Lucie | Naturegrooves

Phil Shoenfelt

by Lucie | Jun 10, 2020 | Music

Phil Shoenfelt is a Prague-based British singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and author, whose path started on punk and post-punk scenes of London, Manchester and New York, where in 1981 he formed the post-punk band Khmer Rouge. They shared the stage with artists such as The Clash, Nico, or The Fall. For a time, the band was managed by Nat Finkelstein, the legendary photographer who collaborated with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, and who filmed a video for the Khmer Rouge song New Assassins.

In 1984 Phil moved to London and in 1989 he made his first solo recording, a 12 inch single Charlotte’s Room/The Long Goodbye. During his UK tour dates in early 90’s, Phil supported Crime & The City Solution and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. In 1994 Phil toured in the Czech Republic, supported by the band Tichá Dohoda. In 1995 he moved to Prague, where he formed his current band Phil Shoenfelt & Southern Cross. In 1997 Phil founded Fatal Shore with Berlin-based Australians Bruno Adams and Chris Hughes, and in 2011 he started Dim Locator, with Chris Hughes and Dave Allen. Phil also collaborated with Nikki Sudden (the founder of The Swell Maps and The Jacobites) playing lead guitar in his band in 1997-98, and recording Golden Vanity with him in 1998. In June 2014 Phil Shoenfelt & Southern Cross recorded a live album The Bell Ringer – Live At The Shot-Out Eye for the occasion of the band’s 20th anniversary. Cassandra Lied, a well-acclaimed solo album, was launched in early 2020. Phil Shoenfelt has published several titles: A fictionalised autobiography Junkie Love, a poetry collection The Green Hotel, Magdalena – Books One and Two (with the Prague surrealist poet and artist Kateřina Piňosová), Kamikaze Skull (poems co-written with UK performance artist Sophia Disgrace), and Stripped, a two-part authobiographical novel set in New York between 1979-1984. Phil also wrote the afterword for the 1995 Czech edition of Nick Cave’s cult book And The Ass Saw The Angel, and features in several anthologies, such as The Return Of Král Majáles – Prague’s International Literary Renaissance 1990-2010, or City Primeval. New York, Berlin, Prague, which was named after a Khmer Rouge song.

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Albums

Video

GHOST SONG

From the album ‘Cassandra Lied’, 2020.

FLY AWAY

From the album ‘Cassandra Lied’, 2020.

CHARLOTTE’S ROOM

From the album ‘God Is The Other Face Of The Devil’, 1993, and ‘Deep Horizon‘, 2005

DEAD FLOWERS FOR ALICE

From the album ‘Dead Flowers For Alice’, 1999, and ‘Deep Horizon’, 2005

HANOI JANE

From the album ‘Golden Vanity’, recorded in 1998 with Nikki Sudden. (Released in 2010.)

CLOAK OF VIRTUE

From the album ‘Golden Vanity’, recorded in 1998 with Nikki Sudden. (Released in 2010.)

DEVIL’S HOLE

From the album ‘Deep Horizon’, 2005, and ‘Backwoods Crucifixion’, 1990.

DARKEST HOUR

From the album ‘Dead Flowers For Alice’, 1999, and ‘Deep Horizon’, 2005

ALCHEMY

From the album ‘God Is The Other Face Of The Devil’, 1993, and ‘Deep Horizon’, 2005

GARDEN OF EDEN

From the album ‘Backwoods Crucifixion’, 1990

PSYCHE

From the album ‘Backwoods Crucifixion’, 1990

KHMER ROUGE – NEW ASSASSINS

From the album ‘New York – London 1981-86’
Videoclip directed by Nat Finkelstein

INFORMATION

Quardasonic Studios, NYC, 1980

Books / Selected Writings

JUNKIE LOVE
Phil Shoenfelt

Winner of the 2002 Firecracker Alternative Book Award in New York

Set in Camden Town, London, during the late 1980’s, Junkie Love is a nihilistic (and largely authbiographical) love story that revolves around the themes of addiction, decadence, hedonism and self-destruction.

“A nice, nasty read. I enjoyed it a lot”
Nick Cave

“A fine, gutsy, spare rendering of the drug underworld”
Will Self

Available at Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE
Apple Books

CITY PRIMEVAL. NEW YORK, BERLIN, PRAGUE

Curated by Robert Carrithers and Louis Armand

An anthology of stories, essays, interviews and photographs from the New York, Berlin & Prague underground scenes. It includes a 6000 word extract from Phil’s book ‘Stripped’, as well as photos of Khmer Rouge, Fatal Shore, Jolana Izbicka and Phil Shoenfelt.

The book takes its title from the Khmer Rouge song ‘City Primeval’.

Available at Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE

STRIPPED / AŽ NA DŘEŇ

A memoir of Shoenfelt’s New York years (1979-84).

An excerpt from the book’s opening in the original English version is available to read at Equus Press website.

Available at Kosmas (Czech translation)

STRIPPED / INKOGNITO V PODZEMÍ

Part II of Shoenfelt’s New York years memoir.

Available at Kosmas (Czech translation)

MAGDALENA – Book One
Phil Shoenfelt / Kateřina Piňosová

A collections of dark, erotic poems and incantations co-written with the Czech surrealist painter and poet Kateřina Piňosová.

Available at Moloko+

MAGDALENA – Book Two
Phil Shoenfelt / Kateřina Piňosová

A collections of dark, erotic poems and incantations co-written with the Czech surrealist painter and poet Kateřina Piňosová.

