Monday, October 12, 2009

Spa Girl explores the magic of LI’TYA (le-dee-a)



Recently I had the opportunity to meet a Canadian woman who has been living for more than 35 years in Australia. We met through reputation and communicated via email for eight years prior to this meeting. She presented a fabulous lecture on the Indigenous Aboriginal art of Australia and like many in the audience I was humbled by the remarkable history, nature and beauty of the work and the people.

In the lecture she talked about Dreamtime which I found magical in nature. It is said that for more than 40,000 years, the Indigenous Aboriginal people of Australia have held the world’s oldest continuous living tradition of sacred knowledge, known as the Dreamtime. And from this all aspects of Aboriginal life is derived including the innate wisdom of the relationship between man and the physical world including natural resources and its spiritual dimensions.

Wanting to know more I started researching this amazing philosophy of non-linear existence where everybody, everything, time and space is connected.
“Every thought, footprint, gust of wind, plant or animal that lives, has lived or is yet to live, is seen to impart its own vibration upon the earth, which in turn resounds across all eternity as part of the ongoing creation of the world”.
Given this amazing cultural connection, Aboriginal Australians view themselves as custodians, living in harmony with the physical and spiritual world and tread lightly and with great respect.

Along the path I discovered LI’TYA (means "of the earth")http://www.litya.com/ Spa Experience founded by Gayle Heron after fourteen years of research and work with the Indigenous peoples of Southern Australia. LI’TYA is a unique range of quality spa products that integrate the valuable natural and spiritual characteristics of the Australian earth, native essential oils, and active botanical extracts -- powerful ingredients revered, respected and enjoyed for their truly holistic aspects.

Given permission to use the name by tribal elders LI'TYA harnesses the power of indigenous Australian plants, fruits, earth ochre’s, desert salts and sea plants.

This is what they have to say.

Australia’s Indigenous community have shared with LI’TYA their amazing knowledge of native plants and healing modalities. In drawing upon the ancient powers of the earth’s oldest continent it is with the purest intentions that the spiritual qualities of these essential materials are invited to come alive. For using organic native Australian ingredients not only brings a unique and enriching dimension to an industry already focused on holistic healing principles. It also creates an opportunity to generate greater awareness of the value of our earth and the beauty of the people that have learnt from me and lived with it for thousands of years.

Like us, you are sure to be convinced, there is much we can learn, receive, be thankful for and give back, to these beautiful people so deeply connected to the essence and energy locked within our great southern land.

HARNESSING THE EARTH’S HEALING ELEMENTS TO PROVIDE THE FINEST SPA TREATMENTS
Aboriginal culture recognizes the significance of the elements in terms of their physical, emotional, spiritual and environmental aspects to ourselves. The LI’TYA spa experience aims to bring balance between these elements by combining a range of sensory therapies selected for their efficiency in purifying, nourishing and harmonizing the body as a whole.

Earth
Largely understood as the centre of grounding, according to Aboriginal wisdom, the earth is our mother and we are in turn her custodians. To reconnect and remind us of the healing, grounding and balancing energy this vital element can bring, LI’TYA treatments use ancient peat, earth clays and desert salts directly onto the skin to restore nutrients, draw out toxins and nurture the body in the warmth of the earth’s properties.

Water
Integrating the powers of water, a sacred elemental force renown for its healing, cleansing, purifying and emotionally restorative properties, LI’TYA’s treatments use this tranquil force to control the prescribed potency of our products and in a variety of physical applications to unblock the body’s energy fields (hydrotherapy) or wash away tension and awaken vitality (our signature warm water massage Yanko Jindalee).

Air
Infusing the air with 100 percent pure essential oils is without exception one of the most pleasurable ways to drift into a realm of relaxation and serenity. However, whether administered by inhalation or applied through the skin, they also play a vital role in our body’s circulatory function by bringing oxygen and nutrients to the tissues while assisting in the disposal of waste products produced by cell metabolism. The extensive range of both native and traditional pure aromatherapy oils used in all our product formulations and treatments are therefore carefully chosen for their therapeutic benefits on the skin and mind.

Fire
The art of Fire therapy has been long lost on western cultures, however to Indigenous Australians, this traditional ritual is still used today in a variety ways. With permission from Aboriginal elders, LI’TYA introduces every client to the cleansing and purifying energy of this ancient ritual with the burning of a traditional aboriginal smudge blends at the start of every treatment. Designed to disconnect the client from the outside world, and bring her/him into the present to focus on their treatment time, this sacred ceremony calls upon the healing energy of the earth to enter the treatment space.

Wood
Traditional Coolamon wood containers bring the last of the earth’s elements to the LI’TYA spa care experience. Often decorated with designs imprinted by burning lengths of wire with Dreamtime stories, these containers are used to hold select native dry ingredients and in our Kodo rhythmic body massage treatment provide a unique feel and stimulus to the skin realigning body balance and tone.

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