Upcoming FREE Holy Yoga Class

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by in Yoga

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I just finished up my Holy Yoga Training by attending a week long retreat in Minnesota. It was a phenomenal experience ~ world class yoga, nature, simple food and surroundings, prayer, worship, meditation, community, connection. Words simply do not do it justice. I am changed.

On Thursday, May 24th

I will be offering an introductory FREE Holy Yoga Class

(or donation based if you wish to give to the church)

at Life Church in Lancaster, Ohio.

Holy Yoga Mission Statement: Holy Yoga is an experiential worship created to deepen people’s connection to Christ. Our sole purpose is to facilitate a Christ honoring experience that offers an opportunity to believers and non-believers alike to authentically connect to God through His Word, worship, and wellness.

Connect with me on Facebook and let me know of your interest. I will answer questions and provide additional information. Would love to share Holy Yoga with all who’d like to experience it!

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.”  Luke 10:27

Breathing Through Life

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Life, Prayer, Reflections, Yoga

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I’ve had some blog posts brewing for a while but as life would have it, LIFE ITSELF has gotten in the way of writing them. Work is crazy. My daugher’s sports schedule is out of control. I’m teaching more. There is too much on my plate. Whine. Waaaah. Oh poor poor me. Why can’t I do what I wanna do? (Thank you 5-year-old-me-voice-in-my-head-that-doesn’t-want-to-go-way.) No, seriously, thank you. You are the catalyst for change . . .

WAIT.  Whoa.  Stop.

We all (or most of us anyway) have a multitude of tasks that must be completed each and every day. Moms, you know what I’m talking about: work, kids, school, church, volunteering, lunches, taxi services, cleaning, cooking, laundry, homework, cuddling, spending quality time with those we love. Sometimes life does get in the way because there is so much to do. Yet, we somehow manage.

What do we push to the side, though? What do we put off for another day? And the big question I’ve been coming back to lately . . . is appropriately managing time enough? Aren’t I supposed to be happy, fulfilled, joyful and kind? I’m not sure I was any of those today. Why am I so responsible in taking care of work, family/home responsibilities and my to do list while I let “me time”, “we time” and the other activities I love slip by day after day?

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  ~ Phillippians 4:6-7, NLT

To me this says don’t get too caught up in the here and now. The here and now is transient. It is a blink of the eye in the scheme of things. God often wants more for us than the mundane life-stuff we get our brains all caught up in.

Easier said than done, right? Yet, we can go on overscheduling, overdoing, overindulging, and overstressing if we are not careful. God’s word and yoga are my remedies. Here are some other ideas to help you BREATHE and maybe even BREEZE through life if you’re feeling like me these days. Today, I am committing to living fully and incorporating some of these principles into my life more than I have lately.

Practice yoga regularly – daily if possible. Even 10 minutes on the mat can scale your temper and/or high-strungness (yes, I know that’s not a word) from a 10 to at least a 5 – maybe less. The good news is that the biggest battle is just getting there. Once on your mat, 10 minutes can easily turn into a half hour or an hour because it feels so great. Ahhhhh . . .

Take a walk or hike in nature. Nothing clears the head like some fresh air. Practice breathing and mindfulness while strolling about.

Laugh. Listen or watch a funny video or podcast. Tell jokes. Do anything besides that which causes you stress.

Play. Dance with your children. Play tag in the yard. Throw ball. Go to the park.

Back away from the computer. At the very least, disable your email for a while. (I did while writing this post.) In a world that demands we be multi-tasking mavens, this little trick is one of the best savers of sanity. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be a Simple Sane Senorita than a Multi-tasking Mad Woman.

Prepare a meal. Methodically, meditatively prepare a meal. Stop ordering pizza and cook the most delish food your family has ever tasted. Choose vibrant flavors and colors for the salad. Prepare a new dish you’ve never tried before. Get the family involved and make it “we time” while accomplishing a rewarding task.

Pray. Meditate. Turn your attention and cares all over to God. He will listen and He will bring you peace.

Create something. Getting out of work mode and into creative mode can turn everything upside down and inside out. Draw, paint, play music, write, sing, drum. It doesn’t matter your perceived skill level. Do it anyway. That’s the point. It’s okay to not be perfect at everything. Rock Star.

Breathe. Spend 5 minutes just breathing. Pay attention to the length of your inhales and the length of your exhales. Notice the cooling sensation of your in-breath and the heat created by your out-breath. Do it now. It’s important. There . . . don’t you feel better already?

With everything in life we have a choice. We can be stressed, mad, angry people who lash out at others because we simply have too much to do.

OR

We can choose love.

I choose love. How about you?

The Gift of Breath

20 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Breathing

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I remember my first yoga class in 1998. The teacher asked if I could come a few minutes early so she could teach me to breathe. Don’t I already know how to breathe, I thought to myself. But after attending that day, I realized that I indeed DID NOT know how to breathe. From that day forward I was hooked on the practice of yoga. The stretching was great. The sense of feeling strong and vibrant after each class was, and still is wonderful. The Sanskrit and philosophy is interesting and thought provoking. The relaxation that results in a well executed class is always scrumptious. But, the breathing, it’s inexplicable.

