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We learn about cultivating mindful skills for living with AcuEnergetics® co-director, Rochelle Taylor. This article first appeared in Being magazine August 2021.

What is AcuEnergetics®?

A: AcuEnergetics® is an organisation with its core focus on improving bio-electrical flow in the body and mind. We do this in three main ways —treatments, trainings and meditation.

The AcuEnergetics® treatment approach has a unique and effective approach to treating illness and easing pain. It works with the bio-electrical system in the body and was developed over the past 45 years by an Australian, Kevin Niv Farrow. It works by encouraging the body to promote faster, natural healing to ease pain and improve physical and emotional health.

What role does mindfulness play at AcuEnergetics®?

I see mindfulness as bringing conscious awareness to whatever we are doing, so it plays a very important role. Mindfulness in our everyday life is great as it makes us present and gets us out of our heads. Things like eating, gardening or doing laundry mindfully can make the mundane a very pleasant experience and it also helps to train our attention from wandering off into mind stories.

Mindfulness Meditation as a more formal practise of sitting is also beneficial and necessary if you want to be able to do AcuEnergetics® well. We include it in our trainings, because in order to develop the skills needed to improve bio-electrical flow, you need to be able to be still, aware and feel. Meditation helps develop this skill.

Meditation is often given as homework to our clients, as it is a way to help relax tension in the body and mind and improve flow — that means the body heals faster. As an AcuEnergetics® Practitioner it’s important that I have a regular meditation practice, but even if this wasn’t my job, I have grown to see the incredible benefits of meditation and mindfulness. To be able to find a sense of calm inside yourself, to have awareness of your own body and be able to still your mind and bathe in the space of nothingness … that truly is magic.

Since COVID-19 hit, AcuEnergetics® has been able to offer all of its courses online. Which courses are the most popular, and why?

Meditation courses are definitely right up there as the most popular, as the online environment suits them so well. Whether they are live and online courses where people can still interact with each other and feel part of a real group, or recorded courses where people can feel safe and do it by themselves on their own timeline.

Meditation has been around forever, but our lives are getting more and more fast-paced and stressful, and we have less and less time for ourselves. Add to that a pandemic and you can understand why people now need a way to support themselves, prioritise their mental and emotional health and do something that will help them not only cope in hard times but improve their overall health and eventually help them to thrive.

Our Level 1 Skills for Living course is also one of our bestsellers, as it is where we teach people our main technique for improving flow in the bio-electrical system and healing the body — it’s really where the AcuEnergetics® journey starts. People come for treatments to get things fixed, but they also want to be able to understand it for themselves and use it practically on their family and friends. It’s empowering to know that anyone can learn these skills — it’s not a special gift you are born with. 

I’ve learned that while many people still like doing groups in-person, there are many who suffer from anxiety and who are too scared to ever attend a group training — the online courses have made it possible for these people to be part of our community, as well as reaching people all over the world.

Please share a bit of information about your 14 Day Inner Smile Experience, which is designed to help people develop a meditation practice.

The Inner Smile Experience is so lovely and gently guides you through a process of both meditation and heart-opening. The Inner Smile is a heart-based meditation, so you develop the skills of meditation but also learn important knowledge about the heart. There are some short introductory videos to get started, but the 14 days of meditation include a different audio meditation each day. It’s a very beautiful experience and a great way to get inspired to start a daily meditation practice or get back into meditation if you’ve let it go for a while. Learning a heart-based meditation like the Inner Smile helps you to open and connect to your own heart, but also to be kinder and more loving to everyone around you. It’s a gift to give yourself that benefits everyone.

Open and connect to your own heart, but also to be kinder and more loving to everyone around you. It’s a gift to give yourself that benefits everyone.

Your Skills for Living course uses the bioelectrical system as a means of treating the body and mind. Can you please explain what this means?

The bioelectrical system is at the very core of everything in our body, from giving strength and flexibility to our muscles and bones, to making organs function and enabling cells to divide and create healthy new cells — the electricity makes it all happen. We know the heart is an electrical organ as we can test it using an ECG and the electrical field of the heart can be measured from any part of the body. But it’s not just the heart that is electrical — our whole body is part of this amazing system. If there is a problem in the body, then electricity is involved.

Our approach in AcuEnergetics® is to restore adequate and healthy electrical flow to the parts of the body that have become compromised electrically, which allows the body to restore function, heal faster and ease the pain.

In the Level 1 Skills for Living training, we share the main technique we use as practitioners to restore bio-electrical flow in the body so that people can start to practise using this approach for themselves. Treating simple things like bumps and bruises, burns, tummy aches, sprains, stress and low energy are all possible after this training. We discuss how the mind and emotions disturb bioelectricity, as well as some simple meditation techniques for improving flow. We also teach how to give a wellness balance that restores and promotes the flow of bioelectricity in the body, as well as increasing energy, improving the immune system and helping the body find balance. The workshop is called Skills for Living because we share tools to help live a healthy, happy life in body, mind and heart. The skills learned in this training will be used for a lifetime.

And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.

And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.

And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the sun’s mouth
And dissolve.

And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.

And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.

I feel grateful that I know moments like these. Luckily many. When my heart is wide open and light and I feel totally joyful and safe and happy. It’s a beautiful feeling to skip down the street and smile at strangers for no other reason than you can’t help it.Or sitting in a meditation and feeling totally at peace and at one with everything. 

But I also know that when I feel troubled, it’s much harder to be open and skipping or dancing is the last thing I feel like doing.It makes me think of the power our mind has on us being free. All it takes is a single thought to turn us from a sun bursting, joyful being into someone in a prison of our own mind. And I wonder how early this really starts…? 

I was at a children’s party the other day where I took my two kids Finn (5) and Rose (2). At one point in the party some entertainers were encouraging the kids to dance – and I know my kids love to dance – so I encouraged them to join in. 

