Arura Healing Centre

Welcome

Welcome to Arura Tibetan Medicine Centre.

Karen Stone has been practising holistic healing  for over twelve years. She offers all aspects of Traditional Tibetan Medicine including: external therapies such as Yuk Cho stick therapy, Ku Nye massage, cupping, and moxibustion, diet and lifestyle consultations, herbal medicines and mantra healing.

She is  also a Reiki Master in the Usui Tibetan lineage, works extensively with crystal healing, is a Bach Flower Practitioner and is a teacher of meditation and yoga.

The centre is located in Woodend, in the beautiful Macedon Ranges, only an hours drive from Melbourne.

Contact: phone 0400 688 599 or email: karenstone3@gmail.com

Dr Tsewang Tamdin to visit Australia in June

Dr Tsewang Tamdin is an eminent Tibetan Physician, Director of the Tibetan Medical & Astrological Institute and personal doctor to His Holiness Dalai Lama! I am very happy to be helping the Tibetan Community of Victoria who are hosting his visit. We are fortunate that Dr Tsewang Tamdin will be in Melbourne for three days, so there is a public talk scheduled as well as two days of private consultations.

A great occasion for the Tibetan Community and for Tibetan medicine in Australia!

A morning walk in the herb garden

I have just taken my coffee and gone for a morning visit to all the pockets of medicinal plants I have in my garden. It is a gorgeous sunny Autumn morning and the heavy dew has left "fairy lights" on everything.

It's saffron time and I have to be vigilant in checking every morning as the delicate crocus flower only has a two or three day life span and those precious filaments must be collected as soon as the flower opens. My saffron grows in a medium sized tub - for now! I think about the back breaking work of collecting from the large plantations where is is grown commercially every time I run back to the house with my tiny daily harvest.

We had a study day here on the weekend with some of my fellow Tibetan Medicine colleauges and during a break we had a wee herb tour. My home sits on just under half an acre of land. It's an old house and the garden was already planted out with many large European trees when we bought it. Of course I cannot bring myself to cut any of them down! Even so, it is surprising how many plants, shrubs and trees with medicinal properties that I have been able to introduce into the garden.

Because we live in a cool climate and high altitude location (in Australian terms) a lot of the Himalayan plants do very well in this area. Many of the famous gardens nearby on Mount Macedon have spectacular and prized examples of rare trees from the Himalayan species, planted out over a century ago.

Large scale herb production is probably not likely, but it is sometimes surprising how much can be grown in a domestic setting. For me I like that connection, that understanding of the herb being grown and transformed into medicine. That is a little bit of magic that I can witness in my own back yard whenever I want.

Ginkgo biloba

Some Christmas wishes and a little news

Well, I think most people will be happy to stand out under the stars this New Years eve coming and wave a definite good bye to 2012. What a year, everyone has a story, has had a struggle or a loss or many. And many people have risen above and shown kindness, courage and compassion in the face of it. Humans can be amazing!

I had my own journey this year for sure with some surgery (gall bladder, all fine now) and then the loss of my dear Dad. But there have been good things too, I have started some new study; an advanced Diploma of Western Herbal Medicine. This will expand the ways in which I can help you all, and gives me access to Western herbal medicines to use alongside the Tibetan medicines.

I fly out to Singapore on January 1st - what a great date! I will be joining Dr Nida Chenagtsang (my Tibetan Medicine teacher) for 5 days of Medicine Buddha and Yuthok practice.

Yuthok, who we regard as the "father" of Tibetan Medicine, also taught an important spiritual practice aligned with the practice of healing. Dr Nida is one of the lineage holders of this practice, and it is another way for Tibetan medicine practitioners, and indeed all healers, to develop their skills and abilities and help their patients.

And some of you already know, I have moved out of my room at the Old Bank Building in Woodend and am working from home. It was time to look for a bigger space, and yes, one without all those stairs! But rather than do it all in a big rush, I am taking the time to find the perfect location and it is business as usual from home in the meantime.

I re-open for bookings from January 14th, after I get back from Singapore.

My very best wishes to you all and your loved ones for a safe and blessed festive season. However you perceive the divine in your life, I hope it's light shines down on you now and into the new year to come. I thank you for all of your support in the past year and look forward to seeing you in 2013.

