Hello my beautiful blog friends!

Plymouth Long Beach-great place for some yoga!

Hello my beautiful blog friends!

Jessica and I both had a fabulous summer, and have swooped into Autumn with full plates. My transition to Autumn was challenging, two people very close to my heart left their physical bodies, and while deep in mourning I also got knocked out by strep throat and a wicked ear infection that toppled my balance, gave me tinnitus so loud I couldn’t sleep, and altered my hearing so the world sounded like robots gone mad. Whoa! But, through the challenges there were moments of great beauty, mostly experienced as waves of gratitude and love for all the amazing souls in my life, including you!

Battered up against my edge, feeling wracked by mental and physical pain, the deep well of my yoga practice was like a bedrock I could rest upon. Through my tears and coughing I remembered my dear teacher’s advice when confronted with suffering, he says to lean into the experience and say “Come on pain, purify me.” It’s super painful to do, but it’s so much easier than trying to be superwoman. It got me thinking about how much more difficult life was when I tried to pretend that I was always perfect...

Do you struggle with being vulnerable in front of other people?

I know I do, for years I held folks at arms length lest they see all of my weak bits. But eventually the strain of holding up the walls around myself got to be too much, and they crumbled down around me. Just being me takes much less effort than constantly proving I am worth my place in this world.

How to transform your vulnerable edge into an opportunity

Yoga The physical practice of yoga lets you find all of your tight places, giving you a resistance to breathe against, a chance to feel the breath shaping your body. Having a physical practice of yoga gives a way to safely practice be-ing with your yourself, a chance to play and explore sensations. This ability to notice and work with your vulnerabilities will develop your patience, transforming into a powerful observational mindset which will begin to find it’s way into your everyday life.

Meditation While sitting in silence, there will be lots of opportunities to practice: restless feelings to change positions or to follow yet another distracting thought is an opportunity to observe pain from a safe distance. Somehow the act of just observing your thoughts, without judgement, leads to a benevolent curiosity about life, rather than a desperate clinging to the way we think things should be. If you don’t have a meditation practice, no worries, I’ve got ya covered! Take my free 15 minute guided relaxation meditation by clicking here!

Creativity! If you have any creative pursuit; painting, knitting, cooking, gardening, photography, scrapbooking, it can be a great place to explore your vulnerable edges. Some of the most brilliant art is created under great suffering; there seems to be a brilliant painting outside the lines that comes with oppression. Go forth and create, just for yourself, just for the act of creation, it feels great!

Now it’s your turn

Do you have a practice that helps you explore your vulnerabilities? Feel free to try my deep relaxation meditation or super-mini yoga class and start practicing now, I’m right there with you!

Om Shanthi Om peace to you

Gita

Welcoming Vulnerability...