Tapas

If you practice with me, then you know I like to sprinkle Sanskrit into my classes.  It’s such a beautiful language, that can express so many concepts with one simple word.

Tapas is the Sanskrit word that means practice, and also heat, and also commitment, and the internal drive that keeps you doing something even when you don’t feel like it!  

(See?  A lot with a little!)

I know it’s been a hard year to keep your commitment to practice.  I know I lost mine when the world closed down in March.

I spent a little too much time binging Netflix before I picked myself up and found my way back to my mat and back to my practice, and I felt better for it!

I want to make it as easy as possible for you to connect with your practice! 

That’s why I continue to offer Virtual Yoga Classes live on Zoom every Wednesday at 8am.  

I know that time doesn’t work for everybody, so I’ve begun to upload those videos to my YouTube channel!  

I’ve also learned a bit about technology since March, and I’ve figured out how to stream these videos live to a Facebook group.  If you’d like to join the practice without being seen, this is a great option for you!  You can catch the classes live, or watch them after the fact through Facebook.  You can join my new Wednesday Hatha Yoga Facebook Group here.  

Virtual Series

Finally, I know that it can feel like a lot to jump into an ongoing yoga class when you might be feeling a little rusty in your practice.  That’s why I created the Yoga for You Series.  

This is an 8-Class Virtual Series designed for new or returning yoga students.  I’ve dropped the 10 student minimum and opted to open up the practice to a limited group of students.

We’ll practice live Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 8 am for the month of January.  When you join, you will receive the Zoom link to join us live, as well as an invitation to a secret Facebook group where you can catch up with classes you may have missed.  (Or just practice them again!!)

You’ll also receive an e-book that I wrote especially for you.

The Meditate Now Series is a similar concept, but we narrow the focus to using meditation to find greater peace of mind. 

We’ll meet Wednesdays at 7pm in January and February and learn about different techniques to help you find a meditative state of mind.  

On registration, students will receive the Live Zoom link, an invitation to a secret Facebook group to catch the pre-recordings, and a free Meditate Now e-book that I wrote as an introduction to a meditation practice.

The series are $120 each to join.  That price can be discounted to only $100 each if you:

– Sign up with a friend, or
– Sign up for both series.

I am currently accepting enrollment in both series.  Please email me if you’d like to be included!

BKS Iyengar, one of the grandfathers of modern yoga, said that 
“A life without Tapas is like a heart without love.”

My hope for you is that you can use your commitment to your practice to build a structure strong enough to keep out all that doesn’t serve you:  the stress, the unhelpful thoughts, and the pull of the ego.  Inside this wall you can cultivate your relationship to the wise and wonderful self that you have within.

Many blessings to you,

Libby
Essential You Yoga

P.S.  Reiki 1 and Reiki 2 are scheduled for January 16th and February 27th, respectively.  If you’d like to learn to use Reiki to help activate your body’s natural ability to heal, please reach out.  I only teach these courses one time each year.  

Meditation

My friend and business partner Paty Mariposa is here in Tampa today as we prepare to immerse ourselves in a weekend of retreat.  

We are excited to share all that we have planned, and especially for a new offering this retreat – a class about Meditation.

We added this class after having lots of conversations with students about how difficult it is to cultivate a meditation practice.

Many were confused because they thought that in order to meditate, they needed to turn their brains off.

If you’ve ever tried to do this, you might laugh at the futility.  Our brains are thinking machines, and so don’t turn off.

Rather than a practice in the impossible, meditation is an opportunity to train yourself not to identify with the thoughts of the mind.

When you come to a meditation practice, you receive the opportunity to see who you are between your thoughts.  

To get there is a lot simpler than you might think – you just need to find out which meditation technique works best for you!

Some people do best with a moving meditation like conscious walking or yoga.  Others prefer to give the mind something to “chew” on by using a mantra or a koan.  And others prefer the classic seated meditation.

There’s no right or wrong, and nothing says that what works best for you today will be the practice you choose tomorrow.

The beauty of committing to a lifelong practice is that you can amass a variety of tools to use, knowing that you are serving the higher purpose of connecting more deeply with your sacred self.  

Paty and I are excited to kick-start your commitment to yourself with our 10 Day Reiki Detox, which runs from November 9-18th 2020.  

In the Detox, we will spend time each day in meditation and movement, and use Reiki to amplify and expand your practices. Our intention is to offer you a framework to create a self-care routine that sustains you and helps you step more fully into your highest and your best self.

I’ll also be offering a Meditate Now Course starting in January.  This 8-Class series is designed for those curious about meditation.  I will guide students through different meditation techniques with the intention of discovering which serves you best.  Sign up here.

Owning Your Life

Growing up, my mom demonstrated an elegance in dealing with people she did not like.  She would simply distance herself from them, and be done with it.  She wouldn’t confront them messily and have an argument about all the things she felt they did wrong.  She never trashed them to other people in her life, she simply created space between herself and them and moved on.

Through most of my younger life, I had an emotional scapegoat for when things went wrong.  There was always somebody in my life whose fault it was when things didn’t go the way I thought they should have.  

