Teresa4Yoga Insights

Mindfulness as an Essential Spiritual practice

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 12:21:30 GMT

I want to dive deep into an understanding of the practice of mindfulness and its power to change your mind, change your perception and how you response to the world. To be mindful is to develop Self-Awareness and essentially integrate and coordinate your personality as an effective vehicle for soul expression.

I will explore the psychology and science as well as the deeper esoteric insights behind this ancient spiritual practice, founded in Buddhism but now adopted by many westerns progressive minds, sometimes unappreciated and dismissed as simply a new age practice except by those who truly understand its power to raise your conscious awareness and connect you with that which is Universal.

It sounds simple, and evokes a profoundly beautiful experience of life but is not easy to cultivate. It requires discipline over an extended time to master. I aim to explain just what mindfulness is and what it is not, and how it goes hand in hand with the practice of meditation as essential to anyone who seeks to truly live and not simply study or know about a spiritual life.

Many find it challenging as it asks you to be prepared to take off the lens you wear that colours the way you see the world and reality and see it as it truly is.

You could swop the word mindfulness for Consciously aware, Greater Awareness, Soul connection, Connection to Universal Consciousness, Unity Consciousness, Soul perception, Higher Vibrational State, Truth perception, Intuitive living.

When you are mindful you step into a connection with the Eternal now ever present awareness and step out of your thinking lower mind as interpreter of reality. You become the silent witness, the observer and simply connect with the world through your senses and allow it to be as it is. This is living as a soul experiencing the material world. In present moment awareness there is no mind thought, commentary, analysis, opinion, judgement or any other thought process colouring your experience. You remove the lens that colours your perception and simply experience things as they are.

Through mindfulness we come to realise the illusion of time and understand the continuity of consciousness. Time is a construct of the lower mind and it is in these moments of timelessness that you can appreciate that the present moment is all you ever have. The past has gone, the future will never arrive, but here and now you have the opportunity to change. In fact it is the only time you can change. It is also the only moment you can truly experience what it is to be alive. All creativity, all happiness, all choice only resides in the present moment.

We often experience the wonder of mindfulness in moments of crisis or trauma when we act spontaneously, intuitively as the need arises with no thought or planning and these actions often reflect the highest human capacities and qualities. We all know incredible stories of true heroes who simply responded to the need of the moment.

We see this in the seemingly effortless incredibly beautiful almost slow motion action in sports people who have mastered mindfulness in performance and allow the performance to express through them.

You may have experienced moments of absolutely clear insight when intuitive understanding simply arises on the palette of your mind and paints a beautiful picture of complete realisation of some truth or presents the perfect solution to a problem or conflict. This can only occur if you are present and aware not caught up in your thinking mind.

In the West especially we have developed our lower analytical thinking mind through education and the accumulation of knowledge. This was a necessary part of our collective evolution. But increasingly there is the realisation that we have overdeveloped our mind in this way. Many of the mental ailments and anguish that are on the increase in especially the West are due to overthinking and an over reliance on the lower mind. We are too much in our head.

Spending time in nature is an excellent way to practice mindfulness. When we simply allow ourselves to 'Be' in nature, to open all our senses and breathe we experience ourselves as a Soul. We experience a profound connection to the universal whilst grounded in the material. This connection to the peace inherent in nature enables a connection to the peace inherent within us. This is why I have written an online course that teaches you to meditate through a connection with nature.

An outer love of the peace in nature inspires an inner love of meditation and connection to a deep source of wisdom, clarity, calm and strength within you.

To be mindful is to function as a Soul through your personality vehicle. You see the world, hear the world, connect with the world through your physical senses, and your etheric energy as one entity, there is no duality, conflict, analysis, commentary or any of the emotional astral lower mind stuff of the personality.

When mindful you spiritualise matter. You bring your soul to witness the dance of life.

A focus on your breath will always bring you into the present moment, as it coordinates and integrates all aspects of you into one whole. It connects you to your Higher Self. This is why in moments of profound connection we often experience our breath is taken away as we pause and feel this connection.

We experience this breath taking awareness when we connect with a sunset, a sunrise a poignant moment in the day when all mind activity is quiet and you simply are. You learn to 'Be'. To BE present. This is a connection in that moment with the truth of who you are, it is your Soul seeing the world, hearing the world, feeling the world and that is why in those moments we see incredible truth, beauty and goodness. The qualities of the Soul seeing the truth of the world with no duality. You and the world are one and you open to an awareness of all that is going on in the world.

You can experience Incredible insights into everything as mindfulness opens your intuition.

The Eternal now is to be connected. Love which is the energy vibration of our Universe is connection.

Fear and all its manifestations is simply an absence of love. Fear is based on disconnection.

It is disconnection from your Soul, from love, from God, from the Universe, from what is good, true and beautiful.

In a Course in Miracles we are taught that we can only ever be in a state of Love or a state of Fear. The two cannot co-exist. Fear is generated in the mind and doesn't actually exist, it is an illusion. We don't experience it as an illusion but it is one of the glamours that mankind has to transmute.

Love is not a sentimental feeling that involves attachment to that which is loved or loving.

It is more than the emotion our culture portrays it to be.

Love is a state of Being. It is only truly advanced spiritual practitioners that truly understand what love is. What it is to be filled with the Christ consciousness and this is to be connected completely, unconditionally, simply because you exist. You develop the capacity to love all others regardless of whether you know them or not, regardless of their personality, but to love their Soul, to love as a Soul.

When you are present in the moment for that brief time you experience love and a connection to the Universal and that which stands behind all of creation. By connecting to creation you connect to the creator, to God, to Brahman to the Universal field of Consciousness or whatever way you define the intelligence or energy that interweaves and connects all.

If you wish to watch a video of my complete talk on this subject, including How do we practice Mindfulness go to

https://youtu.be/PZNFtgsMOfI

https://youtu.be/L3mimFwNipw

Namaste

Teresa

Sounding Your Soul Note

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 12:24:34 GMT

Your Soul has a note, so crystal clear that its expression resounds through the cosmos creating vibrations of truth, beauty and goodness rippling out in great transforming waves to affect the expression of life itself.

When Soul notes combine we create the music of the heavens, God’s symphony with its power to create magic, heal and restore harmony, align with peace and the energy of love divine. Every note is needed in this universal song of transformation that lifts the vibration of all it touches into that of love.