With continued yoga practice, one typically learns several types of breath ranging in style, length and type. Some are heating; others are cooling. Some amp you up and some slow you down. Most beginner yoga classes teach fairly simple pranayamas like three part breath and Ujjayi, for focus and control. Since taking that first yoga class, and continuing my studies over the years, I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve come back to my breath OFF the mat.

My breath helps me get to sleep at night.

My breath calms me down when I’m upset.

My breath centers and re-energizes me when working.

My breath brings me into the now.

My breath is one of the biggest blessings in my life.

I am completely annoyed when I’m sick and cannot breathe. I am off balance, un-centered and aggravated, in addition to not feeling well.

And yet, as much as I know how much I am blessed with the ability to take long, deep breaths, I know I also sometimes take that gift for granted.

I know that because I know someone who struggles to breathe ON A DAILY BASIS because she only has 30 to 40 percent of her lung’s capacity available to her.

Her name is Jessica and she is a beautiful 33 year old mother of two who was born with Cystic Fibrosis. This terrible disease, along with the medicine she’s taken over the course of her life have caused other health issues such as a gastro intestinal disorder, the most severe case of diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver. Yet, she never complains and has an amazing outlook on life. Her condition has worsened over the years and will continue to do so unless she gets a double lung transplant.

Jessica and her husband Chris (who I work with) have been making trips to the Cleveland Clinic over the past year for a number of assessments to determine the immediate need. One of the qualifications they must meet for the lung transplant is the ability to raise $60,000 for living and medical expenses during the 2 to 12 months they’ll be required to live in Cleveland during and after the transplant. They’ve formed a foundation called Hope for Jessica and have partnered with COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association) to accomplish this goal. A benefit is organized and scheduled for this Saturday at Woodward Avenue Brewers in Ferndale, Michigan. Several other events are scheduled to raise money for Jessica, including yoga classes, bowling, massage and more.

To date, they’ve raised almost $18,000, but they have a long way to go.

I write this post as an appeal to you. If you are a yogi, you know the value of breath. You know the blessing it continually gives to your life. Value and cherish it, and in an act of kindness, please help me help Jessica with the opportunity to have the same. A double lung transplant will give her the ability to do so many things she’s never been able to do in her lifetime.

If you’ve found this post, ANY AMOUNT you can give will get them one step closer to their goal. Please give today and share this post, along with the Hope for Jessica site and Facebook page with all of your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Spread the word. Dedicate your yoga practice to Jessica, sending love and good thoughts her way. Please pray for her and her family during this critical time of need.

All she’s already gone through, and will have to endure in the coming months are more than most of us could ever imagine.

Easily take your next full breath, retain it, let it out slowly and enjoy the immediate sensation and profound effect.

Help Jessica do the same.

There is no gift more precious than breath.

How I Got HERE . . .

06 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Reflections, Writing, Yoga

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. . . a post adapted from my original site, namaste*heather. Join me there for all of my yoga services – classes, writing and web work.

Life. Isn’t it amazing?

If you’ve followed namaste*heather for any length of time, you would know that I had some super trying times in 2010. Without going into great detail, the times were life changing. Luckily more positives than negatives prevailed.

One “birth” that occurred was my new found faith in God. I began attending church after a long absent stint, and started to grow in unfathomable ways. Instead of constantly returning to the turmoil and strife that I’d felt in the situation, I realized I didn’t need it. I realized that it wasn’t what God intended for me. I became happy, for no apparent reason – or so I thought. I realized I only need to surrender my life – instead of forcing it the way I’d done so many times before. After months of deep soul searching, more devastation when I thought the worst was over, and not knowing where to turn, my faith became even more sealed. Often times a death must occur before true birth can take place. God was doing that to me, little by little, day by day.

Truth is truth and anything less falls short for me now.

Yoga teaches us to ground, but on and in what? I wasn’t feeling very grounded with ONLY yoga and the yoga philosophy that soothed me in the past. I still turn to it. It still resonates and feels true when digested and integrated with the Word.

At the end of last year, I began to dive deeper not only in the church but in my own experience of the Word. I needed more. I needed to learn and understand what I had been missing for the majority of my life. I found a church home that finally fit (after attending many that were just wrong for me) and started to GET REAL about my faith, my writing and my journey. I finally narrowed down a book topic that excited me and began doing some research, only to find that so much was already written. I was – and still am so energized by it all. I am energized again the way I was when I first discovered yogic philosophy. So much has been written. There is so much to learn. One could never “arrive” and master an understanding of it all in a lifetime. I didn’t realize how true that was about God as well. I love that I will be learning and growing for the rest of my life. It enthralls me like nothing else.

In October of 2011, I enrolled in a Holy Yoga Teacher Training and for the first time in a long time felt at home – in my body, with my soul. I found what I’d been searching for, for so long. At the same time, I started a new website without making it public, and began to put the pieces together. You are now viewing the website of which I’m writing. My Holy Yoga Immersion will be ending next week and I’ll be attending a retreat in May, after which time I’ll be offering Holy Yoga classes. Visit the HY website (linked above) to learn more.

Most importantly, please continue to follow me on this journey, and “like” my Facebook page to stay up-to-date. Thank you for your love, encouragement and support. I am ever grateful!

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