Soul Yoga

Dear Precious Soul,

Taking time everyday to stop what I'm doing and spend conscious time with my breath has become a necessity for me. In fact I'm not sure where I would be on all levels with out my breathing time. I am saddened by the fact that this is not the norm in our culture, we are either chasing or running from something most of the time. And yet how vital is it to our wellbeing for our nervous system to rest and reset? Very fucking important! When we take a pause in our day to day for just for 15 minutes it gives our bodies, minds and hearts a moment to catch up with life, to actually process what is happening in and around us. It's called rest and reset. This is hugely hard for me at times. Although the idea of rest sounds nice and I actually long for it, more often than not numbing out seems easier. Distraction, avoidance, denial...all true and I say this with so much compassion towards myself. I didn't know there was a healthy way to be with the hard shit in life until I found yoga. As I look back now I realize that at a very young age fight, flight or freeze became my natural environment and continued to be an unconscious pattern for a long time. Sad to say that if you stay here long enough you eventually crash. Will you honestly look at this with me... how often do you pause in your day to notice how you're feeling? How is your breathing? I'm talking truly tuning in to yourself to feel and be present to what is happening in and around you right now? Our connection or lack of connection to ourselves which includes our breathing hugely affects the way we move and hold our bodies in daily life which directly effects our health and how we feel. How often are we "doing" to keep our minds occupied so we don't have to feel? It can be as simple as having the television on in the background while making a meal (seems pretty innocent right?), or looking at our electronic devices multiple times in an hour (HUGE), multi-tasking... like when you're on the phone while eating (I did this just yesterday). Humans these days are constantly engaged, we've grown accustomed to it, even addicted to it and most folks are not even aware when it's happening. In fact I wasn't aware until I sat down for the first time to meditate. Five minutes my teacher said, just sit and watch your breath for five minutes. What an eye opener that was. I couldn't believe how insanely busy my thinking mind was. Imagine New York City inside your head, thoughts fighting with other thoughts fighting with feelings that I don't want to feel and the confusion of it all... paralyzing at times. It's a lot to take in day in and day out. To this day fight, flight and freeze still feel strangely safe and even weirdly comfortable to me. Deep down I know that there is truly nothing safe or comfortable about living this way. Learning to surrender instead of fight, to stay put rather than take flight, and to open instead of freeze is real.  Suddenly the heart muscle is engaging and it can make you feel real vulnerable and even down right uncomfortable. Especially if you're used to using the mind muscle which is constantly analyzing, fixating and trying to figure it all out. Over thinking can be exhausting in my opinion and creates a tightening inside and out while allowing our breath to flow and deepen  creates a softening. This softening gives us access to our heart which can feel like a kind of internal yoga space where it is safe to feel, listen, acknowledge, allow, witness, remember, grieve, discover...experience all of it. True safety. Here you can get to know yourself, the you who you think you are or were told or conditioned to be, the you that identifies with your trauma, the shadow side of you, the joy side of you, it's all here just waiting to be invited in and heard. Breathe, soften and listen...your hearts innate nature is a compassionate and nurturing response to whatever is arising in this space. I won't lie and say this is easy. It can be really hard even excruciating at times and you want to run away and sometimes you do. But sometimes you stay and remember to call on your heart muscle and love comes flooding in to sit beside you and something beautiful begins to happen...healing. 
I learn and grown so much each time I step away from my own need for busy-ness. Each step is a step towards my own heart and it feels so good to come home. At times I feel like I am truly meeting myself for the first time. When we offer the gift of presence to our own heart we can't help but emerge a more compassionate and authentic human being. 

Join me once a month for Soul Yoga
Sunday ~ June 23rd ~ 6:00 - 8:00 pm

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Soul Yoga is intended to be a deeply restorative practice where your breath is center stage. Your breath is one of if not THE most powerful tool that you have access to. Crazy right?!! I mean its right there all the time! With breath as guide and teacher asana becomes more comfortable which can then lead you into an experience of deep relaxation and clarity. 
As this practice is very intuitive for me I will introduce the rattle and drumming when it feels right, both can help aid in gaining access to another softer layer of consciousness and quite possibly a journey into your Soul Garden.

If this resinates with you please join us. ​This practice is safe for all levels of practitioners that would like to explore breath, body, mind &
Heart.
Drop in for $40 ~ Pay early with cash or Venmo - $30 or online $33. Early cut off is June 22nd. 

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I hope to see you and your Soul soon!
In Light,
Misty

Poem by Ruth Powers

Instead of trying to fix
And fretting about
All that stuff outside of me, 
When I take a breath
And feel the sun
And just for this moment
Let it all be
then I see
That there is a space
In this place
I call my heart...
Whether it seems
Like things are coming together
Or falling apart...
I guess it's kind of all the same
And I don't need to find a name
To pin to this feeling..
But if I did,
It might be "healing".