by admin | Apr 19, 2013 | Uncategorized
Do you ever get the feeling the world is moving too quickly? With the fast pace of our lives, we can experience a sense of living outside of ourselves, of not truly being centred in the here and now. With this we can begin to feel a loss of connection to ourselves and others around us. Yogi Bhajan, who mastered Kundalini yoga, predicted that people would be experiencing what he termed Cold Depression at this time; a general sense of apathy and disconnection. The issue with Cold Depression is exactly this experience. We shut down and don’t realise how removed we are from our true purpose – to experience a full and rich life, appreciating the subtleties and senses moment to moment. THIS MEDITATION HELPS SHIFT OUT OF COLD DEPRESSION. It’s also great to use for anxiety. Try it for yourself: Mudra: Bring the hands together and link the fingers, index finger pointing up. Cross the thumbs (left over right for women, right over left for men). Bend the elbows and have the hands a few centimetres away from the chest. Eyes focus at the tip of the nose. Chant the mantra WAH HAY GURU. Chant “Wha” at the navel (meaning bring the focus there), “Hay” at the heart & “Guru” at the lips. Chant however you like, in a monotone or with tune. Time: 11mins. To end: Inhale and suspend the breath, with your intention to give the apathy, stagnation, cold depression, anxiety up. To surrender it to the universe. Exhale and repeat twice more. ...
by admin | Apr 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
Transitions. The in-between times. That often uncomfortable space of not knowing. A time when there is no particular focus, no guidelines. Just waiting. When things can feel uncertain and you can feel so vulnerable that you look to anything to not be in that space. Desire for knowing that everything will be okay. Question: what would it be like to stay here in this space? What, instead of the need for certainty, we just sat in the unknown? What would that be like? THE MANTRA SAT NAM SHOWS US HOW. Sat Nam means truth name. Truth is the name of God/universal oneness/the connection & evolution of all things. Our name is how we introduce ourselves and identify ourselves. Sat Nam / Truth Name is the living of truth – the self with the universal. Living Sat Nam is engaging with the unknown with an attitude of truthfulness. This attitude carries with it the highest intention and with that comes strength. Sat Nam is not the assumption of truth as content or as a body of knowledge, as we define truth in our day to day. Sat Nam is recognising Divine truth as an unknown. We can never really know the truth of why things happen or how they will actually eventuate. In accepting that, we allow for the playing out of our destiny and hold on to Sat Nam to provide strength and stability. Living Sat Nam means we can be honest with ourselves and with others while accepting the outcome of our actions. Taking this attitude to the yoga mat means: Staying present to the in-between from one...
by admin | Apr 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
Feeling down? Lost all interest in not much. Ready to just continue staring at the wall, or sigh into boredom? Sometimes it’s okay to allow ourselves some time to indulge in melancholia. Melancholy can bring with it it’s own sense of comfort and quiet. However, if that momentary melancholy is turning into long-term uninspired, boredom and you’re depressed, then it’s time to take action. Exploring new possibilities, taking a risk and pulling yourself out of your comfort zone is taking action. Action is the expression of acceptance of life in the physical body and it’s interaction with the world. That term “pick your self up, dust yourself off” applies here. STRUGGLING TO FUEL CHANGE? Work on your third chakra. One way to activate strength in your sense of self is to work on your navel centre. The navel centre is the inner core muscle in the navel area. Core strength is located just from just below the belly-button up to the solar plexus. Energetically this area is connected to the third chakra; Manipura. Manipura chakra is all about establishing the “I exist therefore, I am worthy” belief. It’s the area that, when strong, supports us to finish projects and brings focus to our goals in life. To explore and take risks, we need to feel we have a strong base to hold on to. That base is your sense of self. Some great postures for taking action and working on Manipura Chakra are: 1. Plank pose – strengthens your core. When done correctly, plank pose uses core strength to bring the body into a straight line. The front thighs...
