Several weeks ago I came across something regarding chakral imbalances and physical stressors. I’d always slightly known about them and learned a little in my yoga training but never really looked much into it. Anyway, I decided I would start a cleansing process. I thought I would spend like a week on each chakra and then, wah-lah, I’d be better than ever after seven weeks (because there are seven chakras). I started with the root chakra which deals with a sense of home, support and love. I’ve felt super lost for years and an imbalance in the root chakra can lead to actual physical abdominal pain and digestive issues so I was like “omg this is what I need to focus on.” I spent everyday for a week guiding myself through root chakra meditations, used essential oils associated with it and had pictures printed off and hung around my apartment of different visuals also associated with the chakra. Turns out…I needed five weeks of this to finally feel like it became balanced. And you know when that was??? The fifth week was the week of my crazy, intensive CycleBar training. I finally felt like I had a home, a family and people who cared. As silly as it sounds, I pretty much burst into tears one day during lunch as I ran back into the studio theater to grab my chapstick as I overheard someone from outside the doors ask the group, "Guys, where's Liv?" I was only gone for a matter of minutes and my absence was not only noted, but it was missed. After the training, our bond only grew stronger. Our group text never seems to stop dinging. Again, going back to being cheesy but something as simple as our group text gives me a sense of connection and love that I've never experienced. I never feel alone. I feel like I have seven best friends who are always ready to listen and joke and support. Then, things became super busy with more training, teaching and scheduling; I didn’t make time to move on to the next chakra, the sacral chakra. The sacral chakra’s affirmation is “I enjoy life fully” and deals with loving yourself completely without judgment, bringing true joy and pleasure into your life (way beyond the superficial) and self-esteem. This is the most self-conscious I’ve been in a while so again, its like a no-brainer….sacral chakra needs to be addressed. Guess what some of the physical pains associated with an imbalanced sacral chakra are?? Abdominal cramps, over-emotional state of being, increased anxiety. So honestly, I think that this whole tummy thing is a lot more than just food intolerances. One of the “setbacks” (and it only seems like a setback because I have a lot of work to do. This is a beneficial "setback" and not a setback at all) of adopting a super mindful lifestyle is that you open yourself up and expose all your weaknesses and pains to the ultimate state of vulnerability, causing more sensitivities and seemingly unexplainable reactions than what would seem “normal.” Last night, I reached out to someone who is legitimately growing more and more dear to my heart by the minute... she listened and offered so much love and support that again, I was brought to tears. The most grabbing thing she said? “You are truly radiant.” And you know what? I am. I am truly radiant and so are you. We always have been and always will be. Sometimes, we allow this early life and body to blind us from our true selves...our radiant selves. Want to know a little secret? Our radiance never goes away. That inner light is always there. We are always shining and powerful and full of love we just have to remember that. That's why I love yoga. Its not just something you DO. Its a legit lifestyle and leads to so much soul searching and peace and joy…. its not easy though. However, stay strong lovely beings. Let's support each other. I'm here for you.
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(Weather permitting) Let's get these going again! Join Olivia on a short hike through Raven Run to the orange path "meadow" and allow your breath to heal, move and motivate your body with a 60minute vinyasa practice. BYOM. Monetary donation suggested.
Click HERE for more information. First picture taken about thirty minutes after I demolished a mountain of rice, who-knows-how-much almond butter, yummy blueberries and @amazinggrassgreens all mixed together (I do a form of intermittent fasting).
Immediately, I felt super full, guilty and "huge." So I decided to take a picture. I knew I was being silly but couldn't ignore my feelings. I then forced myself to smile and then guess what, my attitude changed. I told myself I was NOT what I felt. I snapped out of it and reassured my belief that if we put nourishing, whole foods into our bodies AND regularly use our muscles/brain power plus heart-fulls of compassion, then we can only grow. The third picture is after I spent a couple hours teaching yoga, surrounded by good vibes and beautiful energies. I spent a couple hours doing what gives me PURPOSE...what literally keeps me going each day and has me excited to wake up in the morning...and my body responded. It USED the food I put into it and cooperated with the energies I surround myself with and cultivate...and BAM...healthy Liv. This is a process. It's taken a LONG time for me to be okay in my body and even now, body dysmorphia causes me to see something entirely different and I get down on myself. What's important though is to love your body no matter what it looks like. Change your mindset. "Fitness" is not as important as overall health. You can look fantastic but not be healthy. You can look fantastic and feel miserable. So do a little self-check today-MENTALLY-and see where you are. Body stuff comes later. Let's heal our minds first. Please pardon the enormous eyeroll.
