Ganesh has been the inspiration for my classes this week. For some reason, I keep bumping into obstacles myself, and find that a mantra is helpful to quiet my own mind, remove my thoughts from whatever is causing the reactive pattern within myself. Once I've quieted that pattern, I am able move on with grace.
An obstacle in this sense is a reactive pattern that you have developed and that prevents you from growth. You are ready to grow, ready to expand, but find yourself back at the same place again. When you find yourself there, catch yourself... and replace your thoughts with a mantra, whether the Ganesh mantra - Om Gum Ganapataye - or any other words that help you focus your mind on something other than what is before you, what you are reacting to. Over time, you will find you can move gracefully past that obstacle, that reactive pattern, that you so often find yourself stuck in, and you will grow. Here is a great article from elephant journal for further exploration:
0 Comments
April 25th brought us both a full moon and lunar eclipse. A powerful time.
Lunar eclipse symbolizes the ending of a chapter, a time of letting go, surrendering. This process can leave us feeling vulnerable. We've spent the past few weeks in my classes focusing on the anahata chakra, the heart chakra. Breaking it open as the snow melts and we find renewed creativity and growth. Then deep twists to cleanse, clear out, create a new space for us to move into where that renewed growth and creativity can thrive. Now we will surrender to that opening and clearing to allow for deep transformation and reclaiming our power. Tap into the manipura chakra, the third chakra, the "powerhouse". This chakra represents our sense of self in relation to the world. Find your strength and power here. This allows you to be vulnerable. To be present in your vulnerability, and through it find inner strength. With inner strength, we can allow ourselves to feel the full spectrum of our human experience. In moments of personal upheaval, instead of closing in, sing it! In moments of self-doubt, instead of keeping silent, tell it! In moments of vulnerability, instead of feigning strength, let yourself be seen! Let yourself be seen, truly seen. Love with your whole heart. Practice gratitude and joy, And believe that YOU are enough. http://open.spotify.com/user/1234385170/playlist/0USxS0OcYXsJr6Yasq8R0g
I am loving this new playlist...Aqualung, James Blake, John Martyn... some lovel This poem found me on facebook the other day, and completely applies to the concept in our asana playground of creating space, a clearing, so that we can move into that space and remain fully present. It also poignantly applies to my feelings when inundated with so many tragic events close to home. I've used in my classes this week.
Clearing Do not try to save the world or do anything grandiose Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hand and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worth the rescue. ~ Martha Postlethwaite Three weeks of bursting open our hearts, it's time for some spring cleaning. In class, watch out for some fun, cleansing twists, which also require an open heart. Create that space, so you can move into it!
Spring is a time of rebirth, renewal, regrowth, and we, being connect with Nature as we are, feel that too. We may find a surge of creativity, a desire to try something new, an openness that we've not noticed there before. Follow that urge, it is time! Winter is the time of nurturing, protection, snuggling up by the fire. Now, let the spring rain and sunshine come through you and open up those stagnant spaces. The heart is where we feel this opening, as we expand and grow and face the world. Along with this renew, it is a great time for spring cleaning. Cleansing, clearing out. In our physical practice, literally, twisting it out. After we've opened the heart spaces, we can allow ourselves to move into them, going deeper, compressing, rinsing. Imagine your body like your closet, where you've stored away all that you needed to get through the cold of winter. You don't need that anymore, so clear it out! Move it away! Create some space! I LOVE WHAT I DO! ♥ Wisdom is everywhere. I found this on facebook today, and it speaks to me on so many levels.
Love and Compassion ♥♪♫*¨*•.¸¸ ॐ We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion.... ... This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need. So long as we practice these in our daily lives, then no matter if we are learned or unlearned, whether we believe in Buddha or God, or follow some other religion or none at all, as long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we will be happy. — His Holiness The Dalai Lama I often read elephantjournal. I like many of the contributors, and enjoy keeping up on yoga news. Every so often, I rad something that just doesn't quite resonate with me. Today it was an article about yoga and marketing. How that is not what the path of yoga is. While on a very basic level I agree, I was compelled to post my thoughts.
Here is a link to the article: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/03/moving-beyond-the-business-of-yoga-harmony-lichty/ and here are my comments: Harmony, while I agree with your ideas , I also realize that each of us has our own path. For one, we were born into the culture we are in, and from there we make our way forward. Forward, meaning the starting point is different for everyone. Not everyone is ready to enter into the discipline of the yogic path as you describe it. For those who are not ready, marketing in just the right way can guide them to the right teacher for them. Once they have outgrown that teacher they will seek more. Our culture is (fortunately or unfortunately) inundated with marketing, which should guide us to places that resonates with us. Careful marketing (or equally, lack of marketing, for lack of marketing can speak just as loudly as flashy marketing) by yoga teachers should help guide the right students to us. You and your husband have a thriving studio, but what does the individual yoga teacher have to earn a living from? Our classes. And the more people we can draw into our classes, the better living we can make. This is the paradigm the studios have set for us. Yoga also teaches us not to judge, not to be attached to the ideas of right and wrong. That includes not judging the path of others. If a student wants to practice yoga under the flashiest neon sign, that is where they are on their path, I am glad they found yoga in some form, and I acknowledge that their path is not mine, so I remain unattached. Equally, I trust that the students who find their way to your studio are there because that is what they are ready for. There is enough judgment in this world already. I prefer to allow the growth of everyone, right where they are. Asana practice, the physical practice of yoga, is like our playground where we get to embody an emotion, a thought, a new idea, a spirituality. Physically we allow it to take shape within our bodies, rolling it around, playing with it from different angles. Then, once we have experienced it in our own bodies, we take it off the mat and into the world, where we continue to explore and grow. |
AuthorKristen is a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist and Life Mentor. She offers online and in-person healing sessions. She lives and teaches in Denver, Colorado Archives
December 2019
Categories
All
|