Shake it Out

Well its been just over a week since the meditation/yoga challenge started. So far I am feeling pretty good though last night I was bagged and didn't feel like doing either so I just did a 20 min yin yoga sequence for the shoulders and a 2 minute meditation.

My meditation of choice for the last couple days has been crank the music and interpretive dance. If you even want to call it dance more like shaking and moving in weird ways that could be confused for seizing....

I feel like sometimes we all just need a really good shake down to let lose to let go and get out of our heads, get out of our own way. Sometimes I do need the peace of sitting with my breath or sitting with a mantra, but otherdays when I am feeling wound up, or to serious I just need to shake it out and lighten up. Life doesnt have to be so serious all the time! Yoga and meditation don't have to be serious, I especially think yoga should be fun! And as I have been learning in the last lil bit meditaion can be fun as well.

Of course there are times when you are going to have to put in the ground work in yoga to build strength or flexibility, just like anything in life. But for the most part if its not fun and you don't like it why are you doing it? I do yoga because I enjoy it, I have fun during my practice and feel great afterwards. In my meditation practice I am definantly in the ground work, I am a begginer meditator but I still feel the benefits of my mediation. I meditate when I can for how ever long I have time. I dont get up an hour early to sit on my cushion in lotus focusing on my breath... if I even thought I would have to do that I would give up before I started.

Meditation can be very accessible, you can meditate in the car when you are stuck behind a train for a few minutes, you can just take 2 minutes before bed to listen to your breath. Meditation doesn't have to be this huge lengthy ordeal to get the benefits from it.

Meditation in my opinion is anything that gets you out of your own head and into the moment you're in right NOW.

Lots of Love!
Happy Shaking

xxoo

Katie

Yoga/Meditation Challange Day 3

Yesterday morning I went to a friends yoga class in the morning, and her intention or theme for class was very fitting with my intention for this year. My intention being self acceptance and self love, her theme for class being strengthening your relationship with yourself. She made a very important statement that may seem obvious but maybe you haven't really thought about it before.

"Your relationship with yourself is the longest relationship you will ever have."

 WOW isn't that the truth. So if our relationship with our self is the longest one we will ever have why do we avoid working on it the most? Common sense would suggest we would improve and work on it more than any other relationship. If we have to spend so much time with ourselves why do we continually beat our selves up? Why is it harder to love our selves than it is to love someone else? We see the flaws and characters in other people and accept them why can't we accept ours?

We can. It just takes work, it takes small steps to teach yourself how to love you. At the beginning they definitely feel cheesy and stupid but like anything if you give them a fighting chance you may notice you start to feel more compassionate towards yourself, you start to feel more peaceful.

My meditation of choice for the past 3 days has been: Breathing in I LOVE MYSELF Breathing out I AM THAT. When I finish my seated meditation I thank myself for taking the time to sit and love, and accept me.

So another way to say my intention for 2013 is I am working on my relationship with me, I am getting to know me, I am growing my love for me.

peace & love
xoxo

Kate