Available at Moloko+

A UZŘELA OSLICE ANDĚLA
(AND THE ASS SAW THE ANGEL)
Nick Cave / Afterword: Phil Shoenfelt

The Czech translation of Nick Cave’s classic Gothic novel includes afterword by Phil Shoenfelt, which can be read in English on Phil Shoenfelt’s website.

The Czech version of the book with Phil’s afterword (transl. into Czech) is available from Apple Books or Kosmas.

The novel in its original English version, but not containing Phil’s afterword, can be obtained from Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE.

The Return of Kral Majales (Prague's International Literary Renaissance 1990-2010

THE RETURN OF KRÁL MAJÁLES
Edited by Louis Armand

Prague’s International Literary Renaissance 1990-2010 – An Anthology

An anthology mapping the work of 90+ poets and writers active in Prague during the two decades post the Velvet Revolution. The title refers to the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s legendary visit in 1965, when on 1st of May he drove through the streets of Prague as a freshly elected ‘King of May’ by the students, and a few days later, on the plane to London, he wrote a poem Kral Majales. The anthology includes Phil Shoenfelt’s poem The Train of History… Derailed.

The Table of Contents of the anthology can be viewed here.

Available at Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE

KAMIKAZE SKULL
Phil Shoenfelt / Sophia Disgrace

Twenty poems co-written with UK performance artist Sophia Disgrace.

Available at Moloko+

THE GREEN HOTEL / ZELENÝ HOTEL

A collection of song lyrics and poetry from 1972-1997.

Available at Amazon US / Amazon UK

Phil Shoenfelt’s Official Website & Social Media:

http://www.philshoenfelt.com
http://www.philshoenfelt.de
https://www.facebook.com/philshoenfelt
https://www.facebook.com/dimlocator
https://www.facebook.com/Phil-Shoenfelt-David-Babka

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6 Non-Invasive Pain Relief Techniques

by Lucie | Jun 9, 2020 | Energy Medicine, Mind, Body & Spirit, Popular

Edward Munch – ‘Vampire’

This article explores six non-invasive pain relief techniques that I have learned from the legendary energy medicine practitioner and teacher Donna Eden. If you are experiencing pain, I encourage you to experiment with these techniques and see what works for you. I hope you will find some of them helpful, and if you do, please share them with others.

The Nature of Pain

Physical pain, in its various forms and degrees, can range from uncomfortable, unpleasant, to incapacitating and debilitating.

However unwelcome and inconvenient pain always is, it is a useful tool for recognising that our body needs our conscious attention to get things back to normal, and possibly avert a much worse health issue.

Pain insists very clearly that we should start taking care of our body. If we don’t get pain, we might not be motivated enough to take care of our body through healthy diet and exercise etc. But when pain strikes, we can be fast enough to try and get ourselves better. To paraphrase Marcel Proust, we make promise to kindness and knowledge, but we obey pain.

Most of us immediately reach for painkillers, or rush to the doctor or a pharmacy to get some, so we can start pain-free again. What was taken for granted before – our normal state without pain, is now regarded as something so desperately desired that we’d give just anything to get it back.

Using Energy to Diminish Pain

Although painkillers can be highly effective in diminishing the pain, in most cases they don’t cause the actual healing – they don’t really treat the underlying issue behind the pain. Through working with energies, we can often achieve results that are much more beneficial to our body then just numbing the pain with chemicals. What’s more, the results of such treatments can be long-lasting.

Pain As Congested Energy

One of the brilliant things about using energy for treating pain is that when we free the stuck / congested energy in the body, the pain often diminishes very quickly and noticeably. And to move the congested energy is often easier than people realise!

Also, stimulating acupuncture points can often increase pain-suppressing endorphins, and release opioid peptides, which are highly effective in relieving pain associated with autoimmune diseases, postoperative discomfort, period cramps, lower back pain, tendonitis, etc.

There are a number of techniques to diminish pain; here are a few examples of the techniques I’ve used with success:

1.Breathing Out The Pain

This is one of the simplest techniques which can be combined with other more complex ones, but it can be helpful even on its own. Since energy can be moved by breathing, we can gain some degree of control over our pain by breathing in through our nose (with mouth closed), an breathing out through our mouth.

Exhaling can release some energy involved with the pain. It’s good to visualise that on the outbreath we are releasing all our physical tension from our head to your toes.

This technique was also popularised by a French obstetrician Fernand Lamaze, who in the 1950s introduced a method called psychoprophylaxis, also known as ‘Lamaze breathing technique’, which helps women in labour to better manage contraction pains, through the use of controlled breathing and conscious relaxation.

The best way to remember this technique is to think of smelling a rose (for the inbreath) and then blowing out a candle (for the outbreath).

2.Tapping

Tapping is another effective technique which is familiar to the body, as it resembles the heartbeat. You’ll be freeing energy in the congested area. This technique is specially good to use for aching muscles – e.g. after carrying heavy luggage.

If, for example, you experience pain in your shoulders, you can use your fingers or a hairbrush to do the tapping. (I particularly like using a wooden hairbrush.) Keep tapping for about a minute, while breathing in through your nose and out though your mouth, visualizing the pain being tapped out of the sore area.

3. Stretching

If you gently stretch the area around the epicentre of the pain, you can often experience some relief. This is due to smoothing, evening out, or freeing the energy that has over-accumulated at the site where you feel the pain. (This technique is obviously not suitable for open wounds or burnt skin)

4. Pinching (‘Spindle Cell Mechanism’)

Using your thumb and your forefinger, VERY lightly pinch the skin around the painful area. This super-light pinch is powerful enough to free clogged energy in the painful area through communicating with your nervous system, informing it that pain is no longer necessary.

