breathe
Ganesh is so Fresh
Learning about the Hindu Deities. Kinda excited about this. I usually stray away from religious gods but I feel very connected to some of these. I don’t feel like I want to push them away.
The first Im focusing on is Ganesh. He is considered to be the remover of obstacles, and called upon for new beginnings. He is supposed to bring us protection. Ganesh brings you to enlightenment. Ganesh can be found with a mouse near his feet. The mouse symbolizes your mind. The mind can wander all over the place like a scampering mouse. Ganesh controls the mouse, therefore controls our minds. Stilling our minds. When Ganesh is found without the mouse that means you mind symbolized the mouse, you complete Ganesh. Ganesh helps bring you to Samadhi. In Samadhi you experience no obstacles. Experience the inner calmness Ganesh brings you.
Ganesh is the son of Shiva and Parvati. The elephant head can indicate intelligence, and fidelity. Large ears are said to denote wisdom, and the ability to listen to people who need help. Shiva decapitated Ganesh due to not letting him in his own home. Enraged Parvati threatened to kill all of Creation. Lord Bramha, being the Creator, was not ok with this a convinced Parvati to reconsider of two conditions. One, to bring Ganesh back to life, and two, to be forever worshipped by all. An elephant head was brought to be placed on the body by Bramha. Bramha Breathed new life into him, declared Ganesh to be of his own son as well.
This link is so cute and explains very well! How Ganesh got his head
Like I said before I wasn’t sure about these Deities but I think they are starting to grow on me.
Fill your hearts with love and radiate.
Namaste
Jump on in and Radiate
Day 2 back into yoga with almost 2 weeks off and I’m doing well! Yesterday and today I felt pretty strong. I could tell I had lost some strength but I will get it back very soon. I’m still on the right path.
I have noticed since Firefly Music Festival I have been particularly calm. That festival really changed me. I found another part of myself. My daily life I feel calm. Yesterday at work I noticed when I would normally freak out and my heart would start racing I was very calm. I had overall good energy throughout the day. Today I had trouble waking up. I don’t get home till midnight now so its gonna start getting hard waking for 8 am yoga. I will try my best. I did make it to 930 yoga and I feel energetic still.
Today I noticed in class I was having trouble breathing. I could have used my inhaler but I left it in my car so I stuck it out. Something in there must have made my allergies flare up. Next time I will make sure to bring my inhaler in with me.
I went food shopping today and bought so many beautiful foods. I am so grateful to be able to have such wonderful fruits and veggies from mother earth. I am so happy with my finds and so cheap and the farmers market. The hands that planted the seeds, who water the seeds, the hands from people who picked the apples, boxed them, put them out on the shelf, and the beautiful girls who bagged them for me all played a part in bringing these apple to me. I am so thankful for all the work it took so I can enjoy them.
Im finding peace and love everywhere I go.
Fill your heart with joy and radiate
Namaste
Reconnecting
Hello beautiful spirits!
I have been gone a long while but so much has happened. I fell into a lazy state and an anxiety driven state of being before my firefly music festival experience. I wasn’t happy and I was feeling the walls pushing closer to me. At firefly i barely was on the internet and just let of of most social media. I was a great feeling. Not having to worry about keeping up, just experiencing.
Firefly music festival was purely amazing this year. I was surrounded by such beautiful people. My camp mates were all very amazing and beautiful people with so much personality and so much to offer. Our neighbors next door were beautiful spiritual beings. Big time hippies and we connected so well. The love Spirit Science too. If you haven’t heard of Spirit Science you MUST check it out, it is very cool. I learned so much this weekend about myself. I have much more anxiety than I ever realized. I had a hard time letting go of my fears. A very hard time. I wasn’t letting myself have fun sometimes because I was scared. My before helped me realize what was happening and helped me so much. I need to slow down, Im moving so fast I forget to stop and experience things.
