Co-Founders of Soul Conscious Community, Liz McCaughey and Lulu Taylor have different training and approaches to wellness and meditation, but they both work towards the same goal of improved holistic wellness through their recently-launched endeavor.
A little Background
A counselor, psychotherapist, and clinical supervisor with over 20 years’ experience, Liz McCaughey brings a no-nonsense practicality to her approach to health and wellness. Her wide expanse of knowledge brings a unique aspect to Soul Conscious Community. Trained as a yoga teacher and holistic health coach, Lulu Taylor loves using alternative approaches and shares her love of sacred instruments and vibrational medicine through the community.
5 Things You Should Know About Mindfulness
1. Hongkongers are becoming more aware of the need for mindfulness
While Hong Kong people have traditionally stigmatized mental weakness, it has become indisputable that the Hong Kong lifestyle is a stressful one. Add in the 18 months of protests and pandemic and the resulting effect on general wellbeing is palpable. Inevitably, as people look for a way to mitigate their anxiety, the simple and well-proven techniques of calming mindfulness are becoming more popular.
Our original idea was to start a community of like-minded people of all ages and backgrounds to provide support for those who sense a higher calling to grow individually and act as a group for the benefit of the planet and the human race. The seed for Soul Conscious Community was planted before the pandemic, but the coronavirus has since indelibly fortified the need for community and accessible services and focus on promoting mental, emotional, physical, and conscious wellbeing in a relaxed, relatable environment.
2. It’s useful for managing stress and our emotions
Mindfulness is a psychological process that is part of the third-wave cognitive behavior therapies (CBT). CBT is one of the most tested and empirically proven psychological tools. Anxiety and stress can quickly put us off balance – by being mindful, we are better equipped to handle these negative feelings and emotions.
3. We offer something different from traditional mindfulness
As Liz’s training is as a psychotherapist, the psychological aspects of our human evolution are never far from her mind. Liz’s workshops are a mix of pragmatic psychology, intertwined and inseparable from the other end of the spectrum of mindfulness and esoteric knowledge. Add to that Lulu’s gonging and the combination is a multidimensional treat. SCC combines guided meditations and knowledge-sharing with vibrational medicine, yoking both active and more passive forms of meditation that can be utilized by all.
If you want to delve into the psychology behind the human condition and get the grey matter pumping, we offer that. We also love that the gong is a “one size fits all” tool that can be enjoyed by all participants from all walks of life. The only prerequisite is to be able to turn up and lie down – there are no skills or knowledge required. In addition, we are also a community, regularly in contact to share thoughts, reflections, and questions which stimulate the group but also promulgates and empowers further internal inquiry. We don’t love you and leave you. We are invested in supporting your continued growth.
4. Vibrational medicine can offer more benefits over traditional meditation
Disease is born when a part of the body starts to vibrate at a lower rate and is out of sync with the rest of the body or there is a blockage. Alternative medicine and energy healing have been around for a long while, with Reiki perhaps being one of the best-known practices. Liz is qualified in both Reiki and pranic healing but also facilitates other forms of energy work. We all relate and respond to energy and vibration and are able to raise our frequency and return to a state of homeostasis and wellbeing using specific sound waves. In this context, gongs and what SCC likes to call Vibrational Medicine.
A high-quality gong is able to produce a full spectrum of frequencies and overtones which can help to recalibrate your vibration to its most optimal state. As gongs – one of the oldest instruments in human existence – produce sound and not music or melody, the brain is unable to follow along or predict a particular pattern. Through a process known as entrainment, the non-rhythmic harmonics are known to alter the state of participants’ brainwaves, inviting the brain to relax, slow down, and move into a theta state – or even inducing a delta brainwave state.
The holistic resonance created by the gong not only relaxes the mind, but the vibrations influence the composition of water in the body, effectively massaging the internal organs and all of the body’s cells, creating a “sound massage”. Calming and slowing our thoughts leads to a steady and level mind that is less reactive to inputs that would normally create spikes and a seesawing of our emotional state.
5. Mindfulness can be very useful during this difficult period
There are simple and short guided meditations that will easily fit into your schedule to give your frantic mind a break and help to calm it for the rest of the day. Counted breathing works for everyone – we have free examples available online. And, don’t forget to laugh, dance, and sing – your body is the greatest instrument you will ever own.
Looking towards the future?
Although we have only recently been able to hold a small workshop at Fivelements, the various restrictions over the past year or so have precluded expanding our physical workshops and the main thrust has been online. Our popular Monday evening ‘Let’s Talk About’ series via Zoom combines psychology topics and mindfulness. We would like to resume and develop the physical side as soon as Hong Kong opens up again.
