Monday 28 October 2013

With Cup in Hand ~ Hafiz



With cup in hand, the Beloved one day walked into the Winehouse.
And with only a wink, intoxicated all those already drunk with wine.
The hoofprint of Your horse looked like the shape of the new moon,
And Your shadow shrunk the size of the cypress pine to human scale.
Can I say truly: ‘I exist,’ when I don’t know my true Self?
Can I truly say: ‘I don’t,’ when I’m expecting The Divine?
When You got up to leave, the hearts of those in the Winehouse sank.
When You sat back down, the cheer that went up was deafening.
If any perfume smells like musk, it’s because it was near Your hair.
If indigo is used to draw a fine blue rainbow, it was taken from the brow
Of Your eyes.
My life is like a candle that has burned all night, and has burned away:
And like the burned moth, I will not rest until I see the light of day.
O Beloved, come back, so that Hafez’s spent life will be returned to him;
Like an arrow, against all of nature, shot from his drunken bow.

Saturday 26 October 2013

Practice with Intention


We are coming to the close of 2013, and as we approach this close, some start to reflect on the year about to pass and what you wish to change or what potential resolutions you will make for 2014, what is your intention for you life?

Every year at this time I host a workshop or retreat with the intention to celebrate the year, in preparation for the new year on the horizon. I am preparing for my workshop Metamorphosis on the start of Diwali, which is a Hindu festival celebrating victory, the good conquering evil, which symbolically refers to the light of higher consciousness dispelling the darkness. This is a fertile time and the birth of hope shines bright at Diwali as you celebrate your light within and bring that forth into the new year.

In my forth coming workshop Metamorphosis, I’m inviting all attendees to become more conscious of the fundamental changes that have occurred. Like how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.

Contemplation:
How have you changed?
What evil, i.e the hardships and challenges have you overcome? or even what hardships are in this moment trying to overcome?

I invite you to observe that these challenges and the darkness are in fact the greatest blessings, like abhaya mudra (have no fear) and varada mudra (offering blessing) symbolism reveals. It is to sit in the midst of challenges with no fear, to not get draw in, to see that these challenges are the blessings as they help you to evolve, expand and come into your strength and courage and the truth of your true radiant essence.

Resolve to evolve
"It is through your body that you realize you are a spark of divinity." BKS Iyengar

Your yoga practice is the tool for understanding the body and mind more fully, to yoke all the diverse aspects of yourself thus you experience yourself more completely are able to be more present to the depth of who you truly are.  It is an opportunity to set an intention to step into the sacred, to step into the ritual and tend to the inner fire, to light up, to experience your self beyond the body and invoke into your body the space for
your awareness to experience freedom.

It is through your moment-to-moment awareness, choosing to move from the sacred that you act in ways, which reveal the highest and deepest offerings from within yourself.  
Every moment presents you with a choice, every interaction, every relationship offers you the chance to move the sacred from within, into the world.

When you begin to move with intention on the mat, and also gratefully use an intention it becomes a ritualized practice; I teach vinyasa yoga, Vinyasa means link movement with breath or place in a special way. When you place your hands and feet and move in an out of each asana with the breath leading the way, this moves the practice into one in which it all unites and becomes an embodied prayer that holds you in the present moment in your own divine heart. The whole practice becomes a meditation in motion with divine intent, you become one with the Divine and your own divinity ~ they are One! 

Sankalpa
A sankalpa in Sanskrit means resolve, determination or intention – it is;
  •  What you really wish to fulfill in this life.
  • It resonates precisely in your core and aligns sublimely with your essence.
  • It is a will power that is flexible and fluid enough to account for changing circumstances as the sankalpa begins to manifest in your inner and outer world.

It is natural to have desires and these are the fuel for you to realise your fullest potential, especially when you align your individual desires with that which is more universal

So as we approach the new year, a time of resolutions that are usually forgotten a little time after, the depth of a sankalpa is more conscious, it is an intention for your life to come to your fullest potential. 

It all begins with intention. 
Conscious change is composed of attention, awareness and intention

Your intention can be multilevel in its purpose ~ physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. A sankalpa helps you realize and awaken to your Divine nature, and co-create your life.

