Freedom...

True freedom comes from acceptance...of self, other, the unknown, the uncertain. We're truly missing out on this beautiful moment by needing to plan, needing to know, needing to covet. There's a divine plan for us all. Trust, wait patiently, experience, love. That's when the magic happens.

Yoga, Meditation, Chanting, Peace

A beautiful way to peace, stillness, and presence is through the practice of yoga, meditation and chanting. From all three of these practices comes a quieting of the mind. We race through life, running errands, doing (sometimes) meaningless chores, never stopping to rest and rejuvinate.

I have had several friends lately try one of my yoga classes or come to a yoga class with me, and now they are practicing regularly. They too have found a place to call home! A place where no other thoughts enter the mind. A place to be totally in your body and reconnecting with the true self, the perfect self. What a gift!

Meditation and chanting place the focus on the breath or a thought or phrase or mantra. Meditation and chanting ask us to let go of the constant chatter in the mind and sit quietly, peacefully and surrender. The energy and vibration that's created is stunning. It is truly palpable.

These are no easy tasks. They all take time and effort and dedication, but are so worth it. Make it a part of your day to start incorporating just one of the three into your life. You (and those around you) will start to notice a beautiful, peaceful glow surrounding you. I can't imagine anything more beautiful!

How Do You Respond To Discomfort?

This is one of my favorite questions. My favorite yoga teachers ask it in every class, several times throughout class. I ask my students in my indoor cycling classes (and plan to in all my yoga classes). The answer is very telling...and of course I'm not just referring to physical discomfort.

In yoga, when my quads are on fire, holding an asana, where does my mind go? Do I want to come out of it? Give up? Curse the instructor? Then do I beat myself up because of my decision? This is absolutely a metaphor for life. When things get uncomfortable, when "stuff" comes up, when things aren't going our way, how do we respond? Denial? Blame? Self-destruction? Shut down? Don the armor?

I'd like to encourage all of us to start trying, just trying, a different approach. How about staying in the asana, breathing hugely through the discomfort, repeating something beautiful and positive to yourself, being gentle and loving, experiencing fully the discomfort and letting go of the story.

I know, this takes so much trust and faith in ourselves, two emotions that don't come so easily for us. But what's the alternative? Repeating the pattern over and over, of course! And therefore not really "doing" yoga and certainly not "living" our yoga.

The opposite of samsara

Samsara is associated with suffering, or dukkha. It's a part of life. Avoiding it is futile. Dwelling in it, creating it: optional. The opposite of samsara is when the walls we've built crumble, our cozy cocoon disintegrates, and we are open to the magic of "whatever." We step into it, naked, vulnerable, like a child.

I so love the symbolism of child's pose in yoga. We step onto the mat, take child's pose, becoming open to whatever comes our way, feeling playful, letting it be the first time we've stepped onto the mat, a new, fresh, surprising experience every single time. Child-like, we have no judgment, no expectations, no competition, no fears. We get out of ours heads and into the miraculous.

I am a warrior goddess. My journey is uncertain, unknown, and exactly taking shape as it should.

WAHE GURU WAHE GURU WAHE GURU WAHE JIO

The Goddess of Wisdom

"In youth we learn; in age we understand."~Marie Von Ebner-Eshenbach

Yes, I'm finally starting to "get it," this amazing school called Life, with its many lessons, if only for the awakened. Lately I've had this surreal sense of peace and understanding of the bigger picture, the universal consciousness. I now understand what is meant by being the witness. I can sit longer in silence, internal and external; my compassion and unconditional love is expanding; my ability to take it as it comes, without my input, is blossoming; I'm softening to what is. The Buddhists speak of egolessness. I definitely am not there, nor will I probably ever be, but I've glimpsed a tiny slice of what I think it means, and it's beautiful.

Through yoga and meditation, I'm learning to acknowledge my thoughts, without judgment or obsession, and then come back to just being here! Sigh...

What an honor...I am a yoga teacher!

