Tag Archives: meditation

Word of the day: acceptance

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acceptance

acceptance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word of the day: acceptance. “Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it…this will miraculously transform your whole life” ~ Eckhart Tolle

In working with the present moment, one of the qualities you can cultivate is acceptance. You may be familiar with the opposite of acceptance, resistance. In fact, you may encounter it on your mat, when you are attempting a forward bend, and your hamstrings say, “hold on a minute, not ready! not willing! not able” and instead of waiting or backing off, you push through…maybe injure yourself.

“Why are some people weakened by stress, while others gain strength from it? Basically the answer is simple: those who know how to transform a hopeless situation into a new flow activity that can be controlled will be able to enjoy themselves, and emerge stronger from the ordeal” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This is a quality that needs to be practiced (usually anything does) to see the results. There are times when we have to warrior it up to get through something, and these are times when our perspective either hinders or supports..

harmony

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the present moment

the present moment

harmony is created by practicing present moment awareness…

we continue to focus on the present moment as the week of posts continues…Yesterday we used some quotations from the above author, Eckhart Tolle, and today we resume, and add on other insightful reading

“Take the past, for example. We think of it as something, but it is really nothing. Go looking for it, and you will never find it. We all think of ourselves as being shaped by the past, and many of us think we are limited by it. The truth is, you and I both have a past. It’s powerful and often painful and has shaped us in ways past knowing. Having said that, I invite you to forget it. The past is, quite literally, irrelevant. It has power over us only if we give it the power each moment. You give it power by the moves you make in each moment. Each day you and I are offered the opportunity to recreate the past or to create a brand new future. Take your mind off the past and the future, and focus instead on the moments that are occuring constantly. If you do this, I guarantee you will not regret it.” From Conscious Living, by Gay Hendricks.

harmony

cultivating presence

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Cultivating presence through yoga is a multi faceted process. I mentioned mindfulness the other day and suggested an exercise on my Yoga Mind Cd to help you along on the journey.

Eckhart Tolle is a wonderfully inspired and inspiring author on the subject of presence and the present moment; “Emotion in itself is not unhappiness. Only emotion plus an unhappy story is unhappiness”

presence

presence

Alertness, awareness, mindfulness are all words that require us to be with – be present with- experience. If you can be quiet enough inside to recognize what is happening (whether in your head, your body, your environment) you can react less and respond more. “Awareness is the greatest agent of change” (Eckhart Tolle, A NEW EARTH)

It is, of course, way more common to have a scattered mind, where, although the brain is active, it is unfocused typically, and just basically follows one thought after another. This creates stories and layers of confusion in the mind, as well as doubts and fears. On the other hand, the calm state, or sattvic state (you may have felt in touch with this after deep relaxation) will foster seeds of awareness, discrimination, positivity and an equilibrium which is less inclined to react and more inclined to respond (from clarity).

 

mindfulness matters

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mindfulness matters on and off the yoga mat

mindfulness matters

mindfulness matters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The mind is the vital link between the body and consciousness. The individual can live with awareness, discrimination, and confidence only once the mind is calm and focused, Yoga is the alchemy that generates this equilibrium”

“When the mind is fully absorbed by objects seen, heard, smelled, felt or tasted, this leads to stress, fatigue, and unhappiness. The mind can be a secret enemy and a treacherous friend,. It influences our behavior before we have time to consider causes and consequences.” BKS Iyengar

The way yoga practice works is that it trains your mind to stay still instead of jumping around so much, therefore taming and quieting impulsivity and reactivity. Discrimination and evaluation faculties improve as well so that the objects and situations we “see” do not have such a powerful hold on us. The mature and practiced mind builds awareness and thus can target bad habits, improve mood, and take note of repetitive behaviours that are not so good for us and replace them with nourishing thoughts and actions.

I have an easy to practice 5 minute mindfulness of breath practice on my YOGA MIND cd. Keep in mind that this is a journey, and practice is cumulative.

Daily Inspiration

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inspiration

inspiration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily inspiration…Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything

“Deep breathing and yoga previously haven’t been taken seriously as healing cures, but a new medical study found tangible benefits to the practice of meditation, leading to fewer sick days and reduced anxiety. So why aren’t doctors prescribing it?” (exerpt from Time)

Of course I have written about this subject before, with a catchy byline about being a peaceful warrior instead of a nervous worrier. The bottom line is how you use your energy will define how you cope, how you perceive, how you perform. All styles of yoga are intended to bring about the sattvic, calm mind, what I call the YOGA MIND and a key component to all practices is mindfulness. (try my 5 minute mindfulness retreat)

And, guess what ?  Mindfulness has tons of rewards. “A new study from the University of Utah shows that individuals who describe themselves as being more mindful have more stable emotions and perceive themselves to have better control over their mood and behavior throughout the day. Higher mindful people also describe less cognitive and physiological activation before bedtime, suggesting that greater emotional stability during the day might even translate into better sleep. The study results will be presented later this month at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society”

 

