raw & true

How often have we all heard that yoga changes peoples lives. There are stories upon stories and miracles for days. So what I'm about to write may seem extremely obvious and overdone, but true regardless. Yoga has changed my life. This is the entire reason I decided to teach yoga and why I continue teaching. Yoga should be fun, exciting, freeing, and completely enjoyable. With this said, there is a seriousness that comes with it, a responsibility to ourselves. If we can really drop into ourselves and listen, truly listen without escaping it or just getting through it, we know how to move, how and when to settle in, we hear what our bodies are saying to us. So often we are focused on doing everything right, but what's right for each of us is different. The only way for me to know what is the best way for me to move is to listen. So my question for myself is why am I able to do this with yoga but at the moment forgetting this practice with the rest of my life? Using what I learn in my practice is sometimes difficult to translate to my life, even when it might seem so obvious its hard to believe I didn't see it sooner. It's natural for me to let go in a yin pose and surrender to the sensations that bubble up, but with my life it's a challenge for sure. Emotions I neglected, for way to long, have suddenly found their way into my life...to the point of not being able to stick them back into the place I once had them so neatly tucked away in. Truthfully, I don't want to put them back but I don't really want them in my face either. So now what? I could continue to torture myself over how I got here or how do I get out of this but it's only creating more stress. If I were holding a yin pose I would never go to these places in my mind, I would experience it, sit with it, explore it, but never try to "fix" what I'm feeling in that pose. So why am I doing it with my life outside of yoga? The only way to experience relief and move through this is to let it be there and resist the urge to "fix" myself or try to change the situation. After fighting myself and this feeling I finally feel like I'm able to accept the discomfort. I
allow myself to be whatever I am right now until I move through this sensation and into a new one. This is why I love yoga :)

Sacral  Chakra Tidbits

Located in the Lower Abdomen, Color is Orange, Element is Water, Function is Desire, Pleasure, Change, Emotions, Creation

Needs & Issues- Movement, Sensations, Emotions, Sexuality, Desire, Need, Pleasure

From Anodea Judith in Eastern Body Western Mind:
"When emotions are excessive, we can shift our awareness to the sensations in our body. Emotions want to move out, to take action and be recognized. We need to balance that by moving in and paying attention to to the self inside. By consciously bringing our attention inward, the emotions soften and bring us a richer tapestry of information and connection."