Align Within Yoga

And then, there's this.🩷
An education in and of itself.
Maybe some of the hardest lessons to learn.
Be patient and dilligent.
Find your Bliss, in your time.🪷
You're so worth it!🩶
"Because we are made of love, Born when love was breathed into us, We seek to love. We crave giving our love away. We give our love to frogs and princes, rocks and stars. But the only person we truly need to fall in love with is oneself. Then unconditional worthiness showers down on us, sparkling and cleansing, blissful and joyous.
- Grace Kellawon🌹

"That which is false troubles the heart, but truth brings joyous tranquillity."
- Rumi🩵
🩶So much truth here.
The beauty is that when you realize this, you can more easily and quickly shift from that false story and find your joy (again)!🩶
Stay tranquil..🙏🏼🦋

Man this great!
Have to share!

"The Way is perfect, like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.
Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things. "
- Seng Ts'an

🩵The mind will wander. When you notice that it's wandering, the discipline is to be here when you're back.
- Ashwini Narayanan

💚🩵🩶💛

For 2023 and beyond. Begin Again ...
️Shift.
Perspective.
✨️Reframe✨️
Transmute.
How can I see more experiences as positive?
GRATITUDE.
🩵Being Happier through acts of kindness.
Start small.
Help yourself.
Help others.
Compassion.
Create Joy by finding satisfaction in most things.
Create good mental and physical health through this reframing.🪷

Happy New Year!✨️
Blossom your lotus.🪷Open a little more.
Live from heart❤️‍🔥 not fear.
Listen to your inner knowing.
Commit to You!!!

What's Your Story in 2023?
You know, that story we tell ourselves.
How will we change it?
"I’m late to the table on this one, a little retrograd-ey given I am repeating myself. Retrogrades are often feared and blamed by those who really want to exacerbate a story or are prone telling themselves that they are subject to the whim and energy of a planet and they have no responsibility in their own lives (which essentially makes one a victim). This is not entirely true.
Of the few things I can really claim to know is that (1) a story is a story, just depends on how you write it, and (2) victims don’t get to be happy.
So it is really our choice which story we tell.

Here's the thing --- Mercury in retrograde transit doesn’t ruin your life, make you lose your stuff, hex you, or trick you (country music song here?). Mercury’s energy is specific to our interests, mental stimulation, details, humor and discrimination. The energy of Mercury being closest to the earth interrupts (intensely) the areas of life that it rules (for you) and also in the sign where it is transiting in the sky currently. So it could bring about an intensity to interests, mental stimulation, details, humor and discrimination. It is really helpful to understand where this lies for you and is specific to you and your own personal birth chart - it is not a one-size-fits all transit.

It is very much suggested that we slow down, get deliberate and make sure we are acting from mindfulness to eliminate disruptions around these particular things in life during a retrograde transit -- and what better time to do this than the last day of 2022?

This Mercury retrograde is going between Sagittarius and Capricorn in the sidereal zodiac and this lends to seeking higher ground spiritual and emotionally and also to anchor into a sense of safety and security. Personally, I believe this is a very auspicious time to review 2022, get super clear about what you will co-create for yourself 2023 and connect and recommit to your beliefs.


#2023

A Word of Caution

In 2023, if you choose to begin a new yoga (or other fitness) commitment or youre a continuing yogi ...
Some very practical and most important aspect of your yoga.
🪷The point here:
You know your body best! Listen to it! And be honest about what you feel and why.🪷
Have a listen to the video ... very experienced ... and spot on! 😘
(And yes, you see it right, Fat Yogis is the studio, in The Netherlands 😊🥰)
👇

A Word of Caution To practice alone at home you ned to really trust your intuition and body to guide you through the practice. This short talk takes you through what is ok and what is not ok to feel, especially nice if you are not used to this practice yet. To watch this class you'll need to sign […]

For 2023...✨️
Shifting our perspective, the minute we open our eyes, each and every day.🌅
GRATEFUL for everything we Do have.
GRATEFUL what we Can positively influence and guide in our own lives.🙏🏽
Seeing the Beauty and the lesson where it is difficult.🫶
Kindness:
🪻To ourselves.
🌷To others.
Thoughts, Words, Actions.
Make that a new habit. 🪷
Really commit.🙌🏽
Bring it 2023.🎉
We got this.🧘🏽‍♀️
With Love.❤️‍🔥
"Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore, only kindness that ties your shoes and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread, only kindness that raises its head from the crowd of the world to say it is I you have been looking for, and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend."
- Naomi Shibab Nye

Have a Beautiful Winter and Holiday Season.
Sparkle.✨️
Shine.🌟
Share your Joy!😁
A gift for you to contemplate...
🎁❤️🎁❤️🎁❤️
NEW MOON | SAGITTARIUS

