Fear

I have been meditating on my Chakra’s for the past few weeks, using the symbolic lotus that represents each Chakra and chanting the corresponding sound. The results have been amazing, leaving me uplifted and energized.

During a more recent meditation, I felt particularly connected to the second Chakra, Swadhisthana, or Sacral. It’s located low in the abdomen and is often related to the sexual organs. The Sanskrit of Swadhisthana translates to mean 'self dwelling place'. It’s also the place where we hold onto emotions.

I visualised the crimson lotus with white crescent moon, then I saw the waves of the ocean under the moonlit sky gently lapping back and forth. Suddenly I was swimming in the ocean and there was a shark. It immediately sparked a feeling of fear. I quickly dismissed this thinking my mind had wondered off and I was a little annoyed that I had let this happen to spoil such a beautiful meditation. I continued on with the rest of the meditation raising the Kundalini up through all the Chakra’s. After the seventh and final Chakra, the Kundalini travels back down through the body stoping for just a moment at each Chakra, to finally rest at the base Chakra. During this process, again I saw the ocean under the moonlight sky at the second Chakra, then again I could see myself swimming and a shark attacked me. I knew then this had come up for a reason. I could feel the fear, I recognised it. So I acknowledged the fear and finished the meditation.

Remarkably, I felt calm. I took some time to contemplate this feeling of fear and realised it was a associated with the uncertainty of the future. The fear of not having control of current situations in my life. And the fear of not being able to receive and give the love I know I desire and deserve.

Working with the Chakra’s can produce incredible results. The body and mind will cleanse and balance leaving a positive awareness enabling the next phase of growth and development to continue the journey of life.

Breath II

Gustav Klimt, Love (1895)

It's the elixir of life. Without it we cannot exist.

At a recent yoga class, the teacher commented on how so many people come into the yoga space and focus on the breath. We leave our shoes at the door, we wear minimal clothing and forget about the outside world. For 90 minutes we leave behind our day-to-day titles and duties of parent, sibling, employee, entrepreneur or boss. For just a while, none of this matters. It's just about the breath and this one thing unites us all.

It's the one time we can be true to ourselves, be truly ourselves and not worry about other factors. It is amazing and beautiful.

This is so powerful. Something so simple, yet vital, can bring harmony. The transition and journey that yoga can take you on is simply breathtaking.

Breath

Gustav Klimt, Philosophy (1900)

It’s the elixir of life. Without it we cannot exist.

Most of us breathe without thinking about it. If we slow the breath down and consciously breathe - deeply, deliberately with each inhale and each exhale the benefits become apparent. The mind begins to calm, the heartbeat becomes more rhythmic and the panic disappears.

Fight and flight is a normal bodily response to situations of discomfort. But living in the 21^st Century with everything and everyone moving so much faster we bring this auto-mechanism response on more often than necessary causing us to feel stressed. Overstressed and exhausted. Burnt out and depressed.

Meditation helps us become aware of these situations before they get out of control, before they take control and create anguish and distress.

Anger

With regular meditation my mind has become clearer in so many ways. I no longer question my intuition. My sense of precision and mental aptitude is lucid. Things about myself have become apparent but I can no longer lull in the bliss of ignorance now that I am aware. Some of my experiences have been quite profound, to the point of remembering a previous life. And in this realisation I have a better understanding of my purpose in this life.

What I didn’t expect is the borage of emotions that would follow. The one that stands out most for me is the anger. For the past few weeks I have experienced a sense of anger that is uncharacteristic. I couldn’t understand where this was coming from. Work has been busy but not enough to make me feel like this. Then that awareness popped up again and it all fell into place, it made sense. It all made sense, my whole life.

At first I was filled with overwhelming sadness to realise my past existence, a soldier during one of the Great Wars. I was very young and died a horrible tragic death, as did most of my friends and thousands of others. It was all so unnecessary. I died before I had the chance to fulfil that life’s purpose. My lack of prosperity in that life meant that I had so much more to do this time around. Unfortunately it has taken nearly half of this lifetime to get to this point and I know that I simply cannot complete all that I have to do in the time left for this physical body. I have to come back, again. I was so angry, so very angry. How could I let this happen? How could I let time slip by like this? I don't want to have to come back.

But it is not up to me. Call it divine intervention, Mother Earth, the Goddess, whichever, I am exactly where I need to be. So with this I have been able to move forward and breathe, let go of the intensity and let it be. It has been an amazing experience, remembering, and the roller coaster of emotions – it is good to feel, as it is truly living.

Vitality

I love 6am Friday morning yoga class. However, I noticed my energy is often lagging. The end of the work week and another early start begins to show on my vitality. It became obvious to me that I rarely do or even want to do full Chaturanga. I steer clear of Vasisthasana (side plank) in its full pose and opt for the safer modification. And Wheel is a last minute challenge I can't bear the thought of.

But how much of this mind set, this attitude, is merely a thought pattern that I can change?

Last week the thought occurred to me that maybe I feel this way because I always think this is how I feel. My mind anticipates it so my body expects and reacts in exactly this way. Yet another example of the power of the mind!

Next week I will try to reverse this thought process and be completely in the moment. If I can do this, I will be able to perform the poses the way my body feels and not my mind. If I don't try I won't further my practice and if I fall out of the pose it really doesn't matter because this is yoga.

Connection

About three months ago, I put myself on a strict ten day detox program. I was physically and mentally exhausted. I knew something had to change and it had to start with me. It was challenging but the rewards were worth it. I felt revitalised, energised and in touch with my inner self again. It was wonderful.

My meditations were becoming clearer and it was easier to connect to my spirit guides. My intuition was strong, I was feeling more aligned to my spirituality than ever before. This was how I wanted to feel all the time, not just when I was being extra meticulous or as a result of exhaustion.

It only took a couple of weeks of work dinners and birthday celebrations for my efforts to feel unravelled. Even my modest contribution of drinking at parties was enough to make me feel disconnected, not to mention awful the next day. My eating habits were erratic and unhealthy, and my meditations suffered. I noticed my moods began to swing, I became less tolerable of silly things, and this is all because my footing slipped off my destined path. It is so easy to lose the connection.

I have spent many days sitting on the grass to reconnect to Mother Earth. I feel lighter and healthier as I recapture my normal eating patterns. My meditations are less stilted, and a sense of calm is once again filling my senses. It can be hard to keep a busy schedule in check but therein lies the challenge, to keep our connection to oneness.

Euphoria

Ever notice how the energy of a crowd can be so electric that it is contagious? This is most often felt at sporting events. The crowd roars with excitement and you find yourself caught up in the momentum, standing out of your seat, cheering and clapping. It is amazing. It is euphoric.

Yoga can have a similar feeling of ecstasy. The energy of the group is powerful and can change your sentiment from when you first walked into the class. This can swing either way. Some classes I have attended contained a general feeling of heaviness, lacking in energy and enthusiasm. You can almost hear everyone scream with relief as we move into final resting pose of savasana. This seems to be more typical around the festive season when late nights, parties, high carbohydrates and sugar laden food along with too much alcohol are all too prevalent.

In contrast, I have also experienced many amazing and breathtaking classes that are strong and consistently flow with unison. These are by far my favourite, of course, and one of the main reasons why I continue to practice. But it stands to reason that the group energy can be all of these things. We don't outwardly think about what the group or anyone else is doing. The purpose of yoga is to go within and focus on your own individual practice. If everyone in the room does exactly that, concentrates on their breathing and moving with flow, the results are euphoric.