Spring Clean
Clean out the clutter in your mind, the clutter being held in your body and while your at it, clean the place in which you dwell, start with one space at a time. Whether its a little corner of your house or the whole garage.
Stay focused and clear it out! Remind yourself of what it is that is most important to you and your growth. Maybe reinvent your self in ways that feel stagnant or blah, or maybe have just been put aside for too long now. Make space for a clear perception of your intentions in moving forward and allow yourself time to celebrate being in the moment. This is a great time to begin a gratitude journal or get back to the one you found under all the clutter in the corner of your nightstand.
Our Mat practice
Beginning with any version of Sun salutations incorporating warriors and child's pose. Warriors poses remind us of our strength, and balance, and child's pose gives us a chance to look inward (which is not always easy, but essential for self growth) most important it reminds us to be patient.
Seek and find contentment within yourself. Rest with satisfaction that you set aside time for yourself to observe and get done what it is you intended to work through and complete, perhaps you will find something you thought you lost but was there all along.
Grow some grass, wheat grass!
Enjoy its beautiful green color, use it to juice or as a focus for meditation and a spring display in your home.
Wheat grass - Wheat grass is the sprouted grass of a wheat seed. Unlike the whole grain, because it has been sprouted, it no longer contains gluten or other common allergic agents. Wheat grass is super alkalizing and is excellent for promoting healthy blood. It normalizes the thyroid gland to stimulate metabolism thus assisting digestion and promoting weight loss due also to its high enzyme content and cleansing effect.
So much Love around
Kristin
This work includes the photo "Wheat Grass," available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, ©Deadicated.
This warm weather brings feelings of happiness in my heart. Although I love the winter fun, I'm so loving this warm weather, sunshine and springing ahead!
This week let us begin again in our best, learn from yesterday,c(the past) but don't get stuck there. Instead embrace the beauty of Being Human moving forward, and that in being human we must change and continue to grow. Isn't that what we are here for anyway—to live to our fullest potential?
"The more things change the more they SHINE" D.V
Oh and share something of yourself, something that you love so that it will grow too. Spread the good word, here is a little something I found and love, it's not mine I'll give you my heart in class, but I believe this song was intended for all of us:
Kristin
New MOON Practice
Why? Because it inspires me, reminding me to let go of what I no longer want or need to get to where I am going.
Swim inside your own being and find the illuminating place that is always present. Even if we can not see it because of the "stuff" piled over the top of it, making it difficult to see and feel.
First acknowledge that the illuminating place is within you, and then look inside yourself to see what exactly is fading the view or murking up your water
Second, get to it, change what habits have been driving you into a state of stagnation instead of fluidity and growth.
This change may be a familiar one or it may be brand new, either way make an effort to stay connected and practice awareness in all things.
-get out of the eddy and get into the flow-
See you in class, and if not, let this be an offering to your home practice.
Kristin Vance
week 10—Faith
By "keeping the faith" you express trust in yourself and something higher. You begin to surrender to process vs. being impatiently obsessed with outcomes. It is a knowing that your desires and intentions, or something better, will arrive when they are meant to. Faith develops when you incorporate these principles into daily living. Only direct experience will reinforce this faith. Once experienced, you are released from the finite limitations of trying and enjoy the infinite abundance of all which is already there. It is then that you fully understand that less effort attracts more.
This does not mean "do nothing and it will all work out", It simply means live with intention, live from a place within your heart and have faith. Trust. Be patient. Live with integrity and kindness. It will all work out and it will work in the timing it is meant to work out. Have faith in the possibility that you are a part of something Great and Magnificent, Marvelous and Infinite.
...in our yoga asana practice we will twist, and find balance, we will create space for the possibility of something great, magnificent, something marvelous, with faith in knowing it will manifest in the time that it is meant to arrive.
SO much to Love
Kristin Vance
week 9—The law of giving and receiving equally.