5. Siphoning the Pain

As the left side of our body receives energy, and the right sight releases it, this method can provide considerable relief from pain by placing our left hand on the painful area of the person we want to help. Our left hand will be pulling the excess energy from the sore area – ‘siphoning’ it off the other person, and thus providing him/her with relief. The energy will be draining off your right hand. Hold your right hand away from your body, facing down, and out.

Although this doesn’t often happen, it’s good to be aware of the risk of the energy of the other person being caught in your own body while performing this technique; you may start feeling pain yourself. This happened to me recently when I was treating my husband.

If this happens, stop at once and shake your hands off energetically. (I did exactly that, and then, to free my right hand from pain completely, did another healing technique on myself, described below. My pain was gone in less than ten minutes.)

6. Zone Tapping

One of the ways to stop or diminish pain is a technique called Zone Tapping. This technique is also practised in foot reflexology. I have used this technique on quite a few people including myself, and I’m happy to say that in most cases this simple treatment resulted in noticeable pain relief. According to this discipline, the body is divided into 6 zones (Figure 1 and 2).

First, you first locate the source of the pain on your body, then look it up on the diagram and determine on which zone the point of your pain lies. (This technique is more suitable for localised pain, rather than diffuse, widely spread pain)

You’ll then tap specific points on your wrists or your ankles, depending on which zone your pain is, and also whether it is on the front or the back of your body.

The softer parts of the body, which are in front your body and inside the limbs, (where hair doesn’t grow as easily) are classified as YIN.

This also includes the bottoms of your feet and the palms of your hand. It is easy to remember the yin parts especially when we think of the hairless areas of the arms and legs.

The slightly tougher areas of your body, especially the back, are considered YANG. This also includes the backs of your hands, the tops of your feet, the outsides of your limbs (where hair can grow) and the back of your head and neck.

To practise the zone tapping, follow these steps:

1. Locate your pain on your body and then look it up on the map of the body (Figures 1 and 2)

Figure 1

Figure 2

2. Find the number of the zone which flows through the area of your pain.

3. If your pain is anywhere above your waist, you will be tapping one of the allocated points on your wrist;

If the pain is anywhere below your waist, you will be tapping one of the corresponding points on your ankle.

(Note: ‘A’ in the diagram means Ankle, and ‘W’ means Wrist.

If your pain lies on the front (YIN) part of your body, you’ll be tapping on the INSIDE of your ankle or your wrist. (Remember: Yin = Inside)

If the pain lies on the back (YANG) of your body, you’ll be tapping the OUTSIDE of your ankle or your wrist. (Remember: Yan = Outside)

4. Find the point on the wrist (for pain above the waist) or ankle (for pain below the waist) that corresponds with the point of your pain. (Figures 3 and 4)

Figure 3

Figure 4

For example, if your pain is on the front of your head, near the centre, it will be in zone 1.

As it is above the waist, we’ll be tapping on the wrist.

And as it is located on the front (YIN) of the body, we’ll be tapping inside the wrist.

Then we’ll find W1 (Wrist 1) point on the diagram.

The Tapping Procedure:

1. Tap the point about ten times, and then stop for ten seconds.

2. Tap for 1,5 minutes (90 seconds) more. I usually tap in a one second interval and count to ninety.

3. In about ten minutes the pain should ease or disappear. If it doesn’t, do the same procedure on the opposite side of the body.

Note: If you are unsure whether you were tapping the correct point, you can energy test each of the points first. Press each of the points, and at the same time push the treated person’s arm (which is extended in 90 degrees from the body) down.

The person will lose energy on the zone that needs to be tapped and will remain strong on the other ones.

Back and Shoulder Pain

If you are suffering from back or shoulder pain, I recommend you visit my article ‘How to Relieve Chronic Back Pain.’

I hope you’ve found this article helpful. If you have any questions or comments, leave a comment below. I wish you a pain-free day!

BY LUCIE DUN

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How to Stop and Prevent Panic Attacks

by Lucie | Jun 8, 2020 | Mind, Body & Spirit, Popular

In this post, I’ll be exploring a number of ways to stop and prevent panic attacks. I’ve written the following lines in the hope that they will help you answer the important questions – i.e. how to stop a panic attack, how to diminish its symptoms, and, ideally, how to prevent further panic attacks and stop having them altogether.

All the methods have been tried and tested by me because I have had the ‘pleasure’ to experience panic attacks a number of times. I am glad to say that since I have started practising these steps, my panic attacks have stopped. I hope it will be the same for you, if you are currently experiencing them.

Why Do We Get Panic Attacks?

Those who have not (yet?) experienced a panic attack, might perhaps imagine it as some stronger form of nervousness or increased anxiety. This is all true, but only a person who has experienced it knows how dreadful it is to suddenly start losing control over everything. The intense surge of fear caused by thoughts like ‘These may be my last moments before death!’ is hard to describe.

Panic attacks can come as a complete surprise, especially when you think that everything is going fairly well in your life. They can happen as a delayed reaction to stressful events, various life challenges, over-worrying, thought-processes that we might not even be consciously aware of, or even just not enough quality sleep and too much caffeine!

A Number of Symptoms

Panic attacks are always overwhelming, and the symptoms can be both physical and psychological. They often manifest through a sudden breathing difficulty, especially when trying to inhale. The choking sensation can be terrifying.

