:: YogiSutras: Yoga Blog - Journeys into Yoga ::

Try this: At the beginning of your day, take a few moments to observe your energy and appreciate stillness. This can be five minutes at your desk, outside, or getting coffee. Learning to maintain your energy can help reduce the extreme ups and downs which wear us out, and take a real toll on us by day’s end. Think about letting go, rather than wrestling your worries to the ground. Try the same thing at the end of your day. How close is it to how you were this morning? Or, do you feel totally undone by afternoon? By becoming aware of where your energy goes and how it moves, you can put this exercise into practice, and achieve consistency.

This tip is taken from the Wild Divine Project, the Journey to Wild Divine: The Passage program.

Today, take note of when you catch yourself getting lost in endless thought. Notice if being on that mental treadmill raises stress levels in you, or spirals downward. Visualize where your thoughts are taking you.

From: Wild Divine: The Journey to Wild Divine

Try this: when you find yourself in a patch of anxiety, take a few minutes to focus on your breath, visualizing the slow, steady cadence as you take oxygen-rich air not just into your lungs, but into your whole body, and exhale, releasing tension and stoking the inner fires of peace and strength.

This tip has been taken from the Wild Divine’s Training Manual. Visit: The Wild Divine and register for their newsletter to receive their monthly news.

Try this: Decide to have FUN or enjoy a part of your day that you might not normally think about. Inject some humor in the world around you and watch the kind of responses you get — you’ll find that it can do much more for your environment and mental state than you may have realized.

This tip has been taken from the Wild Divine’s Training Manual. Visit: The Wild Divine and register for their newsletter to receive their monthly news.

I just embarked on another journey, the Journey to Wild Divine program. In yoga class, my yoga instructors talked about a “mind/body game”, as well as the work of Deepak Chopra. Well, this biofeedback game features Deepak Chopra as he walks you through breathwork techniques to help you create a balance and sense of well-being.

Check it out:
The Wild Divine

Our last day. meditation began with some kind words from Shiva, chanting, and some moments to ourselves. And, she brought an offering of sacred malas from India, and talked us through how to hold them in mantra, or just hold them close. I was looking at these all week, so it hit a precious spot in my heart. Then, we began with our own practices. Yesterday, I was working on a Chandra Namaskar flow, but sometime in the early morning, I decided to my body wanted a Surya Namaskar flow too. So, I combined the two Namaskars, and began with the lunar series, then flowed into the solar series, and a Bakasana flow. The room was full of everyone doing their own flows. Somehow, I lost a lot of core strength this week, and found my inversions to be quite difficult, if not impossible. Maybe I’m relearning the asanas and tweaking my form. Back to the training…this method of training, where we are given the tools and empowered to build our own practices is perfect for me. I’m leaving with a pretty full toolbox, and anxious to put it to work.

Took my last run at the beach during break. It’s nice to run along the water, but I am not drawn to it as I am the mountains. Just a personal preference.

This afternoon, Raj honored Shiva with the gifts of flowers and a signed photo album from the class.

She was truly touched. It set the momentum for the afternoon…slow, grateful, and full of digestion. No practice happened all afternoon, just a nice review and discussion on what we learned. The pop-quiz was actually refreshing, as it put into context the depth of the knowledge we actually digested. Shiva created a sweet ending ceremony, where we were honored with our certificates, and all got a chance to stand on the stage and present our versions of Namaste.

Mental notes to myself: make a shrine and have it somewhere where I can have my asana-free practice. Create time for this every day.

Split up my week into 3 practices at the studio, and 3 practices on my own. Learn to groove on my own practice instead of always moving to someone else’s groove.

Thank you Shiva for a wonderful week!

~Namaste