We covered this in practice the week before last, and basically, it is the Fluid Heart Yoga Mantra, Give Love and be willing to receive the love. Practice and do the things that you love and put love into the actions and opportunities that come about. Greet yourself with love and kindness everyday and give thanks for all of the abundance in your life.
week 8—The Law of Least Effort
Trying hard comes from fear and doubt and causes you to draw from the limited resources of your intellect. When you apply the law of least effort you draw from a much larger pool of resources; the creative faculties of imagination and intuition within your inner conscious mind. Trying hard bypasses the natural processes of incubation and illumination where inspiration is drawn. Least effort means less tension, anxiety, controlling, and more ease, trust and faith.
You just may land in the place of ease and contentment or you may find yourself easily put in the place you were meant to be in.
Let your Practice come from ease and less trying.
Force it is not a safe way to move into your body, you may not see the outcome right away but in the long run force and too much trying gets you further away from the source that is already, the wind at your back, and the constant ebb and flow inside you. Stay with that organic sweetness within yourself.
~Kristin Vance
Fluid Heart Yogi
Namaste
7th week of evoking our spiritual self and our greatness through Deserving
“You are born deserving of all good things. Look at a newborn baby. Is it worthy and deserving of love and happiness? Of course, are you worthy and deserving of love and happiness? Of course, know that if you think not, you have accepted a lie within your belief system from something or someone outside of you; an interpretation from an external source. Connect within the source of your spirit, which is complete, and embrace your worthiness. If you still have doubt, look at your baby picture and think this through again.”
Recently I put out a call to awaken something inside of myself. I know by practicing anything you become more familiar and stronger in that focus.
Part of this unfolding was simply allowing myself to acknowledge that I am deserving. In doing so my intentions are manifesting and showing up in my life again and again. Yes I fall off the positive train sometimes, and in practicing my awareness and focus I am able to see what shifts need to be made, witch risks are worth taking and how I can get back in the current of positive energy, which reminds me that I am deserving of all that is good and great.
In class we will warm up in a creative flow of sun and moon salutation (surya/chandra namaskar), because we deserve the sun, and the moon. 3 is the magic number here.
We will work to open through the back of our bodies in forward folding, to release any holding and create space of ease. Giving some focus to our manapura chakra, strengthening for confidence and balance.
See you in class
Kristin
“Feel the love being offered to you from the life that rises in your veins,
feel the love being offered to you in the sunlight that shines upon your home,
in the rains that fall upon the fields that provide your grains,
in the eyes of a child, partner, or friend.
The love available to you in each moment is more than enough to dissolve the subtle ties that bind you in illusion.
You are worthy, you are deserving of that love.”
~Ken Carey from The Third Millennium
"Speak the truth about who you are. Authentically and joyously share yourself with others. Hold the space that was carved out in this world authentically for you. No one else can fill that space… "
6th week of evoking our spiritual self and our greatness through Authenticity
Authenticity is fully accepting and loving yourself and your wholeness allows you to be 100% authentic. This means being fully responsible for yourself. Most of us think of responsibility as what we should be doing, or living up to someone else's standards. Responsibility means having the ability to respond, that is, trusting your feelings. Realize that there is nothing to fix. Being authentic is simply BEING who you are. This authenticity is highly attractive and draws people to you who are on the same page so to speak. That means that your life will be filled with effortless relationships. When you stop doubting yourself and stop living up to the expectations of others, your inner self-talk shifts from 'How am I doing' to 'How can I help?'. There are over 6 billion people on the planet, plenty of candidates for personal and business relationships that are natural and effortless.
— John Felitto - Mind Development Trainer & Coach and author of *Intentions*
Warming in Sun Salute.
Tree namaskar (or as the yogis say Surya Namaskar Vriksasana infused) playing with an array of Arm Balance asana.
Hold yourself as you are, the best of your ability today.
Infused and Inspired
Kristin Vance
Fluid Heart Yoga
5th week in the 10 week series of Spiritual Principles for Evoking Greatness
The Law of Resonance.
