Yoga changed my life. Through it I was able to glimpse a bigger, greater version of myself (my soul) and empowered me to start living that higher version of myself.
Honestly, it took me a while to fully realize the power that lies in a regular yoga practice (I thought, if I am going to workout, I want to workout!). But once I allowed myself the space to be open to it’s true power, I got it.
I mean, for real. I got it. I drank the coolaid, made in the coolaid and served the coolaid to everyone I encounter.
Yoga is a beautiful union between all areas of what makes us who we are, our mind, body spirit. In this uniting we can create a connection between or thinking center (mind) that usually controls our actions and our being center (soul/spirit/essence) which is the center of our power and our magic. ( I talk more about this in my Yoga Means Union post from a few months ago. ) When these two areas are in alignment we get into our flow and it’s in this flow place that all things are possible. Magic
Since I have been practicing for the past few years, I have learned a few things that move my Practice from simply working out to an Empowering .
5 Keys to a more Empowering Yoga Practice
- Set an intention In every area of our lives we have the power to direct our thoughts and create our experience. And this can be especially powerful in Yoga. When we set an intention at the beginning of each practice, this allows our essence and mind to internalize and work in harmony to achieve this intention. There are many different intentions we can set, some of my most common ones are, peace, confidence, strength, owning my power, clarity, contentment. Joy. Focus on what you want and the path will be made clear. [bctt tweet=”Create the vision for what you want. Focus and the path will be made clear. ” username=”@sallytwellman”]
- Stop Comparing let your practice be yours alone, in that moment. There will always be someone more advance and someone less advanced than you. But also, stop compare yourself today to yourself yesterday, because every day is different and sometimes you will just not at the peak, your balance may be off or you just don’t feel as strong. That is just the way it goes, because that is the way life goes. So when you feel your ego taking over and you hear comparing thoughts floating in: “who look at her, she is so amazing” or “at least I am better than him”…calm those ego driven voices and send out love and ask for support and you will gain more than you give…always.
- Focus on your breath the breath is our direct link to our most powerful centered space and the divine interconnectedness between all of us all. That all sounds very metaphysical, but purely from a physiological perspective the act of breathing calms of sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system and allows us to turn on the parasympathetic nervous system, which gives us access to our higher level brain functions associated with love, compassion, reason, logic and joy. I like to think of this space as the center of our highest, best self. P.S. You can tap into this place anytime, so try to get there often.
- Quiet your Mind allow your practice to be a quiet, serene place, not a place to square away your to-do list or plan out that conversation you are going to have with your coworker. It is normal and natural for your mind to be active, especially when first starting to practice yoga. Everything about our lives is a habit or pattern that we have established, if you are used to your mind racing a mile a minute, then it will race and prepare until you train it to conduct business in a different way. So you can set an intention of have a calm mind at the beginning of your practice, then when thoughts float in, just gently push it away and reset. This is a practice, so you must practice it. You will get better
- Always take Savasana I used to treat Savasana (the quite laying at the end of the Yoga session) as a time to start preparing to reenter the world after my yoga workout. I would think about what I was going to do next, make for dinner, oh ya, I need to reply to that text…but I was missing the biggest blissful benefit of Yoga., the true purpose of Savasana. I heard one time that the movement in yoga is used as an opening of our body mind and soul and that moving into Savasana is the true Yoga, a union of these all parts of us in the best version of our self. Savasana is called corpse pose and in a sense it is “dying” of your old way of doing and being to leave room for a new way of doing and being. Savasana gives you the opportunity to be new and sparkly.
Sending you Love and Light my friends!
Namaste.
Sally
