Inspiration for Troubling Times

Inspiration for Troubling Times

by | Jun 3, 2022 | Practice, Summer

These troubling times continue on. 

So many of us feel the heartache, anger, despair, and overwhelm. We go through our days not quite knowing how to feel or what to do. 

My daily practice helps me stay strong and steady. And, I often look to inspirational readings.

Here is one that helps keep things in perspective for me:

“Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height.
Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches.
Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth.
Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously.
The bigger the tree, the bigger will be its roots.
In fact, it is always in proportion. That’s its balance.”  

-Osho

One thing I know to be true.

We need our practices more than ever to help us stay grounded and balanced.

Movement, breath work, mindfulness, and meditation are some of the keys to help maintain inner stability.

Training ourselves daily with our sadhana, or practice, helps us  develop a stable emotional body and a calm mind which in turns bring about peace and happiness.

When we uplift ourselves then we also deepen our roots and we can shine our light and help uplift and root all those around us as well.

This takes work.  Freedom takes work. Doing our own inner work is what is needed more than ever now.

The saying goes:  Peace begins with us.

I encourage you to reflect upon the following questions and write down insights, thoughts, or anything all all that comes to mind. This practice will help clarify and guide you on your path.

Some Questions to Ponder:

  • What are the areas within us that needs healing?
  • What are our triggers that bring on shame, anger, resentment, blame, and pain?
  • What can we do to help uplift ourselves so we can uplift all those around us?

We are encouraged to let ourselves feel what is going on.

We are encouraged to take the time to self-reflect and self-correct.

 

  • What are our thoughts, how are we behaving?
  • How are we living day in and day out? 
  • What are we surrounding ourselves with? What are we eating?
  • Are our daily habits supporting our mental and emotional health?

“Stop a minute.  Relax your shoulders, shake your head and spine like a dog shaking off cold water.

Tell that imperious voice in your head to be still.”

-Barbara Kingsolver

Why Celebrate a Lunar Eclipse?

Why Celebrate a Lunar Eclipse?

by | May 14, 2022 | Seasonal Events, Women

Right now, you may be experiencing a different energy and strong emotions. It isn’t just you. We are coming up on a rare lunar eclipse this Sunday night/Monday morning. It is a Blood Moon and Supermoon, and “the first of two of most ‘balanced’ lunar eclipses for four centuries.”

The energy of this eclipse event will be felt for two days before and for two days after. It is a potent, yet perfect, time to release negativity and past emotions. We have a unique opportunity right now to create significant change in our lives and move forward in our spiritual journeys.

 

So let’s celebrate this moment!

In honor of the lunar eclipse, please join me on Monday, May 16 for a FREE Breath Practice and Meditation from the Kundalini Yoga tradition. We will set the stage with the space and time for you to release stress and tune in to your feelings and intuition.

Lunar eclipses are feminine in nature and affect women more at this time. During this time, the emotional body can dominate our sense of self.

With a “rare and balanced” lunar eclipse, then, it is especially important for us to nurture calm and clarity for our inner selves.

In preparation for a mindful practice:

  • Distance yourself from distractions.
  • Have a quiet space.
  • Light a candle.
  • Have a journal or notebook handy.
  • Bring a shawl.
  • Make your self comfortable and allow for inspiration and insight to shine.

You may even be surprised at the wisdom that seems to “come out of the blue” during a lunar eclipse!

If you are looking to remain steady and calm during this emotional time, please make use of the recorded breath and meditation practice. Click the button below to access the recording!

Join me for a FREE Lunar Eclipse Practice

Monday, May 16th
Recorded LIVE 

Together, we will harness the energy of this divine and celestial event!

Let’s Go Foraging

Let’s Go Foraging

by | May 10, 2022 | Spring, Vibrant Living, Women

There is a term in Ayurveda,  “Ritu Charya” which means attuning to seasonal rhythms with our diets and lifestyles.

We help rebalance ourselves when we shift our routines to be in alignment with the seasonal changes.  Think spring!  Movement, growth, new beginnings…..

Winter is a more sedentary time for most of us.  For anyone who has put on a few extra pounds, this is the perfect season to take the weight off.

In Spring, we can reset our biology, align ourselves, and discard old patterns so we can start fresh.  How do we nurture and guide this new growth we envision?

