy having his own kitchen garden. I used to have a few beds in the back yard where I grew every imaginable seed or growable item that passed through the kitchen: pigeon peas, corn, pumpkin, watermelon, potato, etc.

With gifts from the Gods, I am a millionaire

My purchases for the morning: coconut, watermelon, avocado

This morning as I stood drinking a jelly coconut, the coconut vendor (the one by UWI Doubles) launched into one of his little stories:

"I does wuk for recreation. I does wuk for recreation! I is 87 years old! I have property for $3 million dollars." (Here he scrunched up his mouth and waved his hands dismissively). "I give dat to meh chirren. I ent know A from B. I could speak Hindi, I could speak English, but in school I couldn't spell meh name. A and B?!"

I understand what he means by 'working for recreation'. He doesn't need to work anymore, but he wants to.

Work for some is not about the work itself. It's about routinely performing an action to get money to pay bills and 'live'.

Over the past month or so, I've been gradually cleaning, clearing and giving away things that I no longer want, need or use. The most recent things that I chose to give were some framed original photographs of mine. Those who expressed the desire to own them agreed that they would get the photograph of their choice in exchange for raw fruits, vegetables and/or nuts of their choosing.

Last night was the first exchange. Two individuals each received their framed photos. In return I received portugals, mango and two bags of assorted nuts (walnuts, etc) in their shells.

Today I will deliver another photo and the recipient says she'll take me to the fruit/vegetable stall for produce and/or to The Little Store for dried fruit and/or nuts.

On Saturday I'll be exchanging the final two framed photographs for more raw goods. One recipient said she will meet me after she goes to the market. The other mentioned 'a box' of supplies. In total, this is my food for a week or more.

In order to have and experience some things in this world, we need money. Right now I can't pay my TSTT bill with two avocados and a slab of watermelon, buy a house by the river/sea with bananas and nuts or travel the world in exchange for two large pumpkins.

But it feels special and exciting to receive raw edibles in return for these framed photographs. Symbolically, it is very meaningful to me.

The recipients genuinely wanted the images they chose and, in return, they spent time thinking about me, about what raw produce I would like and then going and getting it. They didn't just push their hands into their pockets and pull out a wad of bills or hurriedly write a cheque.

From this little experience I'm inspired to think of money differently.

Money is a special, natural and nourishing gift from the Gods. It grows with ongoing, plentiful abundance all around me. It's my joy to grow it, nurture it, harvest it, share it and exchange it in the process of making life richer for myself and those around me.

Thinking like this, the next time I write a cheque or give money to someone in exchange for something, it could be an entirely different experience for both of us (giver and receiver):

(When paying phonebill): I exchange rich, healthy organically-grown produce from my abundant harvest with TSTT in return for crystal clear, enjoyable, meaningful, life-affirming communication.

(Paying internet bill): I exchange full, ripe fruits from my flourishing financial garden with Flow in return for an ever-enriching network of meaningful global connections, increased knowledge and pleasure and the ability to spread my wings and soar with effortless grace to wherever I want and need to go.

(When buying new clothes): My fertile, freshly flowering finances are a special delivery to this woman behind the cash register who is handing me a bag full of places-to-go-people-to-meet-feeling-and-looking-great. And the beautiful scent of my flowering finances wafts with gratitude to the old woman in India who sat for hours weaving the cotton that made it possible.

Seek and find

The other day the blogger called Location Laura left a comment on my blog. Thereafter I checked hers out ... and then she invited me to do something, which I did.

Go to her page, scroll down and click on the icon to which you think I would most be drawn. If you know me it should be easy. There you'll find the result of what she asked me to do.

Sunflower Power to the Rescue

Samantha Rochard's piece for Mystic Intervention was The Moon Tree ... a tree containing little gifts bags of seeds and a small candle. Each kind of seed had its own meaning (e.g. I got Sunflower seeds, representing 'recognition of achievements'). The idea was for the 'giftee' to devise and perform a personal ritual while planting his or her seeds ... and to subsequently nurture them, thereby nurturing the promise inherent in the seeds.

Yesterday, from the moment I woke up, I was focused and absorbed, busy cleaning and clearing, throwing away, playing some good music in the background as I did so. I was feeling purposeful, happy about lightening up the energy, about the feeling of clearing space and getting rid of 'old', excited about new things to come and that "Life is good ..."

Then at one point, around 3 p.m., I stopped, sat down ... and suddenly started to feel very low in energy. Everything within me dropped and I just sat there. My sense of focus and purpose quickly turned to disillusionment, apathy and doubt as I slipped into the 'What am I doing with my life? Does any of what I do make sense? Why do I do it?" mode that I sometimes slip into after I've poured a significant amount of energy into a project that leaves me empty after, with nothing visible or tangible to show for it ... but yet with a great intangible, energetic feeling. In other words, the kinds of projects that I really love doing and would happily absorb myself in, that come from the heart and spirit, that really touch and move people and myself in the process ... but which don't (yet) seem to translate into the 'real world' of buying material necessities and paying bills ...