Or, you may suddenly feel as if you can’t swallow. A wave of extreme weakness can overcome you, and your heart can start beating very quickly. The increased heartbeat is probably the scariest part of the whole experience, because how can you be sure that you are not having an actual heart attack?!

You may also start sweating, trembling, or feeling uncomfortably restless, with a strong urge to move, fidget, or run away. Some people even get sick.

What’s particularly scary is the unfamiliar sensation of becoming detached from your own mind. It can feel as if you are suddenly not in our body but disappearing from it. Or as if you are falling into a black hole. You may be overcome by a horrible sensation of going insane.

My Own Experience

I had a number of panic attacks in my twenties and thirties. One of them happened at home and completely out of the blue – when I was washing the dishes. All of a sudden, something was not right. And it was changing from ‘not right’ to ‘terribly wrong’. I thought I was beginning to lose my mind.

That was the scariest part – not to be in control of my own mind, feeling that my normal perception of myself and the world is dramatically changing, and fearing that my life is possibly being taken away from me.

I kept asking myself: “Where am I?” My reality suddenly felt completely alien. I was so much in need to get to the familiar state of normality that I grabbed a piece of bread and started to eat it, concentrating on every bite. The taste of the bread was something familiar to me, and was hoping that it would help me to get back from this weird trip.

When, many centuries later, (which, in reality, could have been less than 20 minutes) I came back to the so desired normal state, I found chunks of bread everywhere – on the kitchen floor, all over the carpet in the living room…a strange sight indeed!

An Unwanted Departure

‪I even thought that my body was becoming paralyzed, perhaps by a stroke, because for periods of time I couldn’t speak or open my eyes. Also, I had a clear notion of electricity rising up all my limbs and then leaving them. I was convinced this was what dying must have felt like.

I was afraid I was losing my mind – quite literally. I was trying to control my breathing, but even that was still a struggle. I was hyperventilating and could feel my heart racing extremely fast.

I kept losing consciousness periodically and experienced a few delusions. At one point, I remember my husband holding a cool sponge on my forehead but for some time I was convinced I was an old dying lady at a hospice and my husband was an old nurse!

Then I felt I was being hurled into space with no point of return. I had a clear sensation of falling at a nauseating speed, and I could hear my own thoughts yelling at me “Your time has come – you are dying!”

What to Do When You Have a Panic Attack

Panic attacks may hit you quite quickly. You might be sitting on a train, standing in a supermarket queue, watching TV at home, or hanging out at a party. It can start absolutely anywhere, unfortunately even on the motorway, with you behind the wheel.

Here are a few strategies you can use to try to stop or diminish a panic attack when you feel it’s coming or when you’re already experiencing it:

1. Try to Breathe Slowly and Deeply

Like me, you might be hyperventilating as a result of a panic attack, and this symptom can add to your anxiety. However, if you consciously focus on slow, calm, deep breathing, you can significantly reduce the scary symptoms of a panic attack. If you can gain at least partial control of your breathing, the hyperventilating will decrease and your mind will become calmer.

When you breathe in, (ideally through your nose) put your hand on your belly and try to breathe into your belly. Imagine it’s an inflatable balloon.

2. Acknowledge a Panic Attack Is Not Life-Threatening

Once you have recognized that panic attacks are temporary, and mainly, not life-threatening, your own mind will help you calm down and regain control more quickly. The main thing is to shake off that fear of dying, which is the most horrifying symptom of a panic attack.

By recognizing that you’re having a panic attack instead of a heart attack, you can remind yourself that this is temporary, it will pass, and that you’re ok. Try to diminish the fear that you may be dying or going insane. These feelings are typical symptoms of a panic attack. Once you recognise that you are having ‘just a panic attack’, you will be able to focus on all the techniques to reduce your symptoms.

3. Try Energy Medicine Techniques

In the following video you’ll see the renowned teacher of energy medicine, Donna Eden, and her husband, clinical psychologist David Feinstein, present three stress and anxiety-releasing techniques which may be a great help while you are going through a panic attack.

One of these quick-help techniques is holding your ‘Neurovascular points’, which Donna is mentioning in this video.

4. Find Something to Focus On

As panic attacks can cause a scary feeling of detachment or separation from reality, your main wish will usually be to get back to reality as quickly as possible.

What I’ve found helpful is to concentrate on familiar sensations, such as rubbing my hands on my thighs, chewing something, or stroking my hands.

However, don’t try to run away or do vigorous exercise – you want to calm down, so you might want to do some gentle stretching instead.

5. Calmly Talk to Others

You can share what you are going through with others. Try to describe the symptoms objectively, and then reassuring yourself (and them, if they are equally scared as you are) that this state will eventually pass.

6. Lie Down and Raise Your Legs

If you can, you may want to lie down and raise your legs. I was advised this by a doctor who had seen me during one of my panic attacks. This will help your blood flow back to your head, and you may gain mind control more quickly. It may also help your body relax and ease the overall tension which makes your anxiety worse.

7. Use Soothing Essential Oils or Calming Teas

The best bet is stress-relieving lavender in a form of essential oil, which you can spread on your palms and gently breathe in.

Or if you find the scent of pure lavender too intense, you can try a more sophisticated blend of essential oils, such as the Relaxation Calming Blend by Ellia.com. (You’ll find this specific blend under the category ‘Roll Ons’.)

relaxation calming blend of essential oils

A cup of soothing chamomile tea might also help you relax if you’re lucky to have someone near you to make it for you. Somehow I can’t picture myself making myself a cup of tea while in the middle of a panic attack. For that reason, it is good to have a flask of essential oil at hand and ideally use the oil with a combination of breathing techniques, such as the 4-7-8 technique mentioned in the next point.

