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Showing posts with label Yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoga. Show all posts

Friday, December 12, 2014

The mountain, the sisterhood and the girl.

Wa-La, just like that it’s Friday and all is right in my world.   I met the beast last night in yoga class that thought a girl with exercise induced asthma could just hop right up there on that mountain with very little warm up.  Then…she must have seen my costume because she thought I was wonder woman and decided to leave me on that mountain for FOREVER!  The decent down were asanas I recognized after years of study before in advanced classes, maybe toned down just a bit.   Whoever said North River classes were lame…*tisk*.  Ok, so now she’s my hero.  Now I will follow her around town like an adrenaline junkie.  You know it’s a good teacher when the the next day you wake up and nothing is too awfully sore but you feel like you can fly.  I’m not ripped to shreds but definitely that root chakra is opening and just like that, I’m back in childhood.  So let’s play…shall we?

I’ve another yoga class on Saturday morning while my husband is participating in his “Spartan” adventure.  Of which, they do rip you to shreds very quickly and not very forgivingly.  In yoga this would be considered violence against the body.  However, many men seem to prefer this madness method over anything else.  Let’s be fair, it’s not just men.  His teacher is a woman without any compassion whatsoever.  There are three other ladies in his class that can at this point go a little further than most of the men.  Do I lie and say this is so wrong!  No, I can’t lie because I deep down do get a kick out of strong women leading the way, especially in fitness.   We reclaim our bodies for ourselves and make them strong and beautiful, graceful just like our hearts.   I’m very proud of him for seeing the equality in a woman teacher.  

No matter what type of fitness you prefer it is good to choose one.  Choose anything that will be an outlet, a sacred place where everything else gets laid down and discarded.  To lose weight is one thing and sometimes needed but really just to hug your own self and feel alive.  Feel like you did when you were little and you didn’t understand grown up problems.  The only thing you cared about was what to play that day.  Yes Ladies, you can feel this way it’s not just for guys!  Yoga does open the energetic pathway  up your spine beginning at the base which can be extremely provocative but leads to love for all humanity.  Emotional traumas and false identity issues get thrown away by the second Chakra, the life-force hits the third and you’ve embraced all that you are.  Opening the fourth is an outpouring onto others that which you cannot contain, memories come rushing back of wounds and joys and a connectedness to all that is.  True forgiveness lives here.  By the fifth your starting to see a bigger picture and your voice emerges.  A powerful voice that you never knew existed.  This amazing energy hits your sixth and all your senses are heightened.  You smell everything more, taste everything more, hear the unspoken things, intentions of others and you come alive in such an amazing way.  The seventh is enlightenment and God is all around you at a moments notice.  Life moves this way or that but you are still and in love and full of bliss in this presence.  This is yoga.  

Moments in our life open and close our Chakras by happenstance.  Sometimes we have this or that sensation/feeling.  What yoga does, is a balance.  It brings these energies into alignment.  it’s not just a hit and miss anymore it’s a way of life.  Your gift of free will is directed and focused and your not just flying by the seat of your pants.  So yoga is not just looking really cute in tight pants and a tank top. ;)  It can be whatever you want it to be.  For me, it’s a tool to be here on this earth for a time in a way that expands, helps and heals and NO, my fellow Christians and faith chasers, Jesus is not excluded from my practice.  Jesus is the essence of it. Peace.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

She was home.

First yoga class last night in a year.  I walked in and saw a friendly face of a co-worker.  A really neat guy who's in his sixties and more active than most young people.  What a blessing and I was so at home on my mat.

The YMCA at North River is way more laid back than the one downtown.  The YMCA downtown is somewhat similar to any other health club.  The yoga classes are a little more intense and challenging and nobody wears their pajamas, lol.

This particular class was like a P.M. type yoga.  Mostly on the floor and not a lot of mountains to climb.  I was relieved for my first yoga class but did think I could have pushed it a little more.  I love muscle memory.  I did notice my body remembered more than I though it would.  I moved in and out of asanas more easily than I imagined I would as well.  So hey, not too bad for my first day back on my mat.

I headed home afterwards where Juliet and Andre had cooked me a bite to eat.  Charlie was ever so glad to meet me for the first time as he always gets the first ten minutes of my arrival.  That was pretty much it for me as Charlie and I snuggled up by the fire.  Every single muscle, every single thought just became so soft and content as I drifted off to sleep.  Until next time... xoxo!


Monday, December 8, 2014

A little yoga tonight.

I've been meaning to purchase this DVD called "Shiva Rae, Yoga Trance Dance", for a while now to help me get motivated.   I've been a little intimidated to return to yoga even though I need it now more than ever.  I see my mat sitting in the corner as I walk by and I know it's calling.  Today this DVD found it's way to my doorstep.  It just might save my life, lol.  Shiva Rae is my most favorite yoga teacher and I can't wait to try this in my home practice.

Another favorite mentor that I've loved to hear speak all through the years as I practiced yoga is Sean Corn.  She has a way with words and I love most anyone that does.  She has a prayer that I've used many many times in my meditation and in my practice.  It's just beautiful so I thought I would share it here today.


"...We give thanks for the air that we breathe, for our bodies, so capable and strong, and to all of life that sustains, nourishes and nurtures. May we remain present in our body and mind and continue to grow, learn and expand our consciousness so as to know our highest Self. May we commit to observing our reactivity and breathe more fully and completely in times of conflict. May we stay grounded so that the choices we make are influenced by our mindfulness and compassion. May we see beyond reason, heal beyond belief, love beyond barriers. May we surrender to this deep work, commit to the beauty of our awakening souls and celebrate the bond of breath that binds all of us-- you, me, this planet and spirit as one."



Tomorrow is my first yoga class after a year away.  I'm nervous with a monkey mind and a little disappointed in myself that it's taken this long for me to get back on my mat. My spine is stiff and I need that fluid energy to wake me up.  What better way than in a room with thirty people who are experts.  The ego is crazy right?  It says, this used to be you better than the teacher and now you are them that's being taught.  It will make me better though and a little push never hurt.  Motivation takes effort.  This is my effort!  

Goodnight world,
-Teresa Ann