Charleston Yogi

The infamous question this week….yes, you got it! “SO what is your New Year’s resolution?” My response this year is I don’t have one. My hope is that I continue to be more aware, conscious and mostly present in whatever I am doing, from being with my family and friends to eating a meal.

The Apostle Paul shares with us in the letter of Philippians encouragement to set our goals. He expresses, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers and Sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching towards what is ahead.  And I press on toward the goal.”  Some of us continue pressing the rewind button on the video cameras of our minds, like a horrible scene that doesn’t go away! Some of us fix our eyes of what is to come, “when I have this much in the bank, then I will be happy.” How many of us just press on toward the goal?  Or even know what the goal is? First let’s define a goal…“The end toward which effort is directed.”  Synonyms for the word goal are, “target; purpose, object, and intention.” Ah HA, now those are familiar words we hear in yoga.  Set your intention for this practice. Or is it a practice? Shiva Rea stated in an interview on her DVD of Fluid Power, “I don’t practice yoga any more, practicing yoga is like practicing the violin as if you have to achieve perfection. So, I don’t practice yoga, I live yoga, I am yoga.” So in essence within yoga we yoke or join with the Spirit of Life on and off our mats. The goal is simply to BE present with the I AM.  Present within a posture, as we position our bodies to receive the fullness of life. The goal that Paul is talking about is living a life of purpose, BEING in relationship with God. It is not about being perfect; if we were to be perfect then we wouldn’t need Divine intimacy or saving Grace. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit or Prana within our bodies wouldn’t need to be obtained if there was not a goal.  So this year perhaps we just continue onward to forget the past, reach toward the future, and press on toward the goal.   The goal of yoga is to create harmony with mind, body, and soul. Let’s connect with prayers and poses.

For how to get in and out of the poses go to www.yogajournal.com and there will be links with descriptions and photos of the poses below.

Breathe in and out:  “I forget the past”

Our hearts hold on to past wounds, back bends are postures that can release stale and stagnant energy. Postures/Asanas that open the heart and draw the shoulder blades on backside of heart release the past;  the heart bolsters forward and is open to the future. Maybe something comes to mind in this pose, acknowledge it and then release it.

Some Back bends to exlpore-Bridge, Wheel, Cobra, Upward facing Dog, Bow

Breathe in and out: “I reach towards what is ahead”

Standing Mountain Pose with arms reaching towards heaven

Child pose reaching arms long with hope

Warrior II reaching arms equally to the back and front symbolizing the balance between faith and action

Breathe in and out: “I press towards the goal”

In Downward Facing Dog press the heel of the hands and feet into the earth, experience the balance and connection with the Creator of the Universe who holds you up. As your head releases below your heart feel your brain being bathed with new vitality; a fresh start. Fix your eyes on the goal, an internal/external positioning of your whole body with purpose and BEING.

May we grow deeper in love with who The Spirit made us to be in this new year.

Peace and Health-Rachel Glowacki, RYT/HYT

“Tis the season to go crazy…. fa la la la la la la la la!”  Thanksgiving is over and the lights are on and out everywhere, the rush has started and in the craze of worrying about gifts, cards, family and how to afford the gifts can easily put us in a bad mood. BUT “tis the season to be jolly,” right? YES…despite the anxiety driven commercialism of Christmas, we can slow down and embrace the reason for this season.  The reason for the season is to extend abundant love for another and celebrate the birth of Christ who is The Light, Truth and Way.

We just started the Advent tradition in my family and we are on day six and it has truly set our days in motion with purpose. Traditionally Advent is celebrated in the evening, but we gather in the morning to center our day, to symbolize the light of Christ overcoming darkness. The wreath is a visual reminder that God’s love is eternal and never ending. There are three purple candles that represent royalty or the coming of the King. For the first three weeks we light the purple candles, the first week we light one purple candle, the second week we light two purple candles and, the third week we light all three purple candles. On the fourth week we light a pink candle that reminds us of God’s love. On Christmas day a white candle is placed in the center of the wreath to signify God’s purity.  Every morning we sit around our table and follow this simple reading by St. Andrew’s Church that centers our day. One of us lights the candle and repeats, “May the Light of Jesus Christ come into this house.” We add our minds, hearts, thoughts, and bodies. Then we all say together, “O God whose word all things are made holy, put your blessings on this wreath, and may it remind us to slow down our hectic pace and make our hearts ready for the coming of Christ your son and our Lord.”  We take thirty seconds because my kids are four and two, to sit in silence and focus our gaze/drishti on the light. Then together we say the Lord’s the prayer.

