Our intention this month - Today I choose to face “what is” - is an opportunity to continue accepting life on life's terms, no matter what!!!  We have been taught these past 10 months, or at least I have been taught these last 10 months - to be a member of the “no matter what club”!!!  What do I mean by this?? You can fill in the blank - I have been taught, no matter what….

To get up and meditate everyday

To try to replace fear wit faith

To move my body in some small way everyday

To feed myself well

To connect with someone

To follow the rules

 

What is your “no matter what”?????

 

In class this month we have focused on the heart and chest areas of the body, this corresponds with the heart chakra in our body as well.  So I want to touch on the heart chakra and what it means.  If you are new to yoga, the chakras are energy centers that run along your spine from the first one at the base of your spine to the highest chakra at the crown of your head.  In sanskrit, the word “chakra” means “disk” or “wheel” and refers to the energy centers in your body.  These wheels or disks of spinning energy each correspond to certain bundles of nerves and major organs.  To function at their best, your chakras need to stay open, and balanced.  If they get blocked, you may experience physical or emotional symptoms related to a particular chakra.  There are 7 major chakras that run along your spine.  

 

The heart chakra, called “Anahata” is represented by the color green and is located in your chest at the level of your heart and lungs, extending down your arms and hands.  It is the 4th chakra, so it is said to be the meeting place of the lower 3 and the upper 3 chakras in your body - it is your center and the place that you relate to others.  It represents love, self love, forgiveness, self forgiveness, kindness and compassion.  This is our spiritual center, our core, the place that unites forces from above and below, within and without.  With this chakra wide open and healthy - you come from this true place of love and acceptance of yourself and from there you live and connect with those around you.  When I speak of love here, I don’t mean physical love - “this is love that is not dependent on outside stimulation, but experienced within as a state of being.”  Think of “Anahata” as the still center point, if this is balanced we are able to live from our truly authentic self, without any judgement on ourselves or others.

 

If your heart chakra is out of balance, physically you may experience asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease or lung disease.  Emotionally and spiritually an unbalanced heart chakra will show itself in  feelings of disconnection within ourselves and others, imbalance, judgement, unworthiness, co-dependency and resentful feelings.  One of the major issues which blocks the flow of this chakra is grief - this I want to focus on for this week.  

 

Please take a moment this week to sit and reflect on feelings of grief from 2020.  What do you feel like you “lost”? Freedom, plans and designs for your days, weeks, months? People? Situations?  Society as a whole has experienced grief through this pandemic, the problem is not everyone has taken a moment to acknowledge this.  Like all of life, we can live rotely or we can live consciously.  This group we are in together is our chance to live consciously and authentically.  I for one have much to grieve over in 2020 and I have taken moments to acknowledge this, to look at it all, to learn from it and to use this information to move forward more comfortably and authentically - with hygge!!!!  So don’t be afraid to look back (don’t stare) and learn from this past year!!  If you have not already done so, print out the homework sheet in the bonus content with prompt for a joyful 2021 - together we can learn from the lessons and the blessings of 2020 if we choose to pause and reflect!

 

**Just a quick note on the 3 day vegan cleanse next month - I will be leading us through the chakras as a platform for going deeper into the uncovering of this past year, shedding, accepting and building on the good as we start this new year.   This will be a very powerful cleanse.  I have been trying to put into words how I feel this Janaury of 2021, so here goes:  I usually am optimistic and I have a true love of life which leads me to jumping in fully!  Well with this past year of my cancer diagnosis, the fear associated with this, the treatment and of course the hormonal imbalances, not to mention the pandemic - I would characterize myself as  a "dull" version of myself.  The pandemic is restricting my ability to do certain things that bring me joy, but emotionally and spiritiually this year has paid a toll on me and I for one am so excited to use the cleanse to "polish" my dull self so I shine brightly again!!! So please join me in this emotional, mental and spiritual polishing and please share it with people in your life who you think may benefit from some extra shining!