"Current scientific theory supports the notion that our essential nature is non-material and composed of vibrating energy. If you had two pianos in a room, whatever chord you strike on one will cause the other to vibrate the same chord. Your thoughts and actions carry this truth. If you carry love within you, you attract love to you. If you carry pity, hatred, anger, resentment you attract that as well."
Dear fellow seekers of better understanding of self and purpose,
Following the sometimes small, sometimes large openings in your life that come from a quiet part of yourself "your truth". You will hear it if you are willing to listen and not ignore this sacred part of you. I often reconnect to that part of myself through my yoga practice, and my creative practices. I feel the most alive when I am in a place of love.
Let's allow ourselves to move through the place inside us that is lead by light and divine love. From that place, much is in store for us, be prepared for destabilization, and find yourself shifting where necessary so that you can create some balance in each new experience, let yourself give the energy you wish to receive, be prepared for the seeds you have planted, if it is not resonating with your truth. Reconnect with your truth and find balance again. No excuses for blame, you have a choice.
Love Kristin
Fluid Heart Yoga LLC
"Resonance may be defined as the frequency at which an object most naturally wants to vibrate. One object may set another object in motion if it shares the same resonant frequency. "
The Law of Resonance which is closely interconnected and works in harmony with the "Law of Attraction" is the Universal Law which determines precisely what it is that you will attract into your life based on the resonance or frequency of of the energy that you are projecting.
"Within any seed is the hologram of both its potential and the fulfillment of its true nature. all possibility exists within the seed; it is informed directly from the ordered patterning of the light. That is to say, the perfect unfolding of a seed's potential is determined at each stage of its growth. Often we are caught in the maze of the mind, looking for answers when, through our innate tropism to the light, our perfect pattern of growth would unfold with joyful ease."
Through your own process of living and learning, you generate and plant various intentions and desires. As your natural growth pattern is catalyzed and awakened, your truth germinates in wisdom, emerging into the light in which all seeds flourish. Thus, as you plant your own truth, more truth comes to light. In this way, you create ever more fertile ground in which to explore and express all that you are."
~Ariel Spilsbury & Michael Bryner from The Mayan Oracle
4th week in the 10 week series of Spiritual Principles for Evoking Greatness
BEING PRESENT
"As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is."
― Ram DassBeing fully in the present is truly a gift, It is a gift to yourself as well as others. You literally create your future with your present thoughts and actions. When you are fully in the present, you have 100% of yourself involved, and remain alert to the opportunities which are present. The people you encounter subjectively sense whether or not you are fully with them. This has a great impact on the quality of your personal and business relationships
- John Felitto
Ram Dass said " We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another"...... I like that.
Staying present keeps us from clinging to the past and worrying about the future, so we can make decisions from our hearts with a clear mind instead of from fear. Yes there are times that we should plan for events and such in the future, as long as we stay open to changes that are bound to happen, and yes we can look at the past, so long as we learn from it and not dwell in it.
One of my most favorite songs By Mason Jennings, Be here now. Check it out if you would like. It pretty much sums up being present.
Beginning practice to release tension in neck and shoulders with a guided meditation
Warming in a Surya Namaskar, Virabadrasana (warrior) sequence and balance.
.....can you say Eka Pada Rajakapotasana? (One ,foot or leg ,king pigeon or dove)
Benefits
www.yogajournal.com is an excellent resource I use it often.
See you in class.
namaste
Week 3 - Non-Judgment.
Let go of the need to judge or label anything. This includes yourself, people and events. Instead of judging people or things as good or bad, consider processing it as valuable information. This information can then be applied toward whatever goals or intentions you have in your life. By removing the label and seeing the event as valuable information, one gains from the learning experience which will bring him/her to the next level of self and all experience as a whole. In doing so, one conserves an enormous volume of vital energy. When you cease to label the people you encounter, you become more compassionate and understanding of others and yourself as well.