Now when my kids feel safe, happy and free of judgement, they are great little specimens of totally open beings – singing and dancing and creating with joy and wonder, like no one is watching…But being round these people they didn’t know and in a new environment, it was more challenging to get them to dance. After some time observing the others seemingly having fun, Rose was happy to join in enthusiastically, so long as I was her dance partner. But Finn on the other hand was certain he absolutely did not want to dance. Even though his tapping foot was betraying him. I watched him and could see his body wanted to move but, but so far he was not letting it. He so wanted to let go and join in but whatever was in his mind was stopping him. 

Somewhere along the line as little people we start to feel the grip of our thoughts and how they can hold us back and keep us down. At some point we might get some awareness of that and what we are doing and start to let it go. Other things maybe we will never see about ourselves. 

I know I’ve uncovered a lot of things about myself that I’ve been able to let go, however there are always new challenges waiting on the side lines, ready to put my work to the test. Meditation helps. Treatments help. Support from those most trusted to you helps enormously. And simply practising being open helps. Being a kind person. Often I walk along the street and when I see someone coming toward me I look at them, ready to make eye contact and say hello. This was a practise I learned from my dad and he from his. It extends to chatting to people at the supermarket, people standing in lines, waiters in restaurants, bar staff and basically anyone who will talk to you. Which by the way, is a factor in helping you live a long life, according to a recent study!*

Anyway, the funny thing is nowadays many people will not look up and even make eye contact, let alone say hello. Or look totally shocked when you do. Anyway, I continue in their footsteps and keep greeting strangers. Although I do notice that at times when I’m feeling a little grey, it’s harder to reach out and be kind and open for no reason. It’s much easier when I feel good in myself to share that love. Which makes me think – have compassion for those people who can not lift their eyes off the ground – they might be having a hard time. 

But remember to try and lift your eyes. Smile. Greet others for no reason. Be kind for no reason. “Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you – and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because, actually, nothing else does.” George Saunders 

By Rochelle Taylor*

(Source: Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting at Austin, Texas, February 18, 2018) Rochelle is a mum of two little ones and has always been interested in finding ways to live a happy and healthy life while helping others. She has been meditating for 20 years, since she was introduced to the practice in school and found a passion for healing and energy medicine not long after that.

Rochelle enjoys the challenges of life, motherhood, family, work, friends and somehow fitting them all in together. Work-wise Rochelle is an AcuEnergetics® Practitioner, Teacher and is also the General Manager of AcuEnergetics®. She has been practicing AcuEnergetics® since 2005 and is fully qualified to teach AcuEnergetics® Level 1 and AcuEnergetics® Level 2. She is currently a co-teacher for AcuEnergetics® Level 3 and the AcuEnergetics® Practitioner Training.

Many of us have tried to learn meditation and found that at first, it is impossible to stop our mind from wandering here and there. In the beginning, the mind moves around, the body complains; our nose itches and we scratch it, or our back hurts and distracts us. Maybe there is too much noise from the traffic or someone sneezes or someone’s giggling or we keep getting interrupted by our children or our friend, or we keep going to sleep or there isn’t enough time because we have so much to do.

All these problems aren’t because of how our life is or because of how we think – these problems are how we think. Usually we don’t notice how we think because we’re so busy doing things, but the moment we stop doing things and sit still, we get to see how difficult and noisy we are all the time. Many of us are either annoyed or despairing at seeing this and blame it on meditation, or blame ourselves. Once again, we’re just displaying how we think. It goes on and on.

The opinions we have about the noise, the interruptions and the giggling and about our opinions, are all just the normal opinions or products of our mind. It’s how the movie in our mind works. Something grabs our attention for a split second then we judge it, verbalise it and file it, so that we can return to it later in our movie. ‘She should dress her age.’ ‘Who would buy that car?’ ‘What a bastard – how could he treat her like that?’ ‘What a beautiful baby.’ ‘She’s so spiritual.’ ‘I hate red.’ ‘I’m no good at meditation.’ ‘Wow, that meditation was amazing – I must be nearly enlightened!’ If we stopped having opinions, we would get dynamic silence. The Chinese Zen Master Sosan said, ‘Don’t try to get enlightened – just stop having opinions.’ 

The first part of learning to meditate, is to learn to sit still. The trick to doing this is in not taking any of our opinions seriously. This sounds strange. We think we know this or that. We definitely know that this thing is beautiful or correct and that this other thing is ugly or wrong. I had a friend many years ago who couldn’t believe that I liked listening to acapella jazz music. She was sure that I only played it to annoy her. According to her, ‘Nobody could like that stuff!’ She grew up only listening to pop radio and believed that all people really only loved pop music. She hadn’t been acquainted with opera, jazz, blues or classical music and was convinced that people only pretended to like all of these. This was really the view from her geography and her social demographic. 

When we think about it, most, if not all of our opinions have more to do with geography, than with any well thought out reasoning, or inner qualification to know the truth. This is such a basic idea that it’s now taught in North American high schools as behavioural studies. 

Basically, this is understanding that our particular group’s cultural beliefs, influence our opinions and behaviour without our being fully aware of it, and that we, as groups of people, exhibit different responses to the same stimuli due these influences. For example, a western girl wearing a miniskirt probably won’t understand how or why Muslim girls can wear the burka in the heat of summer. Similarly, a Muslim girl from Jakarta will probably think the tourist girls from Sydney in their skimpy outfits are outrageous. If a boy is born in Australia, chances are he’ll follow cricket. If he comes from the USA he’ll probably think the game is bizarre. 

Opinions. What to do about them? We can’t just stop opinions with our mind or get rid of them by saying that opinions are bad. That’s just another opinion, another part of the mind movie. Meditation has nothing to do with this opinionated mind. It’s above this mind, but to let it find us, we have to start someplace. Our opinions are usually quite simple – we agree with our friends and argue with those who aren’t our friends. The Sufi poet Hafiz wrote,‘It is not easy to stop thinking ill of others.Usually one must enter into a friendshipwith a personwho has accomplished thatgreat feat himself.Then something might startto rub off on us of thatTrue Elegance.’ 