 

This mani house is near Rebkong in Tibet. It sits over a little stream and the water passes under it turning the prayer wheel inside the house continuously. Every minute of every day that prayer wheel spins out its countless prayers for all sentient beings everywhere.

 

Christmas and New Year hours

Last appointments before Christmas will be on Thursday 20th December, and re-opening mid January, date to be confirmed pending some travelling plans.

Gift vouchers for all treatments are available by snail mail up to Wednesday 19th December. Or by email, for you to print, right up to Christmas eve.

Igniting your inner fires

http://www.minerals.net/GemStoneInTheRoughImages/fire-opal-Queretaro-mexico-gem.jpg

I found this picture of a Mexican Fire Opal, stunning piece, quite co-incidentally the day before doing some path clearing and goal setting work with a patient who had come in for crystal healing.

Fire opal is beautiful to work with, it goes straight to the heart of change and moving forward. Bush fires almost always burn uphill, the energy of fire is always onward and upward as the flames seek oxygen. And of course bush fires (although dangerous and destructive in settled areas) actually play an important part of the ecosystem, clearing out stagnant areas to encourage new growth. The seeds of some Australian plants will not germinate without having been burnt first. It's a paradox!

Physically fire opals stimulate the whole digestive region, promote healthy circulation and can be used to treat infected wounds (as an externally applied essence).

It can help people with burnt-out symptoms, renewing inner drive, hope and enthusiasms. Fire opal will also reconnect you with the mystery of life, give back the sense of wonder. 

As you can see all colours in a fire opals flame, it works with all the chakras according to your need at the time.

A beautiful gift from our earth!

 

Always adding to the medicine garden

A lovely visit to The Garden Of St Erth today.

Never come back empty handed!

Ulmus rubra syn fulva - Slippery Elm.
Very excited to find this, the inner bark is one of the best remedies for many bowel conditions. We know of this one thanks to Native American healing, and it is pretty well used in most of the western world now.

Curcuma longa - Tumeric.
Not just for curry! Emerging as an important pain reliever, one without side effects, great for menopause symptoms too. This one is a wait and see as we have a huge frost issue here, will probably plant out in a tub so it can be moved to shelter on frosty nights.

This one is very exciting, but it it also going to take more research.
Catalpa bignonides - Indian Bean Tree.

Many times when studying Tibetan medicine in Amdo, I would see a thick white paste used on the skin as part of moxibustion treatment; it looks and feels a bit like vaseline. Last year I tried and tried to get more information about this paste or cream. Dr Padma told me it was made from Indian Bean but that was all he knew. Fingers crossed.

Pause here for gratuitous opportunity for sharing photo of me with Dr Padma!

and last of all ...

Artemesia absinthium - Absinthe wormwood,
just for interest sake ... although I have been trained in the fine art of distillery!

Find me on Tumblr now too

http://arurahealingcentre.tumblr.com/

This is kind of a gallery spot where I share photos to do with all things TTM

oh, and Pinterest!

http://pinterest.com/karenstone3/arura-tibetan-medicine-centre/

 

this is precious

I was so excited, and grateful, to find this video yesterday.

I spent a month in that office learning alongside Dr Padma last year, and many days on previous trips to Amdo. He is a great great being and a wonderful healer.

Here he is showing his technique for moxabustion. Such a joy to watch.

In the background the voice speaking English is my Tibetan medicine teacher Dr Nida.

My extended stay in Tibet last year, learning and working in the Tibetan medicine hospitals in Xining and Mahlo was a defining and extraordinary time of my life. This is a lovely little reminder.

An Old Manuscript on Tibetan Medicine Herbs

An Old Manuscript on Tibetan Medicine Herbs
བོང་དུག་པ། རེ་རལ། ཡུ་གུ་ཤིང་།

Aesculus hippocastanum, Horse chestnut

 

Aesculus hippocastanum, Horse chestnut.

We have a large tree and it is very generous with its offspring!

You can't eat these ones but they do have use as a medicinal plant, especially for the health of the veins, but always with caution as it is toxic in excess.

A beautiful healing tree, its wide canopy makes it a wonderful place to sit in the shade on a hot day, healing for the spirit and the body.