Hi Everybody! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and that it gave you good memories. I wish you all love and peace, good health and contentment for this coming year.

Our first week back will, as always, include an intention for our practice. I know that some of you come with your own intention for your practice and that others like to share the group intention for that week. This term, I shall be encouraging you to come with your own intention for your practice.

It may be that you end up having the same intention for the whole of the term, or it may be that you experiment with a different intention for each practice, that will be your choice.   

Yoga, Mindfulness and Relaxation Classes for January-February 2018

Mondays:  Moose Hall, Spalding:  9:15-10:30am.

January: 08^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th.  February: 5^th, 12^th, 26^th.

Please note: There will be no class on 19^th February.

Tuesdays: South View Primary School, Crowland:  9:30-10:45am

January: 09^th, 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th.  February:  6^th, 13^th, 27^th.

 Please note: There will be no class on 20^th February.

Wednesdays: Wake House, Bourne:  9:30-10:45am and 11:00am-12:15pm.

January: 10^th, 17^th, 24^th, 31^st.  February:  7^th, 14^th, 28^th.

Please note:  There will be no class on 21^st February.

Thursdays:  South View Primary School, Crowland:  6:00-7:15pm and 7:30-8:45pm.

January: 11^th, 18^th, 25^th.  February: 1^st, 8^th, 15^th.

 Please note: There will be no class on 22^nd February.

A Reminder to all Students:      

Over the past week we have been meditating to the “7 min Breathing Practice” which was guided by “guest speaker” (via the Insight Timer) Anna Donald, from Mindful Revolution.

If you would like to experience this meditation again, the link is below. Indulge in 7 minutes of peace and quiet, and enjoy:

Once more we have reached the final term of the year, and very soon our thoughts will be turning to Christmas and the New Year. For me, Christmas is about sharing and giving and I like to try to encourage that through our class practice with a gift from me to my students.

A couple of years’ ago, I committed to carrying around many candles and bolsters, and almost as much chocolate throughout the term, as we worked with the chakras and restorative poses, in order to keep us calm, grounded and centred throughout the festive season. Last year we practiced partner yoga throughout the term, which encouraged us to share the joy of our practice with others. This year I suggested that students might like to request practices that they particularly enjoy or would like to know more about, in order that our practice can be a truly shared representation that incorporates the elements that you enjoy most.

 

The feedback I have received so far, is that many of you would like to practice more yoga nidra, more meditation, more “lying on the floor” postures and more restorative poses! This is not surprising, as all these practices are in keeping with the seasonal desire to find somewhere warm and cosy and hibernate!

 

Practices such as Salute to the Day and the Golden Seed flow sequence were also nominated, along with mantra (chanting).  I have also had several requests for practices that help to counter feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, all of which are common symptoms of our modern lifestyle.

 

Thank you to all of you who have already responded. I intend to incorporate every suggestion I have received thus far, and please bear in mind, there is still plenty of time if you would like to make a suggestion for this term’s practice.

 

Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (peace, peace, peace)!

As we move up through the energy centres, this week we reach Ajna, the “third eye” chakra which means the “perception” or “command centre”. Ajna is located in the mid-brain, between, and just above, the eyes behind the space between the eyebrows. Whilst our two eyes look out and see the external, material world, this chakra looks inward and “sees” our internal world, beyond the physical world with what we sometimes refer to as our ‘sixth sense’. Our third eye sees the world through visualization, intuition, dreaming, imagination, clairvoyance and telepathy.

Ajna is associated with the element light and the color indigo blue and it is involved in both the creation and perception of art. It is through this chakra that we recognise that what we see has a powerful impact on us. Even when we’re not aware of it, we are all sensitive to the images we find in our environment, whether they be positive or not.

Two much energy in this chakra can lead to headaches, hallucinations, nightmares, and difficulty concentrating. If we are lacking energy in Ajna, we may have a poor memory, be unable to visualize well, and experience problems with our eyes, ears and sinuses. A healthy ajna chakra ensures we have good levels of concentration, memory and intelligence and that we are able to trust in our intuition and go with our inner intelligence.

Throughout this weeks practice, whenever you practice with your eyes closed, you can experience pratyahara, the drawing inward of the senses, which encourages us to become more insightful about our bodies, the breath, and our minds.

Intentions for Ajna might be: to trust your intuition; to improve correct perception; to realise that we are all connected; to be guided by your inner wisdom.

Our next practice will be about cleansing and healing Vishudha. The throat chakra is the bridge between our heart and our mind, its name translates as “the pure place”, and we purify the body and mind through discrimination – paying attention to what we invite in, through diet, yoga, meditation, and exercise.

Next week, the focus for our practice will be on healing and balancing the heart chakra – Anahata, meaning unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten – which rests in the centre of the chest. This chakra is considered to be the centre of the chakra system and the gateway between the three lower physical chakras and the three higher spiritual chakras. It is the seat of emotional consciousness and it relates to the element of air which is all around us, and in us within our breath.

The… air element of Anahata feeds the flames of the manipura fire chakra, giving us the power to love unconditionally and care for everything on our planet. Its physical location is the heart, upper chest and upper back. The heart chakra directly affects the heart, lungs, chest, arms, and hands, and physical symptoms of a lack of heart chakra energy can include shallow breathing, asthma, and other lung diseases, poor circulation, low blood pressure and some heart conditions, whilst too much energy can manifest as high blood pressure or heart disease.

Healthy heart chakra energy allows us to open up to, and connect with, harmony and peace. The quality and power of love in our life is directly reflected in the health of our heart centre. When our heart chakra energy is healthy, we feel surrounded by love, compassion, and joy and we are connected to the world around us. A deficiency of energy in the heart chakra may manifest emotionally as feelings of shyness and loneliness and we may struggle with forgiveness and empathy.

Mentally, an imbalanced heart chakra can result in feelings of unworthiness or an inability to trust ourselves or others. An over-powerful heart chakra can manifest as co-dependence, manipulative behaviours, possessiveness and jealousy.

Pranayama (breath-energy) practices, help to balance this chakra. Working with the breath increases our capacity for prana and air, along with our vitality and enthusiasm. If we hold our Selves with our head forward, shoulders rounded and chest collapsed, our head is leading our heart which can lead us to become overly focused on thought, and less in touch with our emotions and our body. Anahata chakra redresses this balance. So draw the shoulders back, expand across the chest, lengthen the neck and lift the head to feel more “heart-centred” and invite in all the beautiful qualities of Anahata, whose natural, feminine quality is to release and let go. The most powerful way to open, energise and balance the heart chakra is to love ourselves and others. Let love heal.

Intentions for Anahata practice might be: To offer and receive love with ease; cultivating compassion, allowing happiness in; releasing the fear of getting hurt; letting go of old heartache; cultivating humility; becoming less possessive; to to surrender and let go.

I look forward to exploring this beautiful chakra together, throughout our practice next week.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (peace, peace, peace).

Our shared intention for last week was to cleanse, energise and heal our Manipura (solar plexus) chakra. One of our practices was a pranayama called Kapalabhati, which is usually translated as Shining Skull Breath.

Yesterday, I finished reading a book called “My Stroke of Insight” by Jill Bolte Taylor, and it completely bowled me over. Jill (a neuroanatomist who suffered a severe stroke) talks about the differences between the left and right hemispheres of our brains, and what really astounded me was how she described “living in” the right side of her brain after her stroke. Words like “utopia” and “nirvana”, and expressions like being “at one with the universe” and “being i…n the present moment” … does that sound familiar! Her book has inspired me to research into, and find out more about, our incredible right hemispheres and, to spend more time in them … heaven/paradise/nirvana/ utopia on earth!