Category Archives: Yoga

What to do when you don’t have a yoga mat!

Well here I am in France, I forgot to buy a yoga mat and I can’t understand a word the instructors are saying so I decided to skip the studio for now and practice at my hostel.

Only thing is I forgot my mat. For one I didn’t have the energy to lug around a mat nor did I want to take the chance of leaving it in France.  So I went ahead and left it back in Detroit.

Every time I travel I make sure to find the nearest yoga studio so I don’t skip a beat in my practice because to me it literally is my food, my medicine and my sanity.

Shit and after a 8 hour flight, a four hour train ride and a whole lot of frustration I needed to practice right away. Right away before I lost my damn mind.

So I waited until everyone cleared out the room this morning and I grabbed my towel, laid it out on the floor and hit child pose.

So yes, the moral of the story is….grab that damn towel and practice! You don’t need a fancy mat to practice your practice and you damn sure don’t need to go without your practice because you forgot your Lulelemon at the crib.

If it was warmer here and there was some damn grass I would have practiced in nature (it’s the most comfortable.)

Other thing you can do when you have forgotten your yoga mat and you don’t want to practice bare or on the grass….do all standing postures. Standing postures  are about 85% of your practice anyway so go for it!

Peace.

 

A Black Yoga Teacher In A Time Like This…

elevationHere I am about two hours away from teaching and I feel uneasy.

I am in deep thought  about what I’m going to say to a class that is 90% white people.

Will everyone look at me and know the pain I’m actually feeling along with so many others?

What is a class suppose to feel like after these fucked up situations happen? How am I going to teach about love and kindness when it feels like a lump in my throat is rising each moment I breathe.

I’ve thought of themes, I’ve thought of making a all black playlist, I’ve thought about getting it covered…shit I even thought about asking people to form a circle of love.

I sat here…wondering….shifting in thought…..

I found one answer…

I’m going to do nothing but be my simple and free self in this hour of peaceful time.

I am going to allow myself to be open and protected. I do know that when we can practice a moment of peace…take it.

What’s the heart chakra got to do with it?

Lately….

I’ve had to open my heart up more than ever before, some things that I thought I wouldn’t except I now do…no not the bad stuff I still have morals!

I am talking about softening my heart for the people I love in order to be there for them more. I had to realize that no one is perfect and if that’s the goal they are reaching for it will indeed take them a lifetime and some.

chakra4Softening the heart in order to be there for someone creates more beautiful karma, it does not make you weak it makes you stronger and wiser.

To be there for your true love ones you must open the fourth chakra which is the heart chakra! Closing off the energy that pumps to that special place causes stress, anxiety and so many other things that I will discuss down the line.

First off the heart chakra is located in the middle of your beautifully designed body, balancing the world of matter (lower three chakras) with the world of spirit (upper three chakras.) It’s location is at the center of the chest and includes the heart, cardiac plexus, thymus gland, lungs, and breasts, the heart chakra also rules the lymphatic system. Yes! this chakra is very vital to your sustainability.

It sits perfectly in this location for a reason just like the other six chakras that align the body in a perfect formation.

Like I stated above when your heart chakra is blocked you will know, you will begin to feel things 10x more intensely. When you are open, you are lubricating the heart with love which will allow the energy to flow freely towards this chakra. When you don’t you will feel jealously, anger, sadness, sort tempers and depression and overall you feel disappointed in yourself.

The beautiful thing about facing your heart chakra when it is closed is that you are able to overcome the grief that you are feeling by allowing yourself to open up. Of course at a time where you feel hopeless you aren’t really trying to hear about anything other than the sadness that is speaking volumes towards your spirit but you must force yourself out of the lower world and level up.

In order to come out of those grieving stages you can meditate, chant, do yoga and or go for a walk in nature (well those are the things I do when I notice I am blocking my heart chakra.) Most of the time I just need a minute to digest the feeling and proceed to the level up.

Do not repress your feelings! Let them flow outward so they can leave your spirit so you can began to work on what is needed to feel balanced again.

Yoga poses that help open up the area of the chest will also help to balance the heart chakra, poses such as crescent with the heart lifting towards the sky, cat and cow, gentle back bends, cobra, camel pose and wheel pose are just a few of many that will aid in the balance.

Also imagine your chakras like instruments and began to use mantras as a way to open up and release stagnant energy.

YAM(pronounced “yum”:  “The cleansing mantra for your Heart Chakra. You give and receive love through the energy center that is your heart chakra. If you’re not feeling loving, lovable, compassionate or experience relationship difficulties, you could use some YAM! Chant “YAM” to heal both the physical heart and the spiritual (emotional) heart center and open yourself up to unconditional love and compassion.” Credit: (http://blog.mindvalleyacademy.com/alternative-healing/using-chakra-mantras-unblock-energy)

The color that the heart chakra is associated with is green which is the color of nature. Green symbolizes harmony, creativity, health and wealth.  The gemstones associated with the heart chakra are emerald, malachite,  green tourmaline, moss agate, jade, and rose quartz. Use these gemstones as something tangible to work with. Use the greens to help balance the vibrations of the nervous system and this will help you gain more energy.

I hope this helps along your journey of openness, I wish you open and balanced chakras.

Peace.