A Foundation For Happiness: 4 Reasons To Smile More
When are undertaking the most rigorous processes to healing our insides, sometimes it's the simple things that can have the most profound impact. Smiling more is so basic, yet in this stressful world, we are having fewer reasons to smile every day. This means we've got to take it upon ourselves to practice the art of smiling more often. And if you haven't got many reasons to smile, here are a few reasons that will benefit you.
How Yoga Heals: Gabbi's Story
Gabbi was referred to me for weekly Reiki energy healing sessions. I also recommended gentle restorative yoga to help her body heal and to improve body awareness. Right before she came to see me, her arthritis inflamed and she threw out her back. She was curled into a ball in pain so she started researching yoga for sciatic nerve pain. She created a home practice that helped, so she was open to learning more yoga.
How to Do Kapalabhati - Breath of Fire Pranayama in Yoga (Video)
What is Kapalabhati?
- A form of breath control.
- In Sanskrit. Kapal means "skull" and "bhati" means "illuminating". The increase of oxygen and prone illuminates the skull, face, and skin! It's purifying for the frontal brain, as well.
- Part of the yogic principles of the body cleansing techniques - shatkarma. Therefore, it's cleaning as well as breath work.
- You focus on the exhales instead of the inhales (inhales happen naturally)
- Traditionally done for 3 rounds for 30 pumps of breath each round.
- A very meditative practice - aligns both hemispheres of the brain.
- Can be practiced daily.
Summer's Beginnings and the Inevitability of Letting Go
The theme that has been recurring for me the last few years of my life and especially in the last few weeks has been the idea that with every new beginning, there are inevitable endings. Each time I create my desires into form and manifest new opportunities, I must let go of other opportunities and miss out on things I created before or in other places of the world. We can't be in two places at once, after all. At least I haven't figured out how to be, yet. To create space for the new, there must be some old that gets squeezed out. And so the work is to create space for the new and to grieve what won't be anymore, and allowing ourself the time to release attachments to titles, situations, or belongings, seeing ourselves as independent of our circumstance so that we can truly be free to flow with the current of life.