Several years ago a friend invited me to a Kirtan chant. She didn’t tell me much about it, only that it was cool. The event was held in the basement of a local church. People sat cross-legged on the floor around the band, others in chairs behind, but we all removed our shoes at the door. Hundreds gathered, the lights were dimmed, and a warm energy filled the room.
The singer, Ragani, gave a brief introduction, and found the “new-bees” with a show of hands. She was a comedian, dry, monotone, witty, translating the potent meaning of each chant with maternal care. The chants, on a screen behind the band, written in Sanskrit, looked scary and intimidating. At that fragile moment, I decided to watch and listen. But when the “OM” sound reached every corner of the room, my head buzzed from the vibration. During the third repeat, I jumped in. It was cool.
Quickly acclimating to the call and response pattern, I caught myself swaying with the music and relaxing into the experience. I got happy, and troubles were forgotten. The joy around me was multiplying exponentially, carrying me with it. The chants were loooong and somewhere in the middle I grew unconscious, hypnotized by the beauty of the music, the voices, the swell of bliss. Everyone was on a magic carpet ride, sharing the same perfect sky.
The event called Kirtan is a gate to somewhere beyond your imagination. I felt lucky that night to have found it. I am sharing this story to pass the favor along.
On Friday nights, when the glog and weight of the week sits heavy on your soul, come to a sacred, quiet, loving place. Slowly strip off the layers of fear, unravel the energy-sucking anger, frustration, and disappointments, and just chant your bright and shiny Self to a pure happy place… Welcome to Kirtan, "OM NAMAH SHIVAYA"
Ragani’s Kirtan is held the Unitarian Universalist Church West at 13001 W. North Ave, in Brookfield, WI. Ragani performs the first Friday of the month at 7:30pm. Cost: $10. Check her website for calendar, as some months are not scheduled: www.raganiworld.com
For more information on Kirtan go to: www.sangitadevi.com
Check out Jai Uttal: www.jaiuttal.com His amazing work includes “Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant”, “Loveland”, and “Mondo Rama”.
It seems a simple enough task to take care of your hair, but when clients arrive for a haircut, there’s usually a lot of restoration needed as well. It behooves the hairstylist to remove product buildup, use a gentle shampoo, and condition the client’s hair because everything we do, color, perm, and styling turns out better. Results can be compromised by mistreated, neglected hair, and that places a lot of undo responsibility on the practitioner. (“She fried my hair!”) It’s not fair to expect a beautician and a magician. Do your part at home and I guarantee a better experience at the salon.
After a haircut, hair looks and feels fabulous and clients innocently assume removal of the last few inches restored the entire head. The “back bar” (storage unit for shampoo and conditioner) is the salon equivalent to your shower. If you use what I use, then logically, you will have healthy luminous strands, right? RIGHT! (Except if you are leaving the salon with brassy, flat, or greasy hair, then obviously don’t invest in those products and consider a more educated stylist. Would you let a surgeon remove body parts if they didn’t know the basics?)
Think of your hair as a flexible straw. Outside the hard protein cuticle bends and flexes like a snake’s skin. Inside the straw are color molecules (a different form of protein) and water. Anytime heat, peroxide, or detergent come into play, the cuticle scales open up. Sometimes they never close down again, causing the color protein and water to fall out. The surface becomes dull, the scales latch on to each other forming snarls, and the color fades. Here’s the most important part of my class. When these symptoms occur, it is not a signal to cut off hair, it’s a warning to check your hair care habits:
How effective is my shampoo? Do I use it because it smells good, comes in an eye-catching package, and is a few dollars less? How often do I condition? Do I know the difference between needing a protein conditioner or a moisturizer? Is my blow dryer set to”quick-bake”? Is my flat iron or curling iron made of metal? How often do I clarify? Have I installed a shower filter yet?
The most important factor in picking a shampoo is ph. If it’s not on the label, then they are not boasting the most important asset. I realize that if shampoo smells like easter candy or cough syrup, you won’t care what the ph is, but keep searching until you can bring the two factors together. I will have a short list at the bottom of this article to help you find your perfect shampoo.
Each company generally produces a protein restoring conditioner and a moisturizer. They are designed for fine or coarse hair, and some are rinse-out or leave-in. (If you are using a “cream rinse” then you are layering your hair with wax and choking the life out of it, and you should contact me because you will need a good shaking and a detox!) In the winter, all hair types will need a moisturizer, and if you have chemically treated hair, a protein conditioner will be essential to heal the cuticle that was opened by the chemical process. How do you know which one you need? It depends on whether your hair is straight or curly, and how oily your skin is. Static is a clue for moisturizer, lack of shine, split ends, and fading color means protein is needed.