Why:  Setting an intention is a powerful way to harness the life giving energy of your practice towards your highest purest purpose.  Just as we work to align of our joints and muscles in yoga asana, we can choose to also align our spirit through sankalpa. It shifts your attitude towards the positive and that creates a change within you

The Upanishads state, “You are your deepest desire” [sankalpa]

As is your desire so is your intention. As is your intention so is your will. As is your will so is your deed. As is your deed so is your destiny. ~ Deepak Chopra

Types of sankalpas
Your sankalpa may be one of a heart felt desire, like “I am at peace” or “I am completely whole” or it maybe goal related ie something you wish to achieve. Initially this may be about giving something up or losing something ie stopping smoking or losing weight or getting fit. For these types of resolutions, you may like to look a little deeper, ask yourself why – you wish to lose weight to feel better about yourself to experience more self worth, self love, self appreication. Or stopping smoking, the desire is to feel more healthy and vibrant. So as you work with a sankalpa the deeper meaning would come forth, thus creating a sankalpa along the lines of ‘I love and value who I am” or “I live a healthy balanced life full of vibrancy”. The practices of yoga cleanse us, fuel us as we tend to the inner fire to burn away that which isn’t serving and so what you may start as one sankalpa, it may change and evolve to something deeper as your heart comes to truly realize its self.


Set an intention on what we wish to see happen – not based on fear – it is an intention that SEEks the highest – the sacred

How do you find your intention or sankalpa?
You start to communicate and listen to yourself. This can be done through meditation, or at the start of your day upon waking or at the beginning of a yoga practice when your teacher begins to centre and invites you to create and intention… have you heard this?

As you begin to plant seeds of intention that grow and become the foundation for your life and so you open the doors of experience.

Upon waking ~ I invite you to cOMmit to meet your higher Self each morning as you awaken…. simply lie in savasana before you get up and ask, your inner self


    Where do you wish me to go?
       What do you wish me to do?
       What do you wish me to say and to whom?

As you begin to cOMmune with the universe, your life will begin to witness the essence of your soul, your own divinity; then your radiance will express the meaningful intimacy of the Divine in each moment from waking. Imagine immersing yourself in the joy of victory that cOMes from starting each day with a POWERful practice, your sadhana and intention and every challenge becomes opportUNITY…

Meditation ~ here is a guided meditation that allows you to turn
within and listen, try not to give yourself a hard time, if the thoughts come in allow them to come in. the invitation is not to get on the merry-go-round of the thoughts, like ooo I got to do this and I ‘ve got to do that, or what shall I have for dinner or she was…. Etc etc – sound familiar? Thoughts are endless, it’s allowing them to come and go and observing and listening without judgement. They more you pratccie meditation, the easier it becomes to find a peace. Like de-fragging a computer of all the junk. So here’s the heart and breath meditation  ~ enjoy it!

Yoga practice ~ as you start your yoga and are taking time to centre, start to enquire what would you like to receive from my practice today? Or what can I offer out through my practice? Or allow my practice to show me a reveal to me my path? It’s your time use it wisely and consciously…

Creating your Sankalpa
Observe that the sankalpas are in the present tense as if achieved, rather than future I will. Your sankalpa is already present within, waiting to be seen, felt and heard. You need to start to listen from within.. then formulate your sankalpa.

Here’s some of my more recent one that arose as I made a sankalpa for each day over the Navratri festival, where I was immersed and rekindling the fire to connect to the Divine goddess within me. I had to let go of limiting beliefs to come into my full power so I am able to offer more to my clients, my faily, my partner, my life, the community

I needed to let go of fear, doubt and control and so I formulated these sankalpas after meditations and pujas over the nine days, here’s some, these sankalpas that held me each day
  • ·      I surrender, I love, I believe, I bow
  • ·      I flow with the light of the Goddess
  • ·      I pause, I breathe, I offer peace and love to all
  • ·      I, be the cup to hold, nurture and give
  • ·      I deeply trust the process & path of my life. I connect    with love, I let go of control


Finally
as you begin to listen from within, create a sankalpa and be with 
it for a day. then as you approach the new year of 2014 cultivate
a sankalpa and then use your sankalpa every day… nurture it so it comes to fruition, as you come more fully into the dept and truth of who you are. As you do, acknowledge that your sankalpa is in the service of something much greater that you or your life. Kindle the flame or recommit to rekindle so it fuels you to ignite your intention come alive. lastly always expression gratitude from the love in your heart for your sadhana, your sankalpa, your practice, your teachers, gurus, you life and all that fill it…


I, thank you immensely from my own heart...

