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THE SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS OF A REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE

THE SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS OF A REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE

Increased flexibility – increased muscle strength and tone – improved respiration, energy & vitality – maintaining balanced metabolism – weight reduction – increased cardio and circulatory health – relaxation – calming the nervous system – reduce anxiety, depression & stress – protection from injury – better sleep – improve posture – prevents cartilage & joint break down – protects the spine – increases bone health – drains lymph and boosts immunity – regulates adrenal glands – increased focus and clarity of mind – improves balance – releases tension – supports healthy digestion – Increases self esteem – gives inner strength – helps in recovery from injury, addiction and trauma – increased awareness and intuition – supports connective tissue – happiness and many more.

Start your regular practice at heartspace yoga in Hastings to improve your health & well being and even better prevent illness and dis-ease in the first place.

Book your free trial session – I would love to see you soon.

More info on heartspace.nz
https://www.facebook.com/heartspacenz/
https://www.instagram.com/heartspace.yoga.lifestyle/

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Tibetan Soundbowls

SOOOO EXCITED

This just happened. I just bought a whole set of 12 beautiful hand made genuine Tibetan Sound bowls to learn playing and implement into my yoga sessions – guided by my beautiful friend & angel Chrystal Nathal who fluttered into my life so unexpectedly.

I love, love, love the sound Tibetan Soundbowls and so excited about the learning, growing and sharing this healing facility soon, once I am brave enough to use them in public.

My heart is thumping, jumping and expanding. Thank you so much Chrystal for your inspiration, for sharing your beautiful gift, your gentle nature and your generosity in helping others.

Maybe they will be here next week, just in time for my first anniversary at Heartspace Yoga on the 20th February….

Excited and scared at the same time – as usual when I take big leaps of faith and trust.

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Meditation Concentration Tips

Meditation is one of the best and easiest practices you can implement in to your life to bring more balance and clarity. It doesn’t cost any money, you don’t need special equipment and you can do it anywhere.

From “A woman’s book of Meditation” by Hari Kaur Khalsa

If your mind is tired, you may feel physically tired, and vice versa. When you feel tired, think thoughts that will uplift and inspire you. For example: “If I keep up with this, I will feel the benefits of meditation and be more focused in my life.” Then return your focus to the particular meditation technique you are practicing.

If your mind is overexcited, think thoughts that will calm you down, thoughts that trigger the expansive and vast qualities of the mind. For example: “I am meditating to create peace in my heart, peace on earth, peace in this universe.”

Try not to over-concentrate. If you notice your face in a frown or your body tensing up during meditation, you may be over-concentrating. Take a moment to relax your mind and body as you hold the posture steady. There is an art to balancing the concentration and relaxation involved in meditation. Seek this balance as you practice.

If concentration is difficult for you, try meditating for shorter periods of time. Start with as little as three minutes and build up from there. Success in meditation practice will come if you start where you are, have realistic expectations, and have patience with the process.

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I personally really like to hold a crystal in my hand for meditation and place a nice calming or uplifting essential oil on me. I like to sit on my yoga bolster and I practice meditation with closed eyes. I find with those nice rituals around my meditation I am already bringing myself into a calm state of self-care. I usually don’t give myself a fixed time frame to do meditation, using my intuition to see how much feels good every time I sit.

 

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doTerra yoga collection – Anchor, Align, Arise

DOTERRA YOGA COLLECTION – ESSENTIAL OILS ARE HERE

I am so excited that the doTerra essential oil yoga collection is here. ANCHOR – ALIGN – ARISE.

Anchor is the steadying blend, supports connection with self, community, innate wisdom & emotional stability. (Lavender, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Cinnamon, Frankincense, Black Pepper, Patchouli)

Align is the centering blend, helps to trust in yourself and stay open to all possibilities. (Bergamot, Coriander, Marjoram, Peppermint, Jasmin Absolute, Rose)

Arise is the enlightening blend, inspires moments of rising up and reaching your highest. (Grapefruit, Lemon, Osmanthus, Siberian Fir)

The price is $83.33 USD retail and $62.50 USD wholesale if you open your own account. You can purchase them from the US warehouse through this link: https://www.mydoterra.com/silkewhittaker/#/.

If you want to purchase them at retail price you click on “shop” If you want to purchase them at wholesale price you can open your own wellness advocate account by clicking on “join & save ” which is $35 joining fee and you receive 25% off retail price on all products. This joining fee is waived if you purchase a starter kit. If you join as a preferred member you receive 20% off retail price on all products and it is a one off joining fee of $10.

Elena Brower, my essential oil mentor and favorite yoga teacher has helped to develop these oils. She has been mentoring me in the past 7 months to use the oils in the best way possible in monthly catch up video meetings and in her private support facebook group, where over a 1,000 essential oil users share their experiences with the oils, as well as teaching me how I can establish and grow my own doterra business.

Elena is the real deal, I have rarely met someone so genuine, kind, gentle, generous and willing to help & share her wisdom despite her full schedule.

If you want to learn more about the oils, how to purchase them, to learn about the business opportunity, how to become part of Elena’s team or have any questions please pm or e-mail me [email protected].

And here is a beautiful video about the Essential Oils with Elena.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej1EH1g8KGM&feature=youtu.be

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Inspiration from the book “Daring greatly” by Brene Brown

I am really chaotic reading books at the moment – I think I have about 20 on the go going back and forth in between them. Last night I picked up Daring Greatly by Brene Brown again. This woman is a genius. I highly recommend to read her books. Here are a few extracts that I marked on Vulnerability, they are from different pages, so not very flowy to read.