Love is the vibration of our universe, of all universes and the dimensions within them. It is not a sentimental feeling, but a powerful energy of the highest vibration that pervades all of creation and ignites the buddhic nature within us into expression. Qualities like compassion, empathy, understanding, tolerance, kindness and forgiveness flow from this higher expression of the heart.

There develops a natural capacity to lift up out of the lower desire nature, to be open to the revelation of truth about any given situation and a capacity to see the soul in another no matter how base their words or behaviour. Insights and understanding flow and we develop and grow spiritually and return to love and connection experienced as unity with the Universal.

Harmlessness in thought, intention and action evolves quite naturally day by day, moment by moment as we learn to express our soul note. This process of increasing self-awareness and the change in response to the world is a direct consequence of the increase in consciousness or attunement with the vibration or note of the Christ consciousness within each of us. We come to realise that Life and its experiences offers us many opportunities for a continuous tuning process as we evolve to become clear open instruments for the expression of our Soul note.

The idea that the world was created by sound out of nothing or silence is central to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have the Gospel of John “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God and the Word was God”.

There is a Vedic saying “Nada Brahma” that translates as “All is Sound” or “Sound is God” In Vedic teachings pure consciousness is silent, and could not experience itself without creating contrast or friction. This friction was the Om that arose from the silence and this Om diversified into all of the different vibrations of sound creating the Universe as we experience it. This sounding of the Om is continuous and contains within it all of the vibrations of all of the sounds in the manifest world. When we attune with our Soul note we connect with the vibration that created the Universe, with the aspect of God within us.

Modern physics is increasingly supporting the Ancient wisdom teachings that everything in the Universe is energy simply vibrating at different frequencies.

Sound has a vibrational frequency range, light has a vibrational frequency range and we live in a sea of different energies and frequencies of vibration.

These affect us through our etheric energy body and our chakras that act as vortices or valves allowing subtle energy into our being in direct relation to our spiritual development. As we evolve spiritually we can tolerate and contact energies of increasingly higher vibrations and we learn to choose to connect with the Universal vibration of love. We recognise when we have lost this connection and allowed the lower vibration of fear and all its manifestations to infuse our being and make a mindful choice to return to love. This in turn lifts our vibrational energy, and tunes our note of expression.

As we grow and transmute the negative energies of the different aspects of our personality that require healing we clear the blockages and chakras open to vibrate with a clear pure note that is in perfect harmony with our soul note. Unresolved healing creates discord and disharmony and prevents this flow of subtle energy. We experience this process of growth in the vitality that infuses our physical body as chakra’s open and sing our celestial song. Many can see this change in the emanation of their beautiful colours or vibrations.

What we experience as physical matter is simply energy vibrating at a lower frequency of vibration. It appears dense and solid. To spiritualise matter is to bring Spiritual energies which have a higher vibration down into matter to raise its vibrational frequency. Our Higher Self or Soul infuses our lower Personality with its vibration or its Soul note.

At any given moment we are vibrating at a frequency that is the sum total of our external energy environment and our internal response to it. This note or frequency depends on how we are physically, emotionally, mentally and how in tune we are spiritually. To continue our example, Fear is an energy that is contagious and as mentioned is simply an absence of connection to the all-pervading energy of love. When a fear response is triggered by events in our life we have a choice to drop down into that lower frequency and let it determine our behaviour and our thoughts. We can become immersed in fear, experiencing the physical, emotional and mental symptoms of fear and we will react from a place of survival with little regard for others, as a selfish act to self-preserve. If however in that first moment of the fear response we chose to use our discriminative mind and lift above the emotion of fear and witness this fear as simply a disconnection we are lifting up into connection with our Higher Self and returning to a connection to love. This choice will open us to greater understanding and illumination about our response from our Higher Self and allows intuitive guidance and wisdom to determine our action. This action will be from a place of love and compassion and keep our energy vibration high and in tune with our Soul. This is how we sound our soul note in our moment by moment choices. We choose love over fear, understanding over Judgement, compassion over anger and condemnation.

Our vibration is reflected in our etheric body or energy field and can be sensed by most and seen by some. The extent to which our soul note can be expressed depends on the quality of the personality instrument, how integrated and coordinated the physical, etheric, emotional and mental aspects have become and how open and clear the communication channel is, the rainbow bridge or Antakarana between the soul and the personality.

Over many lifetimes there is a surrender of the individual notes of the various aspects of the personality to the one note of the soul pure and clear. Prior to full integration and coordination the various notes of the personality created discord and disharmony that prompted the needed healing and resolution. Eventually our soul note itself surrenders to blend into the symphony of the stars and we return to sing with the divine essence and resonate with pure bliss.

Life works through the principle of entrainment. This is the phenomena we witness when our vibrational frequency comes into tune or resonance with the vibrational frequencies in our environment. We witness this when a string plucked on one guitar in a room will cause the vibration of the same string in another guitar on the other side of the room, or when clocks in the same room come into a resonant rhythm of ticking together. We witness this in moments of mass unity whether these are expressions of united compassion for a major world disaster or when personalities of high moral character are swept into negative actions in a crowd they would never contemplate on their own. This explains the power play between people, when one forceful personality can control and manipulate another through the power of their energy and a mind strongly polarised on personal ambition. They create discord in the other, thus disempowering that individual. Or conversely when a personality attuned to their soul note can inspire and lift others into higher vibrations through the power of their words, and the energy we feel in their presence. We can falsely represent our words and actions but we cannot fake our energy vibration.

When we engage with Higher Spiritual teachings that resonate with truth these inspire us and lift our vibrational energy. Should we get caught up in the emotional dramas of the emotional desire nature this tends to lower our vibrational frequency. Yet through the action of the discriminative mind, we may see the drama playing out and choose instead to sound our soul note.

Every choice, every action affects our energy vibration. For example, time in nature attunes us to the healing energy frequency of our planet, the Schuman resonance that creates feelings of peace and evokes a theta brain wave or higher functioning, intuitive, calm and clear state of mind. This is another example of the principle of entrainment that is the understanding behind energy healing lifestyle choices and practices.*

When we sound our soul note we play our part in the divine plan to create a new world, to bring heaven to earth. We spiritualise matter in every moment of our day as the vibration of our note touches all sentient beings with which we have contact and connection. With each choice to sound our soul note we invoke the soul note of those we connect with and potentially lift their vibrational energy. The result of this soul note connection is the development of right relations and the restoration of truth, beauty and goodness. This is an act of service to all.