I first seriously came to practice yoga to heal; heal my wounds from a marriage ending; heal my broken heart; silence my chita vritis, or monkey mind; discover my inner beauty. I've fallen in love with my yoga practice, the ancient history behind yoga, the way my body feels (balanced and strong), the yoga sutras, the chakras, the vulnerability, my sangha, or yoga community, and the list goes on. I've been a teacher in the form of a coach and private trainer for years. Therefore the hunger in me to share the gift of yoga and discovery with others was only natural. As I feel my love of self growing and blossoming, I can freely demonstrate love to my students, basking in their yoga glow.

In a previous post I mentioned being present at the unfolding of my future students' discovery of their true, divine self. I can't imagine a more pure, profound gift to give this world. It's my own small part in the beautification of this wounded universe of souls.

"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow! Grow!'"~The Talmud

yogassage

Yeah, I had no idea what that means and what I was in for before last night's class. Once again, it had everything to do with trust, vulnerability, and touch, all of which I've been spending the last year rebuilding. When your trust in someone is shattered, when you feel betrayed, it's all too easy to start constructing the walls, donning the armor, all the other ways we protect ourselves from feeling the pain again, sometimes unconsciously.

Yogassage is a way of helping, gently, tenderly, another yogi arrive into a posture. It's a massage to the shoulders to remind them to drop them away from the ears, pressure up and down the spine to help lengthen, opening the rib cage in supine twist to deepen it, and massaging and opening in final savasana to assist in pure relaxation and surrender. Then the most amazing posture of all: cradling my partner, Laura, in my arms and rocking her, as she did to me when we switched. When is the last time you felt that? As an infant (which I'm sure none of us remember) or a small child. We both cried! It felt amazing to have this pure, innocent, loving gesture. We all need and deserve TLC, especially as adults!

I tell myself every day, countless times a day, that I am so blessed. This teacher training has opened up my eyes and my heart to so many incredible experiences. My heart overflows with gratitude.

Virabhadrasana I ~ Warrior I

Virabhadrasana I, or Warrior I, is one of my favorite poses. I feel strong, yet challenged. When the palms are not touching, I'm expressing extreme gratitude. Virabhadra is the name of the warrior who is an incarnation of Shiva.

Let's take a look at the pose's metaphorical meaning—as is nearly always the case when considering Indian mythical lore. "The yogi is really a warrior against his own ignorance," Richard Rosen says. "I speculate that Virabhadrasana I is about rising up out of your own limitations."

Tim Miller, director of San Diego's Ashtanga Yoga Center, agrees. "Virabhadrasana's a humbling posture," he says. "If you attempt to stay in it for any length of time, you'll confront your own bodily, emotional, or mental weaknesses. Whatever limitations you have, the pose will reveal them so that they can be addressed." It's about triumph of the spirit!

Gratitude...for EVERYTHING

I've had the most amazing week of yoga and running. I'm so in tune on the mat, on the trail to my body, my breath, my being. How did this happen? Openness!! I made the choice, I made the decision. I claimed my power. I'm learning not to let that fucking ego take over and try to convince me those "stories" are true, my "baggage" is heavy. One of my favorite tattoo covered (beautiful soul) yoga instructors, Stephen, starts class by saying, "You are an amazing human being. You deserve happiness." I finally honestly believe him.

"With arms wide open under the sunlight"~Creed~ I'm expressing my gratitude with my arms and heart wide open under the stellar Colorado sunlight.

Gettin' upside down (and those tricky arm balances)

Wednesday night was filled with more group practice teaching, (we test out in 2 weeks! I will be a certified yoga teacher in 2 weeks! A dream come true, thanks to you, my generous friends)then playtime with Matt, a mini workshop in inversions and arm balances. As you all know, strength (both mentally and physically) has rarely been a quality that I lack. Fear, on the other hand, is another story.

I've been working on overcoming my fear of being upside down. Well, actually, getting upside down. Will I fall over? Hurt myself? Land on someone and hurt them? The king of asanas, the headstand or sirsasana, is one of the most powerfully beneficial postures for both body and mind. It is largely a matter of conquering your fears and believing you can do it. B.K.S. Iyengar says in his section on sirsasana in Light on Yoga, "The best way to overcome fear is to face with equanimity the situation of which one is afraid."

