How Do YOU Connect....?

I hope this finds you in great spirits!



Do you ever think about the synchronicity of life?

The rhythms, the connections, the energy, the flow, how events happen, how you meet certain people at particular times?

I do, all the time and it got me thinking…

With the recent explosion of social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, I’ve been thinking about how effectively they bring people together. They reveal how interconnected the world actually is. It’s so much easier these days to make friends and network with people, even though you don’t know them personally. More than that, you might never have come into contact with these people in everyday life situations, yet through the internet you are able to share experiences and emotions.

Connections
A sign of modern times, social media sites, the internet, podcasts and blogging are wonderful tools that enable us to connect with so many more people. They provide us with unlimited potential to influence and engage. The spirit of social media is one of free-flowing communication within an expanding network. You can join a group and meet new people, or reply to a discussion that has been posted. Friends of friends can join in conversations or comment of what you have written if they are of the same mind-set or share your interests.

The online community is growing rapidly and people are learning, evolving and growing. Sharing greater interconnectedness helps to cultivate compassion and awareness, allowing us to learn, reciprocate, and share stories. We can keep up to date with someone in a distant culture and support them through their pain and their joys, even if we’ve not met them before. For relatives whether close to home or far away, it’s a wonderful tool to stay in touch.

The more we participate in these media, the more we become aware of how much we are linked on far deeper levels. It’s an awareness of a collective consciousness, which you as an individual are such a big part of. Life may be an individual journey, yet increasingly we are all being bought together through new technology.

My Experience
I have learnt so much through Facebook and find it a medium of great encouragement and understanding. I am a member of many groups that share insights, beliefs and encouragement, assisting everyone who reads posts to view life positively, creating peace and harmony. Even at the darkest of times in one’s life, a few words from someone who cares enough to get in touch can be supportive and uplifting. Or you may just read something that you find uplifting or supportive, at the exact time you need it.

We all want to be happy, experience life at its fullest, feel love and joy. With so many people sharing positive experiences, beliefs, and encouragement, support is extended to you and shows you how many other people are searching or experiencing what you are.

Social media has expanded my world in the way I practice and teach Yoga. In a most wonderful way, I am united with numerous people through our shared passion of Yoga. Through sharing I learn, evolve and expand and I pass on this growth to other people I teach or come into contact with. I find this cycle of sharing rewarding and beautiful.

Unity
This interconnectedness is not something new to me but rather it reaffirms my own beliefs. Everything is interrelated, every moment, every person, every event, are all in rhythm – like the solar system, the seasons, time. Everything is an aspect of unity.

This is why there are no coincidences - things happen because you create them, or draw them to you. For every cause, there is an effect. You are able to choose to make the world or Universe a beautiful place or to make things ugly. You are able to choose to think positively or think negatively. It’s your choice what you eat – healthy food or junk food.

Consider the word Yoga, it means union: union of body, mind and heart, union of Self and the Universe – this is not something outside of us. We’re all individuals on our own individual path, yet we are not merely our bodies, we have energy which pulsates, whether or not we are consciously aware of it.

Spanda is a Sanskrit term for the subtle creative pulse of the Universe as it manifests into the dynamism of living form. Spanda is translated as a throb or pulse, or to mean vibration, movement, or motion. It refers to the waves of activity coming forth from an unseen source of spontaneous expression, radiating not only from the centre outwards, but from everywhere all at once. Spanda might be eloquently described as the essence of a wave in the ocean of consciousness.

Expand beyond a limited concept
What distracts us from this simple understanding of unity and universal interconnectedness is our mind or our head; the doubts, beliefs, emotions and stresses of life, that pulls us away from our innate nature. Yoga creates the union of merging with our true self, our true nature of being whole, all knowing, pure and good. It is this innate Divine essence that we all inherently possess. It is expanding beyond our limited comcept of ourself.

Yoga is about creating a place where you have the space to connect to your highest potential. By going within and observing your flow of energy, your spirit, your pulse - Spanda, your radiance, your essence or your light and this is One with the Universe.

Everything is in a continuous state of expansion and contraction - all life pulsates with Divine Consciousness. Yoga postures may appear still, yet there is movement where the energy flows. This energy moves you to expand and go beyond your limits, creating space and freedom in your body, joints, lengthening and strengthening muscles. When we connect with this vibration, our spiritual Heart opens, we expand and we can move through life coming from love, joy and a real passion for the flow of Life; sharing our light and connection to the vibration within and all around .

You might think that we are all separate and perhaps you feel pulled in all different directions, physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually. Yoga is the means through which you come back together, where you can reconnect with your true Self or nature. You communicate with your Heart, with your inner self and let it move you, guide you and shine from this.

Practice, Power and Synchronise
Through the asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing) and meditation, through the intention and focus you can liberate your Self from the “baggage” of life stresses and reconnect as a person. The body is the instrument we have to experience life on this planet, it requires regular tuning; practicing Yoga helps you to tune in, to connect, to unite and synchronise, bringing joy and freedom.

Through opening up to your physical body and the power it possesses, you become more aware of your emotions, feelings, your inner strength, balance, stability, energy, and flexibility of mind grows as well as your physical well-being. You move, even vibrate differently, not only during Yoga practice, you bring your Yoga to everyday life and feel more whole; mentally, emotionally, spiritually and realise how much everything is interconnected.

The essence of Yoga is to realise our full potential or whole essence, every day, every moment, thus creating Yoga - creating union, creating synchronicity. Even as you share your experiences through social media tools, you exercise this union, this synchronicity. As your understanding reflects into your life, you will become aware that everything is indeed interconnected… How wonderful!

Namaste
Michelle
http://www.yogarelax.co.uk/
http://www.michellecross.co.uk/