Start Here with 3 Tips to Help Burn Fat

  1. Intermittent fasting – no snacking between meals and waiting 12 – 16 hours of no eating between the evening meal and breakfast.  This packs a punch and doesn’t feel at all like what we might associate with the cravings and hunger and fasting.
  2. Eat spicier foods — spicier foods help to stoke the digestive fire, “agni” in Ayurveda terms, which raises our metabolism and keeps us burning fats throughout the day.

3. Move more and eat less — this combination tones us, helps us burn and cleanse ourselves of unwanted fats, and starts to break those craving habits and replace them with healthier ones of our choosing.

For cleansing, think bitters.
If you live in an area where dandelion and burdock grow, you are lucky! These plants are a  couple of my favorite spring time herbs which grow here in the northeast.

DANDELIONS are a great food and a gentle tonic for the liver. 

If you have dandelions growing in your yard, head out with a little gardening tool and dig them up at the roots: in both spring and fall. The leaves are a diuretic, and help move excess water from the body. You can steam or saute the leaves, put them in soups or salads, or just eat them warm.  

The flowers can be used in baking.  You can make dandelion tempura with a milk, flour, and egg batter.
The roots can be cut up and made into a tea or decoction (which means simmering them for a stronger tea).

BURDOCK is a nourishing liver and kidney food and helps promote digestion. 

You can cut up the roots, and put them in soups and make a tea or decoction, same as dandelion. Just know that when you are digging the root, it is a long (long) tap root (as you can see in the picture). Be patient!

Burdock is also a great skin tonic.  When I was 19, my sister and I used to place steamed burdock leaves on our faces and lie down on the couch to help heal our pimples.  It worked!

If you are not able or want to forage, you can find these products in the produce department of a grocery store or coop.  Organic is what you would want.  You can also purchase teas that provide benefits from these herbs.

CLEANSE

Here are 3 of my top tips to help cleanse the body:

  1. Sip hot water throughout the day 
  2. Liquid diet:  soups, smoothies, juices
  3. Exercise

We want to stoke the digestive fire:  “Angi” which is a key component for health, longevity and vitality.


Here is a simple recipe to help stoke your fire.  It’s especially good if you feel like your food is just sitting in your belly

Ginger Relish:

½ tsp grated ginger
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp. lime
Drizzle of honey

 

We also want to check in with ourselves on a deeper level. Ask: What thoughts have been churning around inside our heads? Consider: What have we been holding onto that’s not useful?

If you haven’t yet downloaded my free ebook: The Radiant Woman:  An Ayurvedic Approach to Beauty From the Inside Out, please do! You will learn how to look and feel your very best using India’s ancient sacred sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda.  These proven teachings show us how to develop our inner strength and beauty as the root of our outer beauty and radiance.

You will be amazed at the simplicity of the teachings.

Blessings to you all!

Deb

Rising above the chaos

Rising above the chaos

by | Mar 4, 2021 | Practice, Vibrant Living, Yoga

We have just experienced a powerful full moon with strong energies contributing to lots going on.

It can be a challenge to stay grounded while all these changes are taking place.

We are all being tested in different ways.

The question is, how can we bring a settledness to ourselves when life’s events feel chaotic.

How can we rise above the confusion, worry, anger, and divisiveness?

For me, one of my mainstays is my Yoga practice. 
My practice helps me stay steady even in the midst of all the chaos.
My struggles have much less drama, intensity, and duration.

I can often maintain a broader view, see things for what they are, and smile to my troubles.

Yoga means wholeness:  oneness with all things: coming into an integrated state of being.

A yoga practice helps us to experience the feeling of being connected to each other and to all that is.

It helps to open our heart space and expand our awareness so we can see things more clearly.

Awareness is essential to awakening:  awakening to the truth of who we really are and to what matters the most in life.

A well rounded, integrated yoga practice helps us experience a more settled feeling in our minds, bodies, and emotions.

We feel healthier, happier, more vibrant and hopeful.

Consistency is key. We need to practice daily so that the vitality we are creating is stronger than the stressors of life.

Without consistency, our new elevated state will not be stabilized in our being and then we will slide back into the old grooves and lose our grounding.

Having a sangha – a spiritual community is important to help us stay consistent and connected. 

In some ways, this past year has made it easier for folks to connect and partake of yogic offerings online.

For this, I am grateful.

