Laughing Buddha Yoga and Ayurveda

---

Celia Roberts BSc
Yoga, Meditation, Ayurvedic & Complementary Health Practitioner.

Celia is an accredited and experienced yoga and meditation teacher, with a degree in Biomedical science, majoring in anatomy and physiology. She has taught yoga and meditation both nationally and internationally, in American and Japan. As an Ayurvedic practitioner, with a Masters in Psychosomatic therapy, Celia offers you a broad range of experience and knowledge in both yoga classes and private consultations.

Celia's knowledge in both western medical science, and eastern Ayurvedic (Indian) medicine combine to give you a holistic framework for natural healing. Celia has enthusiastically practised yoga and meditation for the past decade, and she uses her deep kinesthetic awareness and heightened sensitivity developed through these practices to assist others.

Celia completed her yoga teaching training under her highly respected teacher Kate Pell 6 years ago, and has been passionatey teaching ever since. Many other highly experienced yoga teachers have inspired Celia's teaching. She has studied with Donna Farhi, Sue Scott, Mother Maya, Swami Niramalanda, Judith Lasater, Clive Sheridan, and physiotherapist Simon Borg Olivier. In the field of Ayurveda, Celia has trained over a 3 year period under the highly competant Dr Ajit at AIAS, and has also encompassed the timeless teachings of Mother Maya in her work.

Celia's meditation practice is inspired by Insight meditation practices, Vipassana, and Zen. She currently spends over 50 days of the year both in silent solitary retreat and under the guidance of renowned teachers Linda Clair, Roger Voorhoeve, and Peter Jones.

Celia shares everything she has gathered from her respected teachers and from her own inspired practice with people of many different backgrounds and professions to bring health, stillness, and purpose into their lives.

As a holistic practitioner she offers weekly Yoga classes, meditation classes and retreats, Ayurvedic consultations, Ayurvedic Massage & bodywork. She also offers private counselling, nutritional and lifestyle advice, and private yoga therapy. The corporate sector is also catered for.

All retreats and consultations are held at her simply stated farmhouse home, set amongst the beautiful acreage of Upper Brookfield, where you can truly relax and be still in nature.

PRACTITIONER QUALIFICATION DETAILS

• Degree in Biomedical Science (UQ 2002)
• Advanced Diploma in Yoga teaching (YTAA)
• Ayurvedic Consultant (AIAS)
• Masters in Psychosomatic therapy (AIBMAPT)
• Nutrition and Dietetics (QUT, 2000, 2 years F/T)
• Studies have also included personal training, counselling, and applied kinesiology.
• Celia currently spends over 50 days of the year in silent meditation retreat.

Yoga

---

Celia Roberts is an experienced and accredited Yoga teacher, a professional member of Yoga Teachers Association of Australia. She has a degree in Biomedical science, majoring in anatomy and physiology. Over the years, she has practised and taught yoga with enjoyment, enthusiasm and passion. The description below offers insight into an experience of yoga:

n its simplest form yoga is great for two reasons:

1. To bring health and alignment into the physical body.

2. To bring you into presence.

Yoga brings peace within you. It quietens your mind and stills your being.

While practising yoga, each movement becomes a meditation within itself. You remind your body how to move freely. You stretch your body, enliven it, give it both softness and strength and find balance between the two. You move with awareness and unite your mind and body through the breath. This is Yoga. This is union.

When you practise yoga postures (asanas) you work the physical body, stretching and strengthening muscles that you may not have felt for some time.You also work more deeply, toning the internal organs and bringing back vital health to the inner body.
You find yourself moving into deeper levels of awareness .

You may find that the practice moves beyond the physical body.
When you practise yoga you start to notice a deep stillness within. The mind quietens from excessive thought. You become present. You feel alive and intimately connected to all living beings.
The practice of yoga reminds you of the peace that lies within you. This stillness starts to work into your external life. You can then reconnect with that feeling wherever you are, whatever you are doing ----simply by the practise of being present.

In Yoga (union) you are reminded of your strength, your truth.

It is through this very moment, the only place of true awakening, that your experience of yoga begins.

Ayurvedic Medicine

---

Ayurveda is the traditional and holistic medicine of India. It literally means “science of life”, and its science is based on the unchanging laws of nature.
Ayurveda is a natural medicinal system that has been in continuous practice for over 5000 years. With its ancient roots firmly planted in the East, it is now spreading widely throughout the Western World. It is highly commended by spiritual leaders such as Deepak Chopra and the Dalai Lama because it works.