It has been such an enriching experience for us as a family and myself personally that, I  have incorporated the candle meditation into my classes, as each student lights each other’s candle and looks at each other in the eyes and says, “The Light in me, sees the Light in You.”   This is the English translation of “Namaste,” a greeting in Sanskrit that literally translates, “I bow to you.”  It is a way to not only greet your fellow neighbor but also honor the person’s spirit within. I often end classes with, “I bow to the Divine Truth that has created each and every one of you.”  We all are created in the image of God, designed and hand crafted with gifts and talents to offer the world. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).  During this season of gift giving, may you find the time to slow down and perhaps reflect on the special gift that you are, designed in the image of God. Jesus came to earth in the body to teach us what love looks like and He invites us to go to Him in our bodies with praise and thanksgiving, as we offer our bodies in prayer with poses.

Son Salutation to the Lord’s Prayer

Created By JeanneAnne Copleston, HYT

Peace and Health,

Rachel Glowacki, RYT

www.sunraeyoga.com

Namaste Yogis and Yoginis! It is an honor to be a part of a community that embraces all styles of yoga and support for one another. Regardless of what style we choose, yoga is about yoking and creating union, so wherever we are creating unity within and out, we are experiencing the fullness of yoga. The style of yoga that has moved me into deeper spaces of my personal faith is Holy Yoga. Understanding that yoga is NOT a religion; it is a health science. Yoga has the capacity to and will often times inevitably enhance your personal beliefs and faith. Holy Yoga is a practice that encourages patience while cultivating an awareness of what God can manifest in our physical and emotional bodies. When we intentionally withdraw ourselves from the craziness of our daily living, we find the peace that is God Himself as the center of our existence. Consecrated by God’s Word and prayer, Holy Yoga invites us to worship with the entirety of our being; heart, soul, mind and strength. When we live and move and have our being in Him, we find ourselves in the flow of His magnificence and in the midst of His grace.

Last week during class we breathed in the scripture Matthew 6, we are encouraged by Jesus not “TO WORRY!” We waste a lot of time worrying, have you heard of the saying, “worry looks around, regret looks back, and faith looks up?” In the message translation of the Bible, the Word speaks simply, “Has anyone fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch?” Paraphrasing here, if God takes care of the birds of the air and flowers of fields, how much more will He take of us. “Don’t you think he’ll attend you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I am trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. Steep your life in God reality, God initiative, God provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” It definitely takes effort to surrender and trust that all things will work for the good when it may appear at the present it is not what we desire or hope for. So not only is God holy, pure, love, peace, kind, and gentle, He is also funny! For we are created in His image, so therefore, humor surrounds us.

The GOD humor…Holy Yogini Penny shared with me that as she was driving her daily route she noticed something that she had never seen before. There was plant life growing out of the roof. She asked her friend,” Why are plants growing out of the roof, so strange?” He responded, “well, when birds eat seeds and dispose the seeds in their stool, (YES POOP) life sprouts out.” I thought, how like our God, that even through poop, He will make life spring forth. So in the crappy situations of life, know that life will be sprouted. We just need to take the time to notice where it is, maybe we need to look up at the roof instead of looking around at everyone else. Thank for you opening your hearts to Holy Yoga.

Be Free

Peace and Health,

Rachel Glowacki, RYT, CYT
Sunrae Yoga, LLC
Holy Yoga and Yoga instructor
http://www.sunraeyoga.com
Radiating Light and Truth