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Endorphin Meditation Workshops & One to One in London
ENDORPHIN MEDITATION – LIFE CHANGES
Facilitate positive life changes with The Endorphin Effect.
Relaxing guided meditation to:
- help you become calm and centred
- connected to the good things in life
- create the life you want
Bodel Rikys has had 30 years experience with meditation, yoga, holistic health and self-development work. She is an artist and a Endorphin Effect trainer.
This wonderful little book at just £4.99 would make an excellent gift or a treat for yourself. It is available from bookshops or direct from amazon.co.uk here: Meditation Is by Bodel Rikys
'I like each of them very much. They're very unusual in that they are cute, and also wise and intelligent'.
William Bloom
The Endorphin Effect - Core Energy Management was developed by Dr William Bloom and is a set of holistic strategies for mind/body healthcare and enhanced wellbeing.
In particular, The Endorphin Effect - Core Energy Management, teaches how to produce and use endorphins, the feelgood hormones, at will.
Bodel teaches endorphin meditation and Core Energy Management in adult education and is available for group and individual sessions.
Endorphin Meditation CD
Guided exercises to trigger endorphins, the feelgood hormones, improve your health, connect with the vitality of nature, and from this place create the life you want.
£10.00 plus £2.50 postage and packing
email: bodel.rikys@talktalk.net.or call 0759 893 7341
Workshops
Happiness Now - Endorphin Meditation
Please Inquire
Learn how to trigger endophins, the hormones that create the physical sensations of well- being at will. Also acquire some simple skills for mind-body healthcare and self-management. These are natural and pleasant to use.
The course is suitable for beginners and more experienced meditators.
This course is about managing your own body chemistry to reduce stress hormones, creating clear boundaries between you and the outside world, finding and retaining inner calm within changing circumstances. And being kind to yourself.
Time: 10am - 4pm Cost: £50
To enrol please go to:
To enrol call 020 8829 4141. They take place at The Institute, 11 High Road, East Finchley London N2 8LL |
Bodel Rikys & Endorphin Meditation
Daily Telegraph 8th August, 2005
Just lie back and think of happy times to release your body's feelgood endorphins, says Judith Woods
Most of us are aware of the existence of endorphins, those happy hormones that make us feel good.
Known as nature's natural painkillers, these opiate-like chemicals are generally produced when the body is under extreme physical stress, hence the well-documented euphoria of the runner's high.
After 20 to 30 minutes of hard aerobic exercise, endorphins are released and will result in a mood and energy boost for two to three hours, and a mild buzz for up to 24 hours. Sex also promotes production of these pleasurable neurotransmitters, because of the enjoyment of physical contact.
Laughter is another good source of endorphins, which is why watching a good sitcom will generate enough hormones to keep you contented all evening.
And as we all know, there's nothing like a bar of chocolate to give you a lovely rush of wellbeing. Studies have shown that when a group of overeaters was given a drug to block endorphin release, they no longer craved chocolate.
But what if there were a less fattening, less strenuous way of achieving a happy high? According to therapist Bodel Rikys, endorphin meditation is the answer. Rikys holds weekly classes and one-to-one sessions, where she shows clients how to tap into the feelgood factor within.
You can reduce stress, promote self-healing and make positive life changes by invoking your endorphins, says Rikys, who has practised meditation for more than 30 years.
It's not a case of emptying your mind - that's very difficult to do. It's about filling it with pleasurable thoughts, which in turn will produce a feeling of wellbeing. The endorphins will turn off the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and have a positive impact on your body chemistry.
It sounded so simple that I was immediately rather sceptical. If it really was that easy to feel marvellous, why hadn't we all been doing it for years? There was only one way to find out, so I signed up for a session.
I've long been intrigued by meditation, but the rather formal, stiff-backed, legs-crossed posture always put me off. It was a relief, then, to be told I could sit or lie on the floor - however I felt comfortable. I chose to recline on a large cushion, with my knees bent.
I was told to close my eyes and breathe deeply into my abdomen. Then, in my mind's eye, I was to scan my body with kindness, paying great attention to any places of tension or soreness. By offering myself sympathy, I was creating a soft, receptive frame of mind, which is apparently crucial to summoning up my endorphins.
Then I was to think about something that made me feel happy: an activity or place. Just as I was beginning to feel fretful because I could not visualise a vivid enough image, Rikys reassured me that it was enough to see colours, enough to see hazy impressions.
I chose to remember snorkelling on a holiday in the Caribbean, when I spent hours watching silvery shoals of fish glint and shimmer in the refracted light. Guided by Rikys's soft tones, the more I conjured up the cool feeling of the water around me and the sun's hot rays on my back, the happier I felt, and I began to smile. And smile some more.
Part of me felt utterly ridiculous, as I imagined how I must look, lying on the floor grinning from ear to ear, but I couldn't help myself.
Imagine there is a bright sun just where your ribcage ends, and it is filling you with light, every part of you, said Rikys. Now think of a golden trickle of endorphins, like oil or honey, streaming through you, soaking your bones with happiness. Wherever your body is in pain or needs healing, the golden flow will deepen until you are saturated.
By now, I am slightly embarrassed to recall, I was actually giggling. I felt excited and elated, yet simultaneously conscious that I was in a completely artificial situation.
Rikys then went on to talk about nature and how I was connected to the world around me, which was so soothing, I promptly fell asleep. As she gently asked me to wiggle my hands and toes, I stirred, and reluctantly opened my eyes. As I sat up, I have to confess I felt wonderful.
The effect of this kind of meditation is cumulative, said Rikys. The more you do, the better you'll feel. If you stack up endorphins in your body, it's like building up a reservoir of wellbeing, as opposed to a reservoir of stress.
For the rest of the day, I had a definite spring in my step, and two friends separately observed that I appeared to be on tremendously good form. Even the next day, I felt more energised than usual.
It was a remarkable experience. Simple yes, but deceptively so. When I subsequently tried to repeat the meditation, at home, I couldn't maintain my concentration. For me, having a relaxing voice talking me through the process was crucial.
I'd love to be able to conjure up my golden endorphins at will, but in the meantime I've done the next best thing. I've booked another session for next week.
Bodel Rikys teaches endorphin meditation in London. One-to-One sessions cost from £40. Please email or call 0759 893 7341 for more details or to make an appointment or email bodel.rikys@talktalk.net.
Daily Telegraph, 8th August, 2005
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