8. Do the 4-7-8 Technique

The 4-7-8 technique leads your mind and body to focus on regulating your breathing, rather than your worries, anxiety, or negative thoughts. Dr. Weil describes it as a “natural tranquilizer for the nervous system.” People who practice this technique say that it can calm a racing heart or frazzled nerves, so it might well help someone experiencing a panic attack as well!

How to do the 4-7-8 Technique:

Inhale for a count of four.
Hold your breath for seven counts.
Exhale for a count of eight.

Repeat this cycle four times.

Watch Dr. Weil demonstrate this technique in the following video.

How About People with Severe Panic Disorders?

In the second video, Dr. Weil talks about the success of the 4-7-8 technique for serious panic attacks. You will find that passage at 7:20. He says that people who have anxiety attacks have one thing in common: Their breathing becomes irregular, rapid, or shallow. However, if you practice the 4-7-8 technique, where the breathing is deep, slow, and regular, it’s almost impossible to be overcome with anxiety at the same time.

Dr. Weil has taught this technique to patients with severe panic disorders. He gives an example of one of his patients whose anxiety disorder was very severe, to the point that he was dependent on valium, but after practicing the technique regularly for two years, he got control of the condition and got off all the medication.

The ‘4-7-8’ Can Help with Insomnia

If you happen to suffer from insomnia, try experimenting with this mothod before falling asleep! The 4-7-8 technique has helped people with sleeping disorders, from difficulty falling asleep to shallow sleep, interrupted sleep, or insomnia.

Practising this technique will decrease your tension and allow your body to relax, which will naturally lead to better sleep. If you would like to learn more techniques for helping you sleep better, see my post 20 Tips for Better Sleep.

How to Prevent Future Panic Attacks

Be Mindful of Your Caffeine Intake

My own panic attacks were often triggered after drinking a larger amount of coffee. The stimuli we get from caffeine is due to our body releasing higher amounts of adrenaline, a hormone that raises blood pressure. From a nice initial kick, this can often turn to feeling edgy or anxious, and can lead to a panic attack.

Practice the 4-7-8 Technique

Practice the breathing method mentioned above (point 8). If you incorporate it into your daily routine and do it twice a day, as Dr. Weill recommends, you may prevent future panic attacks.

Make Sure You Get Enough Quality Sleep

Be mindful of getting proper, deep, restorative sleep to keep your body and mind in balance. I have devoted a whole post to this topic, called 20 Tips for Better Sleep.

Meditate

One of the best ways to prevent future panic attacks from happening is regular meditation. When you meditate, your body experiences a deep physical and emotional de-stressing process, which will have a great impact on your nervous system, your sleep, your focus, your mood, and much more.

Since I’ve started meditating regularly, I haven’t had one single panic attack. It is really, really worth trying. I have written about it in my article The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation, where I look quite deep into the science of this ancient practice, and where I list all the positive effects of meditation which I have personally experienced.

Keep Your Body Moving

There are plenty of ways to do this, from common physical exercise to moving your subtle energies through Energy Medicine or EFT Tapping. If you’d like to find out more, check my posts Ten Things to Do When Feeling Down, where I am exploring such techniques.

Do The Daily Energy Routine

The Daily Energy Routine is a set of exercises designed to balance and strengthen energetic systems in your body. This leads to greater resilience, the ability to fight illnesses, and generally feeling better. I have been doing this short routine every day for almost two years and I believe that these exercises have contributed to keeping my panic attacks at bay. I also haven’t had a cold since I started this daily routine. I highly recommend trying it out!

Panic Attacks Can Serve Us (Before We Get Rid of Them for Good)

Panic attacks are always extremely unpleasant, but once we manage to control our fear, we can start taming their symptoms and eventually condition our mind to avoid these states altogether.

They can, in their own way, serve us as a useful indicator that some area in our lives might need our attention – so a panic attack can actually prove a useful tool for solving a problem we were subconsciously avoiding.

I hope you have found this article helpful. If you have any questions or would you like to share your experience or opinion, leave a comment below.

TIPS ON STRENGHTENING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

by Lucie | Jun 7, 2020 | Education, Energy Medicine, Mind, Body & Spirit, Popular

We’ve all learned in the past few years how important is to keep our immune system strong. Over the past few years, I have been exploring various ways of strengthening the body’s resilience, especially those that could be easily implemented into my daily routine.

I’m happy to say that I found several tools and practices that caused a remarkable improvement in my health. I used to get colds at least every three months, but since I’ve started implementing these techniques, my immunity has become much stronger. There was a period when I hadn’t had a single cold for more than four years in a row!

In this post, I will mention my three favourite tools for a strong immune system.

1) ENERGY MEDICINE TECHNIQUES

Do the Daily Energy Routine (or parts of it) daily – it only takes a few minutes.

The Daily Energy Routine is a set of simple but powerful exercises by the legendary healer Donna Eden, the founder of Eden Energy Medicine. She was born with the ability to see energies and as she learned to work with her energy systems, she managed to heal herself from a number of serious conditions including Multiple Sclerosis. She has taught thousands of people how to empower themselves by using their own energy to heal themselves and stay healthy.

I met Donna Eden and her husband, clinical psychologist David Feinstein in 2019. I highly admire their work. In 2023 I completed the Eden Energy Medicine Certification program and I’d love everyone to learn about these incredible self-healing tools. The Daily Energy Routine is one of them.

