Sunday. Beach Yoga. One of my students told me they like my class because I give Reki when I teach. She could see it, and thats how she knew. I don't actively think about or try to move Reki while I teach, but the emotion I want to share *is* that of unity and healing. Reki (universal energy) is inseparable from our existence on Earth, but it is kind of like static electricity, hiding in the shadows until you 'turn it on.' So in my yoga class, I teach my students to acknowledge, harness, and heal themselves with the Reki spirit. To hear that my intention is manifesting on any level is a high honor and abundant source of joy.
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Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week because it means I teach a yoga class, and get washed with loving feelings of deep connection and growth. It's 'easy' to find joy on days like today. The lesson I shared with my students today was about Prana or Chi/Qi/Ether/Energy. The American English vocabulary lacks an adequate description for the divine nature of the concept. In a Shamanic setting, I may use the word Great Spirit. In a Yogic setting, I use Prana. So what is it? And what does it do? Prana is the life-giving current flowing through all things at all times. It is in every person, rock, tree, and hamburger. It's even in the air. You can't see it, taste it, smell it, hear or touch it. Like a belief in god, it requires faith in it's presence and power. Like a prayer to the Holy Spirit, you can know it, and you can ask it for whatever you need. I let my yoga students know that when you breathe in, take in oxygen with your physical body and prana with your subtle body. If you need relief from muscle strain, visualize the prana as white light easing the discomfort as your breath moves the healing energy through your body. If you need to energize mid-day, step into the sun and ask the sun's prana to stimulate all your cells and fill your mind with patient alertness. When we do yoga at the beach, I like to ask the wave prana to help release anything no longer serving me. Thats the beauty of subtle energy-you don't need to be specific! The importance is having the best intention. If we tell the prana of the universe (with our hearts) what we want to manifest in our lives, we can create abundance Running. Challenging myself. Feeling the burn in my sides and telling my body that it can keep going. Gasping out that, ‘I want to give up!’ The verbal release of frustration and vulnerability felt so right in that space as I rounded the bend, destination in sight, but still so very far away from where I felt in the moment. I don’t consider myself a complainer, and I don’t like to send out vibrations of anger or pain-mostly because I don’t want to magnify them in my own being. Then why am I even writing about this? Well, that’s exactly it. I surprised myself at how I reacted in a new situation. Fortunately, I was able to be patient and gentle with myself as well. In the clarity of suspended time between my strides I was able to see my exclamation as a truth-telling. I do consider myself to speak my truth. And if my body says, ‘help!’, I let her speak. I was hoping my running partner would answer with a motivating urge to push through it, instead, my intuition answered back, ‘you want to, but you won’t!’ And I felt comforted that it’s okay to admit things that my body wants; because I know that my heart holds the greater intelligence. It’s more about being heard than being right. I’m newly aware that my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies deserve equal respect as collaborative partners in the spectacle that is my life. Yoga on the Beach. I read one time that your work should energize you-not the other way around. Seems reasonable. If we do what we love, by the end of the day, we should be full of loving feelings. I didn't try to seek that type of lifestyle well into my twenties. And by seek, I mean that I'm still seeking it. Occasionally I teach a yoga class on the beach, and when I'm hugging people good-bye, I have the confidence to run a marathon! Other times, I'm at home, on my laptop, biting my fingernails. Perhaps they are more connected than I imagined. I asked my delicate keratin growths their opinion today, "Why can't I stop biting you down?" They are eager to help. "You don't feel in-control." It's true. Sometimes, I feel I am not in control, that's when I worry. During a yoga class, I am the control. I am the time keeper. I am the shaman, leading these students on a journey of healing and personal growth. I never bite my nails during a yoga class. I don't even have to think. I just follow my body and let the universe smile through me. A Place in Nature
It's Monday. This morning, before I went to work, I went to my place in nature. I am able to sit and be present with myself. It is quiet enough for me to listen to my intuition. I am serene enough to be patient with myself. I speak with the Earth. I start my journey in Joy with Forgiveness. I will forgive often and genuinely, starting with myself. If I feel disappointment, I react by looking forward to feeling accomplishment. If I feel angry, I counter the boiling energy by grounding my life force into the Earth. I set a goal to brew my first batch of mead on January 1st of 2014. It didn't happen. One day into the New Year and I'm already off track. It would be easy to feel upset and mad at myself for failing my own goal. Instead, I recognized that the day was not best suited for that activity and set a new vision for brewing my mead in perfect time. I forgave myself for not meeting my original goal, and was able to enjoy the day guilt-free. Instead, I played soccer on the beach with my partner Joe, and we both felt very joyful :) |
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