After a few minutes of pensive moping, I suddenly remembered the little yellow bag with the candle and Sunflower seeds ...
I immediately got up, went outside with it, found an empty pot, filled it with rich soil (the same soil I used for Melanie the Miracle Melon) and planted the three seeds.

The three seeds ... and one little piece of something that looks like it belonged with them.

Making a hole for the last seed

I placed the pot in the little garden outside of my bedroom window, close to Melanie.
Then went indoors and placed the candle from the little gift bag in this small candle holder on the bookshelf in my new clean, light space.

Doing this activity, I felt my energy shift. Even though so small an act, I felt that something big had happened. At the very least, it distracted me from my own mind. Now as I sit here writing this, I know that the doubt, disillusionment and apathy I was feeling in that moment yesterday were caused by me projecting ahead of 'the now' (Desirée, if you're reading this, I dropped that link in for you) and worrying about what I really don't need to worry about.

In the moment of worrying about bills or buying things do I actually have to pay a bill or buy anything?

No.

So why worry about it?

Yesterday's bill payments ... and a 'suncookie'

Yesterday none of the three stationery stores I went into had fluorescent pink Post-Its, so I ended up buying bright green ones to attach messages to the bills I was paying.

My credit card bill payment

My internet bill payment
*

Later that day, as I drove to French conversational class (a new 6-week course we're doing with a woman from France called Aurelie), I actually found myself wondering with anticipation when next I would get a bill. Amazing that something as simple as Post-It notes can transform the bill payment process from a reluctant groan to an exciting event ... for me and perhaps also for the person processing the payment.

In other news, yesterday's heat was harsh. When electricity went off for the second time, I had just started dehydrating a batch of crackers (flax, sunflower, chive, onion, garlic). I took a piece and left it lightly wrapped (so birds wouldn't pick at it) in the sun on top of my car trunk. Within two hours, what was once a wet, spreadable mass, was quite firm to the touch.

How to enjoy paying bills (with update)

When I pay bills with a cheque and drop off in the FasDeposit at the bank, I enclose a note written on a pink Post-It. The last note I stuck on my TSTT bill was the one in the above photo.

I just got back the stamped bill in the mail. When I opened it, the same pink Post-It was stuck to my receipt. Whoever got it was returning the sentiment

*****

(Update ... next day):

... and I stuck this one on my TSTT bill today (22-05-09)

Some people are suspicious when given to

Extra Extra
*

This morning before I went to buy coconut water I bought the three daily newspapers. I decided to buy an extra Express to give to the coconut man since he is standing up for most of the day and might want something to read. When I got there he was already reading a newspaper ... the Express. Someone had already bought one for him.

Driving back home with the extra Express, I was looking for someone on the road I could give it to, who might want it. The roads were strangely void of people until I came to the construction site which used to be the large field. Two workmen were getting out of a car. I slowed down near to them, held out the Express and said: "Hi, would you like a newspaper?"

The one closer to my car looked at me incredulously and laughed.

I said: "I bought it for the coconut vendor but he had one already, so it's an extra. You can have it if you want."

He looked suspicious. Was I giving him drugs?

He laughed again, almost nervously, and looked at his friend ... asking permission to accept the contraband. He then took the paper slowly from me and said: "No charge?"

"No," I said and I drove off.

It's not the first time I've experienced this. What makes some people suspicious or hesitant when someone (stranger or not) gives them something without wanting anything in return?

You've got (snail) mail

This afternoon I got three pieces of mail, two of which were the exciting kind. The other was from the bank.
Some time ago the blogger Lynn, in sharing a bit of her 'day job', offered to send a copy of her "Relaxation Technique for Stress Reduction" CD to the first ten people who left comments on that particular post. I happened to be one of them ... and the CD, from California, was one of the packages I received today. It's 15 minutes of Lynn's voice leading the listener through "a relaxing of your mind and body that leaves you feeling like an old rag doll, limp and loose, and blissed out." I'll put on my headphones and listen to it later this evening before I go to sleep.
My other package felt like a CD but wasn't. It contained two cards from my friend Rose in London. One was a greeting card with a haunting overhead photograph of the River South Esk winding through the Grampian Mountains, with a spotlight of sun beaming through grey clouds, illuminating a piece of the valley and making the river silver. Tucked into the greeting card was the other card ... a MotherPeace Tarot card which Rose (who picks a card every now and then when we are communicating) had picked for me some time earlier in January ... if I remember correctly, even before I knew I would be having the operation and this current period of rest.

The Four of Swords generally signifies a time of retreat and healing, meditation, going within, clearing of the head/heart/soul, positive stillness, recuperation after a period of great activity ... definitely what my life is about these days.