Done!!! I couldn’t feel more grateful – what a journey, what a week! Very intense, same time easy flowing. Flow is the right term, everything at the right time. No forcing, no judging. We just did it. Calm, peaceful, with a huge portion of passion. Great practice, touching ceremonies, yoga, breathwork, meditation, mindfulness.
But the best part was to share all this with stunning souls. Everyone so different, everyone in the same groove.
Thank you universe for giving me the courage to host my own yoga retreat. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done and I’m pretty sure, I will do it again!
Bali bliss to all you babes out there, keep on rocking, realize your dreams, fuck the doubts ✌️
Did you know, it’s named after the sage, Marichi, which means “ray of light” – isn’t it beautiful?
It is said to stimulate and calm the brain, while stretching the spine and shoulders. As one leg is placed in half lotus, it stimulates the colon and massages the abdominal organs, such as the liver and kidneys. Marichyasana B is associated with the manipura chakra and such a great posture for taking the attention and focus inwards.
These are the facts, however, for me it’s a pose to release. There are many different things to feel, a deep stretch here, a bit of pressure there, and I can feel my body slowly accepting and releasing. I’m facing steadiness and ease like in no other posture. Rather easy, but same time complex due to the combination of half lotus and binding.
Honestly, the only asana I breathe extra slow and sometimes I find myself counting and counting…. oh 5, yeah, it was 5 breath…. 🙂
„It’s not about forcing or willing your body, it’s actually so much more about listening.“ Kino McGregor
I love this. It’s all about tuning in, listen and allow things to happen. Yoga is a process and to force yourself into a posture will nothing but harm your body. Well honestly, your mind too, as you might get frustrated. Do good for yourself and stop getting attached to the perfect posture.
My students know quite well how much I repeat and remind them to focus on their breath, to follow it trough their bodies and to let the breath work for them. Through your breath you can lengthen, release, you can even go much deeper into a pose. But you must go internal. This might be difficult at the beginning, particularly when in class. Give it a try anyhow.
A good preparation is to meditate. Sit quiet and bring your full attention to your breath, nothing else. Feel your breath, watch it flowing through your body, maybe you can even hear it. Sharpen all your senses focussing on your breath.
In your next class, just do the same. Listen to your teacher, let the voice be your guide through the flow of poses, while you are on your journey inwards, with your breath as your beautiful travel companion.
Be patient and allow your practice step by step to become a moving meditation.
Think outside the box. What’s right, what’s wrong? Many of us think that they know exactly. We were educated to establish certain values; we learned the rules and we were told on how to behave. All teachers we had and still have are telling us the right way. Be aware, it’s only what they have been taught and/or what they believe in!
I’d like to encourage you to question everything. What a teacher tells you, what’s written in the books, what your parents, your partner or friends believe in. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but asking you to think about it. What does it mean to YOU, how does it fit into your world? Also ask yourself what do you believe in and is this really what you think or are you just repeating without any reflection? Not judging, but a healthy reflection, which is required to make up your own believes.
Think about it….. it’s worth it! And it’s well needed to find your own truth.
Am I talking about yoga? Of course! As a teacher, I tell my students how to access the postures, how to breathe, how to connect with their bodies and themselves. Am I telling the truth? Yes, from my point of view I do. It’s what I’ve learned and what I believe in. I don’t teach anything just following the books, it went through my reflection and is finally exactly what I believe in. Is it right for my students? If they don’t reflect and question, the answer is no. Everybody has to find ones’ own truth. All teachings are just a large bouquet of options, other people’s findings and their truth.
What about things that have been proved as right? Such as a certain medicine, that removes your pain? You might have experienced, that a medicine can help, but it doesn’t do each time. So is it true then? You decide.
Back to yoga. A simple physical example is the right posture. My opinion: there is no such thing as a perfect posture. What? Of course, we have pictures of super bendy yogis and descriptions from the great teachers and gurus – extremely useful guides! While trying to master a posture, we have to take our body and its capability into consideration. When practicing regularly the body changes, it gets more flexible and stronger, poses become easier and closer to that image of perfect. Finally, it will always be YOUR variation of the posture, even if it looks pretty much like in the books. It might not, that’s absolutely fine. Each body is different.
There’s only one truth: YOURS.
The most challenging practice is to pause. Terrible pain in my ribs released a huge moaning out of my mouth and made me fall on my face in chaturanga. Damn. Not again. I can’t practice asanas since two weeks and I’m close to freak out. I know, not very yogic. I miss my Ashtanga practice badly! At least some yin yoga postures are manageable and do the daily work to calm me down.
What do I have to learn? Patience. Trust. Let go. Looks like I’m getting this lesson once in a while the hard way. But hey, I take the challenge, I’m working on it. I meditate, sending my breath through all my cells. The good thing about it, I use the time to bring all my attention to the yoga off the mat. Read here what else yoga has to offer. There’s a lot to learn and to do and I have to admit, it’s time to invest a bit more time here!