Vulnerability isn’t good or bad: It’s not what we call a dark emotion, nor is it always a light, positive experience. Vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. To feel is to be vulnerable. To believe vulnerability is weakness is to believe that feeling is weakness. To foreclose on our emotional life out of fear that the costs will be too high is to walk away from the very thing that gives purpose and meaning to living.

I define Vulnerability as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. With that definition in mind, let’s think about love. Waking up every day and loving someone who may or may not love us back, whose safety we can’t ensure, who may stay in our lives or may leave without a moment’s notice, who may be loyal to the day they die or betray us tomorrow – that’s vulnerability. Love is uncertain. It’s incredibly risky And loving someone leaves us emotionally exposed. Yes, it’s scary and yes we’re open to being hurt, but can you imagine your life without loving or being loved?

To put our art, our writing, our photography, our ideas out into the world with no assurance of acceptance or appreciation – that’s also vulnerability. To let ourselves sink into the joyful moments of our lives even though we know that they are fleeting, even though the world tells us not to be too happy lest we invite disaster – that’s an intense form of vulnerability.

Vulnerability sound like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.

Vulnerability is like being naked when everyone else is fully clothed.

We love seeing raw truth and openness in other people, but we’re afraid to let them see it in us. We’re afraid that our truth isn’t enough – that what we have to offer isn’t enough without the bells and whistles, without editing, and impressing. -I want to experience your vulnerability, but I don’t want to be vulnerable.-

From calling a friend who’s experienced a terrible tragedy to starting your own business, from feeling terrified to experiencing liberation, vulnerability is life’s great dare. It’s life asking: “Are you all in? Can you value your own vulnerability as much as you value it in others?” Answering yes to these questions is not weakness: It’s courage beyond measure. It’s daring greatly. And often the result of daring greatly isn’t a victory march as much as it is a quiet sense of freedom mixed with a little battle fatigue.

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ON BELONGING

One of the things I am exploring at the moment as part of a mentor-ship program I do with my teacher and mentor Elena Brower is what belonging means to me.

I have been pondering this for quite a few days and also started reading Brene Brown’s new book “Braving the wilderness” which explores belonging in a very deep sense. I highly recommend this book – My highlighter is all over it!

What came to mind for me is that I really belong to myself and to my family – my husband, kids & dog. This is the place that is home to me, where I feel safe, relaxed and where I can be myself – I am so super grateful for my husband who supports me in all I do and puts up with all my weird and wonderful ideas, views, plans …..

I belong to me and my family, I belong to me comfortably, I belong in this beautiful country, in our beautiful house, I belong in my little yoga room, I belong to my books, to my garden, to my friends, to the ocean, to the forests. I belong to many places and things but certainly I don’t belong to any box in particular and I completely and utterly refuse to be squished into any more boxes either by my own doing or by others doing intentionally or unintentionally.

Today when I walked the dog I had this vision of me trying to squish into all the pre-made boxes over the years and the discomfort when realising again and again that I didn’t fit ANYWHERE – no box would suit me.

So now I am just spilling out nicely all over the place wherever my inner light calls me to go, my heart tells me to look. I am making my own mold and it fits perfectly and it changes constantly and it belongs to me and I belong to it.

Today Nina my daughter asked me if we could do something together, so we decided drawing was the thing and I made my vision of belonging visible – dinner was terribly late and prepared in a panic. Part of the mentor-ship is to explore our creativity and its been so nice to have an excuse to sit down and do something creative. I have always had the thought that my art wasn’t good enough to show anyone, but bugger that. My art belongs to me, its not a masterpiece but its made my be.

Here is a part I would like to share from “Braving the wilderness” by Brene Brown for you to ponder your own notion of belonging:

True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are, it requires you to be who are.

Sending love and gratitude to my family, my friends, all my students and people who follow me and see me and accept & respect me for who I am – I appreciate each and everyone of you. xxx

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YOGA FOR MENOPAUSE

YOGA HELPS WITH MENOPAUSE

You can check out these 2 articles how yoga can help with menopause. Many of the recommended poses we do regularly in the Hatha yoga sessions.

https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/the-graceful-change

https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/yoga-by-benefit/menopause

Also the doTerra womans blend “Clary Calm” can help with symptoms of menopause. It is $41 retail or $30.75 if you open your own wholesale account. You can purchase it from here:https://www.mydoterra.com/silkewhittaker/#/

#yoga #menopause #clarycalm #doterra #heartspaceyoga#heartspaceessentials

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INSPIRATION FOR THE DAY

I receive two inspirational e-mails every day that I almost always read. This one is from the Brahma Kumaris in London. A friend of mine lived there and introduced me to their teachings. I love, love, love their mindsmacks in my inbox:

“Most of us think too much, especially about events and people, local and global, famous and not so famous. When we are always thinking about what is happening on the surface of life, the visible, then it is as if we are living a superficial life. Deep down inside there is a voice, a longing, a calling to depth. It’s our heart, reminding us to visit, explore and express the depths of our ourselves. Going deep and being deep requires time spent in solitude, some periods of introversion and a conversation with ourselves. How on earth will we ever see what is in our heart unless we dive deep inside, switch on the light and look. Those who do will tell you it changes everything. What do they see? Simple, only beauty and truth. They are always there, waiting for us to return. Waiting to welcome us and to introduce ourselves to ourself.”

How to dive deep – yoga, meditation, mindfulness, awareness, kindness – join us at heartspace yoga. We are diving deep every week.

#brahmakumaris #wisdom #heartspaceyoga #divingdeep #comingbackhome