Grounded? Yes! Restricted? No!
For many of us, a new year represents a blank slate, a Tabula Rasa. Imagine being able to “refresh” any or all areas of your life. Now visualize this table with two columns, Yes and No. You create your truest life by thoughtfully choosing what goes in the No column and what is a Yes. Everything you say YES to and everything you say NO to matters. What if your yes’s and no’s were tabulated and at the end of a day, week, year, lifetime, you could see how the data, otherwise known as your life, balanced out?
Think of it like playing a game. Each morning, start with a wide-open YES in your heart and make room on the table. As you go through your day making decisions, interacting with others and living your life, be aware of what you say No to and what Yes is automatically created out of that No. Conversely, what do you say Yes to and what is the No side of that decision? Before you go to sleep, check in with yourself and see if you feel balanced. You already posses the winning pieces of confidence, clarity, and integrity, so use them as you play.
No Table Yes is a pose we use to teach kids these concepts to kids. It is on the fourth floor, Balance Beam, of our Elevator Series. This floor represents the heart chakra. Balance begins with centering and softening the heart. Winning pieces in the game of life are cultivated in the heart. Courage and determination can’t be found in a textbook. Compassion and connection grow from the inside and only then can be expressed outwardly. When our heart chakra is open, these qualities can inform our mind and through our Yes’s and No’s, we create and live our truest life.Prepare to find freedom within boundaries. Say yes to life by breathng fully and expansively. Exhale and come on to your hands and knees shoulder width apart. Ground your clawed hands and your left shin to the earth. Inhale and curve your spine, bringing your right knee and forehead together. Hug into your basement. Say “No!” to your fears, doubts and old habits that are not serving you well. Exhale “Yes!” to something new as you stretch your head up and lift your right leg straight behind you. Keep your hips level. Inhale an bring your knee to forhead. “No!” Create boundaries. Establish confidence in what you believe. Keep the sides of your neck long. Exhale “Yes!” as you kick back. Feel free and expansive. Open to your possibiities. Your spine arches and curves as you continue with the right leg three more times. Try it fast, slow, soft and loud. Repeat five times with your left leg.
Sedef Dion who teaches a Pre-Grounded class at Springs Yoga shared with me the story of a four year old girl who in the cutest way mistakenly called Savasana….Lasagna. This inspired me to write a Savasana visualization with a Lasagna theme that Amy and I recently used to connect with our Fernbank Elementary Yoga Club students. After we did our practice complete with the Lasagna Savasana, one of our students..the Principal’s seven year old daughter said…”that was so relaxing…this could help me fall asleep at night”. Since it was her birthday that day, we wanted to put together a recording that her parents could play for her as she lays her head down for a good night rest after a long day.
Have you ever felt not worthy? Maybe you lacked Self-love or maybe you didn’t surround yourself with goodness at the time. Who we surround ourselves with is who we become. If we surround ourselves with downers we begin to feel down. If we surround ourselves with happy, joyous, and delightful people we become more happy and joyful. If we were to eat junk food every single day we would begin to feel down and ucky. When we eat healthier we experience delight and Self-love. Honor Your Self! Surround yourself with goodness. “The first step toward awareness is being willing to look at yourself and your life without judgment or self-criticism.” (Iyanla Vanzant) Awareness opens the heart to new possibilities.