David Hawkins in his book “Power vs Force” mapped the various states of human consciousness after extensive research. The lowest vibration was Shame at 20, Guilt at 30, Apathy at 50, moving up to Fear at 100, Anger 150, Courage 200, Acceptance 350, Love 500, and Peace at 600 with the highest level of Enlightenment at 1000. He developed a mathematical algorithm that demonstrated that the majority of humanity vibrates at low levels, below 200 around the level of fear and anger, but when just 15% of the world lift up to resonate above a critical level with the higher vibrations of peace and love they have the collective power to counterbalance the negativity of the remaining 85% as the scale is logarithmic. Just one individual resonating at the level of love counterbalances 750 thousand people resonating at the lower levels. One individual resonating at level 700 counterbalances 70 million individuals below level 200. This model explains how one Avatar or enlightened individual can totally counterbalance the collective negativity of all of mankind and pave the way for major shifts in the evolution of consciousness.

So how do we hear and sound our soul note?

It is not easy to hear our soul note in the busyness of a mind attuned to the world of the senses. There is too much noise and distraction and no space to listen and truly hear. To connect with this vibration within us we are called to retreat from the world and into the quiet of our inner world, into the contemplative and into the deep peace of meditation. In meditation we come into resonance with our Soul’s vibration and allow it to permeate and align our whole being, attuning to its deep intuitive wisdom to guide our life along our soul path and what we need to heal, develop and do in this incarnation. As we step onto this path there arises a quality of deep fulfilment, a sense of rightness and our soul infuses our etheric body with energy and we feel inspired. Intuitively our path will unfold. Sometimes we are aware of what is asked of us and see the path clearly, other times the stepping stones only appear as and when we need to step onto them. But with each step we come into tune, allowing our soul note to burst forth and work its magic. The Universe rejoices as we join the symphony.

Namaste

*If you are interested in Energy healing please click on the following link to view the various videos on my playlist on Youtube, Esoteric Healing meets Western Science, https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrhwAVTHFgihaM8wpbPtNFQObTWa1rBf5

Our Own Unique Way of Making a Difference

Thu, 07 May 2020 13:17:19 GMT

Each of us has our own unique way of making a difference in the world and this is something that becomes increasingly clear as the intuitive communication channels to our Soul or Higher Self become open and clear.

Often it begins with feelings of frustration, perhaps restlessness and the realisation that we are seeking something that our everyday life is not fulfilling. We may ignore these feelings for a time but they are persistent. Life may start to present opportunities for change that eventually we cannot ignore. Our ego is challenged to relinquish its attachment to the known, the ways things have always been, the safe and the secure. We may experience challenges from ill health and low energy at this time as we navigate the choppy waters of change.

Once we start to wake up to the higher calling of our Soul there is an increase in our vitality and enthusiasm, we become an ardent seeker, exploring new philosophies, attending many workshops and reading widely from inspiring, mind opening texts. We seek like-minded souls as we search for our particular path. We start to get a flavour for the particular area of life that we are drawn to and often this precedes quite major shifts in the way we live our life and may spark a change in what we do for a living. We may experience despair and a complete lack of energy if we ignore these inner promptings. Life will certainly send us many challenges to build our patience, our persistence and our strength and courage. But the spark is there in our heart, in the joy and passion we start to feel for what really matters to us.

This joy and passion, inspiration and enthusiasm are the key that unlocks our own unique doorway to our path of spiritual service. Over time there comes an increasing certainty, not necessarily about exactly how we go about stepping into the full expression of who we are, but a strong desire to do so. This is a confusing time as we try to discriminate between the ego thoughts that run our mind and the higher impulses that call our heart to action. There can be many identity crises and those around us bear witness to the way we are tossed about in the waves of indecision. We may know what we want to do but lack confidence in how we go about this. We may struggle to let go the need to know exactly and be completely in control of the process. There can be a feeling of being all alone as we no longer fit into our old way of being but haven’t yet established our new way.

Surrender is required and a trust in the intuitive guidance of our soul and in life to support us and show us the next stepping stone. Our path may not be mapped out clearly but often we do not know what the next step entails until we take it. There are moments we look back and say, so that’s why I did that, it all makes sense now. We start to notice the serendipitous quality of every little coincidental happening in our life that is guiding and supporting our journey. We will come to know we are not alone.

Be assured after all the struggle eventually we relax into a deep sense of peace, knowing that we are here to let our light shine, lift our vibration so that we express the highest qualities within us each and every day and thus lifting all living beings we come in contact with. We may have found meditation or yoga or some other spiritual practice that enables us to drop down below the choppy waves of the surface mind and find the peace of the deeper waters of our being, our Truth. We begin to find our own unique way of serving and it brings us deep fulfillment and a renewed sense of being alive.

There is no sense of sacrifice or resentment or any ego attachment to who I am or where I am on my spiritual path compared to others. We may change the way we bring the higher spiritual energies down into the material world but we flow with these changes, trusting in our own inner compass. There is no longer any struggle as we don’t feel we have given anything up that mattered. We have an increasing desire to serve, to make a difference, to open up and let the awesome being that we are work our magic in the world.

As we start to explore, release and heal the aspects in our psyche that hold us back and block the natural flow of our subtle energy our soul is able to infuse us with immense vitality and resilience. We come to trust in the process of life and that we will be supported financially, emotionally and spiritually.

As we find our way there is an increasing sense of gratitude every morning when we rise and every night when we retire for another day of living and loving and making a difference in the way only we can. If we are still unsure we can cultivate this feeling of gratitude and it will open us up to knowing our way. We live in increasing contact with our Soul and feel supported, guided and nourished.

We learn every day how to open up and let our light shine, we are filled with a sense of good will and our light sparks the inner light in others and helps them to wake up to their own unique way of making a difference in the world. We become a catalyst for transformation.

So use the gift of time to sit quietly and go inward, focus on your breath and allow the limiting thoughts to fade into the background let this gentle focus on the breath take you deep into a place of stillness and connection with your Higher Self, then just be open and listen with your heart.

