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Open the Heart, Then the Hand

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This past week I have been talking to my students about the importance of opening your heart before you give unto others. If we give from a stagnant or restrained heart, we offer from a place of expectation and obligationWe give things we do not really intend to give. From there, we expect things back, give because we feel that we should, and breed resentment. I've been teaching, on the other hand, that when the heart is open and receptive, we receive abundantly and can give from that abundance. On the mat this can translate to the placement of our arms, and thus our hands, in relation to our hearts. If you reach into places where the heart is not ready to go, this can cause pain or discomfort. We lose the connection with our breath and our awareness. Tikonasan (variation) More specifically in a heart opening posture, like Trikonasan (triangle pose), we can reach forward as we hinge at the hips and reach down for the shin, block or floor. We can extend the top arm, and at t

My New Morning Ritual: Sadhana (A work in progress)

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A ritual of learning and living with intention, a guide to samadhi, but first and foremost, a practice in yoga that taps one into themselves is called a Sadhana. This can be many things based on many definitions and personal views, culture and religious affiliations. Truth, we are always practicing something, creating something, becoming something. We are ever expanding and growing. How consciously we practice is determined by many factors, but I agree, one's morning ritual is high at the top of the list. I'd like to distinguish here between a morning Sadhana and the Sadhana that happens as we are ready or have time to address. What we drag our attention to bright and early will most likely inform the rest of the day until we can reset into the afternoon-evening. This does not mean that we are screwed if we miss this activity. This means if we miss this activity, we feel less like ourselves. You may discover, here in this blog, a couple ways that help you wake up and jump i

Battle NOT! Honor your Power and from whence it flows....

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Sometimes, we get caught up in how/what other people are feeling, so deeply, that we lose ourselves. We see the expression on their faces and get caught in assumptions about what the expression might mean. Sometimes we ask, never to really know. We may even think this to be an indication of who we are or what we are doing. They don’t like it. They do like it. We don’t like or do like as result. I grew up trying to please people, so for me, these looks, the good and the not so good, were important. Over the years, I have had to come back to a mantra that has served me well. NO ONE can judge me. Even when they do, we don’t have to battle their thoughts/ feelings. We have our own. Here are 3 ways to Honor your Power and the Source, from whence it flows.  1. Take your power back! Recognize that you are in control of the things that you focus on. Rather than focusing on someone else’s assumed thought/feeling, we can focus on our own. We can most often know what our personal though

Yoga on the Ball

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Order Of Operations (O3)

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Everything has its good time. Every dog has her good day. When this can inform the way you interact in the world, with yourself and others, you tap into something I am calling the Order Of Operations (O3). Like trioxygen, that protect us from the toxins in the atmosphere, this might sound familiar. In Math class, Order of Operations is one of the first things you learn after mastering single-step equations. The Order of Operations is how you organize what to do first within a multi-step equation so that the sequence allows for the right answer, in layman's terms. Exponents, Roots, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction is the order in math. This happens with programming and language too. When you tap into the fact that everything happens at the right time, and that you can sequence some of this to your advantage, you open to your influence on HOW things unfold. You take the steps in the order that takes some of the ambiguity out of life. Some, I said. Some. Let’s ma