My friend and I were rushing through the shaded tree area of the festival and never noticed the lights and paper birds hanging from the trees. It was so beautiful! Someone yelled “hey slowed down” and it literally took my breath away, it caught me off guard so much. When i noticed that i was in panic and did realized and was surrounded by such beautiful I just started laughing. I couldn’t stop laughing. I thought to myself I did it again and my heart rate went down immediately. I am so lucky to be sharing my life with such beautiful people. The world really is your teacher and you really can learn from everyone whether its from negativity or positivity.
Being surrounding by music at the festival was amazing I had so much fun. What really was awesome was the music at my campsite. Our neighbors were musicians and the y played the guitar for us, we sang along the whole time. Slowing other campsites around us started coming of and sharing their musical gifts. someone brought their drum box over. singing, guitar and drumming. People offered us gifts of thanks for our beautiful music. Bliss pure bliss.
I feel like I am looking through a new set of eyes this week. This festival has changed me and I feel amazing! It also changed my boyfriend. We have become closer and stronger.
Everything was so beautiful, I can’t express how I feel about this experience.
I was given an amethyst crystal this week and I felt a difference wearing so I am currently rediscovering crystal healing for myself again. This is an exciting adventure to add to my life. I found a blog this morning Energy Muse Blog, and it seems very cool so far. Lots of information and easy to follow. There is a questionnaire to help you figure out which crystals help out with you specific needs. I believe I added it as a link Ive never tried to do that yet so we will see if it worked!
I havent practiced a lot of yoga I’m itching for it. Tomorrow I plan on getting back into it! Im so excited!
Fill your heart with joy and radiate
Namaste
Eye Openers
So a friend yesterday brought it to my attention that I have been unattached. I have not been a good friend nor and connected to peoples feelings. I found this so upsetting because Im trying to be more connected and aware. I apologized to this person and I completely understand how they feel. I wasn’t a very good friend. She is not the only person I was doing this too. I feel horrible. Everything is interconnected. I have been disconnected from myself, but the past 2 weeks have been pretty bad. I let me practice go a bit and my core is completely lost. Im having unhealthy thoughts of my body and everyone else i brought down with me. I feel so guilty about this but now that it has been brought to my attention I can fix it.
I have hit that part of yoga where the original high is gone. my problems have not left they were just masked by my initial high from yoga. Here is where I ned to find a more spiritual path in yoga. Spirituality is missing. This will help keep me connected to the people I love. Meditation, asana, positivity is what I need. I wish I had more time for practice but I have learn to work with what I have.
Only 4 more days till I see my beautiful love! I can’t wait for the Firefly Festival! So much music, craft beer, dancing and yoga! Packing is gonna be a mess with my schedule hopefullyI don’t forget anything! YES I am a craft beer lover! I have multiple passions. Yoga, dance, and beer! I love yoga beer selfies!!!! I know yoga and beer don’t really go well together but they do in my world.
Don’t forget to love those in your life. Live to your fullest and appreciate al that you have.
Fill your heart with love and radiate
Namaste
Moving Vs. Living
A few days ago I noticed that I have just been moving through the motions. Thats why I haven’t posted anything recently. I stopped enjoying and began to care less. I stopped connecting with people i see daily. I had moments of energy but generally i was drained. There wasn’t much left of me. So My last yoga class in a studio was Saturday. I have been practicing but I’ve been using the Fitstar app. Because I haven’t been going to classes i have been able to get the sleep my body needed. I feel again! I am more alive and making relationships with people I talk to. I feel so much better.
I do want to improve and become the better me I already have inside me. But I don’t want to burn myself out. I burnt myself out as a dancer, I don’t want this to happen with yoga. So I’m listening to my body!
Also I will be going to the Firefly Music festival so I won’t be a yoga for a week. There will be yoga classes there! Im so excited! No doubt I will be packing my yoga mat along with me! Camping out for 5 days!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!
I must remember its ok to want and dream with all my heart, but to listen to my body and know when I need a rest. You can’t feel alive and live your life to the fullest if your half asleep going through the motions.
