Meditation creates the space to sit with the full experience of being human, the good, the challenging and everything in between.
The key to develop and maintain a regular practice is to DO IT! No excuses, no stories just begin today and sit for the time you have set aside even if it is 1 minute to start.
Here are 4 tips to support your daily meditation practice. 1. Practice at the same time every day.
This gets your body into a rhythm and it will begin to move easily into a meditative state.
2. Practice in the same location everyday.
This creates an environment that supports you to settle in easily and quickly.
3. Practice the same technique for at least 28-30 days if not longer.
Meditation is designed to help us move past the ordinary consciousness and into deeper states of awareness/being.
4. Set a timer and commit to move towards 15 minutes of daily meditation practice.
I find it helpful to do my practices first thing in the morning and at the end of the day to ensure I have time to practice. If my schedule gets really jammed I wil practice for the length of one full breath…. remember, show up no matter what!
A consistent meditation practice is more important than practicing for one hour per week. Use these tips to help and support you in maintaining a successful practice. Success in meditation means you did the practice, START TODAY!
There are various styles and techniques of meditation, it is important to find one that resonates with you. Here are a few of my favorite teachers and schools of meditation: Clairvision, Sally Kempton & Adyashanti.
I will be introducing a new technique each month on the Facebook group, please send a request to be included if you are interested to join us!
Watch this short video for tips to support your meditation practice.
What is Therapeutic Yoga (also known as Yoga Therapy)?
Therapeutic Yoga is a system of yoga that focuses on aligning and integrating the body, mind and heart. It supports clients to bring the structure of the body into optimal alignment with the flow of gravity to create ease, balance, strength and flexibility.
Who needs Therapeutic Yoga?
Therapeutic yoga is ideal for clients who are recovering from injury, surgery or have a limitation that would be best managed in a one-to-one session.
How does it work?
1. We start with an assessment of the current state and create a plan for healing. We asnwer the question where do they want to be?
2. I teach the client how to breathe fully and freely.(Pranayama = breathing practice)
3. I teach the client about the anatomy of the body and the optimal alignment.
4. We practice basic alignment and build a home practice. (Which is most often focued our your everyday posture)
Can I do therapeutic yoga if I have never done yoga before?
YES! We always start at the beginning with how a client sits, stands and walks. Each home practice routine is designed for the individual to focus on what is working and build the strength or flexibility that is needed to improve the condition.
Watch this short view with more details:
Therapeutic Yoga (Yoga Therapy) is a powerful tool to support your health and to increase your vitality.
What tools do you use to recover from injury, surgery or to navigate limitations?
I am honored to be surrounded by an expanding community of incredible women entrepreneurs in the Bay Area that are supportive, inspiring and INCREDIBLE!
Building and participating in conscious community is one of my greatest passions. I believe community support and accountability is essential to create and maintain lasting lifestyle changes.
It is my intention to regularly post on my blog and share health tips and mindful living inspiration but I have not posted much in the last 2 years. My challenge isn’t lack of desire, my challenge has been staying committed to my priority no matter what. Today is the final day of the 7 day blog challenge hosted by Brandy Mychals creator of The Character Code System. I am thrilled to be completing the challenge with this post!
Here are my tips for staying the course and meeting your commitments:
1. Tap into the great desire and fire that will fuel your challenge.
2. Connect with a community that will support, inspire and hold you accountable.
3. Create a system of rewards that celebrate your success.
4. Create a system of consequences that will motivate you to stay focused.
5. Acknowledge when resistance arises and do it anyway.
I am grateful for the ladies that participated in this challenge and inspired me to keep going even when it was inconvenient. The power of community is AWESOME!
How do you motivate yourself to make changes and stay committed to lifestyle changes?
I believe that starting at the beginning and learning a new skill assists us in staying young, vibrant and juicy!
I love to learn new ways to move and engage my body. Two years ago I discovered my love of hula hooping (aka hoop dance) when on retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs. When I first learn a new move it is most often clumsy and I have gotten hit from the hoop spinning out of control. The hoop asks me to stay awake as I am learning, it invites me to pay attention, to be present and to playfully explore new movements.
I am inspired by the grace and beauty that is created in the hoop. Instead of being discouraged when I see an incredible performance I am invited to return to my hoop with a willingness to be a beginner and playfully explore possibilities. One of my favorite lady’s of the hoop is Shakti Sunfire. Her playfully spirit, warmth, and grace help to deepen my commitment and relationship to being present to my process and to enjoy the journey of expressive and graceful movement in the flow.
What movement practice would you love to try but haven’t explored? Commit to practice for 21 days and see the shift that is possible when we are willing to start at the beginning.
Monday August 15th is Anusara Yoga‘s 14th birthday and this feel like an extra special celebration since I have been practicing for 10 years and it has been a KEY component in my healing, as well my personal and professional growth.
John Friend is my primary teacher and guide on this path who is the founder and visionary of Anusara Yoga and the leader of the community of bohemian artist that I love. Ask me any day of the week for my favorite reason for loving and practicing Anusara and I could carry on and on.