Many years ago, an Indian guru answered a question from a man who was at odds with his girlfriend over some obscure point in theology. The guru just answered, ‘In any argument, the one who is the most serious is wrong.’ This is a very valuable teaching. If we are alive and possessing an ego, a sense of I-ness, then we will have opinions. But we don’t need to be attached to these opinions, or our sense of I-ness. Generally we think we’re special in a certain way. For some this means they think they can achieve anything – for others it means they think so poorly of themselves that they think they are incapable of achieving anything. Both views are just exhibiting an attachment to I-ness – so really they’re no different. 

The idea of the popular book, The Secret is that you can achieve anything. This idea is just based on everybody’s attachment to thinking that they’re special. This isn’t a secret. I-ness is nothing special really. All people, all animals and birds and all insects exhibit it. Plants probably have it. What’s so special about this really? The Hindu sages used to call this I-ness, ahamkara. It means I-ness and also means, the veil. This is because our sense of I-ness keeps us unaware of the very nature of ourselves. Unfortunately, this is the real secret. Behind our sense of I-ness is a pure awareness that we share with everything. This is our true nature and it’s not based on achieving anything. Our pure awareness, our beingness, our serenity, moment to moment is all that really matters. Practicing meditation is just a tool to help us to have insight into the achieving mind. Essentially there is no need for this, as it only requires direct insight, not sitting still. Bankei, the famous Zen Master refused to let his students meditate for thirty years because he thought it just distracted them from being aware at all times. Eventually he relentedand let them sit for thirty minutes every morning and night. Even Bankei reluctantly agreed that sitting still was of some benefit. 

The key to meditation is not to be serious about it. Just go through the motions everyday. Stop trying to sit still, don’t give our opinions about trying any credit. Just be aware that you’re trying. This doesn’t mean actively trying to ignore opinions or having any attitude towards them, after all, this would just be another opinion. When we can sit still, we won’t have any opinions we take seriously. The trick to letting meditation happen is to stop having opinions or meddling with our mind. 

The Taoist sage Lao Tzu said, ‘Should we meddle, then we are not equal to the task of winning the empire.’Translated into our 21st century language, this means that if we try to meditate, we can’t succeed ~ because meditation happens when we are not trying. This doesn’t mean that we just sit down and let our thoughts and feelings overwhelm us.

In the ancient Chinese meditation text, Secret of the Golden Flower, there is a line that translates as, ‘You can get it by effort that is not willful.’ We have to do something, but that something does not involve trying to do it. So where does the effort come in? At first, in watching our breath.

The mind is so dynamic that any movement has strong repercussions. It’s like a sailboat in a strong current. Just as we have an anchor for a boat, we need an anchor for the mind. In the beginning, the simplest thing to tie the mind to is the breath. If you think this is too simple, remember:

• this is another opinion.

• the Buddha did it every day – how bad can it be for you? 

“Sitting silently, doing nothingSpring comes and the grass grows by itself.” Sosan 

Although meditation happens by itself when you’re doing nothing, the practice for meditation to occur, is about training our attention. This is about being present, not absent. Many people believe they are meditating by sitting and dreaming/drifting every morning for half an hour. This is not the case. They are just day dreaming and while it may give them some rest, it has nothing to do with meditation. If someone taps us on the shoulder when we’re meditating and asks for our phone number and we don’t recall it instantly, we’re dreaming not meditating. Being in the present is gentle mind and present awareness rather than sleepy, peaceful snoozing. 

In the beginning of learning the practice of watching the breath, it’s best to count the breaths. Start at one and after one cycle of in and out breath, count two and so on until you get to ten. Then start counting backwards until you get to one and then go up again and so on. At first our attention will only grasp the beginning of each in and out-breath, but after a while we’ll begin to to really feel, listen to and watch the breathing deeply. When this happens, we can let go of the counting. 

Don’t get into the rush of trying to be a good meditator. When you can sit still with the counting, then drop it. It is best to spend at least four weeks just on counting the breaths, before you drop it. 

You need to understand that this practice is just about training your attention, so don’t get serious about it. Attention is the one thing we need in everything we do and there is never any specific training for it. The reason that you need attention for this, is that meditation isn’t really about sitting still – you can do that when you’re dead. Meditation is about direct insight into mind, and for that, you need attention. “Unless you are as little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom.” Jesus  

To begin your meditation:
Sit comfortably with your back straight but relaxed Don’t take this seriously or think it’s about being spiritual. Trying to be spiritual is a great nonsense. Everyone who thinks they’re spiritual is just demonstrating that they are still at the mercy of their opinions. 

Let your mind relax
Be interested in the breath rather than forcing yourself to do this. The Jewish mystic Jesus said, ‘Unless you are as little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom.’ This is a description of our mind in meditation practice. When we were small children, playing on the beach or in the garden, we were happily, gently and vitally interested in the current pursuit. That was before we learnt effort. Put effort away and be vitally and happily interested. Don’t get serious, you’d be better off going to the beach. Being serious merely trains us in being serious and we already know how to do that. 

Gently, become aware of the breath
Not by focusing hard on the breath, but by being present in our body and noticing our breath because we are, after all, alive and breathing. This doesn’t mean cutting off from outside noises or thoughts. If you try to cut things out, that is what you are doing. This is not sitting quietly, listening to the breath. 

Watch with your mind, listen with your ears and feel with your body
If you just watch the breath with your mind you will be easily distracted or just succeed in freezing the mind rather than freeing it. Put your attention on the physical feelings of air movement in and out of the nose and also on listening to the sound of the breath to become more aware. 

