Yogi Bhajan, Kundalini Yoga Master, wanted women to have a sense of their own worth. He felt that when this happens, women empower themselves and the world around them. He truly believed that it was time for women to step into their own power.
Yogi Bhajan said to women "Your inner concept and your outer projection have to be in balance. From beginning to end, you must act as a women in absolute grace." He also said, "You are woman, not a playmate. You are a woman, not a good-for-nothing. No creature on this planet has the beauty, the strength, and the power that you have as a woman".
There is beauty and a sense of wholeness and heartfulness when women come together in a circle. Women's Circles are a chance to take a step back, focus and decide which path to take forward. The intention is to figure out our inner concept so we can start to project who we are.
The next Women's Circle is on Friday 12 Oct 2018 at 7pm. Through meditation, connecting with the vibrational energy of essential oils and through guided journaling and discussion, we come to a deep understanding of our hearts desires. We will be working with Lemon Myrtle essential oil at this Women's Circle. Lemon Myrtle helps us when we want to move from the vibration of doubtfulness to resourcefulness. As we move into leadership in our own lives, we learn to balance allowin amd taking action to manifest our dreams.
Start to step into self-understanding and resourcefulness with these three questions:
1. What does success mean to me?
2. What makes me feel truly alive?
3. What do I want my legacy to be?

The work I do - Indian Head Massage, Reiki and Seichem, Foot Massage, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation - all help people relax and find balance in their daily lives. They help them release tension, aches and pains, improve mental and emotional health and promote relaxation and the body's self-healing capacity. This is how I've understood my work.
Now I'm beginning to see my work in a different way. Each and every one of us is made of up vibrating molecules. Each person, table, chair, house, car, sheet of metal, everything is made up of vibrating molecules. Some vibrate very slowly like molecules that form a table, a rock or ice. Others vibrate very fast like steam molecules - water molecules converted to a faster vibration through heat.
When we are stressed about something or just going about living our lives, every thought we think, everything we feel, changes molecules within us. They begin to vibrate differenly. When we're stressed, molecules in our shoulders may vibrate and change to create knots of tension. Molecules in our nervous system change causing butterflies in our stomach. The molecules we're made up of are constantly being affected by the evironment within us and outside of us. What we think and feel can create molecules within the body.
When I give an Indian Head Massage or Reiki and Seichem session, or teach a yoga or meditation class, I am helping people to change how the molecules in their body vibrate. Each therapy or practice helps raise our vibration. We raise our vibration from heavy and tight thoughts and emotions to lighter thoughts and emotions of peace and joy.
By raising our vibration, we improve our health.
Here are some resources to help you increase your knowledge around this:
Gaia documentary call EMotion
Book: Molecules of Emotion by Dr. Candace B. Pert
I'm so excited to keep learning more and more about research that's helping to explain the work that massage therapists, energy healers, yoga teachers and other holistic professions do.
Bye for now!
Tracy Fitzgerald
www.relaxfromstress.ie

This is a question I am asked a lot...How did I get into Indian Head massage, Reiki, yoga and everything else like this. First a little review of what I've done and am doing.
I loved aromatherapy 20 years ago as a teenager and loved how the oils could help me feel mentally and emotionally better. When I went to study aromatherapy in 2007, the course was full and I was offered a place on an Indian Head Massage course. I was drawn to do Reiki and Seichem in 2012 as well as Meditation Facilitator training. Then I started my aromatherapy diploma at the end of 2015, Kundalini Yoga in 2016, and Aromatic Kinesiology in 2016 and 2018. This year I'm doing Reiki and Seichem level 3 and finishing my aromatherapy diploma.
I feel drawn to do it is the first reason. Another reason is because I want to earn a living doing something I love. I've worked hard to become as qualified as I am and it's a joy to use my knowledge and experience to help other people. Whatever we aim for in life, we're always working to create a life filled with joy. To get joy, we need to clear out mental and emotional patterns that no longer serve us. We also need to reflect on what patterns we want to create. People who get treatments or come to meditation or yoga classes find a supportive place to be themselves for a short time and figure themselves out. They feel great afterwards.
I do what I do to serve people and help them along in their journey, just as I have been helped by therapists and teachers.
Have a good weekend!
Sat Nam!
Tracy Fitzgerald

