Happiness in a Heart-beat!!

Sometimes it can be difficult to off-set a bad moon, especially during Winter when we are cold, sick, confined to our home and the sun shies away from us. Here are some quick and easy ways to make yourself feel happy :)

* Smile! Research shows that controlling the muscles in the body can actually lead to similar past stimuli activity in the brain - i.e you smile, you think happy thoughts from the last time you smiled :-)

* Drink some water! Dehydration causes the body to go into survival mode which decreases the ability to produce "happy hormones/chemicals" as this takes up unnecessary energy.

*Say it out loud! "I feel like crap!" Admitting what you are feeling actually lets the mood pass more quickly, instead of using energy to suppress it or ignoring it which takes a lot more concentration. Say it to your mirror, to your cat, to your friend, just say it out loud!

* If you see the sun, let it see you! Vitamin D is one of the most needed vitamins in the body, and it is also the Vitamin that Western Society is most lacking in. Turn your face to the sun, read a book, or take a walk, but get out there!

* Get moving! Exercise can stimulate the body releasing endorphins (a feel good chemical) making you feel better all round!

* Take some time-out! If you are always surrounded by people (colleagues, children, partner, friends) you will never have time to just 'be'. Take 15 minutes out, by offering to run an errand outside the office and walk, or taking a long toilet break, or asking a friend to watch the kids for half an hour. Silence and rest replenish energy, brain function and gives a big boost to your mood.

*Meditate! Buy a book with mini-meditations or sign up to the Victorian Pagan Society Blog to receive mini meditations every few days. Mini meditations can be done within 15 minutes, (lunch, the train home from work, the shower) and assists you in staying grounded and in control!

*Share your problems. If something is bringing you down and you know what it is, call up a trusted friend or relative and let them know how you are feeling. they may be able to give a different opinion, some advice or just listen - either way, a worry shared is a worry halved!

*Use the elements! If you are feeling flighty, ground yourself by walking outside barefoot. Don't have time? Place some crystals under your desk and rest your feet on them while you work.
Feeling ill? Draw upon the healing and restorative nature of water; run a bath, drink some water, sit by the stream, go down to the ocean. Feeling unmotivated? Use fires passion and creativity to light your inner spark! Light some candles in your sacred space, perhaps wear something bright like red or orange or in the colder months, light a fire in the backyard! Feeling cramped, stuck or stagnating? Breathe in some fresh air! Do a cartwheel (being upside down sends a big rush of oxygen to your brain revitalizing it), take a brisk walk in the breeze or sit down to study something you have always wanted to know more about but never put the time aside for!

*Tap into your passionate side! Indulge for a moment, with a sexy fantasy, a piece of death by chocolate, or sing a daggy song you will never admit to liking in public!

Activity; Make a "Happpiness Hanger"

Research shows that memories can be affected by mood altering chemicals as much as they can be by neurons, situation, experience and brain function. If you store a memory whilst you are sad, the depressive chemicals will attach themselves to it, making it easier to recall when you are flooded with this same chemical. It works the same way when you are happy. If you make a memory of something happy the 'happy' chemicals will attach themselves to this memory making it easier to recall when your body is flooded with serotonin or endorphines.

As it can be difficult to control the chemicals within, we can trigger them with external factors! A Happiness Hanger is a Board, it can be a frame, a cork-board, a piece of cardboard, covered with pictures, photographs, letters, poems, that make you happy. When ever you are feeling blue, just have a look at this board and it will assist your mood in changing :)
It is good to change the photos/poems etc every two-three months so that your brain does not come to associate the photos on the board with sadness.

Ideas:

* Photographs of your loved ones - this does not have to be limited to family, put your friends up there, your pets, your car, anything you hold dear to your heart!
* Lyrics to your favourite song
* Brochure of a holiday destination you have been to/want to go to
* A paint square sample of your favourite colours
* A picture of your favorite actor/actress
* A list of things you want to achieve: Buy a new top, visit Asia, go surfing - with cut outs from magazines to inspire you
* Movie tickets from good times with friends
* Take some time out to draw something to put on the board, if you love fairies, draw some wings, love dragons, draw some fire
* Don't keep it flat, 3-D things can help with visualization, add shells, feathers, small crystals, scraps of fabric from your childs first blankie etc
* Expand out! You don't have to keep it realisitic! This is to make you happy, so use whatever makes you happy! Photos from space, (yeah you might never get there, but you can dream!) Photos of Hogwarts, of Atlantis, of Middle Earth, of Narnia - whatever brings you joy!
* Have fun with it! It doesn't have to be meticulous, in fact the more 'scrappy' it seems the more real it can feel!