"Namasté," is becoming part of everyday language, the highlight of puns and tossed around like baseballs at a little league pitching practice. People combine the word with an iconic peace-sign hand gesture to say hello, goodbye or even attach expletives on the end to make people laugh. Society has either never realized or become desensitized to the actual depth and significance of the word. Its overuse used to really bother me. I would hear people who had only done yoga once and never even heard of pranayama belt it out trying to fill a certain “image” they must have had in their heads. Sure, namasté can be used as an opener or a closer to a conversation or practice, but it means so much more than that. It’s difficult to say what namasté is not because it has such a unifying message that can be stretched and touches all things. Namasté is not something you say to just fit into a yoga class. It’s not interchangeable with “what’s up.” Namaste is recognition. Namaste is understanding. The official mantra meaning that goes along with the word is, “My soul honors your soul. I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the light, love, truth, beauty and peace within you because it is also within me. In sharing these things we are united, we are the same, we are one.” Namaste is acknowledging that we are all on this journey called life, and while collaboration and cooperation are treasured, ultimately we all have our own realities. We have different levels of understanding and different values, morals, mindsets that make us unique. In addition to that, we all have the resources to total unity. So when I say namaste, I mean that I see you—the individual you. I’m looking past the appearance of you and I see your energy, your light, your pain, frustration, but also your passion and bliss. I’m saying that I am with you, rooting for you. I am on the same wavelength because ultimately, we are all connected anyway. One way to start understanding the meaning of namasté is to turn inward and love all the things that make you YOU. A Rupi Kaur quote explains this perfectly: “How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.” So first, direct the namasté recognition to yourself. Honor your own soul, the place where all things reside. See your own light, your own love, your own truth, beauty and peace. Feel the connection. In a round about way of thinking, self-love is total love. How can we love others if we don’t know how to love ourselves first? If the light within you is also the light within me, shouldn’t we offer ourselves the same respect that we would give to others? And shouldn’t we respect others as we respect ourselves? There are times I may not even close my yoga classes with “Namasté.” If I honestly don’t cultivate the connection, or am caught in a shallow wave of distraction and pulled away from mindfulness (hey, it happens), I will not just throw the word out there to satisfy expectations. Namasté carries a message that can penetrate the barriers of depression and accelerate the collection of peace. I have to admit that yes, some of the namasté puns are funny. They’re clever. However, I can’t help but feeling guilty every time I laugh. Let’s not disgrace the denotation of the word, and let’s please not forget to pause and turn inward. Every time namasté is used, it should be a call to mindfulness, a reminder that none of us are on this journey alone. With that being said, Namasté Let's face it, college is one of the busiest times of our lives. We try to balance school work with relationships, family, jobs, housework, pets and things that just make us decent human beings (like helping someone else study or rushing to help a friend in the middle of the night). The door to sleepless nights, exponential jumps in anxiety, exhausted minds and bodies is definitely flung wide open. We prioritize every aspect of our lives and tend to put off sleep for papers, parties and peers. Think you're surviving? Well, technically, you are. However, the more we put off sleep the more we are feeding into an unhealthy habit. Sleep deprivation can lead to depression, obesity, mood swings, weakened immune system, decreased ability to concentrate and remember, slowed comprehension rates, insulin sensitivity and a whole lot of other not-so-pleasant effects. Your body will tell you if it needs more sleep. If you've noticed an increase in appetite, weight gain or slowed metabolism, it may be a signal to revisit the idea of bedtime. If your brain is being deprived of the energy it usually gets from rest, it will look to food as another source. Ghrelin, the hunger hormone, production will increase and cause all sorts of cravings. Leptin, the satiety hormone, is also affected, messing with your body's ability to recognize when it's actually full. Next time you think about binge eating cookies or your weights worth in fries, try taking a nap instead. Impulsive behavior and a slacking memory are also signs of sleep deprivation. Think about it, your energy levels are down so subconsciously, you're not paying much attention to what's going on in front of you. You are not actively participating, therefore no clear memory is attached to your experiences. This also leads to a veil over our judgment. We are more inclined to lash out or make regretful decision because we aren't thinking about possible consequences. Without enough sleep, cytokine production in within the body drops. These proteins help to fight off illnesses and inflammation, so frequent viral infections and cold after cold could definitely be a sign you need to make sleep a priority. Start tonight. Have a pillow party, snuggle up and get some rest. Put your phone in an entirely different room and don't even think about watching tv. Artificial lights can mess with your sleep patterns. This sounds strange, but rub some lavender essential oil on the bottoms of your feet. Whether it's placebo or not, the feet are great pathways for