To begin, shampoo with as little product necessary to get the job done. Use the pads of your fingers to gently massage your scalp. Then apply a rinse-out protein conditioner or moisturizer to all of the hair and give it at least 3-5 minutes to work and rinse. If you are using a leave-in conditioner then gently blot the delicate wet hair and apply product a few inches from scalp. If your hair is course, dry, and/or curly you can get closer. I highly recommend a super absorbent Aquis hair towel because it easily absorbs the water so you spend less time drying with heat. Lower the time and temperature of your blow dryer – it’ll make a big difference! As for heat tools like irons, they should only be ceramic, toss away the metal it’s like a frying pan for your hair.
So you see, your crowning glory can be saved and enlightened. You have the technology, you have the knowledge, now get in that shower and…POO!
World’s Greatest Conditioner - Lanza’s Trauma Treatment This phenomenal leave-in protein reconstructor creates instant results, can be used on any hair texture, keeps the color from fading, and over time creates a perfect healthy cuticle. Can be used on dry hair like a pomade, or with a flat iron to keep hair super straight.
Other great shampoo and conditioner products: Joico Joico’s Body Lux and Silk Result shampoo/conditioners are the best, and well priced for the quality. I’ve used it for twenty years.
MOP (Modern Organic Products) MOP makes a C shampoo that is like sunlight captured in a bottle, with an orange and mint fragrance, perfect for a fresh start every day. The ph of MOP shampoos is a little higher, so it would be best for non-chemically treated hair.
Malibu 2000 Malibu 2000 makes a wonderful clarifier called Udoo Goo. It is gentle and effective at removing styling product buildup. Their Swimmers Shampoo is the top of the chlorine remover list. The products contain enzymes, which does not disturb the cuticle.
I recommend all of Lanza’s many shampoos and conditioners. It’s really the best product line and everything smells fantastic. Even the packaging is supreme.
If you haven’t fallen in love by age 40, then you are seriously behind schedule and missing out on the love of your life. Here comes the dreaded Valentine’s Day reminding us to “love the one you’re with” because we often forget… But what if you don’t have anyone? Cheer up baby, the love of your life has just been located!
I am a hairstylist and high priestess in the confessional of insecurities. Put most women in front of a mirror an hour or two and there’s gonna be some self deprecation – others experience delusions of grandeur, constantly playing with their hair, making fish lips in the mirror – still, it isn’t the real deal. I rarely experience a client beaming with self love or gratitude for their physical gifts.
We beat ourselves with measuring sticks, and gorge on images of perfection. It’s like having low grade depression, or an infection you can’t shake. But, by the time you are 40, you should know better – you should have fallen in love with yourself by now. At half-life it’s time to start fussing about what you have instead of what you have not. If you deny what you have, then you are not in the moment, which is the recipe for misery and non-existence. Feeling beautiful, sexy, jaw dropping, hot, whatever you call it, is of great importance, you just have to get there with what you GOT! Get it?
Once upon a time acceptable fashion was limited. Remember when straight men wouldn’t wear pink? There was safety in being current and conforming. Busting out of the mold was not validating. However, at this point in fashion history, it’s ALL IN, and you pull it off by being confident. We are free to express ourselves without judgment or ridicule.
Now, let’s compare fashion trends to the cornucopia of shapes, sizes, colors, and composition of our bodies. Why is there still such a narrow target of what looks good? When are we going to believe that all manifestations are cool and acceptable? How about, the bigger the schnoz the better? Let’s get steamy for some thick, chubby thighs - they can be so charming and sexy. Or go crazy for big hips that form a cushy cradle for the one they love? Sometimes my acne scars look like extra dimples – who doesn’t love a face full of dimples? A little split between the front teeth drives me wild.
Adore your parts and participles, and others will too: (sing this song to yourself)
"Listen to me baby, hear every word I say, no one can love you the way I do, because they don't know how to love you my way....you give me feeeee-ver"
A few years ago I opened a fortune cookie that simply stated, “The Greatest Love of All – Self Love.”
So this Valentine’s Day, let me remind you emphatically to love the one you’re with…..
"I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddist, a Jew.
The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel, or even pure soul.
Love has befriended Hafiz so completely it has turned to ash and freed me of every concept and image my mind has ever known."
-Hafiz
Read this fascinating article by Tara Parker-Pope from the New York Times that explorers what it takes to make a lasting union.
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LANZA'S Moisterizing line up: In the winter, hair needs moisture too. You will notice improvement after one treatment and this conditioner won't weigh your hair down. Click on image to visit Lanza.
Several years ago a friend invited me to a Kirtan chant. She didn’t tell me much about it, only that it was cool. The event was held in the basement of a local church. People sat cross-legged on the floor around the band, others in chairs behind, but we all removed our shoes at the door. Hundreds gathered, the lights were dimmed, and a warm energy filled the room.
