This was the perfect yoga practice for me. I got up at 6:15 am bright and early, just in time to take an Uber to the Bay To Breakers race and snag some amazing photos!📷 Today was all about living in the moment and practicing gratitude. And today I couldn't have been happier to receive the bounties of love and friendship that I did. After the Bay To Breakers, I went to Jay's friend Morgan's house and I played my first D&D role playing game ever! To those of you not in the know, D&D stands for Dungeons and Dragons. I had a lot of fun and was even gifted 🎁 with my own gaming dice set. It was the perfect way to end the day -- that and being in Jay's arms. Sigh...
I ended the day with a lot more optimism and energy than I started it with, which is all that anyone can ask for. Today's yoga practice was just what I needed to wake up and take on the day. Now I can go into my meditation before I head off to bed. I'm going to try my hand at photographing San Francisco's famous Bay to Breakers race. It should make for an exciting day if I can manage to wake up that early. Let's see what tomorrow holds!
My yoga practice today was called Yoga For Beginner's Mind from the Yoga With Adrienne YouTube channel. It was just what I needed along with a sunny little meditation from Tori Hartman's "Chakra Wisdom Oracle Toolkit" workbook that encouraged me to look within for my happiness and imagine a bright ball of sunshine permeating my entire being starting at my solar plexus. What better way to stay connected to your instincts than to go from your gut -- a primal place of understanding and processing of action and movement! I plan to practice this meditation throughout the day to align myself with the things that I want to manifest for my highest good -- the things that bring me my hopes, dreams and desires. I'm letting go of resistance in my world view and giving up the ghosts of past failures that have haunted me. I am open to letting all the wonderful things into my life that I deserve!
I'm am exploring a question lately. How can I find more ways to move through my life with joy? How can I create an existence of peace and happiness despite the memories of the different tragedies I've experienced on the path of enlightenment thus far? Today's activity in Tori Hartman's "Chakra Wisdom Oracle Toolkit" workbook examined the fable of "Dancin' Daisy" even further. It asked me to make a list of all the things that bring me joy in my life and write them down and commit to doing at list one of these things each week. Curious about what I wrote? My list was surprisingly easy to make. I was holding my little kitty Fjord in my arms when I read the assignment. I had my notebook right next to me and so I wrote:
1. Holding my baby kitty Fjord while reading sci-fi, fantasy or romance novels, or watching Netflix
2. Cuddling with Jay
3. Singing
4. Playing piano
5. Listening to music
6. Going to the ocean
7. Being with friends
8. Dancing
9. Taking aromatherapy baths.
10. Writing fiction, poetry or song lyrics
11. Photography
12. Healing crystals
13. Of course yoga! I'm just a little over 6 months into my daily yoga practice ( I haven't missed a day!)
Then I dawned on me that all the persons, places and things that bring me joy are just some of the many reasons I have to be grateful! If anyone wants to, feel free to write down your own joy list in the comments section of this post!
I've noticed that my yoga and meditation practice is starting to move to a difference place in my reality. I'm not sure where it's going to end up and that is all part of the growth. I know that the more I practice, the more essential it becomes to me that I practice on a daily basis. Today I felt much more grounded on the mat and assured in my practice. I am so grateful that my energy level has increased to the point where I am able to enjoy longer and more strenuous yoga sessions Also, the form of my asanas is getting much better as well as my level of flexibility. I am so pleased with this. I am so happy that I yoga has re-entered my life and has allowed me to add a new dimension to being in this world. I has saved me so many times from my anxiety levels and has relieved me of stress and worry on many occasions. I honestly don't know what I would do without it sometimes. It's more than the amount of physical movement and shapes that I can bend myself into, it's the way I can hold space for the energy of breath and tranquility -- it's the calm that it helps me to tap into that comes from deep within.
After reading today's fable in Tori Hartman's "Chakra Wisdom Oracle Toolkit" workbook entitled "Joy Dancin' Daisy", I am pondering the nature of true joy and happiness. The "Dancin Daisy" fable encourages me to look within myself for all the moments of true happiness that I can find and not to analyze them or tear them apart with thoughts from my monkey-mind, but just to acknowledge that these moments of true joy are out there, recognize them for what they are and examine exactly how I can express gratitude for them. It is through this acceptance that that these feelings can naturally multiply -- no forcing or wishing required. We just have to notice them, appreciate them and give thanks for them each time they show up in our lives. I had many such moments yesterday. I was enjoying the simplicity and beauty of Jay's company. And there was one moment, a lull while he was nearby busying himself on a computer game and I was about to read a book where I turned over and closed my eyes to the perfect warmth of the sunshine and knew that he was there and I smiled into the sun with my eyes closed, basking in its bright glow. I felt truly at peace. Today on the yoga mat with my large Norwegian tabby Fjord and my my yoga mat, I felt a similar simplicity of love and joy. Fjord came and nudged my head while I was in child's pose, attempting to lick the essential oils I had rubbed on my chest off of my fingers. It was so sweet and I have to say that I really feel fortunate today. I'm sitting here writing this and giving thanks for the blessings I have. Namaste!
It has been more and more important to me that I gain peace ✌ from within. Separating my reactions both emotional and physical from a situation or state of mind is key to part of my journey on the road to enlightenment. I view enlightenment in the terms of a state of being and a conscious effort of a lifetime rather than an achievement.
Yesterday was so busy that I almost forgot my yoga practice for the day. It was nearly two in the morning and I sat straight up in bed remembering, and realizing that I could either go to bed or practice before I closed my eyes. The choice was easy -- a brief, simple bedtime yoga session from the Yoga With Adrienne YouTube channel. You always have a choice, and I chose not to give up my nearly eight month stretch of regular daily yoga that I have practiced every day before I close my eyes at night. 🌙 I feel like the beginning of becoming enlightened is to commit to positive practices of both mind and body. Yoga and meditation have become my both go-to and my to-do. They are some of the best additions to my everyday they I have ever added. I can't wait to see where a few years of steady practice will take me!