Gradually let the breath become finer until you can’t hear it anymore, but you’re still listening
When the breathing is noisy, the mind is noisy. When the breathing is quiet, the mind is quiet. Don’t try and hold the breath to keep it quiet or struggle with it at all. Just gradually let it become a little finer, then a little finer again – until you can’t hear it, but you are still listening. Do this practice for a while everydayIf you time yourself, don’t use a watch, get an alarm so you don’t have to check and disturb yourself. Make the time at least 15 minutes. Be happyHappiness does not care where you are or who you are. It comes when we let go of our opinions about ourselves

By Kevin Niv Farrow

Kevin is the Founder and Director of AcuEnergetics® as well as a Master AcuEnergetics® Practitioner and Teacher of AcuEnergetics®. Kevin has practised and studied meditation and the energetic system since 1974. He has taught since 2000 and his published writings, meditation CD’s and teachings have brought him worldwide recognition as a unique and practical meditation teacher and an expert in the field of energy medicine. He currently teaches in Australia, USA, India, Asia and Europe. For more information about Kevin, visit Kevin’s full biography.

What is the soul? Although we generally pretend to have one, most of us don’t have the foggiest notion of what this means. Try explaining your soul or ask one of your friends to talk about their soul over a cup of tea. It’s a good indoor pursuit on a cold day. These days, everyone’s answer is usually something vague about our own personal spiritual aspect. While we think of this as being an age old idea, the notion of the soul as being individual or personal, is a latter day conception that derives from the Greek philosophers rather than the ancient religious mystics.

In ancient religious texts, the soul was only considered as the string that connects us to the source of everything, and through which we can drop the very concept of individuality and become at one with the all. This is atonement or more correctly, at-one-ment. So, as the great Sufi poet and mystic Rumi said in regard to the soul being individual, ‘The soul is a myth.’

In India, Vedanta scriptures taught that this connection to the divine source was divided into the five koshas or sheaths. These sheaths separate us from the direct experience and recognition that we are part of God. The Indian teaching so completely matches the basic Judaic teachings on the five aspects of the soul, that is unlikely to have originated separately. Just as the knowledge of chakras was imported into India from the middle east in the second century BCE, the later teachings of Vedanta which include the knowledge of the koshas, were in all likelihood, imported. 

The five sheaths or coverings of the soul are most easily understood from the Kabbalah teachings. In these, the five aspects are termed nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chaya and yechida. 

Yechida, The Bliss State

Yechida is the bliss state or anandamaya aspect. The Bliss body is the state of oneness within ourselves. This is the beingness aspect of the higher soul or the state of at-one-ment. 

Chaya, The Wisdom Mind

Chaya is the Judaic equivalent of the wisdom mind or vijnanamaya. The Wisdom mind is the faculty of discrimination from the unity of heart and mind. This is the veil called ahamkara which separates us from oneness with all things. Chaya encompasses the awareness mind and the veil of the will. This is the first state of duality, which means we are aware of ourselves as separate. 

Neshamah, The Connection to the Divine

Neshamah is the mental body which is also the connection to the divine. This is the Judaic equivalent of manomaya. Neshamah is the faculty of thought in both rational linear (left brain) and immediate perception (right brain) functions. The energy centres or sephira of The Tree of Life thatproceed up the centre of the body, are the individual aspects of this. This mental body is the story mind, the mind that creates thoughts. 

Ruach, The Emotional Energy

Ruach is emotional energy and is the equivalent of pranamaya in the Indian system.To understand this aspect we need to appreciate that our energy and emotions are the same thing. Although it’s more usual to say that the energy in our body, our lifeforce, becomes distorted by emotional attachments to ideas, in truth, the energy and emotion are the same substance. We need to purify our hearts to refine the energy emotions. In Kabbalah, this is seen as the energy of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that flows on from these centres through the meridian system. In Vedanta, the semi permanent structures in the energy emotions, that negatively influence us are termed samskaras. These psychic scars are the result of hanging on to the emotional consciousness of attachments and they constantly exert a negative influence over the energy of the body. 

Nefesh, The Physical Body

Nefesh is the equivalent of annamaya, the physical body. Physicality is the aspect of the soul in the material dimension. It is coloured by the experiences of the other veils. In Kabbalah, there is a saying that ‘the nefesh is the blood.’ This indicates that the physical body is coloured or determined by the experience of the lowest aspect of the soul. When we are emotionally attached to thoughts, then we colour or poison the blood. When we refine our emotional consciousness by getting less serious about our opinions and happier in how we are, we release the negative aspects of the five bodies and allow ourselves to directly experience the yechida state of being one with everything. 

Did you know?

The five states of the soul also relate to the five true centres of energy of the central pillar of the lightbody. The nefesh relates to malkuth or earth at the base. Ruach relates to yesod or the true lower tan tien at the sex. Neshamah relates to tipareth or the mysterious gate at the heart. Chaya relates to da’at or the gate of heaven at the pineal (secret and not illustrated) and yechida relates to kether or heaven at the crown. Although we usually think of there being seven centres on the middle pillar, only five are true centres. Two are what were known in Taoism and in Kabbalah as double passes. These passes are paths where there is a centre at the outer pillars at the back and front of the body. When these are open, they allow energy to join at the middle pillar. The normal double passes are at the navel which connect netzach to hod and the throat where chesed connects to gevorah.By Kevin Niv Farrow

Kevin is the Founder and Director of AcuEnergetics® as well as a Master AcuEnergetics® Practitioner and Teacher of AcuEnergetics®. Kevin has practised and studied meditation and the energetic system since 1974. He has taught since 2000 and his published writings, meditation CD’s and teachings have brought him worldwide recognition as a unique and practical meditation teacher and an expert in the field of energy medicine. He currently teaches in Australia, USA, India, Asia and Europe. For more information about Kevin, visit Kevin’s full biography.

Children are extremely sensitive when it comes to energy. Their minds are generally not as locked in to their stories as much as adults, which makes them more flexible and less likely to hold on to destructive emotions. This also makes them excellent people to treat with AcuEnergetics®.
 Below are a couple of real life cases, where AcuEnergetics® has made a real difference in the lives of these two little girls and their families.