And for the time being, getting up, is my ultimate yoga practice.
I didn’t manage to sleep last night and when the alarm told me to get up this morning, everything in me shouted loud and clear “NO!” Tuesday morning means an extra early start as I teach an early bird class. So no excuses. Luckily, traffic had mercy on me and I arrived early. It was still dark outside, candles were burning next to my mat and I sat in meditation. So grateful for this peaceful time, just to connect with myself, get settled and ready for class. I was waiting for my students, not expecting many to show up, as I had a few cancellations. This time of the year, people tend to be over busy, often driven by a do-more and be-more attitude, easily forgetting to take a moment to stop and breathe or an hour to practice asanas, getting some quiet and quality time next to the daily craziness….. However, I was surprised that finally just one student showed up.
Instead of being disappointed, I decided to embrace the situation and even felt blessed when my student agreed to practice together – what else works better than a nice Ashtanga practice to move in synchronicity! Even if time was limited, I enjoyed our beautiful flow through the vinyasas a lot. I’m so grateful for this unexpected opportunity!
Early morning practice and particularly getting myself upside down into a headstand always brings my world back to peace. What a shift into a most beautiful start into the day! Thanks for your flexibility B., it was a pleasure practicing with you!
„If you practice yoga to get better at practicing asana, you will quit.“
Of course we all want to get better and master certain postures. But Yogis, this happens automatically, you just need to show up, practice and do your best. Yoga is much more – I had a quite good teaching today.
I woke up this morning with a terrible headache. I could hardly get up and as it’s weekend, I allowed myself to stay a bit longer in bed. I had my lemon water, but the stabbing pain was still there. I practiced with the hope it might help. It was tough, not just due to the pain, but my full body was stiff and constantly asking for Shavasana.
All of a sudden I recognized that I mixed up the sequence, wrong order of what I’m used to practice each day. I stopped, that was crazy. And I had to laugh, I was distracted by thoughts and forgot where I was in the sequence. The more I practice mindfulness, the more I recognize what it means NOT to be in the present moment. I clearly wasn’t when I practiced and this affected my flow. Nothing major of course, but it made clear how easily it could lead to injuries when allowing the mind to wander.
I continued my practice with a better focus and my medicine was close – no, not Shavsana, but headstand. My bad headache was much better after turning upside down.
My practice today teached me about the importance of mindfulness. Practicing asanas was nothing but the means to an end. What happened today to me on the mat is happening off the mat exactly the same. Think about it. How often are your thoughts wandering and you’re not paying attention? Particularly when doing things you are used to, things that reached a state of routine or even automatism?
Commit to what you’re doing, fully and mindfully. And take your learnings from the mat off the mat.
There are usually two kinds of yogis: those who love Shavasana and those who skip it if any possible. Yogis, please don’t skip – and I know what I’m talking about, as I rather belong to the second group, particularly when practicing by myself at home.
Let me tell you a bit more about this final posture. Shavasana can be translated as corps pose. It’s said that Shavasana is a process of rebirth! How beautiful is that? Honestly, think about it! You are reborn after each practice…. Just this should already convince you to never skip again. But hey, there’s much more:
In Shavasana we are getting our bodies quite after practice, it’s the time to rest and release, to slip into a blissful neutrality and stillness. It’s also said that we need this time to get the practice and all learnings settled in and assimilate. Shavasana gives the nervous system a chance to integrate all the new neuromuscular information generated in the asana practice and prepares you to deal with daily life once again. So don’t underestimate the effect of this final posture.
While it looks easy, it might not be. It’s not a time to sleep and it takes practice and patience to surrender easily. It can be a challenge for the mind to get out of this “wasting of time” mode. Even if your body weaves easily into a relaxing state, allow your mind to follow. Send your thoughts away, just let them pass by. Stop moving, stop judging. Face the stillness and your own inner fear, which unconsciously rules many of your actions. Immerse into the friendly darkness and just be there, observe.
Yogis, allow Shavasana to do its work – to rejuvenate your body, mind, and spirit!
We had such a beautiful practice this morning! It was the Primary Series, together with my soul sister and it was literally this: soul related. We chanted the opening prayer together and from there just flowing through the asanas in perfect harmony. Our breath synchronized, like the asanas, even the vinyasas seamed to be twins. In the Ashtanga practice we say each breath initiates a movement. This was exactly the case, but it was doubled. Each of us in her own bubble, while both of us together, we were riding the waves of our breath, translated them into movement, whilst dancing a beautiful synchronicity.
This very peaceful and touching practice did not end with the closing. It was my companion throughout the day and I still feel it.
Give it a try yogis if you not already have, it’s such a stunning and touching energy! A led Ashtanga class is of course supposed to deliver exactly this, as everyone is following the teachers counts and should do exactly the same, same time, including breathing.
However, I never experienced this effect of synchronicity better than practicing with a close friend. Thanks soulsis for making my day!
TUNEin:YOGA 