Each of the exercises in the Daily Energy Routine is designed to balance and strengthen specific energetic systems in your body, leading to greater resilience, the ability to fight illness, and feeling better in general.

Follow the steps in Donna Eden’s video and see how you feel after going through the exercises!

Below is an outline of the main points from this video. It is best to watch the video first and use these points as a reference afterwards.

THE DAILY ENERGY ROUTINE:

1. THE FOUR THUMPS:

i) Cheekbones – grounding

ii) Collarbone – vitality

iii) Thymus – immune system

iv) Ribcage under breasts – metabolizing

2. THE CROSSOVER SHOULDER PULL – gives you energy, clarity of mind, supports healing

3. THE CROSS CRAWL – harmonizes energy patterns, helps the brain to function better

4. THE WAYNE COOK POSTURE – helps to stabilise emotions and improves focus

5. THE CROWN PULL – supports the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid, brings fresh energy into your head, good against headaches

6. CONNECTING HEAVEN AND EARTH – sends healing energies through your body, sends out built-up toxins

7. THE ZIP UP – strengthens your energetic field, protects against negative energies

8. THE HOOK UP – connects the central and governing meridians (at the front and back of your body) which creates a strong force, sending spiraling energy around the body and positively affecting all your energy systems. This simple exercise can sometimes stop a seizure. (Energy Medicine by Donna Eden, pg 99)

Note: During each exercise breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth

MORE IMMUNITY BOOSTING TECHNIQUES

I also recommend trying some of the exercises that were shown by Donna Eden and David Feinstein during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the video, Donna and David present several powerful immunity-boosting tools that can be done anywhere. I remember following the exercises and feeling much better instantly. I use these techniques frequently, and tech them to my clients.

DONNA’S IMMUNITY BOOSTERS – PART 1

1. THUMP YOUR THYMUS – to boost your immunity

2. MASSAGE THE POINTS UNDER YOUR KNEES (the ‘Stomach 36’ acupressure points) to stimulate nurturing energy and strengthen your immunity

3. MASSAGE YOUR NEUROLYMPHATIC REFLEX POINTS to help the lymph flow and remove toxins. These points can be found at multiple locations:

– at the seams of your arms (to move toxins out of the body)

– all around your chest (to move congestion out of your lungs)

– on the sternum (to help overcome illnesses and give you vitality)

– under your breast (for the stomach and liver reflex points)

– under the ribcage (massaging your spleen reflex points is particularly beneficial for your immune system)

– under the ribcage (all along) – the small intestine reflex points are also very important for your immunity

– an inch above the belly button, and an inch to each side (adrenal reflex points, great against stress and too much adrenalin)

– the sides of your thigh (outside: Large intestine reflex points / Inside: Small intestine reflex points)

– go down the side of your spine and massage all the neurolymphatic points (‘The Spinal Flush’). This is extremely cleansing and rejuvenating.

4. THE HOOK UP – connects front and back meridians which strengthens your aura and protects you against negative energies.

5. HOLD SPLEEN MERIDIAN ACUPRESSURE POINTS (follow Donna’s instructions in the video)

First pair: 2-3 minutes (do this twice – first on one side of your body, then on the other)

Second pair: 1 – 2 minutes (again, hold the points on both sides of the body – with this pair, it’s is easy to hold both sides in one go)

Holding these points strengthens your immune system and can also generate more inner joy.

6. HOLD / MASSAGE THE ‘LOWER DANTIAN’ CALMING POINTS:

Drop two inches below your belly button and press all your fingers into the area. There is an energy center called the Lower Dantian, and holding it calms fear and panic.

Here is a follow-up on the immunity-boosting video above, with additional tips and exercises.

DONNA’S IMMUNITY BOOSTERS – PART 2

1. MASSAGE THE TRIPLE WARMER POINT (see instructions at 0:45) to mobilise the protective force of this meridian in the optimal way

2. MASSAGE NEUROLYMPATICREFLEX POINTS (Kidney 27 – under your collarbone corners – see 1:52) – to help kidneys function well, help all the other meridians flow in the right direction

3. ‘RAKE’ YOUR NEUROLYMPHATIC REFLEX POINTS around the lung area to help them work well

4. DO STRETCHING EXERCISES e.g. the Ileocecal and Houston valves (3:10) – to help valves in your body open and keep poisons moving out of your body

5. BREATHE DEEP (especially on the out-breah)

6. STRETCH YOUR MOUTH WITH STAINLESS STEEL SPOON – to activate important meridians (4:19)

7. KEEP TAKING VITAMIN C to keep your immune system strong.

2) MEDITATION

Try meditation. I can’t recommend it enough. I was introduced to meditation (perhaps rather surprisingly) by ‘The God of Hell Fire’ Arthur Brown (a 60’s icon singer I used to play keyboards with).

If you’ve ever seen him on stage and wondered where he gets all that crazy energy, I can tell you – after my own experience – that this might well have something to do with it. Meditation is proven to give you more energy, strengthen your immunity, decrease your stress levels, improve your sleep, making you more creative, and much more.

See my article about the numerous benefits of meditation, where I share my own experience with regular meditation practice. If you are a busy person, it is exactly the right thing for you, because it will actually create more time in your day. You’ll find out for yourself as soon as you start practicing it regularly. Together with Donna Eden’s Daily Energy Routine, it’s one of the best things you could be doing for your immune system.