Lilly’s Story
My daughter came to see AcuEnergetics® Practitioner Kevin Farrow after a recommendation by my sister Sarah Kinsela and her friend Stephanie who is an AcuEnergetics® student. Lilly was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder around 2 years of age. Over the years we have been on a healing journey with Lilly and have watched her slowly emerge from the distant other world that is Autism and learn how to be present here and now with us. Lilly is now 5 and we went to see Kevin as we heard that he had experienced some success with children that were Autistic. Lilly formed a rapport with Kevin right away and after 5 or 6 sessions we saw an amazing improvement in her cognitive processes. 

For the first time she understood the concept of time, she could understand what “in a minute” meant and also grasped that “in a couple of minutes” meant longer! She began to speak of the events of yesterday and anticipate future events and correctly label them with “tomorrow”. This was a massive leap forward in her development. Before Acuenergetics® we could only speak in terms of “First and Then” which dealt with immediate needs, for eg: First a sandwich then a drink. Now she can speak of and understand the concept of time in an age appropriate way. 

She has also begun to grasp the concept of “Why”. Previous to Acuenergetics® Lilly understood, How, When and Where but not Why. Now Lilly can answer “Why questions” and has even begun to ask some of her own which is music to our ears!These are big developmental steps that were achieved in such a short amount of time thanks to Kevin – and Lilly for opening her heart! Since these sessions I have myself attended the Level 1 course to learn more about AcuEnergetics® so I can continue on with Lilly’s treatment, in the future I would love to learn all there is to know about this way of working with energy as I have seen and felt the results and am impressed by the accuracy of the method. 

Namaste,
Libby Brimmer  

Ella’s Story
Two days after our second session we went away and I took Ella outside amongst the dewy flowers. As she stood against my legs and I held her shoulders she lifted her left leg and put it down in front of her. The she lifted her right leg and put it down in front of her. With me holding her shoulders she walked 10 steps right up to where the flowers were growing. The others couldn’t hear me yelling for them to come watch so I scooped her up, ran to the house and she again started walking in front of everyone.

She managed another ten steps before exhausting herself. There was much ecstatic smiling and a lot of teary eyes. We only managed one more session of AcuEnergetics® before we left Sydney but it changed us and Ella forever. We still have a daughter who needs lots of help on our hands but she has two blissfully happy parents who see that the little steps that mean so much can come from the most amazing places. For some people the road to health and wellbeing can be long dark and dreary with no end in sight. But for those who have experienced AcuEnergetics® it’s more than being a light at the end of the tunnel : it’s actually the light. Whether through being worked on by a practitioner or by learning yourself you can guarantee that your own road will be changed irreparably for the better.

Thank you, Anna.
(Anna and Ella’s names have been changed to protect their privacy)

Below is the story of Veeresh D. Yuson-Sanchez and his experience with AcuEnergetics® some time ago now. Veeresh is now no longer with us, but his memory and enthusiastic and funny description of his experience with AcuEnergetics® over many years will live on in our memories. Veeresh was an outstanding therapist and teacher who became famous for his work in the Human Potential Movement. He founded The respected Humaniversity in Holland in 1978, which is an international center for therapy, training and personal growth.

While visiting and teaching at the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune (India), Veeresh was introduced to Kevin Farrow, founder and director of the AcuEnergetics® Clinic and Training School in Sydney. Veeresh attended a couple of sessions and the results were amazing. He valued the work of Kevin so much that he changed his plans and decided to continue his treatment in Australia.

The following article is taken from the Humaniversity Newsetter, March 2009, written by Geetee.
Pain in Veeresh’s hip For 18 years Veeresh has been suffering from excruciating pain in his hip and leg. The message from regular doctors was: “Take some discs out, grind them down and put them back with the help of metal clamps.” Luckily, he never opted to do the operation. Meeting the ‘Magician’ Veeresh booked a session with Kevin and after 90 minutes of treatment, he walked out free of pain. Veeresh was amazed, and from that moment on, called him ‘his magician’. He kept expecting his condition to worsen, but he is still pain free today, 2 months later. Due to the amazing result in his body, Veeresh decided to fly to Sydney and to stop over in Kuala Lumpur on the way to see his son Champak, who lives there.

Treatment in Sydney, Australia

Then on to Sydney and its beautiful sights, the Harbour, Circular Quay, the Opera house on a little peninsula, George Street, a beautiful shopping street, and the School of AcuEnergetics® in Balmain, Sydney. Veeresh was able to receive sessions every day of his stay, generously offered by Kevin, Rochelle and some of their practitioners and students. Kevin even insisted on treating Veeresh on his days off and after his regular working hours. We soon developed a dear friendship and became very enthusiastic about their work.

We had several meals together and asked many questions about their way of treating.They answered with passionate patience and explained to us about their work and told us many stories from their experiences. Kevin has published one book, and is currently working on a second one, containing a deeper explanation of what he does and how the energy system of the body functions.

“The approach appeared spooky, it’s like acupuncture without needles. But the results have been astounding.Today I am walking without losing balance, my energy is flowing, and I have no more pain in my hip. I am so enthusiastic that we are sending two of our students, who are stuck on a physical level, to Australia for treatment. I look forward to having AcuEnergetics® training at the Osho Humaniversity in the future.” 

Veeresh AcuEnergetics® Treatment Mental trauma creates blocks in the body. Kevin sees the body as a three dimensional manifestation of the mind. In his treatment he is alleviating mental trauma and at the same time he stimulates an opening of energy gates. That allows the chi, or life energy, to flow naturally through the meridians, thus enabling the body to heal itself. Some of the complaints AcuEnergetics® treats include: chronic back & knee pain, sciatica, menstrual problems & infertility, thyroid problems, anxiety, insomnia, digestive problems, stress & trauma,sports injuries & many other problems. Home again Finally it was time to go back home again. We feel rich in our hearts to have made such beautiful and generous friends and are looking forward to the next time we meet. Extract from the Humaniversity Newsletter, March 2009

Understanding my own disquiet took many years. Happiness was always circumstantial. I would feel calm and relaxed immediately in the moments after my yoga class, or when everything aligned at certain moments of a day. But very quickly old patterns of struggle would return. I would again be pulled back to struggle street – comparing myself to others, with a constant stream of inner dialogue, moments of nervousness and sometimes all out anxiety. It all creates suffering.