Here are a few suggestions for today to help you remain settled and uplifted:

-Let the breath be long, slow, and deep.  As is the breath, so is the mind.  When the breath slows down, the mind will follow.

-Tune inside – Take a pause, take a breath, come into this moment, and place awareness on our heart space.  Feel the relief.

-Accept everything:  resist nothing.  What we resist, persists.  Allow all things to be as they are.  Trust that all will be alright.

-Find something you are grateful for. Gratitude, like love, peace, compassion and faith are high vibration words that provoke a positive feeling in the body.

For online classes please visit the website https://ayurvedayogacenter.com/online-yoga/

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Yoga in These Times

Yoga in These Times

by | Mar 15, 2020 | Coaching, Vibrant Living, Women, Yoga

With the health situation as it is, I wanted to acknowledge we are in some rough waters.  It is hard not to feel overwhelmed, somewhat fearful, and confused as to what to do and not do.
 
The “Corona Virus in Maine” was the topic on Maine Calling last week on Maine Public Radio. Very good program.  It’s worth listening to. This we know:  grounding, shoring up, calming, and immune building measures are called for now. There are many disciplines that help.

As a yoga studio owner, I have sought council, am following the guidelines, and have taken measures to help keep us all safe. Here’s the scoop:

  • Classes will continue here in Liberty unless or until it makes sense not to.  I will certainly keep you posted.
  • I have hand sanitizer waiting once you enter.
  • We are encouraged to practice social distancing: no hugging, no shaking hands.
  • I am asking that folks bring their own yoga mats and blankets.
  • I also have sanitizing wipes for chairs and other surfaces that will be cleaned regularly.
  • And please do not come if you have a cough, cold, sneezing, or are feeling ill in any way.

 
The practices I am focusing on now help to strengthen and balance our systems so that we can withstand whatever comes our way. Also, reducing stress and anxiety, supporting immune health, and more is what is covered these days. All through the lens of Yoga and Ayurveda.
 

 

This past winter I have been working on getting set up for more online offerings.  There will be more posted on my website very soon. Now may be a good time to consider a personalized yoga practice online or by phone. The practice can be designed for you- uniquely you and what you need and want. For example, if anxiety is on the rise there are certain breathing practices, yogic exercises, and chants that can be very helpful. A daily sadhanda, or spiritual practice, is essential. It is what helps anchor and fortify us.  I can help you design one especially for you. E-mail me: ayuyoga@fairpoint.net or call 207 589-4254 to find out more and to schedule a session.
 

Other Online or phone offerings:

Online/ phone  coaching program to help you make deep lasting changes that can be very transformative.

An Ayurvedic Consultation is also very potent to help you identify your unique constitutional make-up and needs.  This includes a customized diet and lifestyle plan which follows the ancient way:  no one size fits all.

No matter what, we need each other.  It is a known fact that being connected is essential to our health and wellbeing. There are many ways we can remain connected.  If I don’t see you, I will remain in touch through e-mails and, finally!, I will be sending out a regular monthly newsletter.

Some tips for us all:

  • Stay hydrated!!  When the winds in our minds are blowing, we dry out–which contributes to anxiety and fear.
  • Warm, moist cooked foods are grounding and nourishing.
  • Soups and stews.
  • Warm liquids
  • Teas such as chamomile, holy basil, and licorice are comforting.
  • Even plain water with a little lemon can soothe.
  • A paste made from equal parts raw, unfiltered honey and turmeric are helpful to strengthen immunity.
    • Take 1 tsp. of the paste  every couple of hours.
  • Lemon, ginger, turmeric, and  honey tea as well.
  • Oil your body with warm sesame or almond oil – daily.  It’s amazing how quickly that can help ground us. In fact, Ayurveda says it is one of the quickest ways to calm down the nervous system.

 

A simple breathing practice to reduce stress:

Breathe in for 5 counts, hold the breath in for 6 counts, and exhale for 7 counts.
Repeat and practice for 1 – 3 minutes.  It’s worth trying.  It works!

Weekly Classes:

  • Tuesday, Vibrant Living – a Gentle/chair yoga class 9-10:15am
  • Wednesday, All Levels Yoga – 8:30-10am.
  • Thursday, Kundalini Yoga for Anyone  6-7:15pm

Yoga and Ayurveda for Spring – Kapha Season coming April 6-10. 3 spots left

In closing, I send strength and healing thoughts to all,

Deb