Day 34

It's been a fantastic couple weeks since I wrote in here. I haven't been reflecting as much as just doing yoga lately and a bit more emphasis has been placed on the physical practice recently. I think it may be time to step back and ground myself with reminders of why I am enjoying this practice so much and how it is becoming a vital part of my life. I think an eye opener to this was last week when work wasn't going too well and I had a minor stress break down. I thought to myself what have I learned and how can I apply this here. Using simple meditations I've read I did take some time to breathe and was able to recognize my emotions. I still felt them out and tried to deal with them the best I can. I still don't have a full handle on my emotions and this is where my yoga comes into play. In the meditation book i have been reading by Thich Nhat Hanh he states that we should only feel and acknowledge strong emotions such as anger and frustration for 5 min before moving on and approaching our tough situations with a smile. He says that eventually we should all be looking at these situations with a sense of readiness to take on the challenge and embrace it rather than dreading it.

I have also been reading about the chakras and how they can be blocked sometimes. I would like to get some energy work done in the near future to see where I can work to try and give my life a bit more balance. I find the yoga classes I enjoy the most are the ones that focus on letting our energy flow and sending it to places where it is needed. Internal and external energy has always been fascinating to me and I am thankful that I have finally found an outlet to explore these things.

This week has been a good reminder of all the things I have been learning over the past 34 days. On Monday I signed up for a hot flow with Robyn which Nena ended up teaching since Robyn had someone to attend to. This was a good reminder that things in life do change unexpectedly and that is not always a bad thing. The classes Nena taught were great! She really works you physically but still tries to bring in mindfulness to the practice at the same time. I learned a new arm balance to practice and after the hatha class I felt like a little puddle of yoga heaven as I headed home for the evening. Tuesday night I went to Robyn's hot flow where she introduced February with focus on heart opening throughout the month. Robyn stated that we are all precious and we need to show compassion for one another. I will try to work this into my life. I feel like I am often fairly compassionate towards others but, not as much when it comes to myself. I often beat myself up for things I feel I could have done better or when I make mistakes. I am working on becoming more aware of these times when I am too hard on myself and letting that go a bit. Working towards standing up for my beliefs and speaking up for myself is another means of compassion I need give myself. When I don't speak up I am really devaluing my opinions and showing little respect for myself.

I also would like to send lots of love and compassion out to my friends and family who have been such inspirations in my life. I think I am very fortunate to have such great people around who I respect and love. Everyone one in my life has something great to offer and I should be thankful for that everyday.

....Well I guess that's enough sentiments for today.....

"When you hold your heart with the energy of mindfulness, your heart is comforted. You have neglected your heart for a long time. You think only of other things. You run after these things that you believe to be the true conditions of your happiness while you forget your heart"
- Thich Nhat Hanh