Using Your Yoga Practice To Move From Spirit

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Using Your Yoga Practice To Move From Spirit  is seeing practice as meditation in motion, mindful movement. Sometimes life is full of challenges, and we have to call upon some inner grace to get through it. Relaxation is the antidote to stress, it will help you find that grace..

The lotus flower grows from the bottom of streams and muddy ponds to rise above the water and bloom. At night, it closes and sinks below the water, just to resurface again, untouched the next day, Fully grounded in earth, yet aspiring towards the divine, the lotus flower lives in the muddy water, yet remains unsoiled.

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Time on the yoga mat is meditation in motion, mindful movement.

The “P” in practice can either be “push push push” or “patience patience patience”. Generally I like to tell students to go gradually and navigate a pose, considering where they are at in the present moment, what the cues from their breathing indicate, and what the general physical feedback is telling them. There is a skill to using yoga props that not only makes the asana approachable and possible but also, increases the benefits and your ability to learn how to be peaceful in a challenging situation because you aren’t fighting so hard to maintain alignment etc. If you have never tried Restorative Yoga therapy wow, here too is a most intelligent and awesome way to cultivate safe flexibility and the rest and digest attitude that the nervous system so needs

 

Follow your bliss

Hilarious! As I learn to get around Jersey City, I often think of this cartoon.

The other day I had two navigation systems going and they each chose different routes. Kind of like a yoga practice, different ways to ‘do’ things. My method is to teach skills so each student can find the practice in their own body – we are not all identical. This is what makes a yoga practice ‘therapeutic’… whether you are dealing with anxiety, back pain, knee pain, tight hips… so remember “follow your bliss” 🙂bliss

 

The Om Symbol Breakdown

The OM Mantra

Using a mantra, such as the classic OM, also pronounced AUM, can be transformative;

it is not about mindless repetition though – so if you use one, the more you understand about it, the more you vibrate on its frequency.I typically start and or end a yoga class with 3 rounds chanted in unison.

Maybe knowing what it is about, you will be more inclined to embrace the chant. (I have seen it and heard it chanted with more of an “OOO” but also enunciated where the sound is more AUM) ~ Typically for a practice like that we inhale rather fully, with the exhale let the A resonate in the belly, the U resonate in the chest, and the M resonate in the top throat…

“Om is the all encompassing cosmic vibration of the universe”

The OM Symbol breakdown

Let me mention, I am not the author of this beautiful chart and I must have found it from the Internet, where I am only assuming, it is safe to borrow from. This is a great breakdown of the symbol which we see everywhere.

The Om encompasses the waking, dream and unconscious states. As we develop spiritually, we pass through the illusion that is said to veil us and prevent us from moving towards the Absolute state of consciousness

Hopefully even just reading about the symbolism transports your consciousness 🙂 enjoy and see if you can fit some practice in along side your pranayama

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Is your Yoga Practice Balanced?

In case you missed it, here is a link to my last post for Yoga Travel Tree, titled : “Too Much of a Good Thing: Can You do Too Much yoga?

I always take the approach that yoga is a system, with different components – eight limbs. Any kind of physical practice should feel like it is opening you, not yanking or pulling or compressing. And breathing – whole category! Please check out my cd, YOGA MIND for tips on how to set up and some complete practices that can accompany you. As for developing focus and other side benefits, they evolve like wisdom. Nothing like private yoga class instruction though, very different from group !

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yoga and healing

This is a really cool quote about healing; I always equated Yoga with healing – that every posture and facet of the system is there as a tool for transformation. Very different approach from the fitness craze – doesn’t mean that yoga as therapy cannot be endurance and strength building. I challenge you if you think that way to book a private yoga class with me ! People think of yoga props as cheating whereas in fact, a well placed yoga prop can make it way more difficult for you NOT to rely on compensation patterns!

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On your yoga mat – where does your attention go?

Are you a fidgeter? I think it is important to navigate each yoga pose by breathing and sensing, so you may not get into it without little adjustments or the help of strategically placed yoga props. These can be your own, or where skillful attention and purposeful instruction come into play. I have seen it many times when I teach private yoga classes, that most people benefit from the teacher’s eye, and that finding comfort in the body, the mind will follow. After that though, if you still can’t stay still, it can be a question of focus. Learning how to breathe for mindfulness may help…

adjustment in asana

Fun, Free Yoga Event ~ You, Me and Jersey City

Well, I have just moved to Jersey City (this photo is taken in Hoboken). You will not want to miss a fun, free, yoga event with me. For other news, check out my last newsletter

You will need to R.S.V.P with my friends at JCFBootcamp and bring 2 towels and a yoga mat ~ click that or here:

https://jcfbootcamp.sites.zenplanner.com/event.cfm?eventId=A0E06A51-0DC7-4EAF-A71A-8497E44783FE

Where ~ at the Pier @ Exchange Place next to the Hyatt

When ~ Saturday, June 7th ~ 10:00 – 11:00 A.M.

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The Process Of Yoga

Ancient Wisdom… as a Yoga Therapist I can tell you that there are definite ways of using yoga poses to heal different conditions, aches, pains, and postural mal-alignments. If you are not sure what that means but it sounds right to you, you can book a private yoga class with me. I am now located in Jersey City.    Sometimes it is just a question of doing something in a new way, or un-doing some of your old ways…

 

Krishnamacharya wisdom