by admin | Mar 28, 2013 | Uncategorized
As human beings we do not and cannot exist in one single state. Rather, we are in a constant state of change and flux, as is our lives. We move in and out of various emotional states all the time. As indivduals, we have a tendency to judge our emotions. If we like an emotion, we welcome it in. If we don’t, we try to keep it out. Neither of these responses are useful, and here’s why: The desire to hold onto a good feeling takes us out of the moment where we are experiencing that feeling. We want to hold onto the feeling, just as it is, because we are afraid of feeling the loss of the good feeling. We only partly allow ourselves to feel the full expression of love, joy, happiness, as we hold off due to fear of an eventual loss. If we don’t like an emotion, we tend to reject that emotion and try to push it away. We might start doing things that distract us from feeling the emotion we don’t want to feel. Avoidance only serves to intensify the emotion. There is a Buddhist saying “what you resist persists”. Rejecting emotion is like saying “don’t think about chocolate” – so then all you can think about is eating chocolate. In trying to avoid a negative emotion, we create inner conflict as the emotion only intensifies. If we bury the emotion, it will come out at another time, most likely in an inappropriate way and with a lot of subconscious build up along with it. So once we accept that the emotion is there, then what? Well,...
by admin | Mar 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
Happiness is one of those highly sought after emotions. As a society we tend to want to to feel happy all the time. Culturally our definition of happiness tends to be a feeling of lightness and joy, delight, elation. So what if we actually felt happy all the time? Is it really possible and would it be truly satisfying to be in this emotion 24/7? As humans, we experience moving from one emotional state to another. We know we’re happy because we know what it feels like to be unhappy. We need to experience one to know the other. If we happened to set ourselves up in a situation where we could feel happy all the time, we would in fact not be happy at all. We’d get bored and the state of being happy would not hold it’s impact. Perhaps we should re-look at our desire for happiness and consciously reflect on what it is we truly want. If we think about how we want our lives to be, it’s likely we want to feel inspired, fulfilled, at times challenged and at other times not. We want the highs and the lows, to have a varied, full and rich life. To have a full and rich life, we must accept and experience the full spectrum of emotions, yes? The trouble is, as a society we have an aversion to emotions that are not deemed “happy”. Why are negative emotions so unwelcome? Why do we feel ripped off if we experience sadness, disappointment, longing, anger and a myriad of other such emotions? Why is it such a big deal to cry?? I...
by admin | Mar 15, 2013 | Uncategorized
Sleep. Inevitably we all need to rest. A good nights sleep is, for me, one of the most treasured of experiences. Many of us struggle to get one, due to being busy and not getting to bed until late, or to having busy minds and not being able to let go and drift off. We all know that with a good nights sleep under our belt, life feels so much more manageable. It’s generally thought that we need between 6 and 8 hours of sleep per night. Personally, the amount of sleep I need seems to shift and change – sometimes I need many hours and sometimes I feel really energised and need a lot less. I try to make sleep a priority when I know it’s needed and try not to stress out about not getting enough sleep when I don’t get my eight hours. I’d like to offer a few tips to help you fall asleep. They’re simple but useful. LEFT NOSTRIL BREATHING: Directing breath through the left nostril only serves to stimulate the pranic channel that relaxes the nervous system. It calms and quiets the mind. Use the thumb of your right hand to block off the right nostril and breath long and deep for 3 to 11 minutes of through the left nostril. A great way to prepare for sleep. Try lying on your right side as you drop off. This will automatically block off the right nostril so you will breath through the left side, helping to slow everything down. HELP TO FALL ASLEEP WHEN THE MIND IS RACING: Lie on your back, legs extended. With...
by admin | Mar 7, 2013 | Uncategorized
The benefits of regular practise are many. In my opinion, it’s not about how long or how strong you practice, but the regularity of the practise that’s most important. Regularly and consciously moving the body is super important for your over all health. On a physical level, it’s about unlocking blocks of tension in the body, moving blood through your liver, spleen and kidneys to help the body detox. Letting energy flow freely will encourage the digestion system to work more efficiently so the metabolism is improved. Breathing more strongly, longer and deeper oxygenates the blood and balances the mind/body system. Becoming stronger – in both body and mind. Mentally, it’s about reconnecting intention and your will. Through deliberate, focused, aware movement we demand attention to this very moment. We place ourselves in the now. Coordination challenges initiate new patterns of movement. Through movement we release a lot of stuck, held emotion. By moving and stimulating the body, neural pathways are activated that allow you to literally see your world differently. Mental barriers can be cleared and we broaden our perspective on life. Bring your intention towards a regular holistic practice that contains the following: Breath awareness (more on the breath). Body sensitivity and observation. Moving out of the mind and into the moment. Movement that opens, lengthens and strengthens and is combined with breath. Relaxation to finish. You can create a short or long movement practice using yoga, walking, dancing, swimming, surfing; whatever suits you. As long as the practise contains all of the points listed above. If you need some ideas, take this link to follow some sun salutations or try a kundalini...