The face of the scapegoat changed, but for years, my habits did not.  It was simply easier for me to blame somebody else for my life not being the way I envisioned than to own my own power.

Yoga, Reiki, and Meditation brought with them many gifts.  One of the most powerful results of my practice is the gift of Svadyaya, or self-study.

As we begin to stretch the brittle fascia of the body, it softens and moves, releasing immobile places within us, and amazingly, our minds and spirits respond in kind!  

Many people experience a similar release when they go through at Attunement, or connection with Reiki energy.  They will notice a subtle releasing of old patterns and feel a sense of stepping into their own power.

Meditation offers an especially clear mirror into the self. As we train the mind to sit in observation, we get to watch all of the tricks our thoughts play on us!  Becoming aware of the scheming of the mind frees us from it’s traps, and allows us to glimpse the powerful, limitless self within.

These external practices of yoga, Reiki, and meditation  are outward reflections of the inward work that was happening, the work of keenly understanding the role I have in creating my own life.

I was able to look through the lens of seeing my own habits of self-sabotage, the habit of destroying relationships or opportunities before I had the chance to fail at them, because subconsciously, I believed that I would.

The real gift of understanding these patterns, or Samskaras, is in the ability to release them!  How can you stop doing something when you aren’t even aware that you are doing it?  

As Maya Angelou said, “when you know better, do better.”

In knowing better, I was able to act more in alignment with my true self.

What I never considered was how the scapegoats felt!

I’ve spent a lot of time this month listening to friends who are heartbroken.  They are feeling the heaviness of blame placed on them by other people, and it reminds me of a habit I used to practice before I awoke to my own power.

I want to invite you, today, to fully embrace your own power in your life.  With great power comes great responsibility, so also embrace the responsibility you have for creating the life you want.

Each moment is an invitation to awaken, and each day an opportunity to take a step, no matter how small, towards creating this life.  

Space & Grace

In the face of uncertainty, I have found that space and grace have served me best. 
Space always comes first.  It looks like the time to mourn unmet expectations.  It looks like figuring out how to be a stay-at-home mom and teacher to my daughter.  Space offers me a pause, a savasana almost, in which I begin to integrate what is our new normal.

Grace 
means learning to balance days that are both too empty and too full.  It means creating time for my practice of yoga, Reiki, and Meditation, as well as time to get outside and connect with my family and the world around me.  It means embracing this slower pace of life and finding the glimmers of goodness that surround me.  Grace offers the gift of connecting with the blissful self within, who is always present, even in times of uncertainty.

I hope that you have found space and grace as blessings in your life.  I hope that you will forgive me for taking this time away from communicating with all of you.

As many of my colleagues took their yoga offerings online, I struggled with trying to teach to people I couldn’t see.  So much of what I do in the classroom is a reflection of what I see in your practice, so it’s been a real challenge to shift online! 

Now, though, I feel ready to begin adding more virtual offerings

You can now join me each Wednesday at 8 am for an all-levels Hatha Yoga class, taught via Zoom.  

 

 

New Year, Essential You

I’m so happy when I hear people setting intention to be their best self in this New Year.  One thing that I don’t love, though, is the phrase “New Year, New You.”

Why?  

Because I don’t think that we NEED a new you!  The YOU that is here and now is just right.  

Yoga philosophy and practice is an inward journey OF the Self, THROUGH the Self, TO the Self. 

That means that as you diligently practice your postures, breath, meditation, and Reiki, you get to practice knowing and trusting yourself more deeply.

As this happens, you learn to release those things that are blocking you from being your most Essential Self and fully embrace the wonderfulness that is you.

For that, I thank you!  Because the more authentically YOU shine, the better this world is!

Gratitude in Each Breath

In this week of Thanks Giving, it’s important to take a moment to connect to yourself in the chaos that often surrounds this holiday.  Whether you are cooking a large meal for extended family, traveling to attend a gathering, or celebrating quietly, give yourself a moment today to breathe in the vibration of Gratitude. 

Gratitude vibrates at a level that dispels negative thought patterns, and Gratitude is the perfect antidote to the lower vibration feelings such as anger, fear, and hopelessness.  Gratitude enhances personal feelings of well-being and can bring you more contentment and satisfaction in the present moment, which, according to the Yoga Sutras, is one of the reasons we practice yoga.  Read more about the proven effects of Gratitude here.   

Today, I invite you to practice inviting a Gratitude in with each breath.  Allow that Gratitude to fill you up and permeate each cell in your body, raising your physical vibration.  As you exhale, imagine releasing the feelings that no longer serve you.  With each in breath, invite a new Gratitude.  Your Gratitude could be large or small.  You might start as simply as feeling grateful to having fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a warm and safe home to be in.  

I look forward to seeing after this Dia de Gracias.  Wherever you are, be peace.

Are You Stressed?

It’s possible that your body could be carrying more stress than you realize.  A recent Gallup Poll reported that Americans are the most stressed-out people in the world, with stress, anger, and worry at their highest levels in more than a decade! 

For many of us, the stress is so prevalent that we fail to even register that it is present in our body and our mind.  