Eating habit have only improved just a bit but I’m working on it! Positivity!
Rest your mind and body, love yourself always!
Namaste
Radiate that Beauty
The past few days here have been rainy and blah. So much rain and cold weather again. I believe it will rain tomorrow too. Yesterday after yoga I was a little tired but work was slow and therefore brought energy of everyone down. I was slowly fading till I took my break and talked to my boyfriend about Firefly Music Festival. Its overwhelming and so much to pack and buy but he always makes me laugh no matter what. He reminded me how great it feels to radiate and feel beautiful. Wen I feel myself radiating with happiness I always feel beautiful. I’m pushing through this gloomy weather and radiating my love.
I’m focusing today on my breath and sending out my love for those to receive. I’m teaching my first private ballet class tonight to a wonderful student. I’m so very excited and thankful she wants my expertise. I want to give her great vibes tonight so I plan on meditating and finding love in me so I can give love to her. I have been receive much love from my students lately and I know even though I am constantly on their asses, that they appreciate me and see a difference in their training.
Today is day 3 of the yoga gives back challenge, Prasarita Padottanasana, wide legged forward fold. Opens the hip and stretches the back body through the spine and down the back of the legs.
Kino MacGregor and Kerri Verna is hosting along with sponsors Alo Yoga and Yoga Gives Back. When they reach 50,000 hash tags Alo Yoga will donate $1,000. 100,000 hash tags $2,500will be donated. 150,00 hash tags Kino and Kerri will match $2,500. Donations are to keep children in India in school and and lift a a family out of poverty. If you want to join in Follow @kinoyoga @beachyogagirl @aloyoga and @yogagivesback on instagram. It’s fun and I am learning new poses too!
Fill your heart with love and joy, radiate through what ever comes your way!
Namaste
Yoga Strong
So yesterday was one of the most roughest days I’ve had in years!!! I decided to take a Mysore class… I was told that it is not a class were the teacher leads the class into poses. There was a set sequence and that the teacher goes around correcting people. I was told that at my level I would be ok and she wold just have to prompt me on the sequence. I was thinking ok this sounds different but I’m willing to try. So I get there the teacher asks me if I’ve taken an Ashtanga style before I said no, but I was told I would be ok in the class. She smiled and said ‘I’ll help you through it all, I’ll be in the studio in a minute and I will help you begin.” she seemed nice and so I went in. Everyone was doing something with serious faces and they all smiled at me and then continued what they were doing. The teacher came in asked if I knew Sun Salutation A and B. I said yes so I started there. Well I get into my first plank and chaturanga… She walks over to me and asks why I put my knees down, tells me i’m too strong for that and tells me not to do it anymore. I thought ok, but how do I execute this without my knees hitting the floor. she walked away before I could ask. So I struggled with it… and struggled. The teacher walked back over and finally told me how to do it but I was “still doing it wrong.” At this point I am frustrated. my throat got tight. throughout Salutations A and B she was correcting me. Now being a former ballerina I love corrections but not the way she was giving them. I felt like crap, I wanted to leave. I was holding back tears. I was learning a lot from her and I was glad but I felt like I was a horrible student. Worst in the classroom. So in Mysore style if you finish the whole sequence you can leave. I just finished the warm up and someone was already done. Keep in mind there were only 5 of us in the class. So she begins to tell me more to do, continues to tear me apart. She started becoming slowly nicer to me when I was executing harder poses and holding them. Maybe she thought I was just a beginner… But that Was still no reason to be that hard on me. She told me we have to skip a huge section because I was slower, which I understood. I wasn’t upset by that but I just felt like crap.
