BalanceOctober2016 - 47


NAT U R A L HEA LING
a DoomYinYoga class, part of a
new wave of yoga for those
who are done with the usual
'aaaand relax...' type classes.
One of DoomYinYoga
creators, Kamellia McKayed,
says: 'We've all had yoga
classes where teachers
soundtrack the session with
really cheesy pan pipes or
trickling water, so instead, we
decided to use Doom music.
'This originates from bands
in the 70s such as Black
Sabbath in England and
Pentagram in the States
and on our playlist we have
modern tunes from bands
like Bong and Skepticism.
It's much slower than regular
black/death metal and the

H EAL ING POW ER
OF SNAKE S

BEE BRAVE

On a similar primordial
vibe in a studio in London
Bridge, a chanting group
of participants form a
circle as part of a snake
healing ceremony.
Kwali Kumara, a
kundalini yoga and group
meditation teacher,
wearing a flamboyant
feather headdress, has
developed a form of
kundalini yoga that
incorporates live snakes
- and yes, that means
cosying up with one
for spiritual wisdom.
'Snakes have had a
bad press,' she says.

Another ancient practice which
is having a bit of a revival is
hirudotherapy, otherwise known
as leech therapy. While many
might think of it as a grotesque
treatment from the middle
ages, that's something therapist
Gregory Curylo from Re-balance
Therapies is trying to change.

Another esoteric treatment
proving popular is the bee
sting facial. For 5,000
years apitherapy - the
medical use of products
from bees - has been loved
by everyone from the
ancient Egyptians right
through to the likes of
actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
Bee venom (or apitoxin)
is known to be a natural
healer for skin due to the
peptide melittin, which is
anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and stimulates
the production of collagen.
It seems like it could be
the perfect treatment to

guitars are tuned down for a
heavier, drone sound.'
I find it empowering, almost
primal - great for releasing pent
up anger from the day.
The Apiary, Hackney
(apiarystudios.org)
£5 per class.

'We're conditioned
from an early age to be
terrified by them, but
in places like India, they
honour the serpent
and they worship it at
Naga temples.
'In kundalini yoga
our life force is often
depicted as a serpent. To
become enlightened, you
need to serve the snake.'
She adds: 'I think
there's a link between
people being scared of
snakes and people having
inner fear. Once you
get over your fear of the
snake, you're not in fear
of anything else.'
Kwali takes the group
through a yoga and
meditation session,
then brings out several
14ft boa constrictors for
guests to connect with.
Rather than being the
horror show you expect,
embracing the serpents
- both inner and
actual - turns out to be
remarkably effective.
Apparently the snakes
even enjoy it, too.
Throughout London
(kwalikundalini.com)
£50 per group session

He explains that rather than
being vampiric blood-sucking
pests, leeches should be seen as
miracle workers, thanks, oddly,
to their saliva: 'It's not about
what they take, it's what they
give to you. When they attach to
your body, they inject you with
their saliva, hirudo - a great
cocktail of up to 300 different
bioactive enzymes.'
Gregory's practice places a
couple of leeches on your body
for up to 40 minutes. But they
never actually take more than
6ml of blood - and can cure
inflammation, rheumatism,
arthritis, even depression.
He says: 'They release
endorphins as they attach to you
and it can feel like you've had two
pints of beer to unwind.'
Once you've accepted you
have a few creatures clinging
on to you, it can be quite
relaxing. And while popular
in places like Poland, it's
not well known in England
- crazy when you think that
pharmaceutical companies are
currently spending millions
to synthetically recreate leeches'
spit, because of its immense
healing qualities.
Re-balance Therapies
(re-balancetherapies.co.uk)
£65 per session

conclude my trip to the
dark side of the spa.
Don't I need to be
in beekeeper gear or
something, I ask my
Heaven Skincare therapist,
Julie? 'No,' she laughs.
'We've developed the
facial using bees' venom,
which we collect from
bees in New Zealand
for our Abeetoxin Bee
Venom Mask.'
And these bees don't
even have to become
martyrs to our beauty
endeavours either, as
they 'sting' a vibrating
silk sheet, releasing some
of their venom, but
keeping their stings intact,
so they don't end up in
a swarm in the sky.
Over the course of
an hour, once I'd relaxed a
little - after being told the
tingling to my face is due
to the exfoliating sugar
cane, not anaphylactic
shock - my face is
massaged into a buzzing
bliss. Afterwards, I feel
very peaceful and my skin
is certainly glowing.
Heaven Skincare
(heavenskincare.com)
£45 for one treatment B

THERE'S A LINK
BETWEEN PEOPLE
BEING SCARED
OF SNAKES AND
PEOPLE HAVING
INNER FEAR
SN A KE MEDI TAT I ON

L EEC HE S WORKIN G
T HEIR M A G I C

LEECH BODY READY

BALANCE October 2016

47
http://www.apiarystudios.org http://www.kwalikundalini.com http://re-balancetherapies.co.uk http://www.heavenskincare.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BalanceOctober2016