Sit or walk in the beauty of nature and let your soul speak. Focus on the beauty around you until you feel your heart opening, your vibration lifting, you feel lighter and the fears, worries and doubts dissolve allowing your mind to soar and open to the unlimited possibilities of just what is needed today to make your unique contribution to enhancing life on this planet.

Take time to Imagine and Envision how life could be, the changes we could make and the peace, harmony, love and compassion we could build a new world with. Then give thanks that this is coming.

Together we can do this.

Namaste Teresa

Why Do We Feel So Good After Doing Dru Yoga

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:53:31 GMT

When we practice Dru yoga we re-connect with our physical body. We learn to breathe as our body was designed to breathe, enabling us to relax, tune inward and come into the present moment; not caught up in the past or the future, but in the here and now, mindful and aware. This connects us with the stillness within we call the “Dru” point. This point is a connection with our Higher Self, our Soul, where we feel clear, strong, and peaceful. Stress melts away, we detach and are less affected by what is going on around us.

By learning to surrender and let go, our body naturally heals and comes back to balance. We observe and quieten the constant chatter of the ego in our mind. This opens the doorway for the intuitive wisdom of our Higher Self to bring us an awareness of just what we need in the present moment. We allow ourselves to come into the flow of life and relinquish the need to constantly control our life or have it fit some preconceived idea of how it should be.

As our experience of yoga grows our life indeed starts to flow, attracting just what we need. We learn to surrender to the joy and excitement of possibility, allowing life to unfold, instead of holding onto our fears that it might not go exactly as we planned. Challenges become opportunities for growth as we come to know that everything is exactly as it is meant to be and we are loved and supported in the process of change. We come to embrace rather than fear change. As our practice deepens this detached clarity becomes a constant state of mind, not just something we experience in moments of yoga or meditation.

In Dru yoga, we use simple movements to open the heart chakra connecting with the energy of the heart and allowing the emotional turmoil and feelings created by the conditioned thoughts of the ego to subside. We allow the positive qualities of the heart, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, courage and love to enter into our being. We become more open. This calms the emotions and allows the Higher Self to give us a much needed perspective on our more basic feelings and dramas in our lives. We start to see our thoughts and feelings for what they are and question the conditioned beliefs behind them. We begin the lifelong process of letting go of emotions, thoughts and beliefs that no longer serve us. We begin a journey to seek the truth about who we are.

Recently science has found that the human heart vibrates with an electromagnetic energy field that communicates with our whole body. This energy field affects the DNA in every cell. When we change the way we think and feel we change the vibration of this energy field, turning on and switching off different aspects of the DNA in every cell. Positive thoughts and emotions of love, forgiveness, courage, gratitude and compassion turn on the DNA that support and enhance our health, and our healing. This is how Joy and laughter have the power to heal. Dru Yoga opens the heart and is able to heal past trauma in this way so that we feel lighter and free.

Our heart taps into the universal field of consciousness, an unlimited energy field, with infinite possibilities far beyond what our thinking mind can comprehend. We tap into this field in meditation when we quieten the mind. Scientists now confirm that information from our environment is first received by our heart and then the heart communicates this to the brain, not the other way around. The heart is the communication center of our whole body system connecting us to all living things. It is where we can feel intuitive wisdom. Eventually we start to listen to our inner wisdom, to trust it and allow it to guide our everyday life. What feels right for us in any given moment becomes more important than what we think might be right. We become less concerned with what others think. Our self-awareness and self-confidence increase.

The Energy Block Release Sequences that are unique to Dru Yoga serve to gently release old emotional and physical traumas stored in our body, allowing energy to flow. As more subtle life force energy or ‘Prana’ flows through our body we experience better health, vitality and many health issues subside. Youthful vigour is reflected in the way we look, feel and move.

The many Tai-Chi like Sequences in Dru Yoga enhance this flow of Prana in the body by combining age old flowing movements with traditional yoga postures stimulating the nadii and meridian system of energy pathways in the body.

As the Sun Salutation ignites our inner fire, the Vitality Sequence restores our zest for life. The Self -Empowerment Sequence brings forth our inner warrior. The Earth sequence grounds us in connection with nature and what is really important. Through practicing these flowing movements and postures We simply feel good.

The practice of specific yoga Postures and Sequences grounds us. We connect with both our physical body and the earth energy that comes into our body through our feet and energises our chakra system. This subtle energy revitalises us on a physical, energetic, and emotional level. You will find you are naturally attracted to people who are grounded as they feel safe, genuine, “down to earth”, in touch with what is important. We intuitively trust them. When grounded we attract abundance in our life, trusting our needs will be met. We come into our personal power, present, and aware. This is why we feel good when we spend time walking in nature and superb when we do yoga barefoot on the ground.

By establishing a regular practice of Dru yoga we gain so much more than better physical strength, flexibility, posture, body awareness, relaxation and overall body health. We re-connect and gain insight into our Self. We learn the art of living mindfully in the present moment in peace and happiness. It gives us the tools to transform ourselves and our life. There is no greater gift.

Namaste Teresa

t eresa4yoga.co.uk

Closing our Heart to Avoid Emotional Pain

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 11:34:02 GMT

What does it Really mean to live Whole heartedly...

When we are emotionally hurt and in pain our natural response is to close down, close our heart center to protect ourselves so that we can grieve and heal. Short term, this may be what we need to do.

When we have experienced a myriad of emotional traumas we often adopt a pattern of opening our heart to certain people or in certain situations and closing our heart whenever we are not sure we can trust. But do we realise the price we pay to our health, our well being and our happiness in choosing to live from this paradigm of fear rather than risking the vulnerability of remaining open to all of life's beautiful emotional ups and downs and living an authentic inspiring loving life all the time.

We cannot selectively close our heart to simply avoid experiencing negative feelings such as hurt, anger, grief, rejection or any of the fear based emotions. When we close our heart we close it to all feeling , this is why we feel numb. We feel, safe and strong because we can't be hurt, but after a while life simply loses its colour, it becomes gray and mundane. There is no passion and no enthusiasm and no capacity for self love. We no longer experience joy, freedom, happiness, fulfillment, peace, contentment and all the positive emotions of being alive and human. Often an experience like seeing a sunset or falling in love or being overwhelmed by the kindness of another may temporarily open our heart again and this is the moment when we must decide do we have the courage to keep it open.