On December 23rd we will have a new Moon. When the Moon (our consciousness) is at its darkest, farthest from the Sun, it is called a New Moon, and it is a good time to withdraw from the hustle and bustle and hunker down for reflection and restoration.
❄️
Winter solstice, the longest night of the year (or the shortest day of the year, depending on your perspective), happened just yesterday. Nature is trying to tell us that we should retreat, reflect, and find peace. We've been trying to shift our state of mind, our goals, and our actions in the hopes of getting back into the groove and rediscovering and evolving ourselves. The December 23rd New Moon in Sagittarius provides us assurance and optimism that we may rise above the murky depths and blossom into greater dimensions and energies than we ever thought imaginable. When we act in accordance with Divine Truth, we can do anything.
❄️
With the new Moon in Sagittarius, we can expect to feel hopeful and even inspired, but in order to turn those feelings into reality, we must operate from integrity and honesty.
❄️
There is reason for optimism today, since four planets are located in Sagittarius. In the sign where we are trying to evolve and reach a higher level of consciousness, the Moon (representing the mind), Mercury (representing intelligence or a lack thereof), Venus (representing our happiness), and the Sun (representing our power) all conjoin. There will be many expressions of these planets' energies in the areas of your life ruled by this sign, and they will all be unique to you.
❄️
This holy and sacred season I'm sending you all my very best.

When there's a heated debate (within yourself or someone else) ... stop and pay attention to your part in it ... where is our own restistance and what are we trying to control?🤨😏
"When you surrender, the problem ceases to exist.
Try to solve it, or conquer it, and you only set up more resistance ….
If I truly become what I wish to be, the burden will fall away.
The most difficult thing to admit, and to realize with one’s whole being, is that you alone control nothing."
- Henry Miller

All Gifts.
A manner of perspective🧡🤗

And this ... always this ... Begin Again, Every Day.🥰

How's the vibe for the Holidays?🎅
Staying grounded?
Less stress?
Healthy choices includes mind, body and spirit. Yours.

Thoughts, people, events, finances, food, exercise ...
Choosing to find a place of being more grounded and balanced is a Gift to Self. ❤️‍🔥 (affectionatly called "self love".)
You deserve that Gift ... every single day.🎁
~Keep it simple.
~Deep breaths before responding.
~Healthy Boundries for You!~Discernment-is it worth it? What I really want/ need, right now?
~Kind & Intentional speech as often as possible.
~Give yourself a break, some credit, a pat on the back.
~Every day we can start again.

If you feel this darkness,
find love in the simplest little things...

~I once asked a bird,
"How do you fly in this gravity of darkness?"
And she replied, "Love lifts me."~
- Hafiz

What do you want to know?
What can you direct your attention to?
Are you Really willing?🫣
"The answers we are seeking are ever present.
We are never unconscious, we are never unaware, we are often inattentive. Nothing is hidden.
All we want to know is available in each moment. We become more attentive by being more willing."
- Cheri Huber

Lotus harvest, in the shape of an "S"!💓
No mud no growth.😉

Its been a beat...
I've been travelling alot, and saw this one ... and had to say "yes!" And share. Happy hump day.
Flow like a river.🏞
"I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding."
- John O'Donohue

Love is a great beautifier.
- Louisa May Alcott

I absolutely 🧡 this. Yeaassss❣️❣️❣️❣️
"The beauty of truth is that the moment you hear the truth something inside you responds, says yes. It’s not an agreement of the mind remember. It comes from the totality of your being. Every fiber of your being, every cell of your body nods in tremendous joy."
- Osho

Shalom!🕊🕊🕊
From Haifa Israel and Yoga is special no matter where we practice.
All the positive vibrations...
Shared.👍
We are all One❣️

Let your practice be a celebration of life.
- Seido lee deBarros

Gratitude as we awake.
Every single day, there is something to be Grateful for... the simplest things.
Why?
Because it sets the tone for our day.
It reminds us when we want to complain or go into victim mode that the gratitude brings us peace and calm. Even if just for that moment.
I am so Grateful for Friends that are family to me.💘
The appreciation of all my friends, near and far. The experiences that bonded us and the meaningful events that established our devotion as a "friends".
What are you Grateful for, in this very moment?🙏🏽🕊💓

Oh Ego, you've done it again...🤨
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."
- C. S. Lewis

Sharing from Soul Sankalpa - Daryl Rocco ... she does an amazing thorough read. Whatever your beliefs, the moon and sun are always dancing ... the symbols and metaphors can be seen in all belief systems.
Enjoy!
🌒🌓🌔🌗🌘🌑
~Happy New Moon in Libra.
This is also Diwali, the Festival of Lights as practiced as a Hindu tradition marking the celebration of light over darkness, good over evil.
The rites include lighting lights and lamps as a symbol of bringing the Sun into our lives and hearts.
Another includes placing Ganesh and Lakshmi at the top of an altar on top of rice or grains with a lotus flower drawn on top to usher in abundance and remove obstacles. Lakshmi is the goddess of abundance and Ganesh the remover of obstacles.
We can set our hearts to making a new start, even when it feels to be the darkest.
🪔
The Moon (our mind) is at its darkest point in the lunation cycle and the Sun (our soul) is in a debilitated placement in Libra . It is joined Mercury (our intelligence) and Mars (our strength). This cluster of planets may cause us to fight our feelings, react too quickly and maybe slightly indecisive – unsure of what we ‘want’ and we should step forward with care and kindness to all.
🪔
The reason the Sun is debilitated is because it is at its weakest placement in the zodiac when it is in Libra (air element).
The Sun is our Soul, or the Atman (the one without another) and in Libra it is challenged to bring forth its power and strength – Libra is where we often waiver when it comes to decisions or action.
Imagine your true Self moving through a placement where we have trouble determining ‘what next’ and how we respond.
Do you naturally double-down with prayer or a yoga practice or seize up with indecision?
🪔
Take the time to reflect on what light you can be in the world, what you can offer and make the conscious choice to move forward in love and in light and see how that impacts those around you.
🪔
Happy Diwali and much love and light.
🪔

