Stay centered but flexible. Be rooted in your heart, in your inner strength, in your core truth, your wisdom, your divine guidance, but allow your limbs to blow and dance in the wind.
Being still and centered in your heart while flowing and adapting to life is one of the keys to happiness. It's something that takes practice. When you feel threatened, unsafe, unsettled, unsure or lost is when you need to do this the most - and when you will be most likely not to do it. The next time you feel yourself slipping out of alignment take a deep breath. Visualize deep and strong roots in your heart. Bright white roots that connect to God and to your Highest Self. Breathe in, root, center and go from there.
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There's certain songs I hear on the radio and feel meh about. I'm not really interested, but I don't hate the song either. I sort of listen, maybe picking up on the melody or a few key words in the chorus, but mostly I zone out on the song itself. But then sometimes with these songs one day I will suddenly hear the words. I hear them clearly and I pay attention and I no longer feel lackadaisal about the song. I'M INTERESTED. Katy Perry's Rise turned out to be one of those songs for me. I've been a Katy Perry fan for quiet awhile. She surprises me with some of the deeper messages in her songs (Wide Awake for example). I have no idea if she writes these songs or works with a song writer or what not, but what I do know is the music she chooses to records often hits me at the right time and in just the right way (side note: I looked this one up and it says she co-wrote it). Today I was listening to a top 40 station while getting ready to go for a run. Rise came on, and I was captivated by the lyrics. Read them below and if you like what you read, enjoy the video at the bottom! I won't just survive Oh, you will see me thrive Can't write my story I'm beyond the archetype I won't just conform No matter how you shake my core 'Cause my roots, they run deep, oh Oh, ye of so little faith Don't doubt it, don't doubt it Victory is in my veins I know it, I know it And I will not negotiate I'll fight it, I'll fight it I will transform When, when the fire's at my feet again And the vultures all start circling They're whispering, you're out of time But still, I rise This is no mistake, no accident When you think the final nail is in, think again Don't be surprised, I will still rise I must stay conscious Through the madness and chaos So I call on my angels They say Oh, ye of so little faith Don't doubt it, don't doubt it Victory is in your veins You know it, you know it And you will not negotiate Just fight it, just fight it And be transformed 'Cause when, when the fire's at my feet again And the vultures all start circling They're whispering, you're out of time But still, I rise This is no mistake, no accident When you think the final nail is in, think again Don't be surprised, I will still rise Don't doubt it, don't doubt Oh, oh, oh, oh You know it, you know it Still rise Just fight it, just fight it Don't be surprised, I will still rise "I think the hardest part of Yin yoga is the non-doing. It's letting go." My yoga teacher, Anna Davis, said this today during our Yin Yasa yoga class. I have come to find that yin yasa is one of my favorite yoga practices. I go once a week in the morning and I always feel so happy when I arrive. Yin Yasa is a combination of Vinyasa, or flow yoga, and Yin, which is deep stretching and opening of the body. The movement aspect warms your body. It gets oxygen rich blood flowing through your muscles, joints and ligaments. This warmth allows you to go deep into the Yin poses. The Yin poses are restorative, allowing the body to heal, and they are held for long periods. This holding, which is the non-doing, cools the body. This balance of warm and cool, movement and release, makes Yin Yasa a unique and beautiful experience in balance. It is the balance aspect that I find most powerful about the practice. I take the balance in on all levels, mind, body and soul, and it stays with me after class. Balance in work/play, rest/action, connection/introspection, and so on is the key to life. The other thing I enjoy is experiencing the power that can come from non-doing. For the yin portion of the yoga we often use a bolster, which is a large, firm body pillow that supports you in various poses. When your body feels supported it doesn't tense up in fear that it's being pushed too far. Instead, it opens up further to the pose, allowing you to deepen into it slowly and gently. For example, in one pose we lay with our torso on the pillow. One leg is stretched out in back, with our hips on the edge of the bolster. The other comes up beside it. This stretch opens up the hips, but without you pushing or leaning or trying to stretch. Instead, you allow the weight of your body and gravity to do everything. You let go. You breathe. You feel what it means to allow and release. The less you do the more everything is done for you and your body melts and opens. I always find these classes go so fast. I also always feel amazing at the end. I hope you have a chance to experience the power of Yin Yasa yoga yourself one day. The class I take is at the Yoga Loft in Modesto. If your local studio doesn't offer this type of class perhaps you could ask. You never know who else might wish this was being offered! Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian prayer that was used to heal friendships, relationships and bonds between people. It was used to restore harmony and to release everything that isn't love. The prayer is simple yet powerful, consisting of these four lines: Please forgive me I'm so sorry I love you Thank you To learn more about Ho'oponopono and to try a 12 minute meditation that includes this prayer click HERE.
Next time you feel like you need to do it all alone, that there's something wrong with asking for help, or that truly successful people are "lone wolves", remember this quote from Andrew Carnegie. No one ever does it alone. We idealize the idea of one man or one woman shaping a country, a business, even the world. But this is thankfully a false ideal. If one person could dictate everything then there would be no feedback, no growth, no potential for outside voices. This is a world built on teamwork. This is what allows everyone a chance to shine and find their path.
We all get what we tolerate. - Tony Robbins I think most of us are unaware of the patterns that are really controlling us. You gotta know precisely, what do you really want at this stage of your life? What do you need? What are the triggers, for you, that make you crazy - and are they worth letting go of? It's deciding, just like building muscle, that you're going to sculpt yourself into what you're capable of being, as opposed to being whatever life and circumstance has provided you the opportunity to show up as. We all get what we tolerate. This is saying, I'm going to decide what I want. I'm not going to tolerate anything inside of myself that's less than I can be or share or do or give! - Tony Robbins, I Am Not Your Guru (a Netflix Original) |