Lehigh Valley Yoga Studio- Home Away From Home
January 16, 2019|
Where To Go When Fear & Anxiety Strike Home?
When you go on a vacation or a trip, there’s that exciting feeling that comes up. For me at least, I feel there has been a call on my life-a desire,thirst- to leave where I am at and SEE THE WORLD. However, for some, it can cause feelings of fear and anxiety to arise.
That is life.
The past couple of months I have been struggling with my inner transformational journey in my yoga teacher training program. A LOT OF TEARS have been shed, along with anger, doubt, and feelings of insecurity. And although, I am not exactly SEEING what I want, I have learned a couple of things.
Life Is Just Like Traveling.
Feelings of Fear and Anxiety about going out of your comfort zone, somewhere you have no control of, plans thrown out the window, not knowing what to expect.
All of these feelings and thoughts come up when the unexpected come, like when
- You receive news that a loved one is sick
- Government shut down and your husband won’t be working
- Having to show up to the room and guide a class
What do you do? Where do you go?
Step 1: Pause. Stop. Breathe.
The most important thing to do is to stop exactly where you are at and collect yourself and take root
exactly where you are.
Why is self-care so important?
Because things, people may come and go in your life, but you will always be there.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Your children are watching you. Your friends and family are watching you.
All the precious moments shared with you in it- the Here and NOW- help them learn about their own self-worth and how feminine, vulnerable, and strong they can be.
This relationship with yourself includes both practical physical care as well as the deep vulnerable parts of yourself that you tend to “stuff”/hide from everyone, including yourself for fear you would appear “weak.”
It took me years to learn this. And truth be honest, I AM JUST learning about The Power of Femininity. The Power of Yin. The Power of Rest and allowing Myself to Receive.
For years, I thought it was a sign of “weakness” to let anyone know how I felt, my fears and thoughts, because I thought it would break me. But the truth was, bottling these emotions up broke me when they finally came out and manifested as unhealthy habits for What you resist, persists. I waged war with certain aspects of myself I wished would change. Or for “IT “ to Go away.
But Here’s the Truth: God made me this way. And no, that doesn’t give me an excuse to stop seeking to grow. Instead, it provides an understanding to who I am.
Step 2. Stop Running Away.
Face The Challenge. Better Yet,
Embrace It.
For the challenges that come up in Life are actually lessons meant to help you see how strong you really are.
In Chinese Medicine the Water Element (Jing-the essence of Life), where The Feminity of God , is where The Divine is seen.
THE ABILITY, to RECEIVE, TO BE A RECEIVER-TO TUNE into our FEMININITY, as a DEPENDENT is the HARDEST TRAINING we’ll ever have to undergo in this journey of Light and Love.
This is so hard because rather than acting out of an active force of physical and tangible “strength” we have to rest and sit with ourselves,
Those old fears and insecurities, that pain you are feeling will only find release from your body when you go with the flow and take a new trajectory.
By being mature enough to take advice from your neighbor in this case, Life’s Challenges, we can find out what we have been doing wrong. We can be saved from frustration and failure from having to repeat the same negative cycles over and over.
You can finally sigh a deep sigh of relief, and snuggle into the comforts of knowing that deep inside you, your Intuition, already knew oh so well the answer to the problems you were facing.
Step 3.
Create Your Space & Fill Your Cup.
The feminine is the part of you, RIGHT NOW, that can enable you to sit down rest, and receive, healing and trust and allow God to handle it.
To create a space where you could rest and take the best course of action by hosting The Spirit of Strength. Calm, Collected, and with a Power to be Reckoned with.
When I was away this month, I went back and visited Lehigh Valley Yoga Studio in Allentown, PA.
I first came to this studio back in September (2018) when I first started my yoga teacher training program. I had come to Pennsylvania on my way to Boston for the Wanderlust Festival. Here I met Jacqueline Porterfield when I attended my first A.m. Ashtanga Mysore studio.
Not knowing the full series, I just wanted to come and practice, because of my commitment to my new journey it is taught the best teacher is not a book but to practice and allow yourself to FEEL it.
Yes, I was nervous and a bit afraid to be somewhere I heard you were only allowed to be if you knew the practice. But she welcomed me and she guided me through it. After the class, she said she saw something in me. And for some reason that stuck. I think that is when my love for Ashtanga began.
Fast forward 4 months later, and I returned. Having become more familiar with the primary series, this time around I met Lisa Hersh on my first day back and she said I had a nice gentle practice. On the second day, I got to see Jacque and how her students, some of who have undergone her teacher training at her studio, were welcomed in with warmth, love, and true joy. Like they were family.
And that’s when I saw it.
This was
My Home Away From Home.
She opened this studio so that you could carve out some space to break free from the world. To ground yourself. To rest. To Clear your mind and breathe.
With 6 a.m. Mysore and Traditional Ashtanga times, and by taking care of herself (she recently underwent total left hip replacement on 12/10/2018!)
she definitely created a space where you could go to. Not to escape but to rest, digest, and come back even stronger, not just for yourself but for those around you as well!
Step 4: Release and Soar Free.
Embrace the trials and challenges My Friend. You can choose to go back, and try to “overcome” challenges to reconcile the past by being brute, rash, and headstrong and yielding the same results.
Or you can choose to grow by becoming a student, choosing a new route, and thus fulfill your full potential.
Will you choose to fight with Fire, Masculinity, Yang attributes or Flow With Cooling Waters and Extinguish it, Accepting it With Grace, Femininity, the power of Yin ?
Never run away again because when you blame others, running away from problems and challenges, you end up giving up your power just as the First Adam did.
And this therein lies, the difference between growth and constant disapproval.
Instead, just use your power of Femininity and find The Strength of Receiving to overcome the trials you are facing ❤
For it is only in the NOW that you can and WILL find True Freedom.
THIS is the essence of Receiving that helps to bring out all that you were created for.
So if you are not good at RECEIVING, the truth is you will never actualize the fullness of your endowment that is meant for you !
Wishing you Blessings, Health, and Happiness on This Beautiful Journey of Light and Love.
Your Traveling Yogi.
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