At the end of class The instructor told me I have a great body for Ashtanga and that she hopes to see me again. I was thinking WTF! So I was crazy and took a vinyasa style class right after. Enjoyed every moment of it and felt like I actually knew what I was doing. At the end I got in the showers and just cried. I was thankful the classes was done. I was beating myself up. I realized not everything will come easy but I didn’t want to be treated that roughly in something I have never tried before at least. I spoke to the Vinyasa teacher and she explained that Ashtanga is a set way there is no waver from the past. Its more traditional. The vinyasa is what most people like because they can be artistic in the way they move the class and warm everyone up. It was this moment that I realized I need to take more styles of yoga so I can see all that is out there. I want to get certified and that will be in Vinyasa but I am also curious about the other styles.
I’m debating on trying more Ashtanga classes but not the Mysore style of Ashtanga. That was miserable.
Today I and just so very tied from they before. I think its gonna take all day to recover. Keeping my breath.
Fill your hearts with joy, and radiate!
Namaste
The Fifth Limb of Yoga
The fifth limb of yoga is pratyahara. Pratyahara is the practice of turning the power of one’s sense’s inward. The last four limbs of yoga are the physical technique. Pratyahara is the decision to turn inward, to let go of drama. It is our choice to let go of our grip on the world and our endless attempts to control it. We begin to focus eternally.
“Better than any ritual is the worship achieved through wisdom; wisdom is the final goal of ever action”
-Bhagavad Gita
As we mature we understand that we can live a life of pain disguised as pleasure or we can decide to walk away from the pain and chose a new pathway of moving through the world. To be happy we simply need to stop making ourselves unhappy. We are compelled to act certain ways from pain or habit, because of this unhappiness. We fail to see our habits could be the difference we need. Letting go of this will not happen over night. Once your start, it will begin to quickly pick up. At this time you’ll notice change. You will find out who your real friends are and what a friend truly is. Once you’ve changed these habits, established them, the challenge is maintaining them. The Buddha mentions five challenges we will all run across in our lives; cravings, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and doubt. These define our negative habits be must keep in control. With no control over our sense of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell we lose control of actions, thoughts and behaviors. It is very important to steady our minds to lead a conscious life style. Tone the yogi mind, learn not to give into impulses. Remember where you started from, This movement away from energy draining distraction toward energy building concentration.
“You mind blocks the free flow of life by saying,”this is how things must be.” Letting go releases you from this insistent grip, and when you let go, new forms of reality can enter.”- Deepak Chopra
Sit somewhere quiet and just found your breath (pranayama) for a few minutes. Listen to what feels right to you, what lifts you, what makes you smile. Don’t get discouraged if you get distracted this is the beginning of meditation. Open your willingness, don’t put up barriers. Take action and make the changes. Dive into that leap of faith.
I’m trying to find more time to sit quietly and meditate. This has been a challenge the past couple weeks but well worth it when I do find time. I find that I don’t have trouble beginning to make the change but I have trouble maintaining it. The first few weeks of being vegan was easy then it began being harder. Once I got the hang of that down I decided to be rawist the first half of the day… First month went great then I started cheating here or there. Now I’m trying to push to be less gossipy and drama free. I am learning when to keep my mouth shut. Its hard when your in a habit of just talking to someone about everything. You get past the point of venting and it turns into gossip quickly. I try to take a step back and just nod my head. When someone says something nasty about someone I just fall silent or I say whether or not that person thats being bad mouthed had a good excuse for doing what they did. I’m just getting tired of negativity its becoming draining and I can’t handle it. I have noticed my friends have shifted. I disagree more with the people I used to be close to and see more amazing qualities in people I was not as close to. Everyone has something to offer to this world. It may all be good or may be sour. I’m moving away from the sour, breaking those chains and fly free with the positivity.
Fill your hearts with love and joy, radiate today!
Namaste
The Fourth Limb of Yoga
The fourth limb of yoga is pranayama. Prana means life force and breath. Ayama can be interpreted as “with restraint”, length or expansion. Thus pranayama is the working of breath to regulate, expand and restrain it in order to affect the flowing vital life force in one’s being.