Awareness can be such a buzz word, but what does it actually mean? The dictionary definition of awareness is "knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or subject at the present time based on information or experience".
We learn to understand our wants, needs and motivations by using awareness. For example, in 2011 when I was getting recurrent chest infections, I realised that it was caused by stressful, grief related shallow breathing. By breathing properly into my belly, and my managing stress, As well as going to the doctor, the recurrent chest infections stopped.
Awareness means questioning your behaviours and reactions to situations. When you have a sugar craving, it's asking yourself a few questions. Why do I need a sugar high? What am I trying to emotionally numb? Is there a better way to deal with this feeling?
Awareness can be brought to relationships, work, money and health. Through awareness, you're looking at sources of joy and seeing how those sources can be built on for the future. You're also looking at sources of tension, and seeing how you can stop experiencing that tension in the future.
Awareness, rather than burying our head in the sand, helps things to pass. Through awareness we identify how we need help and support to face what's going on in our lives.
For stress management and mental health support contact Tracy Fitzgerald from Relax From Stress Holistic Cente on 0862202734 or visit www.relaxfromstress.ie
Published in the Connaught Telegraph newspaper on 24 October 2017

Work is somewhere we spend anywhere from 20 to 60 hours at, depending on the job. Keeping this in mind, it’s so important to make sure we mind our mind at work. What goes on at work can affect our lives at home. With modern technology, there’s often so split between work and home life.
Workloads, workplace relations, or office politics can take its toll on mental health. Often people who come to me for Kundalini Yoga, Indian Head Massage or Reiki are trying to manage the stress of the workplace. Preventative care, or minding ourselves while we’re healthy, is a something that needs to be practiced more often. There are some steps we can take personally to mind our mental health at work.
1.Take personal responsibility for your work-life balance. Speak up when work expectations and demands are too much so employers can address them.
2.Take proper lunch and tea, trying to get out of the workplace if possible.
3.Try to draw a line between work and home. If you do need to bring work home, try to keep your work in a certain area of your home where you can close the door on it.
4.Develop protective strategies against poor mental health due to work such as exercise, regular therapies, walks, leisure activities and friendships.
To find out more about how Indian Head Massage, Reiki and Yoga can help mind your mind, visit www.relaxfromstress.ie, contact Tracy on 086-2202734 or email tracy@relaxfromstress.ie.
Published in the Connaught Telegraph newspaper on 17 October 2017

This week in my yoga classes I taught a yoga set called “Kriya to Throw Off Stress". It was so badly needed.

Every day our brain and nervous system are reacting and responding to all the internal and external things that are happening. Our brain is constantly on the look out for danger. In this mode the sympathetic part of the nervous system is activated.

On a regular basis, our body and mind needs effective relaxation to activate the parasympathetic nervous system so our body and mind can take a break, get some much needed repair and healing done so we can continue coping with our busy lives.


So how do we activate the parasympathetic nervous system so our body and mind can repair and heal? We do this with restorative yoga sets, relaxing Reiki, massage or reflexology sessions, a gentle walk on a beach or quiet country walk, a relaxing Epson Salt bath, listening to free guided meditations on Spotify or YouTube or listening to gentle music. It needs to be enjoyable, affordable and enjoyable!

When we relax deeply, we sleep better, have more energy, are calmer, are easier to be around, can focus better and we enjoy life more! So what can you start trying weekly to help your parasympathetic nervous system to activate?

For stress management and mental health contact Tracy from Relax From Stress Holistic Centre on 086-2202734 or visit www.relaxfromstress.ie.
Published in the Connaught Telegraph newspaper on 10 October 2017.