Our heart center is the key energy center in the body as it emitts an electromagnetic field every moment of every day that sends waves of communication to every cell in your body. Scientists have confirmed that when we are experiencing positive human emotions we associate with love and loving this energy has a positive effect on our health, our immune system, our vitality and on every cell in our body. Even switching off potentially negative dna and switching on health promoting positive dna expression. When we experience the negative emotional states we associate with fear the waves of communication from the heart center to every cell in the body is protective but defensive. Our body prepares for attack, and goes into survival stress mode and this is not conducive to thriving.

The decision to close the heart to be safe and not get hurt will eventually affect all aspects of our well being.

Physically we start to feel lethargic, loosing our vitality, our enthusiasm and our passion for the things and people that mattered to us. Life becomes mechanical and we feel stuck in a rut. We may experience chronic pain, inflammation or often auto-immune diseases. We don't look after and no longer take loving care of our body.

Emotionally we feel detached, alone, isolated and overwhelmed, often quick to anger and frustration. There may be a feeling of emptiness or that something is missing. We may self-sabotage with familiar coping strategies and addictions to fill this void, such as over caring for others, busyness, eating, shopping, drinking, drugs, or submerging ourselves in television, social media or gaming. It becomes increasingly hard to feel positive about anything and we retreat from others, into a place of isolation and despair. Or we project a falsely positive image out into the world that is exhausting to uphold.

Mentally we allow the fear and doubt thoughts to gain a hold over us, as our mind succombs to old familiar negative thought patterns. We find it hard to concentrate and focus. Our sleep and dreams may be disturbed. We may experience the symptoms of stress and anxiety and if this goes on for long enough, feel we are sinking into despair and depression.

Spiritually we feel disconnected, alone and often loose our connection to our intuitive inner wisdom or feel that life, spirit and our definition of god have abandoned us.

But closing the heart to avoid feeling those painful emotions was simply a survival mechanism there to protect us and keep us safe. Why would this be damaging to our health?

The role of emotions in the body is to emote or allow energy to flow through the heart center and this has a cleansing and healing effect. Emotions cause trouble or dis-ease in the body when they do not flow, but become stuck or blocked because we don't want to experience them, the pain, the shame, the guilt or see and be responsible for our part in the cause. So we project them out onto other people in anger believing this gets rid of them, or we just don't let ourselves feel them. Both of these strategies push these emotions deep into our psyche where we don't have to deal with them and this is when they cause blockages. These blocked patterns of energy can remain for years until they are triggered by a particular event or memory and you are once again given the opportunity to experience and release them.

If we only knew that all anger is a sign that something needs healing. But instead of seeing this as an opportunity for growth, we push them back down to where they came from as we don't know that the only way to be free of emotions is to deal with them, allow them expression. More about this.

Blocked emotions cause energy blocks in the subtle energy of the body. Subtle energy is not the energy derived metabolically from the food you eat but rather the chi or prana that naturally flows into your body through energy centres we call chakras, and flows along energy pathways we call meridians and nadii's. This energy is responsible for the vitality and health of your physical body. We could call it your life force energy. When it is high you are full of abundant good health, when low your health is compromised.

When this natural flow of energy is blocked by blocked unexpressed emotions it can eventually lead to physical symptoms if not released. Have you ever found yourself crying after a particularly deep massage or after a yoga class or energy healing session. Your mind may be taken back to an old memory or event that was painful in your life. This crying is a natural release of that old blocked pattern of emotion and energy. If you simply surrender to it and allow its expression you will realise that the relatively short term discomfort of releasing this pain was well worth the feeling of relief and the return of lightness and clarity that followed. Often great insight and understanding follows this release and we know we can move forward and not be defined by this emotional event any longer. This is true healing.

So what is the alternative to closing down when we have been hurt.

If we can allow our heart to stay open and just allow ourselves to truly feel all of the emotions of life this allows the heart center to work its magic. If you have the courage to be open and honest about how you are feeling and allow the emotion to flow you will find peace and resolution quicker than you imagine. Your heart is designed to feel and to heal and it has a tremendous capacity to allow the energy of any hurt emotions to be transmuted and returned to love, acceptance, compassion and forgiveness. This takes practice and you may need to put aside some time when something comes up to be by yourself, either out in nature or in a safe environment where you can allow your feelings to flow. Standing beside flowing water or on top of a hill or mountain is an excellent way to help this flow. Surrender to the feelings and go with them rather than spending enormous amounts of energy avoiding them or pushing them away. Some people find that journaling or writing down how they are feeling from a non-judgemental stream of consciousness point of view helps this flow. Talking to trusted others who listen to understand not advise can help. Listening to music or watching movies that evoke strong emotions, doing yoga that works on releasing emotional energy blocks or simply sitting in silent meditation all can help. It doesn't matter what you do so long as you allow yourself to feel and acknowledge those feelings.

Once you have released the emotions you will find that if you can spend some time in quiet contemplation, your mind joins your heart in healing. You come to see the situation differently, there is understanding and a change of perspective. Often there is a desire to forgive another or more importantly to forgive yourself and accept the situation as it is. You may want to make amends or re-connect with someone or some aspect of yourself that you lost in closing off to healing. See my blog on the benefits of Makarasana the crocodile yoga posture in helping emotional release and returning us to inner peace and harmony.

This process can take time and there is always a need to be lovingly kind to yourself as you heal.

But this natural process of growth and greater understanding and increased self-awareness is why we are here. Every time you heal and move forward you help others around you to heal and move forward without doing anything. They intuitively sense the process and change in you and it sparks the natural healing process in them. When your heart is open you naturally encourage heart opening in those around you. This is why we are attracted to and like being with open-hearted people. They feel safe.

To be open-hearted is to be vulnerable. But we don't realise that this vulnerability is our greatest strength, it is the essence of what it means to be human and prepared to connect even if you have been or might get hurt. Because love is connection and an absence of love or fear is to experience dis-connection with your Self, with others, with Spirit, with God, with life.

The human heart was designed for connection. Our heart was designed to love.