Svadyaya is a basic foundation of yoga and any path of personal growth. It is the "study of the self," a delicate process that really is the only thing that will ultimately lead us toward positive change. It's not an easy practice, sometimes we look inside and find something we aren't sure we like, but we have to go inside and see it so we can make the changes that are necessary.
If we want to understand anything, then we have to study it. That's true for math, music and medicine and it's true for our selves too!
Studying our selves is the basic exercise for understanding our selves, and understanding our selves is the starting point for improving ourselves. Without a doubt, svadhyaya is a primary tool for personal growth.
This week in class practice Non Judgement, and let your practice self sudy go with you throughout your week and into your day to day life.
We will Unwind in practice
warming in variations of Surya Namaskar
Twists and balance, balance and twist.
Holding balance and spinal rotation as well as deep hip opening.
Namaste
Kristin
Gratitude.
When we focus on what we have vs what's missing, we shift from scarcity to abundance. The Universe is complete, nothing is missing. By simply aligning with this abundant completeness and having gratitude for what you already have, you are allowing yourself happiness and contentment. Santos ha is a Sanskrit word for Contentment, one of the Niyamas or observances in the 8 limb path of Yoga.
This is a good week to observe Contentment and practice Gratitude. As we come together and share our energy in our asana practice, let us focus and meditate on the feeling of gratitude, Allow your self to embody Santosha ha and taking these qualities off of our mat and into our lives.
Our desire to buy things which aren't absolutely necessary ensures future generations of humans will not attain a standard of living anywhere near what we enjoy today. That is greedy, and rude. What will they think of us? How would you explain it to them?
By learning to be happy with less, you just may find that so many possessions were merely complicating your life. You may find that few—but more special or unique—things trump multitudes of mediocre or common things. True, some material objects do make our lives easier, but they cannot bring us happiness, which must be found within.
As we attend parties and events of this holiday season, be mindful of the sweetness in less can be more fulfilling food for oir soul. The benefits from keeping ourselves from over eating, over drinking , over buying and over scheduling ourselves, in turn we will feel better and avoid the dark place the "over doing it" actions take us too.
Be Grateful and Be Content. When you feel overwhelmed with all that you have to get done, stop and meditate for a few moments on gratitude and contentment. perhaps some of those overwhelming things dont need anymore of your energy....
I feel grateful every day for the support and Love I see from all of you, the energy you bring and share, the dedication you have for your Yoga is pure and sweet and collectively it is Magnificent!. Thank you thank you for being a part of my life. I am grateful to have the opportunity to practice teaching yoga and the connections I have made along the way.
Namaste
Kristin
Sun and Moon Salutations to warm
Hip opening balance sequence as we move around our mats
unfolding, and evoking our greatness.
ending with a guided meditation of gratitude.
The first week of our 10 week series of Spiritual Principles for evoking Greatness begins with LOVE.
Love.
Love is the only true emotion; everything else is a reaction. Going beneath the roles we play, that is, boss, co-worker, sibling, parent, etc., we shatter the illusionof separateness and realize that we all have the same basic needs -- to be cared for, appreciated and loved. Being aware of this, we see the connectedness that unifies us all. This thing we call love goes beyond the romantic definition and speaks to all that is pure and positive. Call it God, universe, higher-self, it matters very little; the fact remains that this power is the ultimate expression of totally pure, unconditional love. It is within all of us and we have access to it through the simple action of intention. (Written by: John Felitto, Mind Development Trainer &Coach)
We will practice a basic flow with the intention of Love,
Sun salutaions
arm balance and heart opening postures.
"The Sanskrit name for the heart chakra is anahata, which means 'unbound.' It refers to how we can become free from the material measures of success.
Money , automobile, fame and fortune cease being the measurements of achievement.
Freedom, joyfulness and an abiding peace become the hallmarks of a person who dwells in his/her heart center."
-Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D from Shaman Healer, Sage
See you in class
Krisitn
As we move through the Holiday Season, to end this year and begin again, I thought it would be appropriate to review This way we get a chance to enjoy our holiday and this time of year from within, bringing a part of ourselves our spiritual self, into each experience.
As always take what you want from each weekly focus and what doesn't resonate with you, let it go. Hhowever be open, as you may be surprised by what moves through you, and in turn you give you energy towards.
INTENTION = Change the quality of your thought and in turn you will change the quality of your experience.
Ten Weeks of Spiritual principles for evoking our greatness.
Inspired by, John Felitto, trainer & coach
The observations we make with our five physical senses are so powerful, they convince us that external reality is the only reality that exists. This false assumption causes us to incessantly push ourselves to DO more and to HAVE more. Our physical environment becomes filled with more things, but our inner BEING is left unfulfilled. This inner emptiness drives us to double up our efforts to try and DO more. Although less obvious, our inner world is another true reality which seeks the deeper fulfillment of calmness, ease and peace. When fulfilled within your BEING, you tend to want less, need to DO less and ironically, attract and HAVE more! Furthermore, you have the presence of mind to more richly enjoy all of what you DO and HAVE.
So let's downshift from the incessant rushing and take a moment of mindfulness to review the following principles. If you are attracted to living these principles, avoid trying to implement them. Trying causes stress, which is counter-productive. Simply put your attention on one principle for a week each day. These principles are within you already. Your gentle attention will evoke these truths from within your heart and become increasingly present in your daily awareness.
"Yoga is the study of Balance, balance is home. The study of Yoga is not a religion, it's a philosophy of living and it compliments the goals of any spiritual tradition. A Spiritual practice is one that brings us full circle-not to a new self, but rather back to the essence of our true self"
As I found myself in a full circle moment this weekend, I wanted to focus on unfolding and coming home. Going about our days and working towards our goals, getting done what needs to be done. Completing or getting through them is one thing. It is quite another to go through and have presence and patience in each task, while going about our days. Being present, kind, loving and patient with ourselves will bring us full fulfilling moments teach us about ourselves, creating a full, healthy life lived well.
We will move around our yoga mat and find balance with patience and awareness.
Again and again ~ Return like mountain ~ Release like ocean ~ Relax like sky ~
and rest ~ Rest in the heart of pure awareness.
Chandra Namaskar, or MOON SALUTAION is the foundation of this weeks practice. As I have been inspired once again and again by the Moon and its Light, the constant change in shape sometimes lingering into the late mornings blue sky.
In a moon salutation we strengthen our moon (booty) the large muscles in the legs, and three of the main energy centers of our subtle bodies. Base (Muladhara), Sacral (Svadhisthara) and Solar Plexus (Manipura) Stay aware of these three energy centers noticing any sensation in your body. Be strong in your solar plexus to protect your back in lowering and lifting from squatting position. Six to eight moon salutes will warm your body and build energy for your practice.
In Practice this week we will play off of our moon salutation into twisting and unwinding. Also we will challenge ourselves in balance (ardah chandrasana and pasarita ardah chandrasana) half moon and revolved half moon. In twisting we give ourselves a chance to clear out and cleanse, massaging our internal organs and keeping a healthy spine.
As always remember to honor your own body never compare yourself, but push yourself to challenge your own practice. Full and Complete inhale and exhale.
See you in class, if you can't make it, give yourself a little bit of time to practice at home or anywhere. Kids love to see parents do yoga and they will join you be open to them playing and having fun while practicing, don't take it too seriously. It's supposed to be fun and inspired by the moment. That is the nature of Fluid Heart Yoga.
In light of the Moon and the Sun Kristin Vance Fluid Heart Yoga LLC
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Fluid Heart Yoga—Union of Hearts. Giving and receiving equally through this journey of life, continuing to grow and become the very best you can be, evolving into what you know and want to become. Established in 2010, Rooted By Kristin Vance.
Kristin has been teaching yoga since 2005 and you can catch a class with her here ›
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