Ayurveda is both recorded and living knowledge inspired by the wisdom of early Indian sages. It is a safe form of holistic medicine, with an extensive history of traditional use. Ayurveda is a complete system that deals with preventative health, health improvement, health maintenance and treatment of
disease. It teaches you how to care for your health all levels of your being.

Ayurveda can be safely used in conjunction with conventional medicine, and may reduce reliance on drugs and medications over time. Recognised by the World Heath Organisation as a holistic system of healthcare, its speciality and strength lie in the individualised approach it offers you, maximising treatment results quickly and efficiently.

How Ayurveda can work for you.....

• Improve Headaches, migraine
• Improve asthma, breathing difficulties
• Increase conception rate for those with difficulty
• Improve bone health, arthritis, osteoarthritis, stiff joints
• Balance disrupted menstrual cycles for women
• Balance hormonal fluctuations
• Balance thyroid, and improve thyroid function
• Improve heart health, blood pressure problems, circulation
• Improve digestive disturbances
• Decrease or alleviate mental imbalances: depression, anxiety, insomnia, addictions, OCD, ADHD
• Immune strengthening: reduce sickness, colds and flus
• Improve muscular condition, reduce aches and pains
• Stress relief
• Create an overall sense of well being
• Improve health on all levels: mental, physical, spiritual.

Massage & Bodywork

---

Ayurvedic Massage

Ayurvedic massage is a full body and head massage that restores flow in the energy or prana (life force) of your body. Ayurvedic massage works not only on your physical body, but also your mental, emotional, and etheric bodies.

Firstly, an Ayurvedic practitioner will determine your constitution, identifying any imbalances. Therapeutic herbal oils are chosen to suit your specific constitution, or imbalance. The natural oils are warmed and then applied to the body with strokes chosen specifically to bring your body back into balance. The warmed oils nourish and penetrate the skin and tissues deeply for longer lasting effects.

The stimulation of the vital marma points (energy centres) and chakras over the body releases both physical and possible emotional holding within.

Many people constantly comment on how light and free they feel after a treatment.

Pyschosomatic Therapy

This is an opportunity to truly see yourself and reveal the layers of mind-body communication that take part within you every minute of your life. A positive and uplifting experience, you gain perspective on how and why you behave in the way you do. Your life is a basic reflection of yourself. The World that surrounds you is a creation of your consciousness, put in place as a way of helping you through the process of life. Whilst coming to this awareness may be uncomfortable, ultimately it is very empowering, giving you the potential to change aspects of your life for the better.

Your body is a reflection of your innermost thoughts, your identity, your genetic inheritance… and at the most intimate level, of your soul.

Through the art of body-mind analysis and body-work you can recognize and re-evaluate old patterns, beliefs and illusions that are with holding you realising truth. You see where these limitations exist in the body-mind and have the freedom to liberate yourself from these old attachments and emotional reactions.

The journey of life is to remember who you truly are. Any disconnection from the truth of who you are creates suffering and disharmony within.

This is a process of self enquiry. As you become fully committed to your life and well-being, body-work and massage helps the body becomes freer and lighter, residing in a deeper conciousness, bringing you close to the source of your being.


Meditation

---

The BENEFITS of meditation are vast... and meditation is helpful in various conditions:

• General Health and well-being: Improved breathing, digestion, immunity, cardiovascular health, fertility
• Stress relief
• Reduced anxiety and /or depression.
• Disturbed sleeping
• Coping strategies for dealing with physical and emotional pain
• Deeper sense of contentment with everyday life

Classes are taught in a simple, non-sectarian way. You will find similarities and influences from the traditions of Buddhism and Zen. The techniques are simple, yet deeply transformative and effective. Meditation is on the breath, and inner body awareness. Meditation brings a deeper state of awareness, mindfulness and presence into your life.

For those who wish to go deeper, meditation at its very essence is a path of self-enquiry into the truth of who you really are. When you cease to be controlled by your mind, and realise you are not the mind, you are on the path known to many as self realisation.

These classes aim to assist you in developing your own daily practice. All people are catered for from BEGINNERS to ADVANCED. Meditation is practised seated on the floor with support of zafu cushions, or in a chair.