1.29.09
What Is Beautiful?
Recently a colleague asked me to comment on body image & what I consider beautiful, so I took it to my yoga mat!
Is it possible that the word beautiful is misused as an adjective or adverb when it describes someone or an action. Is it possible that it is most affective as an emotion? For me, when yoga is working, I open my joints, I lengthen my muscles, I move the stagnant energy in my body and suddenly KNOW what beautiful is (from the inside of my body). When I feel beautiful on the inside I feel generous, happy, compassionate, and I glow.
I work with a life coach who uses her words to help people feel emotions like BEAUTIFUL. I also work with an artist who creates….and therefore knows…BEAUTIFUL.
When we are open to finding this emotion, to connecting to this emotion, we radiate Beautiful. If you recognize someone who is beautiful (inside or out), you already have it inside of you!
What is beautiful to you?
12.12.08
Remembering to enjoy the “moments” you experience this holiday season will make this the best Christmas season yet. As you are selecting or wrapping gifts, remember something “warm” about the receiver or create a pretend situation experiencing how happy the receiver will be when he or she opens your present.
Create and remember the moments you are waiting in line…look for things that astonish you. Surprise yourself. Connect!
Give yourself the gift of enjoying moments. Intentionally search out moments, that could be meaningless and create a wonderful experience for yourself.
If you are in the mood for yoga, find one pose that you enjoy. Start it slowly, breathe, experience all the parts of the pose and all the parts of your body!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Years! Love, Tricia
09.15.08 It’s been wonderful seeing students returning from summer break and meeting new students! Being part of the building of the yoga community feels very good to me. Thank you!
I had an experience last week with JLC’s life coach Patty Jackson in her Setting an Intentional Week class. I was wanting to reach my heart, but I was seriously blocked bouncing around nervously from thought to thought like a scared animal. I felt totally unconnected to my source and all alone, but I found out that the connection to source & the love that I was looking for was always connected to me. I put up a wall between myself and my source, myself and the ease of life. Do you ever feel disconnected, does life ever feel like too much work? These are perspectives that present themselves as gifts so we can learn about love and ease.
Being the awesome life coach that she is, Patty asked a lot of questions and I figured out how to move the brick wall. I’ve been practicing the techniques daily ever since. My techniques are not yours because you are unique, but my question is do you allow yourself to know love, to feel love for yourself? Do you feel like life is easy? Are those things you desire? If so, how will you feel it? What would you rather learn/know? What’s your path?
Whatever it is, it already exists. You already have it! Just find out your way, your unique questions to move the obstacles between your heart and your desires!
We’re playing with some new techniques in yoga called dynamic yoga and yin yoga in addition to the detailed poses we did before and the vinyasa flow. Dynamic yoga is basically greasing the joints by moving in and out of poses or moving between poses a few times in a flowing fashion. It’s rewarding because you get more than one chance to feel the strength, the opening, the lengthening, etc. of each pose! Yin yoga has been one of the most life-changing pratices that I have encountered since I started practicing yoga. I was literally at a standstill in terms of progression in many of my poses and yin yoga has delivered my body to the next place that I want to be….deeper physically in each pose and in connection with my mind & spirit.
Yin yoga removes stagnant energy from deep inside the body, it gives us a chance to practice breathing through intense experiences and joy! In this type of yoga we make huge changes to our bodies by holding poses for 4-20 minutes. Yin gives the nervous system time to feel the safety of each pose in order to release and open. Both the facia and connective tissues lengthen during a yin yoga practice, we breathe into energy surges with a nurturing intent (thus replacing stagnant energy with nurturing energy), and we recover slowly and joyfully as we come out.
Stop by if you want to know more! Tricia
09.02.08 The physical practice of yoga mirrors the transition from summer to fall. Sometimes it’s easy to hold poses and to move between them and sometimes we fall over! Both are beautiful expressions of life. If you are undergoing transition right now, consider slowing your pace a little and moving intentionally, moving purposefully just like in yoga. If you make a mistake, if you fall over, celebrate your participation in the change. Celebrate your brave willingness to attempt change. Tell your friends and laugh. With joy & love! Tricia
08.18.08 Many people, including myself are enjoying the last few weeks of summer, looking forward to having some time alone when school starts, planning for the fall, and thinking about changes they’d like to make this fall. Sometimes the waiting for this new creation feels anxious, unsettled, and/or nervous. This is unbalanced vata energy that you can learn more about by googling “unbalanced vata ayurveda.”
When the seat of vata becomes unbalanced due to life’s stressors, we can experience anxiety, fear, sleep problems, and a general unsettled feeling. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get moving even though you feel like you really need to. If this is you, practice some grounding yoga poses or a grounding meditation.
Here are a couple meditations that may help you:
- From Josh Billings at JLC: Get comfortable, close your eyes and take some deep, slow breaths. Imagine that you are looking into a mirror at yourself. You are looking into your own eyes. See your eyes and from an open heart, say to yourself “I Love You.” Repeat this phrase until you feel your heart open. Repeat this meditation every time you feel unsettled and before bed.
- I got this one out of one of the many books I read this summer. Get comfortable, close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting on the Earth. Breathe slowly and deeply and imagine that you are growing roots from the base of your body deep down into the Earth. Each breath sends the roots deeper and deeper. The Earth’s energy is waiting for you, to nourish you. See the Earth’s energy spiral up the roots like a double helix, slowly moving upwards toward your body. This energy moves inside your body, around the outside of your body nourishing all parts of you. Continue this breathing and visualization until you feel nourished, nurtured, and refreshed.
- Come to Patty Jackson’s meditation class on Wednesdays from 11:45 to 12:45 at The Joyful Living Center.
The last weeks of summer are awaiting your magnificent creation just as much as your fall is. Carve out a minute of time for yourself so you can enjoy the last tendrils of summer. When you take care of yourself, you care of all those you come into contact with. In BIG LOVE & Creation! Tricia Engelking
6.26.08 1st blog! Finally I’m in participating in the proper century in regard to technology! Thanks Josh!
This week’s yoga classes were originally created with the intent of reminding us how it feels to be respected, adored, and cherished. When we feel these qualities, when we connect to them emotionally….we know & create the space for others to feel & know them about us. Teach people how to treat you by emotionally connecting to the qualities you are/desire. Utilize the softness of love to be your guide.
My massage clients teach me when they are on the massage mat. I received a whole bunch of new learnings this week!
- Connecting to the “I Love You.” Not only did the client who sent me this message respond to the massage/message well, so did I. I was physically exhausted after massaging & teaching a lot this week and it made all the difference in the world….Thank you!
- The other message was to forgive myself for not hearing information. I can forgive myself because the seed of change is sprouting and the information is being used somehow, some way, in some place. When it appears that I’m not listening/hearing….someone is because the energy behind the message is drawn in by whoever needs & wants it.
Thank you to ALL of my teachers! When your heart is open to love & mine is as well, we are one…Namaste! Tricia
