If you've been to any of my yoga classes chances are I've offered the class a mudra to get settled in our beginning meditation. Mudras, Sanskrit for 'seal', are symbolic gestures made with the hands and fingers used in many Indian religions. A visual language, this form of wordless communication helps to realign and direct the energy in the body, mind, and spirt for connections and healing. Often used in yoga as well as meditation, you may use mudras on their own or along with pranayama, or breathing techniques, to cultivate a correct flow of prana in the body. Here are 6 mudras you can use every day to relax, reflect, restore and renew from one of my favorite resources, 72 Yoga Mudras of Yoga by Cain and Revital Carrol.
Use these tools to help connect with yourself and offer strength and healing. Remember every day that you have the power take charge and renew, giving your soul a peaceful place to dwell. Namaste. Get the full deck of Yoga Mudra cards on Amazon-it's a great resource!
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Everywhere in life there is something striving for balance, to find a perfect place of harmony, a balance of opposites. For those of you who think yoga asana (posture) practice is all downward facing dogs, planks and warriors I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to my favorite asana practice, Yin yoga. If you've never practiced yoga before, if your regular practice often masters some of the more challenging inversions, or you do nothing but Crossfit, here's why yin yoga would be a great addition to your wellness routine. Even in yoga we can let our egos take control, striving to hit that most advanced poses, we want to be 'good' at it. We can lose our focus and forget why we are on our mat. Yin yoga marries asana and meditation, which can be challenging because when your body slows down, the mind wants to chime in. But this type of active relaxation may be just what you need to restore and renew. In our Yang asana practice we work on our Yang tissues, muscles & tendons. It is a masculine, firery energy; and this is our flow that includes sun salutations, warriors and dynamic breath with movement.
In yin we find well, the opposite. Our feminine, nurturing, lunar energy is found and we force ourselves to slooooowww down. We use no muscular engagement, the muscles are cool, not warm. Most of the practice is done close to the mat, working a lot from navel to knees as well as nice ways to open up the chest. We offer the body support with pillows, bolsters, blocks and blankets and we hold poses anywhere from 3-6 minutes. We let gravity to the work and allow ourselves to simply be. Here we work the Yin tissues; connective tissue, facia, ligaments. Our connective tissues are similar to silly puddy. If you remember playing with silly puddy as a kid you may recall if you take it and try to pull it apart while its cold it tending to have no give, to even snap. But if you're patient, and you hold it in your hands and roll it around something magical happens. It begins to soften, expand and lengthen more that you thought was event possible! So that's what we do, we work with patience and presence, allowing the body to lengthen and expand. With simply the weight of your own body and time the body and can reach more flexibility and release the tensions of the mind to find stillness. A beautiful balance to any routine, I'd love for you to join me in this most healing, restorative practice. To see the current offerings of this and other classes feel free to visit here for more information. Be well and hope to see you soon. Namaste. Tara-The Goddess of Compassion
Om, Tara. Tu Tara. Turey. Swaha We all have hard times in life. Personal struggles, illness, watching loved ones suffer, terrible things going on in the world..... and we feel can helpless. Even if we are good at putting on a brave face and being the rock for ourselves and others, we need to hold space for ourselves and offer compassion. I've faced struggles in my life, suffered great anxiety, trepidation and more like most of us have. And according to the first of the four Noble Truths in Buddhism, life is dukkha-which has many meanings including suffering, stress, and impermanence. It's what we all need to go through to reach Enlightenment. And before I had some of the tools I have now it was much harder to hold that space, not understanding some of the suffering that happens in this world. I found I can take solace in my yoga asana and meditation practice. My mat, that tiny little space where so many transformational and powerful things can happen, is always there to catch me when I fall. In times of sadness or sorrow we can tap into the ultimate source, find our connection to everything in the Universe and know that we are not alone. Gods, Goddesses and Deities can be called upon for support. These are often archetypes possessing attributes we hold within ourselves, we may just need help in finding them. For anything we ever need is already within us, we simply need to turn within and and let our own inner light guide the way. Tara is a Goddess of Peace and Compassion. Honored by Hindus, Buddhists and Tibetans alike, she is the Mother Creator who can offer us protection and navigate us when confronted with obstacles. She holds many forms across the world; connected to the Chinese Goddess of Compassion Kuan Yin as well as the Egyptians, the Celts and people all across the globe. She's available in one way or another to all who call upon her. She embodies feminine strength and offers us the courage to prevail over stressful and troubling times, gifting a long life and the ability to work selflessly for the betterment of others. There are said to be 21 Taras, varying in color and attributes for what we may need to call upon from peaceful to auspicious to even wrathful. So when we find ourselves holding onto fear, stress or even anger, we can call upon not only ourselves but those who came before us but who still remain. Energy makes up the entire Universe, none is created nor destroyed but forever in transformation. We are all the clouds, the sea, the stars and the Gods-and when we can feel that connection in our hearts we can be the ones who wrap our arms around the world in compassion and love. Many Blessings, Heather |
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AuthorHello lovelies. I am a life/Goddess/meditation coach, body and energy worker , yoga instructor and author. I hope you enjoy my journey of discovering our magic and connecting along our journey of health, wealth of spirit and evolution. I am happy to share my experiences with you to heal, love, and evolve. ArchivesCategories
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