Here are my top 14 favorite teachings I have learned from Anusara Yoga:
1. Awareness, breath and movement can heal my body, mind and heart.
2. Dedication to seeing the good in all people and situations is liberating.
3. Choice is an empowered practice to deepen connection and expression.
4. This life experience is a blessing to be enjoyed.
5. Everything is ONE energy in a diversity of forms.
6. Therapeutic Yoga is an elegant system of aligning the heart, mind body for vibrant health.
7. Yoga can be a FUN, powerful and grace-filled practice.
8. Obstacles are opportunities.
9. Communities can support radiant, brilliant hearts to be brighter than stars.
10. Living is a spiritual opportunity.
11. Our greatest challenges can be our greatest teachers.
12. The more I can soften the stronger I am.
13. Yoga is a practice of an artistically expressing the truth of my being.
14. The journey is a full spectrum of experiences, emotions and possibilities.
I am thrilled to be offering a Yoga & Music celebration at YogaKula in Berkeley this Monday the 15th from 6:00-7:30, please join us!
The common thread in my contemplations and conversations recently has been regarding passion, desire and will.
I believe that creating lasting lifestyle changes requires a strong desire for change. We must engage our will and uncover the answers to the following questions as we embark on the journey of mindful living. What are you passionate about?
What do you desire in your life?
Why is this important to you?
I am personally and professionally passionate about health & wellness, the desire to be and feel healthy impacts all the decisions I make it my life. My inner fire blazes which keeps me motivated to keep taking steps towards my dreams.
Why is health and wellness so important? For me great health = freedom. I want to be strong, active and expressive in my body, open and loving in my heart and engaged and refined in my mind. The why fuels my desire to make healthy choices every day.
Check out this short video inquiry to stoke the inner fire of passion in making choices.
Now ask yourself: What am I passionate about?
Do I spend time and energy on the activities and with the people that light me up?
What action can I take today to make more space in my life for the things I love?
Living mindfully requires commitment to show up even when we don’t feel like it. When we choose to live consciously we are invited to navigate the resistance that often arises in changing established patterns. Resistance is not a problem, it’s an opportunity.
We will face resistance as we:
Make lifestyle changes
Choose a healthy diet
Begin a project
Commit to a regular exercise and self-care practice
Adjust our communication style
Resistance to change is an inevitable aspect of mindful Living. As humans we are creatures of habit and our minds like to repeat patterns rather than create new ones. Navigating resistance takes desire, persistence and a willingness to show up even when we don’t feel like it.
Here are my quick tips to navigate resistance:
1. Acknowledge and allow yourself to feel resistance, avoid trying to fight it. Resistance is energy, our goal is to move the energy not to get rid of it.
2. Explore your inner landscape to uncover what other feeling/emotions are present.
3. Move your attention into the desire to shift even though the resistance is there.
4. Breathe into the desire to act and then take action no matter how small.
Watch this video for insights on how to navigate resistance.
Resistance is designed to keep us stuck, do what it takes to tap into the fire within you to live consciously, mindfully and to show up fully in the changes you are making in your life.
What area of your life will you put this into practice?
A regular self-care routine is an essential component for great health and lasting wellness. What does it mean to have good health and wellness?
Health is soundness of body, mind and heart and freedom from dis-ease.
Wellness is the state of being healthy in body, mind and heart as a result of deliberate effort. Wellness is an approach to health care that emphasizes prevention and prolonging life rather than just treating disease.
Notice the voices that may be sounding off in your head opposing this idea of self care through prevention.
The Anti-Health Battalion like to employ statements like:
“I can’t afford a massage.”
“I don’t have time.”
“I can’t relax, I have too much to do.”
I like to focus on what IS possible and how a little effort to nurture ourselves is like making small deposits in your health account that will add up over time.
Try on these empowered statements from the Inner Health Alliance:
“I can give myself a 5 minute foot massage.”
“I can trade massage with my partner instead of watching TV.”
“Learning to relax is a practice and I will start today.”
Touch is a gift you can easily give yourself and your loved ones! Here is a short video on the Benefits of Massage.
There are small moments in our day where we have the opportunity to choose health, the invitation is always open.
I believe our world would be a better place if we received a massage every Monday.
How can you improve your self-care practice today?
I just completed week 5 of living caffeine-free! I have been asked to share the essential five tips that supported me to arrive here.
The background: I have a VERY HIGH commitment to transformation and natural health because I struggled with asthma and allergies growing up which was managed with medication and regular visits the emergency room. It was my health challenges that empowered me to search for a way to get healthy and live medication free. In the journey of recovering my health I developed a passion for wellness and mindful Living. I discovered yoga, meditation, aromatherapy, nutrition, creative writing, and energy healing as powerful tools to improve my health.
Two times per year I do a cleanse or detox diet to help manage allergy and asthma symptoms during which I give up caffeine for 3-4 weeks. The cleanse and gradually minimizing common allergens (wheat, dairy, peanuts, soy) from my diet has been essential for me. I focus on shifting my pH balance by including lots fresh fruits and veggies and staying super hydrated!
5 steps to living caffeine-free:
1. Tap into the deep and powerful desire to quit caffeine (if this is not yet present stoke the inner fire until it burns strong.)
2. Be willing to face the emotional needs that are being met through caffeine use. (ESSENTIAL aspect for healing of mind & body.)
3. Detox diet with no caffeine. (start with 2 days and gradually increase to at least 3 weeks.)
4. Commit to see how long can you can stay caffeine-free. I believe the psychological relief of this is more positive and possible than the pressure of giving it up forever.
5. Celebrate your success! Take one day at a time and acknowledge the progress you make!
Please share your ideas or questions on how to make positive steps to shift towards living caffeine-free.
My challenge isn’t lack of desire, my challenge has been staying committed to my priority no matter what. Today is the final day of the 7 day blog challenge hosted by 
