Posts

“Alice in Wonderland"

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Recently I spoke about the veils in my blog “Circumcision of the Heart.” These, in brief, are the layers of our experience in the body, which is not who we really are. However, these veils still exist as we identify with the ego, the stories we tell ourselves in order to be apart of the collective experience. Having a practice to acknowledge these veils allows them to drop, like shackles or skin follicle. Underneath them, like the skin, there is another layer, something new to discover.  Recently after a veil unfolding, I peeked inside of some historic guilt that lingered. I thought for sure that I was at the bottom of this feeling. I'd been guilty for quite some time off and on. And then I realized, just when I was getting ready to congradulate myself, like " Alice and Wonderland," there was no real bottom.  I also realized that there was  no rush and there was no getting it all done. There is, however, an opportunity for us to continue to create space in thi

Authentic Yoga Practice

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You just finished the movement portion of your, asana, practice. It was a good one. You got sweating, maybe? You got out of your head for a little bit and took the time to breathe deeper or motivate the body. You lay in savasana, corpse pose, and think, I would have loved two more poses or another hour. Well, you can have it, two more poses or another hour. You really can. You might be busy. You might, quite literally, have just jumped right up off your mat right now to get back to your children or mate or work that is waiting at home. But you can have yoga anywhere. The great thing about yoga is that it does not have to be super lengthy to be effective. I know, it is nice to stay in the mellow space of a class, if you can. It's nice to have your teacher nearby. However, if you can’t stay, then go forward. Come back to your practice throughout the day. Check in periodically. One does not need to stay in one place to fill the container or to access it. All of your p

The Tip of Bliss!

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Bliss, I never understood this word. I always found it to be one of those words people pretend to be. I was pretty sure when someone said they felt bliss that they had no idea what they were talking about. Or when someone said that they wanted to feel bliss, they did not know what they were reaching for. I suppose I never felt bliss until recently, or at the very least, not to the extent with which I now know. It was not even a word that I uttered to reference any situation ever before, except when I did a Blissful Biz Training with my coach, Jeannie Sullivan. And there is absolutely a reason why. Until one has seen some aspect of the low, there is no way for them to have reference for the high. The height of even the tip of bliss is beyond that which I believed I could hold. magicblog.andriehvitimus.com I venture to say that whether we know it or not, everyone has experienced, even briefly, some form of love. We are love.  So what is the difference between bliss and love,

Pain in the Body

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I have wrestled with a couple pains in my body. I might take a yoga class that will give me relief, but a couple hours later, sometimes a day or two, I’d feel the pain again. I asked my doctor about it when I was being scanned for reoccurring cancer cells. Maybe it was a growth somewhere, something out of the ordinary, sprained or broken. I’ve heard of people having fractures that they did not even know were so. They just thought they sprained something. Sure it hurt, but they were still able to do most things, most of the time. Not so for me. My doctor told me, “That’s just a tight muscle, Courtney.” Nothing is wrong with the bone. I’ve had massages, definitely not as many massages as I would like. But even after those sometimes, I’d still feel this insistent pain. No matter how deep the massage therapist went, they could not touch the ache for long enough for it to find a new home. So I wrestled.  Through my investigations on the mat, I have discovered that the more

Cumulative Practice

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“Practice and all is coming.” - PattabhiJois There is usually a mixed review on cumulative work when I speak about it in the 7 th grade classroom. Cumulative work that is a culmination of bad ideas, practices, or grades, for instance, is not such a good thing. No one wants to have a whole heaping lot of bad things that follow them around and add up to their experience or affect their standing. However, cumulative positivity, whether that be intention or action…now, we are talking. 7 th graders, well, everyone loves that. One of my yoga teachers on Gaiam, Shannon Paige , expresses yoga as a cumulative practice. I agree and love this idea. How awesome to know that when you revisit various asana, kriya, meditation, scripture, daily or consistently, your body remembers, hold and processes the effort and intention you have placed into it! How wonderful to consider all the positive intentions that you set filtering your not-so-positive thoughts to a higher ground, leading you to

Circumcision of the Heart

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Circumcision of the heart by the Spirit? Just exploring this idea here. Romans 2:29. "  No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise [ a ] from God, not from people." What does this verse from the Bible really mean has to transpire? I have a confession. I love ancient, relevant text. The Bible is most definitely one of my favs. I love the enormity of the ideas, the way Spirit then reveals itself, always the same. God is enormous. I just wanted to let you know before I rant about how I love this scripture. I love this scripture!! It reminds me that there is nothing that we can do to be in his graces. It means, there is nothing to do? Did I read that right? The heart is purified by the Spirit. You may be one of the beautiful ones that would like to argue with this thinking—

Moving with the Journey, Relaxed

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I just learned how to relax. I’m so excited!  And, it took me being completely out of my comfort zone to truly understand what it meant to do it, to relax. I’m doing it right now as I type this. I have never relaxed at the beginning of a writing, so this is new. It feels good to let my shoulders slide down and away from my ears, everything open, not forced open, but subtle, and easy, at the beginning. If you relax, the inspiration, and then the thought will come. We have to take the time to listen as we relax into knowing that it will be. This meant for me, for years, I have had moments where I felt relaxation, and then long stretches, where I found it a chore to relax. I am not sure if this sounds familiar to anyone. But I am sharing this any way because it felt very familiar to me. It was my existence. And no one really wants to live uncomfortable in their skin if they've ever felt the alternative. I feel for everyone who has and continues to feel this way. Really, trul