3) HYDROGEN WATER

Drink good quality (filtered or bottled) water infused with hydrogen. This smallest and lightest molecule in the whole cosmos has enormous potential and can power up your cells and provide numerous benefits to the body, from anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, to anti-allergic and anti-aging.

Molecular hydrogen influences metabolic pathways and upregulates the body’s own antioxidants, selectively targeting harmful radicals, thus protecting cells from damage and reducing oxidative stress, which is linked to aging and various diseases. It plays a key role in supporting the immune system.

For me, this has been one of the greatest discoveries ever. I drink hydrogen water daily and feel uplifted, energised and balanced.

Another positive consequence of drinking molecular hydrogen is that I stopped craving late-night snacks, which used to be my long-term bad habit.

You can find all the relevant information about molecular hydrogen on my Home page.

BY LUCIE DUN

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How to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

by Lucie | Jun 6, 2020 | Energy Medicine, Mind, Body & Spirit, Popular

Zen-Inspired Stone Moon Tealight Holders

If you’d like to learn how to relieve stress and anxiety through a few simple but effective techniques, then you are in the right place. The renowned practitioner of energetic healing, Donna Eden, shows several techniques that can calm your emotions in less than a minute. Plus, if you practice these techniqes often, you will contribute to building your long-term emotional resilience.

The Constant Flow of Energy and Emotions

The saying ‘Nothing ever stays the same’ applies to everything, and our emotions are no exception. Since our energy is in a constant flow, emotions are bound to fluctuate as well. Everyone deals with this differently – some people have more natural resilience, while others may become extremely vulnerable. To be able to master emotional control is one of the most valuable skills to have, and the good news is that we can use our own energies to gain more control over our states.

Stress and its Effects

One of the most common causes of feeling bad is stress. It has an ability to impact every single system in your body, and its effects can either be immediate and visible, or gradual and not too obvious in the first stages. It often accumulates over time, and then finally hits us in a form of a physical illness or depression.

Many of us go through our day in the state of emergency response without even realizing it, but the stress keeps building up in our body whether we’re aware of it or now, and it will take its toll on our health eventually.

What Happens in Our Bodies During Stress

When our thoughts about everyday problems take over us, we don’t see what is happening in our body: Up to 80% of the blood leaves our forebrain to provide strength to our muscles to deal with the potential danger, and our bloodstream gets filled with stress chemicals. In that state, our biochemistry is not very different from the one of a Cro-Magnon man facing a wild beast. The advanced cognitive abilities that we have developed become dimmed. As the reactive primitive parts of the brain take over, our ability to respond accordingly to our current evolutional stage is considerably inhibited.

Inner Emergency Triggers

One of the clearest illustrations of this concept is post-traumatic stress disorder; People afflicted with this condition can display extreme, exaggerated reactions to seemingly harmless stimuli. For instance, overhearing someone saying something, seeing something on TV or encountering a certain scent can trigger a traumatic memory. This makes their body think they are facing a mortal threat, and they react accordingly.

But similar, if a less dramatic scenario applies to most of us when we get stressed, anxious or angry. Our body sets in motion all the biochemical emergency procedures which are not really required. However, our body doesn’t distinguish between the real-life threat and something far less endangering, and all these stress processes can have a negative impact on your health.

Rewiring Your Nervous System

The good news is that we can gradually reprogram our autonomic nervous system, so it no longer triggers those extreme stress responses, deeply ingrained in us biologically millions of years ago. By teaching our nervous systems these new tricks, we can keep and even strengthen our health.

This reprogramming can be achieved by teaching our nervous system to keep the blood in the forebrain, which will result in a better ability to think clearly even in the midst of a seeming crisis. And when our brain gets used to these new ways of processing usually stressful impulses, we’ll no longer react impetuously, but we’ll rather respond to the situation by a much more down-to-earth way.

The First Aid Kit for Your Nerves: Holding the Neurovascular Points

All this can be achieved by an incredibly simple energy exercise – holding the neurovascular points on your head while thinking of a stressful situation / disturbing memory, which will cause primitive brain centres to respond in a calm way, rather than as in an emergency. The more you do this exercise, the more you’ll notice that manage that the stress-response cycle is not activated when a certain situation or a memory occurs.

This works because your stress reactions are based more on physical responses rather than psychological. When we hold the neurovascular points, blood flows from the reactive brain up into the prefrontal cortex, where we can solve the issue with more clarity and decrease the emotional reactivity. So rather than blindly react, we’ll be able to respond to an otherwise stressful issue with healthy detachment.

Try in Now

Put your one hand over your forehead and the other one over the back of your head. Take several deep breaths, close your eyes and feel the calm pulse in your hand or on your forehead.

You can also try a variation of this exercise by placing the pads of your fingers on your forehead, covering the two slight indents on your forehead, while your thumbs rest on your temples.

Stay like this for a while, ideally for a few minutes – according to the level of your stress. Doing this will help the blood return your forebrain, and you will realise that you are thinking more clearly and that the painful or disturbing emotion has subsided.

Gaining Long-term Emotional Stability

The more frequently you repeat this exercise, the quicker will your brain understand that it is not necessary to activate the stress-response cycle when that specific thought/memory occurs.

It is comparable to resetting a device to its original factory settings. Your mind will become free of disturbing information written by your life experience. I’d recommend trying this exercise with a number of different stressful memories, thoughts or pressing issues. The brain’s unwanted response to any of these categories will gradually ease out. You’ll soon notice you have acquired much more emotional stability when you experience a stress-triggering situation or a disturbing thought.