To open your heart as soon as you realise you have closed down is to show up in life as your authentic self and acknowledge that life has presented you with some challenges for your growth and understanding and face them head on with courage and kindness. The beauty of this is that you may think that others will take advantage of your open heartedness and hurt you more but in my experience just the opposite happens and you experience the amazing capacity of others to care about how you are and love and support you.

We have an intuitive sense of who we can trust and who we cannot when our heart is open. We listen to the feelings that say go this way and not that way, this feels good for me and that doesn't. We self love and self care and set strong healthy boundaries with others that enable us to be safe.

To choose to remain open is to stay in the flow of joy. To remain open with a heart full of compassion both for yourself and for others and in the flow of joy regardless of what is happening to you is to live a truly inspired life.

Namaste Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk

For Peace and Inner Calm Makarasana The Crocodile

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 11:07:45 GMT

If everyone regularly practiced Makarasana...The Crocodile the world would be a better place.

A master posture that has the capacity to bring us back to peace, harmony and inner calm on all levels of our being. I have seen profound changes in people who regularly practice this amazing posture. It is especially powerful for children, young people and anyone who struggles with expression of strong emotions and feelings.

All we need to do is surrender, breathing quietly and deeply into the belly and relax in the position shown above. Lying on your front with your forehead resting on your hands, shoulders relaxed, legs apart with heels turned inward and toes turned outward (you can have a cushion under your feet if this is not comfortable).

Of its numerous benefits probably the most important is Makarasana's ability to calm and allow release of built up emotional energy from the solar plexus area of the body, the Manipura chakra or energy centre.

When we experience pent up anger,upset or grievances, we are in shock or stressed this wonderful posture brings us back to a place of feeling peaceful again. If we need to cry it gently allows this healing release. When we spend time in Makarasana the fears, doubts, resentments and grievances that we hold onto come into perspective. We release the ego need to be right, we release the anger and our story of the injustice and allow healing to flow into our being. By lying with your hands in connection with your brow you allow the love wisdom of the heart chakra Anahata to connect with the intuitive understanding of the Arjna, third eye chakra and this enables you to detach emotionally from the drama and see the truth of a situation and your part in any hurt. This opens the doors to letting go of self-justification, judgement and criticism and opening to acceptance and eventually forgiveness allowing a change in your perspective. You see the whole drama very differently. The physical release of this negative energy is transfomative.

Forgiveness has the power to return us to a place of love. It is not something we bestow on another who has harmed us but rather a choice we make to see the soul in another and accept their human fallability. We do not condone their behaviour but rather we let go our attachment to the grievance and this brings us back to peace and allows healing to flow, restoring understanding, compassion and better relations again. Ultimately we come to realise that it is our self we need to forgive.....

Makarasana has so many benefits but here are some of the main ones:

Physically it relieves the pressure on spinal nerves and discs so is excellent for anyone with lower back problems, sciatica, or recovery from slipped discs and other spinal disorders.
It opens the Base chakra Mooladhara, grounding our energy and encouraging the flow of energy along the seven major chakras associated with the spine. Grounding keeps us in touch with nature and the earth and encourages the flow of abundance and energy in our life. We feel in touch with what is important.
It encourages the connection of the head and the heart, the intellect and the intuitive in decision making and develops thinking in the heart....
It opens the heart chakra so we return to compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, unconditional love and connection with others more readily.
It helps us to get to, or return to sleep.
It connects us with our quiet stillness within bestowing peace on the mind, and relaxing the body. We find a place inside of us where we are always calm, clear and strong.
It restores our subtle energy, encouraging the flow of prana or chi in the body that revitalises our physical body and infuses us with life force energy and the joy of living.
It balances the right and left sides of the body, bringing balance between the masculine, yang energy of “Doing” and expressing ourselves in the world with the feminine, yin energy of retreating to the inner silence for guidance, nourishment and to simply “Be”.
It helps us to connect to the intuitive wisdom within us that we come to trust to guide our life.
It brings us home to our true Self....a feeling of wholeness

If you do no other yoga, do this one...

If you regularly practice yoga finish your practice in Makarasana...

Enjoy the Magic of Makarasana and know that in practising this wonderful posture you will be a better person and the world a better place...

Namaste Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk

Makarasana is such an amazing posture, I have written and soon to publish an ebook titled The Magic of Makarasana, that explores the wonderful benefits of the Crocodile in depth

For more information

Understanding the Mind Breath Connection

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 19:59:01 GMT

Our mind and our breath are irrevocably linked. By simply understanding how the breath connects the mind and the body you can change both your mental and your physical state by consciously changing the way you breathe.

Notice how you breathe when you are stressed, fearful, angry, anxious or feeling overwhelmed.

There is a tightness in the top of your chest, your breath is shallow and rapid, causing your heart to race. During a panic attack when fearful thoughts overwhelm us this shallow rapid breathing is exacerbated leading to an interruption in the chemical balance in our bloodstream and we can feel completely out of control, weak, faint, often with numbness in our extremities. This can be terrifying.

So what can we do?

When you realise you are feeling overwhelmed by your thoughts, simply come into an awareness of your body by taking your focus to your breath.

Allow your shoulders to relax, as you start to slow your breathing down, gradually breathing a little deeper with each breath. Keep a gentle focus on the breath. and as you breathe allow your rib cage to relax and your upper back to start to open.

It is important not to force this process but rather allow the body to gradually relax and open. You can imagine you are creating a channel for the breath between your sternum (breast bone) and your spine.

With each breath you extend this channel down through the chest and gradually through the diaphragm muscle (solar plexis) area until it is comfortable to breathe into your belly and the area just below your belly. Place your hands gently on your stomach and as you breathe in fill your belly with air and your hands move away from the spine. Then gently pull your hands back toward the spine as you release the air. Your chest simply follows. Find a natural calm rhythm that is just right for your body. Breathing in this way you work with the diaphragm muscle and after just a few breathes you will notice your body and your mind calming down.

Continue breathing slowly and deeply into your belly and you will notice several things;

You come into the present moment, aware of the here and now rather than caught up in the thoughts of the past or worries about the future. Peace resides in the present moment.

You connect with a stillness within, an awareness of a quiet peaceful place inside you in which you are strong, calm and clear.

