September Yoga Challenge? YES!

I've been dabbling in some Instagram yoga challenges and they were insane. One was full of insane backbends! And the most recent was all about getting your feet behind your head -both of them. It was a challenge alright. A challenge to attempt the poses without going past my body's range of motion, understanding where my edge is, and not to feel like I was supposed to be able to do these poses with ease, looking perfect in them. It was a daily thought process to remember that my body is my body and being bendy is not yoga. With that said, at one point I got a little annoyed with the challenge because the entire last week was impossible, so I had to dig deep and let go that I couldn't "accomplish" the poses but also that I didn't need to. Overall I cannot deny that I love following those bendy ashtanga yogi's on IG and see how they get all bendy-gumby-pretzeled out! BUT I don't have to be that and I don't have to be annoyed that I"m not that :)

In conclusion, my friend and I are starting our own yoga challenge. All easy, every day poses and different options and variations for people to take. I am also having fun taking non-perfect, awkward yoga selfies!

Join the challenge!!!!

Heart and mind

Anahata -unstruck sound. It is the spiritual center of the Heart.
It is in our Heart Chakra when we begin to feel and tune into the vibration of life. This is where we feel our heart beat, where we feel emotions and where we perceive. We also begin to feel higher realms of consciousness here, aside from our egos. The heart is affected by all emotions and senses -physical and emotional. The more balanced your heart is, the better your perception. It is where you can transcend your material self. Where you can balance what is internal and external, physical and transient. Ignorance and illusion often entangle our emotions. We often allow our feelings to control our lives and  relationships. We allow our emotions to define our identity. This causes a blockage in our heart chakra. Its so important not to be blocked here because then your energy cannot go up to the places of higher consciousness. When we hold too tightly, are too over protective, we cave in and suffocate the Heart. This can affect our breathing, our communication and our thinking minds.

Meditation for pain

In yoga we're always talking about how we have to let go of attachments when we're meditating. But what if pain is the distraction?

As hard as that sounds...we have to let go of that too.

Picture this...maybe you're experiencing physical pain. And day to day in life...you are always thinking about your knee and how it hurts...maybe you've already been told you have to get surgery, maybe you are not sure but you're kind of freaked out that maybe its that bad. The more you're thinking about it, the more it might be hurting. In meditation...maybe you can sit comfortably in a chair so that you're knee doesn't hurt. Prop yourself up in the most comfortable position and instead of being the guy with the knee pain, for the next 15 minutes, you can just take a break from that. Take a break from wondering what happened to your knee, or wishing you hadn't played basketball so much without resting, or wishing you hadn't been so careless that day you climbed a ladder to fix the curtain rod.

And then there's emotional pain...maybe people have really hurt you, things have gone really bad no matter how nice, caring and giving of a person you have been. Sometimes you don't think about the past, but sometimes it creeps up on you and there it is....that hopeless pain in your chest that is keeping you from moving on, keeping you from having good relationships or keeping you from focusing on your job. You're attached to your pain. Easier said then done to let it go...no one knows what is about but you. But...imagine that for the next 15 minutes in meditation..you get to have a break from it. The more you give yourself time away from the pain, it just might get easier for you to begin a healing process from it, if you haven't already.

We all have different kinds of pain, and the most painful part of it is that no one can understand your pain that is unique to you and what happened to you...holding on to your pain sets us off of our balance. It prevents us from opening up our hearts, our minds and causes blockages in our Chakras.

Yoga is good for your Heart

According to Forbes...

Small Study Suggests Yoga May Benefit People With Irregular Heartbeats

Stay tune for more on the Heart Chakra...