The ancients of course understood that part of being human involves some level of suffering. The first of Buddha’s four noble truths is often translated as “life is suffering”. But there are practices to lead us away from the inevitable suffering of being human. Buddhism refers to a calmer, more lasting peace as a kind of ceaseless joy – a preferable substitute to forever seeking circumstantial happiness. It helps us to first see how we are in our travelling in our internal landscapes and then gives us the tools to traverse these towards more lasting contentment.
Mindfulness is an ancient technique to bring us closer to this joy, to bring our attention to the present moment. Simple, yet profound when practiced properly, it enables us to play witness to the moment exactly as it is happening around us and within us, with clarity and without getting caught up in the story of the mind.

The temptation is to reach for a drink or snack, to change position or change the metaphorical channel. Instead, mindfulness asks us to use the mood to enquire into our inner world. To see that through presence and kind attention, we can deliver more peace to the moment.
Cultivating this level of attention to the present almost always brings about more joy. This may be sitting around a table laughing, sharing a meal with friends or having a hug with beloved children before they go to sleep. As we feel a wave of anger move through the body or the grip of fear in the stomach, it can also be useful to connect with these moments rather than being consumed by them. Bringing mindfulness to more moments of life allows us to wake up and experience more fully, everyday moments, to enjoy the joyful moments as well as ride through the challenging ones with more grace.

Students often tell me that once they begin yoga and start to have some level of awareness, they feel an obligation to let go of anger, of jealousy, of road rage. This is a misunderstanding of the principles of this practice. Yoga is less about trying to live in a state of perpetual happiness, or perfection or control. It’s more about building the tools that keep us grounded, centred and able to recover from moments of anger or fear. Real mental health is about resilience, rather than seeking some idea of what happiness should feel like.
Some simple things you can do during your day to come back to the moment:Feel your feet on the ground or in your shoesRelax your body, soften your shoulders, mouth and jaw, lower belly.Take a deep breath in and out, notice your breathingFeel the air around your face or on your handsNotice the mood of your heart, how is it in there?Notice your mind stream, what is the quality of your mind right now?Try not to judge what you find or manage it in anyway, just feel it.Come back to your breath – be here now.Finding these anchors though your day can be like a ballast in the storm of life. The most beautiful moments in our day can be the simplest and by bringing these into focus we can experience real profundity and begin to find the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life.By Bryony Lancaster

Bryony is a qualified AcuEnergetics® Meditation Teacher. Bryony has been teaching Yoga for over ten years and is the owner and Director of Egg Of The Universe Yoga and Wholefoods Cafe. She enjoys how AcuEnergetics® and Yoga can compliment each other with such grace and is continually inspired by the teachings of Kevin Farrow. Similar to her yoga classes, Bryony guides people in meditation with a simple, structured and accessible style.

We just completed the Twelve days of Meditation this December, but I thought it might be a nice thing to share again with anyone who missed joining us for these 12 days.The idea was to surround ourselves in positively joyous expressions of life and meditation for twelve days as we enter the festive holiday season. Each day we contemplate, meditate and then enjoy! Each day has something different to contemplae, then you will do some self directed meditation, followed by enjoying the experience of your practice – enjoyment is important : ) We hope you enjoy your twelve days of contemplation and meditation with us. Contemplate. Meditate. Enjoy.

Day 1. LifeLife is an amazing wonder and you have it. You have the gift of life. You are alive. You are here on this planet to experience all the incredible things it has to offer, so use your life wisely, follow your heart and be true to yourself.Today as you meditate, be aware of your life. Be aware you are alive and feel how alive you are. Rejoice in the life you have and it’s preciousness. Rejoice in being alive.

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 2. Beauty

There is beauty all around us, so take a moment to see the beauty in everything. There is obvious beauty in nature, but there is beauty in the mundane too and it is good to see this and appreciate this.However what is most beautiful is always within us. Such beauty lies in our hearts and although we do not see it, we can feel it and its strength is far greater than any beautiful rainbow or sunset.Today when you meditate, connect with your beauty within and feel it. You are beautiful. 

Day 3. Wonder

‘Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.’ SocratesI’m not sure to which meaning Socrates was referring in this quote about wonder. Perhaps it was about being curious or maybe being in awe. Both seem to have great possibilities about creating a spark of wisdom from these states. Perhaps both. Being curious is a positive trait that keeps our interest alive and keeps us alive and discovering the world within ourselves especially. You need a natural curiosity for that. The natural openness that comes from experiencing awe and amazement, is certainly also a place which can lead to wisdom and great learning. So always keep your natural curiosity and allow yourself to marvel at the small wonders around you every day, for it will keep you present and open and filled with wonder! 

Day 4. Compassion

Let us today bring to mind compassion. When we think of compassion, we often think of having compassion for others and this is important. We should certainly have compassion for those around us. However today we are going to focus on the person we often forget about – ourselves. It is important we have compassion for ourselves as we are usually the most critical and destructive voice around – in our own mind we are continually giving ourselves a hard time. Let us today start to gently bring compassion into our hearts for ourselves – without judgement or opinions, let us be kind and compassionate to ourselves and open our hearts fully to us. A little bit of self-love goes a long way! 