From this stillness you can step back from the thoughts that run in your mind and simply observe them. See them come into your mind and see them past through. Just quietly watching your thoughts. After a time You come to see that you are not your thoughts . You are that which watches them . As you practice this technique your thoughts start to loose their power over you and you realise you have a choice as to whether to give them attention or not. Thoughts may come into your mind but you have a choice which thoughts you hold in your mind. You can decide whether they serve you or not and whether they are indeed truthful or not.

Most of the thoughts that run in our mind are conditioned responses to the world that we have picked up along the way, as a child and young adult. Many we gathered from watching and interacting with the significant people in our lives before we could even talk. They are often ego driven and come from a defensive point of view, protecting our view of ourselves, and the world. As we come into the present moment through connecting with the breath and detaching from the thoughts that run habitually, we come into a stillness and a different experience in our mind, an expanded awareness and we sense our connection to more than just our separate self. The ego drama’s loses its power and we feel the utter joy of our whole being and our connection to more than our little self. We connect to all that is.

As you connect with this stillness within your thoughts will naturally calm down with increasing space between them. This space gives you the opportunity to listen to the voice of your soul or the higher aspects of yourself and the intuitive wisdom that is always there to guide you, give you the answer to the problem that caused the stress in the first place or help you see things from a new perspective. This is often a transforming moment.

This breathing technique opens space for the heart chakra inviting the heart qualities of compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, gratitude and unconditional love into your life.

Practice this focus on the breath when you are calm, and it will be there for you when life gets challenging. When I become aware I am feeling stressed I have a mental cue, “Teresa Breathe”, this reminds me to breathe slowly and deeply and connects me with the present moment.

The beauty of understanding the link between our mind and our breath is that we can learn to take responsibility for our state of mind and physical health moving from stressed to calm within a few breaths.

This breathing technique can be used as a natural way to move into meditation. Start by just sitting quietly breathing in this way for 5-10minutes and you will enjoy profound changes in your way of being in all aspects of your life.

It will also improve your self awareness, self confidence, and natural creativity as you breathe into the area of the body we call the Hara in yoga, this is your centre of empowerment that naturally encourages us to....

Be All That We Are and let our light shine

Namaste Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk

Eagle Yoga Posture Garudasana Uplifts your Mood and Can Shift Depression

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 19:18:36 GMT

Garudasana frees the energy of change in the heart

The Eagle is a powerful posture that has the potential to transform through its actions on releasing energy blockages especially around the solar plexus/diaphragm area of the physical body. This is associated with the Manipura Chakra in the subtle body. These energy blockages arise from unexpressed emotions especially anger and frustration and when we feel we cannot express our true Self. If allowed to accumulate these blocked energies will eventually depress the flow of both subtle and physical energy in the body resulting in Depression and an inability to ignite the will to make positive changes in our life.

The Eagle transforms by activating and shifting the energy up into the Heart Chakra, Anahata. This cultivates the quality of truthfulness with oneself and others. The power of the will energy is restored and transformation begins.

Physically the Eagle improves the shoulder, leg and hip and back flexibility, strength and mobility and restores good balance and co-ordination. There is improved circulation to the sexual organs and the kidneys.

Emotionally we feel lighter, happier, with more vitality and a bubbly feeling of well being. Mentally there is renewed purpose with a return of the ability to focus and concentrate the mind and the will. We are able to make the required changes in our life.

The Eagle in nature has a powerful ability with its single pointed vision to see its prey and focus all of its energies and physically capability on capturing that prey and achieving its goal. It flies with effortless grace executing wonderful aerial manoeuvres that leave us in awe of this magnificent creature.

Before you practice Garudasana ensure you are warmed up.

Begin by making the Eagles beak. Cross the left upper arm over the right and turn the palms clockwise to meet each other. If this is difficult you can simply place the back of the hands together or adopt a praying hands position.

If your balance is not good or you have hip or knee problems cross the right leg over the left and placing the foot on the floor, then bend forward at the waist to come down onto your perch focusing on a single non moving point on the floor with a slight contraction of the lower stomach muscles. If your balance and joints are good you can cross the right thigh over the left wrapping the right foot around the left calf muscle, ensuring the hips remain facing forwards, the knees are bent and the spine is as straight as possible and then come down onto your perch. See figure one into figure two above.

In the perch you concentrate all your energies into the solar plexus region. Once there has been a sense of stillness in the posture you can move into the flight phase where you untuck your right leg and unfold your arms and extend both laterally to the side to land. Ensure this is a positive move with a stamp of the right foot as it is this stamp that shifts the blocked energies to open the heart. See figure three above.

Repeat with the right arm crossed over the left forming a beak and the left leg crossed over or wrapped around the right. The posture can be held whilst lying on the floor or sitting on the end of a chair then gradually releasing, straightening and unfolding the body if the standing posture is too difficult.

The flight phase...landing with purpose

If you want more challenge in the perch stage you can untuck the top leg and slowly extend it backwards whilst extending the arms forwards while still holding the beak position and lower the head to a horizontal position. Ideally you want to form a straight line from the fingers to the toes allowing energy to flow. Then continue with the flight phase as before.

Practiced regularly the Eagle brings great clarity and insight a sense of joy and aligns us with our Higher Truth and Purpose. It is one of my favourite postures as when I teach it in class people become elated, light, free and full of joy and it transforms the whole class with only three or four repetitions. Pure magic.

Namaste

Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk

Dolphin Plank Strengthens More than Just Your Core

Sat, 08 Feb 2020 11:21:58 GMT

Yoga works on more than just the physical. Every posture as well as having benefits like increased strength and flexibility has Energetic, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual benefits……

That’s the beauty of yoga and why we don’t need to repeat postures many times or hold them for long to feel their benefits…

The Dolphin plank strengthens the core abdominal and back muscles that support your spine, but it also strengthens the muscles that hold your shoulder blades in their correct alignment on the ribs which frees your arms and shoulders to move as they were designed to. This helps to reduce the tension that builds in and around the top of your shoulders and neck.

You don’t need to hold the Dolphin plank for long to enjoy these physical benefits, start with just

5-10seconds and gradually increase this time each day. By the time you can hold it for 40-60 seconds you will notice quite a difference in your core strength…and there is the benefit of the increased tone of your abdominal, back and arm muscles. Adopt the position as seen in the photo above with your arms directly under your shoulders and your feet apart and hold, breathing gently. Take care that your upper back is flat and your bottom is down but your lower back is flat, so your body resembles a flat plank of wood. Watch that as you fatigue your body doesn't drop so that your shoulder blades stick out. It is better to hold it for a shorter period of time maintaining the integrity of the posture than to hold on for longer in a misaligned position.