absorption and lavender has a calming effect. You can also rub the oil into your palms then cup your mouth and nose. Close your eyes and imagine you're drawing the scent directly into your brain. After about three minutes, you should feel a little more relaxed. Next, make your bed. Yes, actually unwrinkle the wad of sheets and blankets that probably haven't been organized in days, and make your bed look presentable. Fluff your pillows, light some candles, grab the lavender oil you used on your feet and dilute in water to spray on your pillows. On top of your freshly made bed, try these six yoga poses to lead you into a restful nights sleep. Begin in a seated, wide-legged forward fold. Don't worry about your flexibility--your pillows are your friends. Stack however many you need to let your cheat and forehead rest gently in the space in front of you. Take several deep breaths and focus on the space behind your eyelids. Transition into locust pose. Lie on your stomach, and keeping your legs straight with the big toes touching, aim to raise your upper and lower half as high as you can. Interlace your fingers behind you and open your chest. An open chest leads to deeper breaths. Hold this pose for as long as you'd like but remember, keep your eyes closed. We're getting the body ready to sleep. Lie with a pillow or two under your lower back with your head resting on the bed and both legs straight up a wall. Let's your arms rest on either side of you, palms facing up, and imagine you can feel the lactic acid draining out of your legs. Draw your knees to your chest, give yourself a little hug, and then guide your knees together to either side of you for a reclining spinal twist. Aim to keep both shoulder blades on the bed and turn your chin to face the opposite direction of your knees. Twists encourage cleansing and detoxification. Make sure you reach both sides. Move so that you are no longer near a wall and guide the body into reclining butterfly position. This time, place a pillow vertically under your head and upper back. Allow your lower half to make contact with the bed so your belly is lengthened. Place the souls of your feet together and allow your knees to fall apart. Again, let your arms rest on either side of your body with the palms facing up. Imagine the the corners of the eyes and your knees are being drawn down into the bed. Focus on your breath and remember, stay here as long as you like. If you didn't fall asleep in the last pose, it's now time to move into savasana. Your place of peace, your piece of home. Gently draw the knees back together and extend your legs long to find corpse pose. Keep the pillow where it was or move it until you're completely comfortable. Remember, arms long and palms up. Literally feel your body melt into your bed as your breath deepens. Feel the cheeks drawing away from the nose, the shoulders sinking away from the heart, the hips drowning into the bed. Goodnight. The seasons are changing, we are in closer proximity to one another (if you're on a college campus or just working more in general), stress levels are high and let’s face it…we are probably drinking more. What does all of this mean? Lower immune systems. Aside from the typical solutions like staying hydrated, getting plenty of rest and incorporating more vitamin C into our diets, we should resort to one simple practice that has been around for thousands of years. Yoga. By moving your body into different shapes and poses, incorporating mindful breathing techniques, and giving a little love to your soul, yoga can heal the body from the inside out. Don’t know where to begin? Try a few poses from each category (twists, inversions, standing poses, openers, restoratives, etc.) by themselves, until you can link them into a sequence that’s most comfortable to you. Twists are probably the most important group to focus on if you don’t have much time to dedicate to your practice. Think of twists as a sort of internal massage. Twisting poses stimulate the organs, rid the body of toxins and promote a sense of balance with your systems. Great twisting poses include reclining spinal twist, revolved chair, revolved downward facing dog, and any variation on thread the needle. While inversions may be the last thing you want to do when you’re feeling a case of the stuffies, it’s definitely something you should try. Inversions stimulate the lymphatic system which, like twists, helps to flush out toxins as well as give you a little endorphin rush from the excitement of being upside down. Not quite up for a grand handstand or pinchurasana? Don’t worry, inversions can also be as passive as lying with your legs up a wall or a supported bridge pose; and, technically, downward dog is also an inversion. Some standing poses can help open your chest and lungs so that air flows more freely in and out of your body. Also, standing tall and strong in any shape is going to make you feel better than if you had spent all day curled up in bed. Crescent warrior, dancing warrior, and chair pose all incorporate opening as well as muscle engagement, reminding your body that its all working together as a team to get you well and healthy again. Restorative almost speak for themselves: rest, rest, rest. Really, you could take any position you adore and hold it passively for a good five to ten minutes and it would be a restorative pose. The purpose here is to bring mental awareness into the game. A little good energy goes a long way. Still, if you don’t know where to begin, reclining bound angle pose or corpse pose can never fail you. Think about letting your knees and shoulders sink into the mat while your heart and rib cage is being drawn up toward the sky, then let the rest of your body just be where it is. Relax, breathe, repeat. Get better soon, my friends. |
AuthorNature-loving, adventure-seeking, holistic and wellness advocate: Yoginiliv. Archives
May 2017
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