We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.
- Rumi

Pumba - David Starfire Remix

This is for your Friday Vibe...🎵🎶
https://open.spotify.com/track/6V6f4sXmGV5GtJJUPUzKOw?si=_7pZ1eIyQ0GrDL9MH8uUEA&utm_source=copy-link

Pumba - David Starfire Remix Equanimous · Song · 2022

I am that I am.
(Dr. WAYNE DYER)
The "I am" meditation is both deeply profound and peaceful.
Its my go-to.
Take a listen for at least the first 5 minutes.
https://youtu.be/qk-imQOUOy4
I promise, it is easy and meaningful, even if you just let the music play while you work, cook, clean ... it's meant for everyone.
It's positively empowering and beautiful.
🕊Om Shanti🌺

In any new environment, we have the opportunity to observe and pay attention to everything around us.
DRINK IT ALL IN.

With active, empathic listening, its the pause in between listen and speaking, before responding or reacting.
That is our Yoga.
Moment BY MOMENT.

There was a day, not so long ago, that I doubted myself, and my body.
This doesnt happen for me very often.
So it felt over- whelming at times. To be vulnerable to what I cannot con trol in my body- recovery.
To surrender.
All Yoga ... inside and out. (I already know this, right?)
But my 💓always knows better.
Using the same intution and instinct that keeps me so healthy, I listen to my body in recovery.
Wait! Here's the lesson (again)...
Listen to your body, always!
In comfort and ease, and in discomfort or pain.
Always a beginner in each experience💞
Its happening, ever so slowly ... its happening!!!!!

I will have lived 55 years tomorrow.🌹
What I know in those 55 yrs, is this.
L.O.V.E.❤️‍🔥
Not trivial or flighty but deep and profound, in all ways: friendships, family and lovers.
I have not been perfect, none of us have, and that is the point. How else could I have learned real Love? And how else would I know that making space every day for this deep love for myself and others is the Way?
LEAD WITH HEART.
"We need only somehow to increase our capacity to love – because we do not live in what we think; we live in what we love."
- Eknath Easwaran

Sharon Salzberg - reposting because This! Yeaaas!!!!😘
Stay curious my friends!🥰

"Curiosity is the place where awe is born, and it starts with heightening our senses.
We may suspect life holds many mysteries, but only by paying attention can we access the grandeur and subtleties that make each person different and each encounter something fresh.
By using our senses and paying a different kind of attention to the world around us, we may see that people we took for granted are more complex than we think they are.
If we are able to open the mind to investigate, we may also discover some people are much simpler than the story we had constructed around them.
Curiosity brings us the unexpected.
It is the antidote to those times when we find ourselves in a rut, unable to take in anything new because we just can’t risk disrupting the dreary order of the day to day.
With that frame of mind, curiosity looks like it would take too much energy.
What, on top of everything else, you want me to question my reality? Honestly, I haven’t got the time for awe or wonder.

Instead of gripping tightly to a fixed idea of how things are and how they should be, we can train our mind to hold those notions lightly and begin each day ready to explore.
We do not need to face the world demanding that it prove us right. Instead, we can say to it: Surprise me. We can become excited by the possibility that if we keep our eyes open, we open our hearts to something new.
To have the kind of openness that cultivates awe does not mean we have to be credulous and sentimental, but the ironic stance—to act unimpressed because we fear looking foolish—has us experiencing our own lives at a distance.
If, instead, we open our hearts to real love, we allow ourselves to feel the wonder of life, which research says is vital to sustaining our connection to the world and to one another."
🦋OM🦋

Ah Forgive.
Great song by Trevor Hall ... and this...
so so true.
Love yourself enough to truly Forgive.🙏🏽🦋✨️
https://open.spotify.com/track/53Sbr1xlEgdzIr8t08eHIx?si=4hnpl3mJTA2lgx34nDjtEQ&utm_source=copy-link

Mindset.
Intention.
Perspective.
Choice.❤️‍🔥

Nothing outside you can ever give you what you're looking for.
- Byron Katie

Throughout our lifetime, we are all looking for some version of this ... in partners, in friends 'n family, and in careers.
I can't recommend this more highly for a Fall read.🧡
Some real nuggets!🔑📿🪄💎🪙

"Only in silence is sound possible.
Only in space can measurement be calculated.
The throbbing heartbeat of the universe is heard and felt loudly in stillness."
- Grace Kellawon