Practice Advice

  • OUR NEW STORY - OUR NEW STORY By Gillian Ross   “The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in.” Harold C. Goddard   All cultures of all times have one way or another reflected on the mystery of their existence. These reflections have crystallised in the stories that are handed... Read more
  • Benefits of Yoga Nidra - Most of the relaxation sessions on Gillian’s CDs are based on the ancient Indian practice known as yoga nidra or psychic sleep. The many benefits of the deep relaxation practice known as yoga nidra deepen as you learn to let go more and more and move deeply into yourself. This is best achieved by regular daily practice with an audio recording, preferably at... Read more
  • Yoga Nidra and Subtle Bodies - Most of the relaxation sessions on Gillian’s CDs are based on the ancient Indian practice known as yoga nidra or psychic sleep. The soul is not in the body but the body is in the soul. Meister Eckhardt The healing power of the deep relaxation practice known as yoga nidra is best understood using the Eastern model of subtle energies and subtle bodies... Read more
  • Befriend your Breath - We all enjoy a party from time to time but imagine one from which there is no escape! For many, modern living has become like a nonstop party. In our waking hours there is no relief from the sensory onslaught of relentless noise and chatter coming from either our own minds, or from the world around us. The stress response that served our... Read more
  • The Inner Quest - In ancient myths and legends the inner journey is symbolized as a journey into a wilderness of some description. Any serious process of Self discovery and spiritual transformation requires you to remove yourself one way or another from the safe and familiar surroundings of community life. In Joseph Campbell’s words, you go in search of the ‘jewelled centre’ of your psyche: The goal... Read more
  • Meditation - It is easier to sail many thousands of miles through cold and storms and cannibals…. Than it is to explore the private sea, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans of one’s being alone. Henry David Thoreau Meditation does not come easily in a Yang dominated culture like ours. Carl Jung warned against meditation as a spiritual practice for externalised Westerners. He felt that it... Read more
  • Four Week Breathing Program - For many years now I have been recommending a four week breathing program that uses the deep breathing technique offered on my CDs. The program invites you to take time out each day to do at least sixty rounds of a deep breathing pattern. You can count the rounds on your fingers. Ideally you do the practice lying on your back in your... Read more
  • A Spiritual Parable - If spiritual practices are working for you they bring a lightness of heart and a twinkle to the eye. Authentic spirituality is richly endowed with laughter. Tibetan lamas, for example, seem to exude infectious good humour as well as joy. The Dalai Lama certainly does. There is not doubt that one of the many qualities that endeared me to Samuel as a spiritual... Read more
  • A Good Night’s Sleep - Sleep, the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care! Shakespeare’s Macbeth Why is a good night’s sleep so elusive for so many people? There are many reasons but undoubtedly a significant factor is an overactive mind. Mental agitation of one kind of another causes a build up of stress in the body and inhibits the relaxation response. Body and... Read more