Piki Houde is a certified Kinetic Awareness teacher. Kinetic Awareness is a release technique, which involves lying on rubber balls (different size for different part of the body) to massage tight areas and to allow more freedom of movement. The pressure of the balls and the process of slow concentrated movement and deep breathing bring new awareness and release to both the physical and emotional body. Piki believes "To experience the Ultimate, one must tune to the pulsation of nature within."

During a session using balls and deep massage you will explore the body's movement in all direction creating a deep movement meditation.

I had a session just before we filmed the DVD. I was suffering with a shoulder injury and as you could image was a bit STRESSED OUT! Piki put me on her magic balls and in about 20 mins the pain I was having disappeared and I regained almost full range of movement. Piki knows the body on a deep level and is one of the few people I go to when I have an injury or need BIG LOVE!

If the holidays put you in a giving mood, consider volunteering at a local homeless shelter, nursing home or hospital. You can help prepare meals or visit with the residents. Visit the Holiday Project to get more ideas about volunteering. The site suggests wrapping presents the day before the visit and going with a group. If you don't know of a local volunteer organization that is planning holiday visits, start your own group.

Some community organizations need extra help over the holidays. Check with Volunteer Match and SERVEnet to find charities in your neighborhood that need holiday volunteers.

Article Inspired by Paula

"Massive Gifts"
by Balsam

We're edging into December. Obviously, that means holidays, whether you celebrate Winter Solstice, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or all of them! This season of anticipation and celebration is such a potent time of year. We suddenly feel the pressure of the ³tribe² brush up against our individual lives. Ritual, religion, memory, and relationships make demands on us, and we make our choices in response, knowing that in some ways, those choices carry more weight than usual. We are in a state of heightened attention, anticipation, and expectation during the holidays; what we do and say will reverberate throughout the coming year.

I've been thinking about how to use the energy and power inherent in this coming season to shift our lives for the better. Below, some reflections ~ !

"Deep Winter"
Unknown

Every Winter I take this essay out, read it over a bunch of times and post it somewhere in my apartment. I copy it, make it pretty and send it to my dearest friends. Take some quiet time to read this truly inspiring essay. I promise you, it will bring some new perspective, freedom and forward moving thought into your heart and mind.

Here is but a small excerpt...

We are in deep winter. The nights are long and the days are short. The Earth grows cold and life retreats. Now is the time for you to awaken to your place in this cycle, and to use it consciously. What is darkest in your life? What loss or disappointment, fear or terror moves through you? They are brought to your awareness so that you can change them. They are your avenues to clarity and love that you are waiting for...

Recipe Courtesy Patricia Greenberg



GRAHAM CRACKER PIE CRUST