by admin | Feb 28, 2013 | Uncategorized
Did you know that each thought is reflected in your physical state? The level of thoughts you have will either lift and lighten your load or weigh you down. Your subconscious thoughts also influence your physical state. So what about our subconscious thoughts – as even though we’re not consciously subscribing to those, the subconscious mind can still be putting pressure on our system through some subconscious thought patterns we are yet to let go of. It’s through meditation that we are able to dig deep and shift some of our weightier subconscious thoughts. Negative subconscious thought patterns can leave us feeling a bit at odds with life; unsettled and unsatisfied. We can start asking “why me?” or think “if I just had… I’d be ok”. This in turn can keep the mind spinning and churning. So when do we just let all that rest and cleanse the mind, inviting in some spaciousness; making room for something new and fresh to arise? I’d like to share with you this meditation. This meditation works to stop the flow of normal thoughts and bring the mind to shuniya. Shuniya is a place of stillness. A point of neutrality that is removed from the subconscious back-stories we have on the ready. Removed from the ego and what we want and think we need. Sitting in a state of shuniya gives your whole system gets a break. In a neutral state we can allow the mind and body to rest, to restore and to balance. In this state we access our true self and find answers and understandings around why our lives are...
by admin | Feb 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
Knowing what’s right for ourselves as individuals and acting according to that, is these days, a true gift of awareness. There are so many ideas and conflicting beliefs in the world. Out of those, we look to choose a community with people and ideas that resonate – our friends, workplace, groups of interest – these all come with ideas, lifestyle choices, rules. Connecting with like-minded others is surely going to bring joy, however we still need to exercise our choices according to who we are as individuals. There is no ONE WAY and there is no right versus wrong. There is however, harmony versus harm. First and foremost it’s important to harmonise with our world in a way that feels right for us. We are the leader of our own lives. We are the guardians of our health. One of the main causes of stress in our lives is emotional fatigue due to not tuning in to our true self and what is right for us. The stress comes from a disconnect between you and your true self. By ignoring the warning signs or doing things that go against the grain of what feels right, we slowly wear ourselves down and we experience fatigue. As we’re carried along with the world, adopting all the ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’, it can feel like we’re harmonising and fitting in. However, that often comes with losing control of the management of our personal happiness. With a loss of control, we start to ‘cope’ rather than experience wonderment at the journey. Coping becomes the norm. Living inside our ‘coping stories’ creates stress, pain and...
by admin | Feb 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
In yoga we work on our ever-evolving self – physically, mentally, spiritually. Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga Yoga has a famous quote, “practice practice, all is coming”. But before we focus too much on where we’re headed, let’s take a good honest look at where we’re at. When the pressure is on: Life can be all well and good when things are calm and cruisy, but what happens when the pressure is on? How do you deal with pressure? We all react to pressure in different ways at different times. We all have our triggers, our breaking points. Once tested, we can plunge into a reaction that buries any sense of calm and cruisy. Some examples: Flare up & get angry Lose confidence & get anxious Get defensive & shut down Reject the moment & give up Let your ego take over & feel like a victim Beat yourself up for not being better What’s the pattern of your personal DEvolution? Check in with your stress pressure patterns by observing yourself and your pressure responses in life. When pushed, where do you go? What’s the trajectory of your pressure triggers? Check out how they play out through your yoga. In a class you can observe and work with your stress pressure patterns by mentally challenging that reaction in a safe, held space. In a yoga class we test ourselves as we apply pressure through posture. The handy thing is that we’re all in a contained space, with someone (the teacher) reminding us to observe the breath, relax the mind, equalise the sensations in the body, just allow, move through...