One way of working with our body and mind is the Chakra System. The Chakra System represents different parts of our body and mind. It is a useful guide for helping us to understand and heal ourselves. It's a way for us to take responsibility for our own wellbeing.
Many healing systems work with the Chakra System to bring balance into our body. Yoga, Reiki, colour healing, meditation and many other modalities work with the chakras.
The chakra system provides us with a way of understanding individual challenges as well as ways to heal or change.   Working on the chakras can lead to new ways of thinking and to emotional understanding and expression.   
The chakra system can be used to understand and treat various life challenges.  No matter who you are or what challenges you face, the chakra system can assist in your growth and healing.
When we work with the chakras for healing, we are looking to bring balance into our lives. Balancing chakras happens with yoga, energy healing, crystals, affirmations, meditations, journaling and many other ways. Balancing the chakras may need to be done regularly. Just like we need to wash our body regular to stay clean, our chakras need work to stay balanced.
There are 7 chakras plus the aura. In Kundalini Yoga the aura is seen as the 8th chakra. Here's a description  of the 7 chakras:
Chakra 1: Root Chakra represents our connection with earth and is associated with the colour red. It's located at the base of the spine. Issues linked to the root chakra include survival, trust, prosperity, roots, grounding, health, home, family, appropriate boundaries. It's about our right to be here.
Chakra 2: Sacral Chakra represents water and is associated with the colour orange. It's located in the lower abdomen. Sacral chakra issues include pleasure, sexuality, emotions, movement, desire, need, sensation. Its about our right to feel.
Chakra 3: Solar Plexus Chakra represents our inner fire and is associated with the colour yellow. It's located in the upper abdomen. Solar Plexus issues include Energy, activity, autonomy, individuation, will, self-esteem, proactivity, power. It's about our right to act.
Chakra 4: Heart Chakra represents air and is associated with the colour green. It's located at our heart centre. Issues connected to the heart include Love, balance, self-love, relationship, devotion, reaching out and taking in. It's about our right to love.
Chakra 5: Throat Chakra is associated with the colour blue. It's located at the throat. Issues connected to the throat chakra include Issues: Communication, creativity, listening, finding one’s own voice. Its about our right to speak.
Chakra 6: Third Eye Chakra is associated with the colour indigo or violet. It's located between the eyebrows. Third Eye issues include intuition, imagination, image, visualization, insight, dreams, vision. Its about our right to see.
Chakra 7: Crown Chakra is located at the top of the head. It's colour is white or purple. The Crown Chakra is connected with transcendence, immanence, belief systems, higher power, divinity, union, vision. It's about our right to know.
There's a lot to the Chakra System and this really is a very brief introduction. I highly recommend books by Anodea Judith to help you understand the Chakra System. There are many websites with excellent information on the Chakra System. 
I use the Chakra System as a tool for healing. By seeing it as a tool I can use, I take responsibility for my body and mind. I may not work with it for months, then sometimes I'll come back to it so I can work through something.  Enjoy getting to know this part of yourself!

On 30 August 2017, Louise Hay transitioned from her body. Through her work, Louise Hay has helped generations of people to help themselves.  Through her books alone, such as You Can Heal Your Life, Louise taught positive thinking, affirmations, and how our thoughts and feelings affect our health.
Louise was 90 years young. What a life she has lived. She rose from the terrible challenges in life to become a beacon of light and hope for millions.
Over the last couple of years, the world has lost many celebrities, both musicians and actors. The transitioning of Louise Hay from this life is the one that has affected .e the most and I cried. As I looked through my books, searching for You Can Heal Your Life again, I notice how many books a f oracle card decks I have that were published by her publishing company Hay House. Louise's legacy isn't just in her own books and other products. Her legacy shines through all the authors signed by Hay House. Louise created a publishing company that published books of heart and compassion, that help people through their lives. That is some legacy to leave.
Louise Hay, both directly in her own work or indirectly through authors she supported, has impacted my life in a powerful way. Through her heart and compassion, I have learned to open my heart and become compassionate. Her legacy has helped me through my own challenges and will keep helping me. Her influence helps me in my own work with others.
As the saying goes, she was some woman for one woman! Thank you Louise, for your heartful and compassionate work, and for your immense legacy. Rest well.