Enjoy, and remember - Smile!!

A breath of fresh air!

When was the last time you really looked at a tree?

Maybe it is time to spend a day with nature. It will feed your spirit,
recharge your batteries, refresh you, and You deserve it!

We usually take breathing for granted, it happens automatically and seldom requires we pay attention to it. Only when breathing becomes difficult, do we begin to appreciate and understand how very important it is to us.

How we breathe can make a huge difference to our overall health and wellbeing. Yoga, Natural Child Birth, Meditation and other practices teach us to focus on breathing and the way we fill our lungs with the life force of oxygen. When you are stressed, overtired or moving too fast, take a few moments to stop and focus on breathing in deeply and exhaling deeply, it will bring you immediate calming benefits.

Conditions that limit our power to breathe like COPD or Emphesyma demonstrate quite clearly how much everything we think or do depends on our ability to breathe. Life itself depends on our breathing continuously throughout our lives. So, it makes sense to take a few moments daily to focus on the way we breathe and give thanks for the life giving oxygen that fills our lungs, sharpens our brains and nourishes our muscles.

Full Moon Ritual

At the full Moon, the energy builds and builds....there's an explosive outgoing aspect to it. All of nature grows and is more vital at the full Moon. A full Moon ritual might involve taking one solid step, with a symbolic action. And it can be a powerful time to release, cast out, unburden yourself, purge, etc. You celebrate your emergence by stepping out of an old skin, identity, behaviour, attitude, relationship. The ritual helps you by marking this inner transformation in a formal way.
A full Moon ritual might involve purification by one of the elements. Most often, it's fire, and done by casting something you don't want into the flames.

Suggestion for your Full Moon:
1) Write what you're releasing down on a stick.
2) Resolve to let go as you throw it into the fire.
3) Throw the stick into the fire. This can be done as a group, with everyone sitting 'round the fire...or in your own private ceremony. Each person can seal their action of letting go by speaking it aloud, if there's trust in the circle.

Water can be used to cleanse in rituals. I remember a very meaningful full Moon ceremony I had at my house with three other women. We had filled a blue bowl with water and some rose petals. Each of us wrote down what we wanted to draw into our lives on a piece of paper. After we read them aloud, we put our hands in the bowl to signify the cleansing of the old, to open to the new.

Full Moon Release Ritual
 
Items you'll need: Floating candles, a large bowl, water, matches, a pen.

1. Create sacred space with candles, sage smudging, and setting up altars with powerful totems. For some rituals, I'll use owl's feathers that a friend gave me, to represent wisdom.
2. If possible, stand or sit under the Moon. Allow yourself to feel a direct relationship to it, as a mover of the living waters of the Earth and within our own bodies.
3. Do a grounding exercise, to bring you out of the chatter of small talk and into ritual space. Feel the earth under your feet and shake out the tension in the body.
4. Place the large water-filled bowl in front of you, or in the middle of your gathering on a table.
5. Write what you are releasing on the floating candle. It's not important that it shows up, just that the intention is there.
6. As you place the candle into the bowl, declare what you're releasing.
7. Light the candle.
8. Allow yourself to feel the transfer of what you're releasing to the candle. Focus on letting go into the water.
9. Celebrate this release by feasting under the full Moon!
Allow the candle to keep burning in the bowl as a symbol of the letting go process. The flame is a purifier, and symbolises the sparks of inspiration. If you blow out your floating candle, and your bowl is in your home, relighting it will remind you of your commitment. Place inspiring pictures and totems around it that remind you of whom you are becoming. Above all, praise yourself for honouring your own growth.

The Creation of Melbourne Pagan Society

A friend and I had been searching for years for a group in Melbourne which has information on Pagan Religions, on workshops and meetings within our community and a place where we can be ourselves without fear of judgment or  persecution for our beliefs. After a long time of searching and not finding anything that encompassed everything we wanted we decided to create The Melbourne Pagan Society!

This page is here to help spread awareness of Earth-based Religions, to share knowledge, guide people who have only recently found their path and share businesses, services, products and articles related to our journey. We hope this blog assists you in finding local groups, workshops, online learning circles, friends and wisdom!

Our FB group, which has only been active for three days now has over 100 members: http://www.facebook.com/groups/175760389153572

We hope the Melbourne Pagan Society will continue to thrive and grow!