Namaste
Michelle

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Find your Centre...


'Find your centre...' you may ask ~ 

"what is your centre or how do you find it?" 

Your #centre is the intangible place within your very being at your core, or for the tradition of Yoga the heart centre that mirrors the pure radiance of you. This centre is your sanctuary, a place to rest, reflect and take refuge in, and you especially feel it if you allow your mind and self get out the way. For some it may be a place where you connect to God, or the god of your own unique awareness  or your higher Self. the practices of Yoga helps you to (re)connect to your centre, the vinyasa flow is a meditation in motion, pranayama allow you to connect with the vital prana, life force within, calming the mind and taking you inwards.

The symbolism of the centre is ancient, a primordial symbol of returning to the source; for us ultimately what we all seek or truly long for us to return to the Oneness that is experienced when we return to  the centre, that feeling of coming home, to ourselves or feeling totally grounded and at ease in life.


Life pulls you in all the 10 directions… these are the 8 compass points plus there's above and below; this is the same for the mind on a daily basis, would you agree your mind swings back & forth going off on tangents, thinking about the past or future, seeking the meaning of it all as you try to grasp the best direction to take?  yes? well in the midst of these 10 directions as you seek to navigate your way through life and stay on your path or indeed find it, most forget the centre point, which isn't above or below or to the sides. The way back to #balance in life and in you is through your centre, the point within where heaven & earth meet, it's the sanctuary within that's is always available to you and offers renewal so you attain the natural equilibrium inherently yours.

This week at YogaRelax through the practices I invite you to explore your journey with new eyes,  navigate your way back to the centre, then take refuge there and connect to the essence of you. I invite you to follow yr breath and allow yourself to move from your centre. As you dwell in this sanctuary space at your centre and learn to abide more n more there, it reassures you, deepens trust in your intuition and allows you to connect deeply with the Bhava, the feeling and listen.

If you drift, this is normal, just be patient and compassionate to your self,  know this sanctuary of light is always there to return to and re-connect within. Through the practices you will recognise how it feels within your body, so you breath into it and from this space exhale with gratitude as you come home! Jai! 

So much more on your mats and also I will encourage you daily with inspiration on my YogaRelax Facebook Page or my Twitter page 


Enjoy the journey to the centre of YOU!

Namaste
Michelle x


Sunday 13 October 2013

Raw Cacao Chocolate

click here to watch
watch the video to make my infamous raw Cacao Chocolate

Liquid Chocolate
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons carob powder
1 tablespoon maca powder
1 tablespoon agave nectar
4 tablespoons of raw coconut oil (melted) maybe a bit more

Mix all of these ingredients together to form a liquid as in the video


extras you will need optional - 
fruit and nut chocolate sandwich or individual hearts or cups
goji berries
peanut butter

layer the chocolate, freeze, then spread peanut butter and pour another layer of chocolate and freeze again to set

hope you enjoy!

or come to my events and taste my chocolate as a treat after the yoga!

next event is 

Sunday 3 November ~ 2-30-5.30pm 

Metamorphosis - deLIGHTful Diwali, shine frOM the light within

how has your year, your life, or how have you transformed?

Remove the last remaining obstacles in your path so you taste the sweetness and reveal the true radiant beauty within you and step into 2014 triumphantly.

The light of higher knowledge will dispels your doubts. we will use strong flowing vinyasa practices weaving the asanas with pranayama into a rich blissful tapestry, supported and nurtured with mantra and mudras..

Join me  - BOOK now.... places limited


investment just £35


Look forward to sharing with you
Namaste 
Michelle x