Wednesday night, I put my head between my hands, lifted my feet off the floor, and was in a headstand before I even had time to think about it! It was so frickin' easy! Handstand is another story...still working on that one. But my fears surrounding handstand have lessened now as well. Masaru Emoto said, "When your heart is open to possibilities, you start to notice small things that can lead to enourmous discoveries." "What we imagine in our mind becomes our world."

If we approach life (and inversions and arm balances) with playfulness and an open heart, with no attachment to the outcome, imagine the possibilities! Sat Nam

Yoga and Meditation

Yoga has changed my life; well, actually, I have changed my life through what I have learned by doing yoga and meditation. I am forever grateful to the amazing teachers that have impacted my life: Tunde, Stephen, Trista, Valerie, and of course Richii Jai.

I am reciting from Yoga: Discipline of Freedom, The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller. "At the heart of all meditative practice in Asia is what Indians call yoga, the system that 'yokes' one's consciousness to a spiritually liberating discipline. In his Yoga Sutra the ancient Indian philosopher Patanjali presents us with the possiblity of complete psychological transformation through the discipline of yoga." RIGHT ON, Patanjali!!! I am a living, breathing example of this transformation! Of course that transformation is still a work-in-progress, but I can't imagine where I would be in my life right now, at this very beautiful, precious moment without my yoga practice and teachers. (they remind me always, it's yoga PRACTICE, not yoga PERFECT...metaphor for life???)

Yoga...off the mat

I've consciously been trying to live my life like I live my yoga; centered, present, focused, nonjudgmental, forgiving, free, peaceful, compassionate, non-resistant. This is challenging to say the least. But I am reminded of the benefits every single time I step into the yoga studio and onto my mat. I'm reminded of the complete and utter acceptance of self, others, and life! Why do I have to make it so hard once I'm back in my car, in traffic, on the ice, faced with a challenging person, situation, etc.? If I just remind myself to slow down, breathe, have a sense of humor, lighten up, and just enjoy the present moment, it's pure magic that unfolds.

Bountiful am I...Blissful am I...Beautiful am I.

The Mirror

Wow, I have so much to report! It's been 2 days. On Saturday night I went to an event in Colorado Springs where my new friend, and quite the amazing woman, Diane Israel, talked and showed her short film "Beauty Mark" to 60 women!! Her film is about her battle with anorexia and exercise bullemia. Her message, in a really small nutshell, is about what she calls embodyment. Being happy with yourself and your body. Stop comparing, stop telling yourself you're fat, ugly, dumb, not good enough, on and on and on. We are the ones imposing our own limits. Get out of your own way! I sobbed through a good many portions of this film.

That morning I had gone to another of my favorite yoga instructor, Richi Jai's, class. We sat on the mat, closed our eyes, faced our palms up on our knees (this is the "receiving" mode; palms down to go deeper within), and he said "It's all about acceptance, which is pretty hard to do with a large mirror in front of you, but the image in the mirror is distorted. It's not the real you."

Within the past year I have done a complete 360. I have dropped the sport of triathlon from my life and absolutely have not looked back. I have done the soul-searching journey about why I was competing and if it really, truly, and honestly brought me joy. I hope to become a role model for others struggling with self-concept, identity, self-worth, healing. I look in the mirror and see a healthier, wiser, softer Juli

Eckhart Tolle says there's one short line on your tombstone between the year you were born and the year you die...how will you fill it?

Make the Best of it!

Make the best of it. When you make the best of whatever you're focused upon, your future will be better than your now. If each moment you're making the best of what is, no matter what it is, you make the best of it; make the best of it; make the best of it. Your future just gets better and better and better and better. Abraham-Hicks, Boulder, CO 2003

Sometimes that's easier said than done, I admit. In yoga today, one of my favorite teachers, Stephen, asked us to become the noticer; just notice what our minds and bodies were telling us. Don't judge, scold, fight; just notice. He asked us to become soft in our strength, not to be rigid in a pose; make the best of where we are, in this moment. My favorite line is, It's yoga practice, not yoga perfect. This applies to life, period! Namaste!