Day 5. Healing

Every minute of every day your body is healing itself. You are made up of at least 50 billion cells and they are busy regenerating and adapting and doing all sorts of jobs we don’t think about but should appreciate and be so grateful for keeping us alive. We are an incredible system of muscles, bones, blood and electricity and have an intelligence that is so vast we don’t understand the half of it. Your body is continually working and healing to do what it can to ensure everything functions to the best of its ability, in the environment it has, under the conditions we place it. And boy do we put it under pressure. So today, just for one day, we are going to do everything we can to support the healing of our body and appreciate all the work it is doing. We are going to give it some rest, appreciate it, love it and create peace in our environment, in ourselves, we will slow down and breath fully and be present….we will allow maximum healing to take place. And meditation is the ultimate way to allow for all this to occur, so let us meditate now and let the healing begin! 

Day 6. Wisdom

When we think of wisdom we may think of something wise someone once said or something we read. There are plenty of wonderful wisdom’s out there and many wise words. But today we will contemplate on the wisdom within us. You have a wisdom for which there are no words. A wisdom within you, in your heart and soul and this wisdom guides you in life, if you are connected enough with yourself and will listen closely to the calling of your heart.Today we will connect with the wisdom in our hearts, our true compass in life, letting us know if we are on the right path, and making the right choices for ourselves. Whenever you are troubled, go to your heart and you will find the answer. In that way, you will never make the wrong choice. 

Day 7. The Breath

To breathe is life and the breath is always there keeping us alive. It also serves as a constant reminder and a fantastic tool to keep us present and in the moment. What better way to remind us that there is no moment but now. Often we are looking outside of ourselves for a way to stay present, setting alarms and using other tools to tell us to be mindful – but the breath is always there letting us know when we are not. When we feel stressed, our breath changes, our chest tightens and it is more difficult to breathe. This is your breathe giving you a tap on the shoulder and saying hey, let go, relax, breathe. If we always listen to our breath, feel our breath, we will be able to keep a close watch on how we are throughout each day and we will become more mindful of ourselves and the world around us. So today let us be totally with our breath for as much as we can…and let your body and mind reap the benefits.

Day 8. Gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful thing. It can change our perspective and turn the bio-electricity of the body from contracting in our hearts to opening our hearts. Love and gratitude go together very well and we should incorporate them with great regularity in our lives. We can easily get into a cycle of living outside of ourselves, wanting and desiring things that we wish for, however this keeps us in our mind-stuff, always unsatisfied and stops us from being in the present moment. If we take some time in gratitude, we become aware of all we have to be grateful for – to start with all the non-material things we have contemplated so far in our journey here. To be grateful for our life, the beauty around and within us, for wonder, compassion and the healing happening in our bodies right now, as well as the wisdom your hold within you and for every breath you breathe. Now that’s a start…and perhaps you have many more things to be grateful for….you should contemplate those now… 

Day 9. Calm

When we are calm magic happens. It’s incredible how a change of state can change our world. One minute we are freaked out, stressed, emotional and unable to solve the immediate problems in our lives, not to mention deal with the crazy person in our head or think clearly and manage ourselves. However when we can calm ourselves down, feel the breath, become mindful and still and be in the moment, suddenly the magic starts to happen. The invisible prison of suffering we have created for ourselves starts to lift and suddenly everything is possible again, we can breathe, we can think, the sane person returns and peace is restored. It really is amazing how calming our mind, calms the electricity, calms the body and calms our world. We all know this, but somehow lots of little things can sneak in and disrupt our flow, so today we are going to give our attention to calmness in our mind, body and life in general and rejoice in the beautiful feeling it brings. 

Day 10. Love

Love. What more to say than just love. We know it well. We love love. So then why do we not always allow love to find a home in our hearts? Why do we banish it with anger and frustration, sadness and fear? We are a strange tribe indeed. Such intelligence and yet such strange behavior. We learn at such a young age that if we touch the oven, we get burned. We get hurt. So we don’t do it twice. But even though closing our heart with fear and anger hurts, we continue to do it on a daily basis – up and down, round and round goes the merry go round of emotions. Why oh why do we do it to ourselves? Our natural state is to be open, to allow the love in our hearts to flow. We don’t have to ‘open’ our heart – we just need to stop closing it. We need to find a way to live more and more in the moment, and to have a greater awareness of how we are in each moment. In this way we can see what we are doing to ourselves and become more and more conscious. As we do this, we can let go of the recurring patterns and emotions we fall victim to and consciously live more in our hearts.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” Jalaluddin Rumi

Day 11. Joy

You carry all the ingredients to turn your life into a nightmare – Don’t mix them!You carry all the ingredients to turn your existence into joy, Mix them, mix them!Hafiz I love this Hafiz quote as it is so true. We have so many incredible skills and tools within us – let us use our powers wisely so that we may live joyful lives with meaningful relationships and make rewarding contributions to those around us. Everything you need to create the life you want is within you now. But remember you will not find it if you look for it outside of yourself – you will only find it by going inside.Practice going inside every day and before you know it you will be living the dream – a joyful existence. 

Day 12. PeaceAnd on our twelfth day we talk about peace. Peace is what most of us want, on both a small and large scale. Peace in lives, peace in our relationships, peace in our families, peace in our country, peace in the world.Unfortunately this is not always the case. But there is comfort in knowing that no matter what is going on around us, we can find peace in ourselves. That starts and ends with you and only you and it is possible right now. Simply bring yourself into this present moment, begin to let go of whatever is happening around you and move your attention from thinking, to feeling. The moment you start to move your attention to feeling, you take away all the energy for the mind and suddenly it is quiet. You can’t make your mind quiet with your mind, you just need to redirect your attention. Then the tension of the mind can start to relax, and with it the tension in the body and the heart. The feeling sense allows you to move into just being and you experience an increased awareness of yourself and everything…and with it comes peace. “Glimpses of love and joy or brief moments of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought. For most people, such gaps happen rarely and only accidentally, in moments when the mind is rendered “speechless,” sometimes triggered by great beauty, extreme physical exertion, or even great danger. Suddenly, there is inner stillness. And within that stillness there is a subtle but intense joy, there is love, there is peace.” – Eckhart Tolle,  

Rochelle is a mum of two little ones and has always been interested in finding ways to live a happy and healthy life while helping others. She has been meditating for 20 years, since she was introduced to the practice in school and found a passion for healing and energy medicine not long after that. Rochelle enjoys the challenges of life, motherhood, family, work, friends and somehow fitting them all in together. Work-wise Rochelle is an AcuEnergetics® Practitioner, Teacher and is also the General Manager of AcuEnergetics®. She has been practicing AcuEnergetics® since 2005 and is fully qualified to teach AcuEnergetics® Level 1 and AcuEnergetics® Level 2. She is currently a co-teacher for AcuEnergetics® Level 3 and the AcuEnergetics® Practitioner Training.