Common signs of stress include loss of energy, insomnia, frequently getting sick, upset stomach, and headaches.

Luckily, yoga, Reiki, and meditation all offer easy tools for us to feel less stressed.

That’s because when you practice yoga, you begin to breathe deeply and activate your parasympathetic nervous system.  That stimulation will naturally slow your breath and heart-rate, relax your muscles, and calm your mind.
Helping you release stress is one of the main reasons I teach!  My goal is for you to walk away from each class and workshop with me feeling lighter and breathing easier.  

With that in mind, I am teaching a special restorative yoga class tonight at Jai Dee Massage and Yoga.  Join me at 6pm for a calming yoga practice and to sip on relaxing Tulsi-Rose tea.  

Sometimes, you need more than a single yoga class to relax, and that is why I am excited to offer you The Reiki Retreat for Self-Love & Healing.  We will gather together in March of next year at the beautiful Kashi Ashram for a weekend of Reiki and Self-Care, using tools from yoga, meditation, and nature to help you unwind.  

Early Bird Pricing on the retreat is ending soon.  If you place a deposit down before October 1st, you will save $100.

Give yourself the gift of taking a slow, deep breath right now so that you can feel better and release stress.

Embrace with Grace

Your yoga mat offers a microcosm of your world. The way you meet your practice – breath-centered, daily, and with perseverance – offers an opportunity for you to prepare for uncomfortable moments off the mat.

While I am out in the world doing my very best, I make at least one mistake every day.  They are usually small mistakes, and when I make one, it simply means I am living out of alignment or moving forward to quickly without taking in the present moment.

Part of my yoga and my Reiki practice means putting my best foot forward.  ANOTHER big part of my practice is owning and learning from my mistakes, and moving forward with grace.

I like to think of these mistakes, or shakes, as those things that bring me away from my practice, or out of a pose.  My TAPAS, or commitment to my practice, is what brings me back in.

I don’t live under the illusion that I’ll reach perfection, but I do hope that with more SVADYAYA, or self-study, combined with a commitment to my asana, pranayama, and meditation, I can continue refining the way I meet the world from a place of grace and integrity.

Creating Tools for Success

I had a conversation recently about how to step out of the cycle of karma, and it reminded me of the idea of RIGHT ACTION.

Yoga Philosophy encourages us to take our practice off the mat, and one way to do that is to observe how our minds react in uncomfortable poses ON the mat.  

When you’re in a class in a “least favorite” yoga pose, do you want to immediately come out of the pose?  When you’re holding this uncomfortable shape in your body, are you also holding our breath?  

Very often, the way we respond mentally and physiologically to discomfort ON the mat mirrors they way we respond to uncomfortable situations OFF the mat.

This is helpful to know because it gives us a way to work more deeply with our yoga practice.

It means that as you control and refine your response in your yoga class, you are creating a toolbox on which to draw during stressful situations in your life.

Yoga is one powerful tool to step out of the cycle of Karma by practicing being present in the moment.

Reiki is another tool that can help you stay present by helping your body fully relax.  This Friday is the day of our monthly Reiki Circle, held at 6:30 pm at Jai Dee Massage & Yoga.  This is a donation-based event, and I encourage everyone who is interested in releasing old patterns and old karma to join us.  

Whether you make it out to your mat or to your meditation cushion this week, I know that your practice is making a difference!

Celebrating Your Freedom

The ultimate goal of Yoga, Reiki, and Meditation is Freedom.  Freedom from limiting beliefs and ideas that keep us feeling small, liberation from patterns of self-sabotaging behavior, and the freedom to shine our true, authentic, sacred selves.

I know what it is to play small.  Moving through life from a state of limited beliefs mean that you stay in unfulfilling work or relationships because you feel like you don’t have other options available to you.

It means you bite your tongue instead of expressing your truth because you worry that other people might take it the wrong way, or not understand where you are coming from.

Yoga tells us that without Moksha, or Freedom, we fall victim to the inertia of doing things the way we always have

Yogis call this rut of action our SasmkaraWhen we don’t take the time to shine light on why we think and act the way we do, we find ourselves moving with unconscious intention and manifesting things that no longer serve us.  

These things can look like addiction, or anger, or fear.  They keep us trapped in limiting circumstances and lull us into forgetting the limitless power we have to shape our own reality.  

I have found that the simple action of committing to a practice provides the higher vision necessary to see the forest for the trees.  By simply coming again and again to your mat to practice yoga, meditation, or Reiki, you begin to cultivate a higher consciousness.  You start to see the patterns of your life, and how easy it really is to make big changes with small shifts.  

To support you in those shifts, I have developed a FREE 7 Day Reiki Cleanse with my friend and collaborator, Paty Mariposa.   This online action is designed for those who have been attuned to any level of Reiki.  

By working your way through the 7 Day Cleanse, which begins July 22nd, you will release those energetic blocks that manifest as limiting thoughts and beliefs, and be able to more fully embrace who you are meant to be.  I hope you’ll be able to join us! Please click here to sign up.


Take the time to celebrate your freedom and joy this Fourth of July weekend!