Welcome to Good Energy Movement and Wellness!
My name is Melissa “Mati” Elstein, and I am the Founder and Director of this holistic company. Your well-being is my focus. To learn more about my wellness practice for adults, seniors and children, and how I can assist you with your fitness, health, and spiritual quests, please look at the different links on this website. Whether it is with the practice of yoga, qigong, tai chi, pilates, ballet, meditation, stress reduction, reiki energy and crystal healing sessions, or if you are in need of coaching, my goal is to help you lead a fulfilling, happy and healthy life.
Thank you again for visiting “Good Energy Movement and Wellness”, and I look forward to the opportunity to support you in your unique life journey!
New From the Blog
- Trauma Release & Happiness Articles
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope this email continues to find you safe and well, and enjoying the month of August so far!
In one of my Zoom classes, the topic of the tapping healing modality and EMDR (eye movements) for trauma release and well-being came up. I mentioned that I had just read an interesting article on these healing practices, and I am linking it here. (Please note I am not a practitioner in either modalities; the eye movements we do are yoga exercises and the finger fluttering massage is self-massage and not the tapping technique). I found this article very well-written, and know that many of you were curious about reading it too. Enjoy!
https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/healing-the-trauma-body-with-emdr/Content?oid=13282628Here is another article I think you will enjoy that explains 7 practices for increasing one’s happiness:
https://www.naturalawakenings.com/2021/07/30/362678/think-yourself-happy-seven-ways-to-change-your-mind-and-be-happier
Although not specifically mentioning yoga or qigong, the article discusses (in point 6) how sustained spiritual practices, including brief meditations, increase well-being and quiet the mind chatter. Another example discussed is how to defuse the inner critic with caring self-talk (point 3), and again while not specifically mentioning yoga, the yogic principle of “ahimsa” certainly applies. I usually explicitly discuss ahimsa – which is the sanskrit word for nonviolence, non-harming, non-judgment – in the context of us not judging ourselves while practicing a pose or movement in class and then applying that principle to ourselves when we are not in class as well. We may have been conditioned from childhood experiences to criticize oneself and others, but that conditioning does not have to remain if we become aware of those thought patterns, and then can consciously change them to loving-kindness thoughts (and if that is too challenging initially, to neutral thoughts instead). At the end of many of my telephone classes (and some of the Zoom classes), we spend time practicing the metta mantra loving-kindness meditation sequence where we offer positive affirmations to others as well as ourselves. It is noteworthy that this meditation is also a “practice” – in other words, there is no conclusion, no end goal, no completion. Our active cultivation of happiness is also a practice – whether it is keeping a gratitude journal, engaging in mindful spiritual practices, helping others, observing negative self talk and replacing it with compassionate and caring self talk, and the other examples listed in the article.I welcome your thoughts on these articles, or any others you come across that are inspiring as well.
Photo by Melissa Elstein – July 2021