To increase abdominal strength doing sit-ups and crunchies you need to have reasonably strong abdominal muscles in the first place and people often do these incorrectly using hip flexor muscles instead and compromising and potentially harming their lower back. Often in an attempt to get up in the sit-up people pull on their neck with potential for injury. The dolphin plank is a very effective way to tone and strengthen the abdominal muscles without the potential for aggravating or creating back or neck problems. If you are not strong enough to hold the plank position immediately you can always start with your knees on the floor and work up to the full plank.

The true magic of this posture is the effect it has on us emotionally, as it strengthens your core physically it strengthens you from the inside so that you feel an increased sense of empowerment, greater self-confidence with a return of a healthy self-esteem. It works to align us with our true self so that the ego generated self-doubt has less of a hold. Mentally it improves discipline and a sense of control over our lives. While holding the plank allow your mind to quieten and focus on your breath and you will find you can connect with an inner stillness where the thoughts that run in your mind quieten down and you will find a beautiful peace in the posture.

Energetically it aligns all the major chakras and allows for better energy flow between them thus enhancing your overall vitality.

Spiritually it aligns us with the Truth of who we are…Strong, Calm and Clear…

Namaste Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk

Understanding Self-Empowerment

Sat, 08 Feb 2020 11:08:38 GMT

When we feel energised, inspired and positive we are standing in our own personal power. This energy is a result of the strong connection to our truth, our inner Self, understanding who we are and what we need. We learn how to peacefully assert ourselves giving clear boundaries on what is acceptable to us and what is not. As our confidence and feelings of self-worth grow we learn to discriminate between situations and people that support our light shining and those that dim our light. We learn to step into our power, our creative energy flows and we start to live a truly inspiring life, making a difference in the unique way only we can. This can be a lifetime’s work.

We give away our power and energy for many different reasons.

Often we are involved in control dramas with another person where there is a battle for energy or we are compromising what is truly right for us to please another or we feel trapped in a situation with no choice. Relationships are always our best teachers.

Whenever we relinquish our own personal power we deny this connection with our true Self and we lose our energy and vitality. We feel confused, scattered and unsure of our self and our decisions. Fear and doubt creep in. There is a nagging feeling that something isn’t right even if we don’t understand or can put into words what it is. People who consciously or unconsciously drain our power and energy are not always intimidating or interrogating bullies, sometimes they come from a passive aggressive position of manipulation or appear aloof to gain our attention or assume a position of poor me so you want to help or rescue them.

The wonderful thing about coming to recognise when you are giving away your power and energy is that in that moment you begin the journey toward changing this pattern. Becoming aware of it is transformational. The next step is to develop the tools you have available to address this issue.

Counselling, journaling, and anything that encourages intuitive soul searching can give you much insight into understanding what is going on.

Yoga and meditation can restore your power and energy and give you the confidence and belief in yourself to enact change. Recognising the link between the breath and your thoughts for example can calm your mind and help you to see and detach from the thoughts and beliefs that don’t serve you well.

Many yoga postures and sequences restore your power and energy and help you to release the built up anger, resentment, guilt and shame that block the flow of your vitality. Meditation will maintain the strong link to your inner Self and all the intuitive guidance needed to continue to develop and grow and let your light shine forth as you go out into the world. You come to know that stepping into your power empowers others and fills you with a profound sense of joy, love and connection…..

Namaste Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk

How the Discipline of Yoga and Meditation Add Magic to Your Life

Sat, 08 Feb 2020 11:02:51 GMT

We often associate discipline with something that is very rigid, unbending, strict to a point that is restricting to the flow of creative more spontaneous energy. But what if the discipline required when regularly practicing yoga or meditation had the opposite effect and it enabled you to step back from, witness and therefore transcend the known, conditioned, rigidly patterned and repetitive thoughts and behaviours in your life and step into a world of unlimited potentials deep in the very midst of the unknown....that magical place where anything is possible.

Through the discipline of a regular practice of yoga and meditation we are able to connect with a place deep inside of us that is still, peaceful, calm, clear, wise and joyful. For a few moments each day or each week in our regular class we step out of the world of timetables, commitments, predictable responses and conditioned behaviours and let this carefully crafted version of who we think we are drop away even if only for a few moments, until all that is left is the truth and essence of who we are. This essence is so peaceful, and feels so right, its like coming home. By connecting with this truth of who we are even fleetingly we come to know that most of the time we are not this. But the beauty and magic of this moment of awareness is that this sparks a keen desire, a thirst, an aspiration to be who we are more of the time. We become more spontaneous, more intuitive. We reconnect with the joy within us that we lost in the heaviness of the world of commitments. This fuels the desire for change and we embark on the journey of letting go what we are not to connect with that which we are. This happens naturally whether we are aware of the process or not.

This will bring change into your life, sometimes challenging, messy but transformational change. It will ask you to step back from your fears and see them for what they are, simply messages from the past that don’t need to define the future and you can decide they are not going to stop you doing what you love, you dream of and feel great passion for. Life becomes less certain, but it becomes exciting and full of possibility. You step into your power, as the creative life force energy of the cosmos flows through your energy body and you feel vital, alive and open. You align your highest intentions from your heart with firm resolve from your mind and the magic happens. You feel inspired....in-spirit.....in touch with your soul.

Yoga will help to release the rigid patterns of energy in your body that are created by rigid patterns of thought in your mind. This is a gentle transformation working through the body to heal the mind.

Meditation enables you to step back from the usual thoughts that run in your mind enabling you with time to realise you are not your thoughts, because if you are, who is watching them? You begin to take back the control of your mind and heal your body.

The two work hand in hand in synergy to break the old patterns and you find the strength and courage to step into a future that is less predictable, full of possibility and that is when you attract the wonderful creative force of the cosmos and the magic starts to happen.

So do you want the same life you had yesterday, to define today and tomorrow? or will you choose to find the discipline of a class once a week, meditation every day for the chance to live a life of wonder everyday....

Namaste Teresa

teresa4yoga.co.uk