Three Techniques with Donna Eden

The renowned teacher of energy medicine, Donna Eden, and her husband, clinical psychologist David Feinstein, show how we can work with our own energies to release stress and anxiety. Holding the Neurovascular Points is one of those techniques (Donna talks about it from 1:23 onwards.)

David and Donna are also the authors of the book ‘The Healing Power of EFT & Energy Psychology’, where they present a large number of techniques for emotional healing. In his clinical practice, David Feinstein uses Donna Eden’s energy medicine techniques as well as EFT, which stands for ‘Emotional Freedom Techniques’, and consists of tapping on specific meridian points. This technique has been used with tremedous success for all kinds for phobias and traumas. War veterans, for instance, have been succesfully treated using EFT tapping.

The ‘Kettle-Trick’: Energy-Test Yourself

It is very interesting to try the following experiment, based on the method used in energy psychology and kinesiology:

Fill a jug or a tea kettle with water, and try to lift it with your arm straight in front of you. You should be able to raise the kettle in front of your eyes. It should be moderately heavy, to make your muscles work. If it’s too heavy (if you can’t lift it in front of your eyes), pour some water out until it reaches an optimal weight.

Now think about something that makes you feel nice. It could be pleasant memory, or something you’re proud of or grateful for.

Lift the kettle in front of your eyes again. It should be relatively easy.

Now think of something that bother you, stresses you or makes you anxious. Try to lift the kettle again. You’ll notice that your arm gets considerably weaker after the negative thought. This shows the instant effect stress can have on your energy flows. Your energy is not feeding your muscles at its full power while you are stressed (or, as in this case, tricking your brain by pretending to be stressed).

You can use this experiment is more useful way than a fun parlour trick. If you know of anything in your life that stresses you or triggers negative or anxious thoughts, do this experiment to confirm it.

Then follow Donna Eden’s techniques, especially the Neurovascular hold by placing your palm on your forehead for one to three minutes while thinking of the pressing issue.

Don’t worry about ‘negative thinking’; this is a method that uses the truth that you feel inside, rather than fooling yourself with positive affirmations. And while acknowledging the uncomfortable or painful truth, you are sending a physical message to your brain, which reads something like ‘Even though I’m thinking about all this bad stuff, there’s no need to go into a fight or flight mode.’

When you have finished, try to lift the kettle again while thinking about the same unpleasant issue.

You’ll hopefully get a nice surprise by being able to stay strong – which indicates that despite a usually stress-triggering image in your mind, your energy remains balanced and you are now responding to stress much more calmly, rather than reacting through the instinctive emergency response. The more you do these exercises, the more your naturally adaptable brain will ‘cooperate’.

Energy-testing with a Friend

Instead of using a kettle, you can get a friend to energy-test you by pushing your arm down (raised sideways, up to the level of your shoulder) while you offer resistance.

Rewiring Your Brain

The amazing characteristic of our brain, neuroplasticity, can cause radical rewiring of your brain’s old reactive patterns, allowing us to start experiencing more peaceful and joyful states of mind, and become much more emotionally resilient.

Gaining Long-term Emotional Stability

The more frequently you repeat the exercises presented in this article, the quicker will your brain understand that it is not necessary to activate the stress-response cycle when that specific thought/memory occurs.

Share Your Thoughts

If you would like to ask about anything in this article, or would like to express your opinion about this field, leave a comment below. I’d also be very interested to learn about your any other techniques for relieving stress, so feel free to share your knowledge or experience.

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The Nature of Pain

Using Energy to Diminish Pain

Pain As Congested Energy

1.Breathing Out The Pain

2.Tapping

3. Stretching

4. Pinching (‘Spindle Cell Mechanism’)

5. Siphoning the Pain

6. Zone Tapping

The Tapping Procedure:

Back and Shoulder Pain

Why Do We Get Panic Attacks?

A Number of Symptoms

My Own Experience

An Unwanted Departure

What to Do When You Have a Panic Attack

1. Try to Breathe Slowly and Deeply

2. Acknowledge a Panic Attack Is Not Life-Threatening

3. Try Energy Medicine Techniques

4. Find Something to Focus On

5. Calmly Talk to Others

6. Lie Down and Raise Your Legs

7. Use Soothing Essential Oils or Calming Teas

8. Do the 4-7-8 Technique

How About People with Severe Panic Disorders?

The ‘4-7-8’ Can Help with Insomnia

How to Prevent Future Panic Attacks

Be Mindful of Your Caffeine Intake

Practice the 4-7-8 Technique

Make Sure You Get Enough Quality Sleep

WORM HOLE
DIM LOCATOR

SETTING THE SAILS FOR EL DORADO
FATAL SHORE

IMMORTALISED
DIM LOCATOR

REAL WORLD
FATAL SHORE

THE FATAL SHORE
FATAL SHORE

BIRD ON A WIRE
FATAL SHORE

FREE FALL
FATAL SHORE

NEW YORK – LONDON 1981-86
KHMER ROUGE

JUNKIE LOVE
Phil Shoenfelt

MAGDALENA – Book One
Phil Shoenfelt / Kateřina Piňosová

MAGDALENA – Book Two
Phil Shoenfelt / Kateřina Piňosová

A UZŘELA OSLICE ANDĚLA
(AND THE ASS SAW THE ANGEL)
Nick Cave / Afterword: Phil Shoenfelt

THE RETURN OF KRÁL MAJÁLES
Edited by Louis Armand

KAMIKAZE SKULL
Phil Shoenfelt / Sophia Disgrace