The first step in forgiving others is to realise that forgiveness is not for the other person…it’s for us. It does this by helping us to let go of our resentments and anger and thereby helping us to be happier and healthier. However this doesn’t always work. When we treat forgiveness as a gift that we are bestowing on the other then it misses the point.   Forgiveness is not really something that we can do – it’s something that we find when we drop our resentments and open our hearts. Then we discover love and kindness and we forgive. The concept that it helps the other person when we can stand up and formally forgive someone; is really not true. Better to realise that we are all a bit short of being perfect and allow a bit of leeway in the behavior of others.

What’s the problem with non-forgiveness? And what does it do to our health/mind/body/spirit over time?
Not forgiving other people is one of the fastest ways to become ill. When we emotionally shut out other people we literally harden our heart muscle causing anxiety, insomnia and circulatory problems to name but a few. In addition, the anger we hold onto, congests our livers resulting in multiple problems including inflexibility. This can easily become a vicious cycle where anger fuels a closed heart and the closed heart further fuels anger. What’s a practical thing people can do to start the process of forgiveness?To start with – stop taking everything so seriously. Breathe a little and realize that you’re not perfect either. From here you could progress to the Tibetan Forgiveness meditation.

How does this practical technique work to allow forgiveness? 

Letting go a little and realising a little help us to move on and to stop being nailed to the floor of our negative opinions. You are the first step of your bigger journey. Take it and thank your lucky stars that you are capable of forgiveness.

Forgiveness Meditation
A simple technique to help open the heart is the Tibetan Forgiveness Meditation. In this meditation, first sit and find a place of stillness within yourself. If that feels impossible, sit and breathe deeply for nine breaths. Then visualise someone whom you unconditionally love standing in front of you. This can be your dog or cat, whoever gives you a feeling of warmth in your heart. Next, bring your friends into your visualisation and stay with the feeling of warmth in your heart. Then, while still feeling the heart’s love and warmth, add your family, then your acquaintances and finally those people that you have issues with. If you can stay with the feelings of the heart instead of the judgements of the mind, you will take a big step towards keeping yourself healthy and making your life beautiful and profound.

By Kevin Niv Farrow

Kevin is the Founder and Director of AcuEnergetics® as well as a Master AcuEnergetics® Practitioner and Teacher of AcuEnergetics®. Kevin has practised and studied meditation and the energetic system since 1974. He has taught since 2000 and his published writings, meditation CD’s and teachings have brought him worldwide recognition as a unique and practical meditation teacher and an expert in the field of energy medicine. He currently teaches in Australia, USA, India, Asia and Europe. For more information about Kevin, visit Kevin’s full biography.

I feel like today is a day for the heart. In fact what day isn’t? My heart can always do with a good dose of Rumi. No matter where or when or why or how, there’s always something Rumi wrote that brings me such a profound sense of peace, wisdom and a reassuring feeling that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. 

So today I’m sharing with you some beautiful words from the incredible Rumi.
Rumi was a 13th Century Persian, Muslim poet and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s poems have reached people all around the world, transcending all countries, culture and time with the incredible beauty of his writing, which touch the deepest part of your heart. Read it. Feel it. Sit with it. Find truth in it. Breathe. Smile.It will fill your soul.Enjoy.

Gone to the Unseen

At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.

What marvelous route did you take from this world?

Beating your wings and feathers, you broke free from this cage.

Rising up to the sky you attained the world of the soul.

You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.

Then you heard the drummer’s call and flew beyond space and time.

As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.

Then came the scent of the rose garden and you flew off to meet the Rose.

The wine of this fleeting world caused your head to ache.

Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.

Like an arrow, you sped from the bow and went straight forthe bull’s eye of bliss.

This phantom world gave you false signs

But you turned from the illusion and journeyed to the land of truth.

You are now the Sun – what need have you for a crown?

You have vanished from this world -what need have you to tie your robe?

I’ve heard that you can barely see your soul.

But why look at all? – yours is now the Soul of Souls!O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.

Seeking divine heights, Flapping your wings,you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.

The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you – You are the fearless rose that grows amidst the freezing wind.

Pouring down like the rain of heaven you fell upon the rooftop of this world.

Then you ran in every direction and escaped through the drain spout . . .

Now the words are over and the pain they bring is gone.

Now you have gone to rest in the arms of the Beloved. 

“Rumi – In the Arms of the Beloved”, Jonathan Star
New York 1997

Rochelle is a mum of two little ones and has always been interested in finding ways to live a happy and healthy life while helping others. She has been meditating for 19 years, since she was introduced to the practice in school and found a passion for healing and energy medicine not long after that. Rochelle enjoys the challenges of life, motherhood, family, work, friends and somehow fitting them all in together. Work-wise Rochelle is an AcuEnergetics® Practitioner, Teacher and is also the General Manager of AcuEnergetics®. She has been practicing AcuEnergetics® since 2005 and is fully qualified to teach AcuEnergetics® Level 1 and AcuEnergetics® Level 2. She is currently a co-teacher for AcuEnergetics® Level 3 and the AcuEnergetics® Practitioner Training.