 

seventh chakra affirmations

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Seventh chakra affirmations…As you now know, from reading the first and subsequent instalments of these chakra posts traditionally the yogic system holds that there are 7 chakras, or energy centres in the body.   These are arranged vertically from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.  Chakra is the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’, and these centers are perceived as spinning wheels of energy. Today we arrive at the crown of the head, cerebral cortex, which is, if you are doing a headstand, where you place your head down (as opposed to the forehead). Called the Sahasrara chakra, the colour associated with it is purple.

seventh chakra

crown chakra

The affirmation here is “I am connected to all. I am part of all.” Concepts associated with this energy centre are awareness, and expanded consciousness, spirit, intelligence and divinity; our connection with our higher self. Naturally, if you are lost in worry and over-thinking, this is going to present an imbalance here. Meditation, on the other hand, will promote harmony. If you tend to ‘space out’ just to be clear, this is also an imbalance. the process is one of expanding your notion of self, but also, staying grounded in your body and in the present moment.

 

third eye chakra

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Today we bring our attention to the third eye chakra…If you are just joining in, we have been meditating, or, bringing awareness to each of the energy centres, this stemming from an original blog I wrote about chakra balance.

third eye chakra

third eye chakra

The third eye chakra is also called the Ajna chakra and the colour associated with it is royal blue. These energy centres are sensitive and fluctuations or imbalances can occur through external stressful circumstances, long stored physical tension or limited self- concepts. The sixth centre involves the areas of the eyes and forehead, along with that, intuition, dreams, memory, vision, imagination and visualization. I have a few practices that work with this centre on my Yoga Mind Cd.

The meditation today is “Be aware that your intuition is your ability to know, recognize and sense all that you need to enjoy a happy, balanced and fulfilled life”. The under functioning in this centre is manifest in an inability to be in touch with one’s instincts, an insensitivity to the subtle environment, and misperceptions (doubt for example). If you are someone who pushes the limits on your mat, for example, without listening to the whisper of the body to pause or stop, this is another example. If you are having lots of nightmares, this too could be an indication of unrest in this centre. A quiet mind, a Yoga Mind, is a rested and aware one…

vishuddha chakra

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The fifth chakra is located at the throat and called in sanskrit vishuddha and the colour associated with it is light blue.

This is the energy centre that involves the neck, throat, mouth and jaw, and is associated with sound, vibration, communication and speech, amongst others. If you are just tuning in, the original blog on chakra balance is here. We have been covering all the chakras to date as well. The 7 chakras when working harmoniously will uplift our energy.  When blocked, we may experience low self-esteem and other difficulties.  I have a meditation on my CD, Yoga Mind that will help you re-balance these centers and remove blockages.  It is a great basis for understanding the subtle energies at work while you do yoga postures.

The meditation of this chakra (and please note these are not my drawings, so I cannot take credit) is “I listen with my whole self and think before I speak. When I speak, I don’t back away from what is true or right. I share and communicate effectively and respectfully with others. I express myself fully and creatively”… as with all the energy centres, obviously if you are bad mouthing someone, you are not using your ‘highest’ vibrational output…chanting on the other hand could uplift..

vishuddha chakra

vishuddha chakra

Solar Plexus Chakra

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Solar Plexus Chakra  ~ today in instalment three we focus on the solar plexus, this a continuation of the past 2 days and an older blog post I wrote. The third chakra is also called The Manipura (navel) –or solar plexus, and is associated with the colour yellow.

Each of the 7 chakras is associated with particular emotions and specific issues that we deal with in life. They also relate to how we handle these in our own internal processes and our ways of interacting within our environment. These chakras can be thought of as power/distribution centres of life energy, or prana.  They are sensitive and fluctuations or imbalances can occur through external stressful circumstances, long stored physical tension or limited self- concepts.

The meditation today is “I love myself. I am willing to stand up, with strength and confidence, for that which I believe. I have the freedom to make my own choices in life with appreciation of my sense of self. I am connected to the source of all power and it flows through me to encourage the power of others.” Key concepts are power, will, energy, metabolism, control, fire amongst others.

 

solar plexus chakra

solar plexus chakra

If a chakra is deficient, it does not receive the energy it needs to help with manifestation of its positive qualities in the world, and, when excessive, it can dominate the personality which creates further imbalances for the chakra to receive, absorb, integrate and distribute the flow of energy through our being.

 

 

 

chakra meditation

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chakra meditation

I did write a full blog on the seven chakras if you click through you can brief yourself. I am starting a seven day voyage into the chakras here on my home blog because a student mentioned the chakras to me after my restorative class last night. If you are not familiar with the term, Chakra is the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’, and these centers are perceived as spinning wheels of energy.

We begin our excursion with the root chakra. As you can see, the colour associated with this energy center is red. The meditation here is an affirmation, that you can repeat to yourself silently and see how it resonates. “I am connected to all that is around me. This connection gives me a strong foundation and does not hold me back. Security and stability in life allow me to move with both confidence and connection to be who I am.”

chakra meditation