Yoga breathing trains the mind in concentration while improving our ability to store, regulate and use the energy we receive from the air we breathe. Start paying attention to your breath while practicing asana. Breath should remain calm but deliberate without too much effort. Using your nose only, breathe in. Pause for a moment here at the top of the inhalation and slowly exhale pausing again at the end of the breath. Try to keep you breath even. If you inhale for 6 counts, exhale for 6 counts. Smooth it out. Pranayama, asana, energy and matter are all interconnected.
Everywhere you go begin focusing on your breath. Whether in mediation, practicing asana, walking down the street or in the car. The more you begin to notice and focus it the easier it becomes. Notice what you begin to feel. Does anything change? What are you experiencing?
Pranayama teaches us to live in the moment. Live from our hearts. To radiate with our spirit. Don’t view this focus as running away from problems, it’s about practicing facing reality with open hearts.
Pranayama connects us physically and spiritually. We begin to experience both the moment we close our eyes. Our heart rate slows, stress decreases. Our metabolism, blood sugar and muscle tension all lower. You will experience a shift on an emotional level with this shift of attention on breath.
Thoughts will slowly rise. Did I leave the iron on? I should have started the dishwasher. I could have… I wish I… I was… I want… Don’t completely push these thoughts away. They are aa part of you, but we don’t need them bothering us at this moment. Acknowledge these thoughts, accept them for what they are and then imagine them melting away. Keep thinking of your breath. in and out. The more this is practiced the easier it will be.
Meditation is the ultimate goal of pranayama. Learning to let go of these thoughts that arise now will make meditation easier in the long run. Learn to let go. Embrace reality and being in the now. Find your center. Draw your energy and attention within. Feel your energy grow. Feel your love radiate. Feel your light shine.
I tend to have a hard time with pranayama. I forget to breathe while dancing and daily activities. I have been trying to put more focus on this. Fortunately I am seated next to a teacher most days in yoga, and her pranayama is nice a clear. I feel like there is so much to be said about the asana and pranayama I can’t even begin to write all about them. I notice that I simply begin to be calm. I accept whats happening around me and I let it melt away. Im learning this time management thing again and I noticed things and people are getting stuffed aside. It stresses me out and I feel my chest tighten. I stop and start to slow my breath. Anxiety lowers and I remember everything will be ok. I will make it through everything. This is another work in progress for me.
Fill your heart with love and joy. Radiate today!
Namaste
WHAT! You want Sleep?!?!?!?!
After Memorial Day the days have been hard for me. I’m still trying to post bout the 8 Limbs of Yoga so don’t think I forgot. My schedule allows no time for sleep so the snooze button has become a good friend of mine. I’m trying to figure out a way I can make this all work. 7:30 at the latest wake up call to be out the door at 8:30 for a 9:30 yoga class. I get completely energized and forget out tired I am. This moment in my day is great! Then I have a few hours to kill between yoga and work. At this moment I keep putting off things. Like my research of writing. I have been walking around town and grabbing food. I think its time to sit on the beach again or find a cafe and just lay everything out and get to it. I usually have an 8 hour shift at work and don’t get out till 10:30 but in a few weeks it will be 11:30 and won’t get home till midnight. So Im thinking if I keep writing between yoga and work I won’t have to work on it after my 8 hour shift! TIME MANAGEMENT! Wooo!
Even thought I haven’t blogged in a few day I have been keeping up with all my other practices. I am keeping u with my abdominal sequence, and journaling. I’m just finding it hard to find time to sit down and research for the limbs. Today I wanted to write but not about the limbs. So this is what is coming out.
Tuesday yoga class was so killer! I felt so refreshed and energized. The class room was so full. That was my silly day I wrote about . I’m hoping for another energy filled class today!
There is a workshop this summer (the week of my Bday) that I want to attend! I have to double check with my manager but I would love to do it. Im gonna try to make it happen!
Staying positive and loving every moment of my life! Opening the doors to new possibilities and opening my heart!
Fill your hearts with joy and radiate today
Namaste
THE RADIATING YOGINI 