One of the many gifts of practicing yoga is heightened body awareness, a clearer and deeper communication in the body-mind. The messages from the body can be subtle, discerned primarily through intuition. Some are very specific. Different emotional energies "live" in specific areas of the body. I will give a few specific examples and invite you to explore more information on this topic.

The chakra or energy center system of yoga and Ayurveda are very helpful in learning to understand where and how energy moves in the physical body. The lower three chakras are at the base of the spine, in the center of the lower abdomen, and behind the naval. These centers contain what we call the survival energies:  stability (1st Chakra), relationships/community (2nd Chakra), sense of self/will (3rd Chakra). For example, it is not unusual to experience discomfort or pain in your lower back, just below the waist, when you are fearful or having a specific crisis in your finances. Financial...

Once again I am feeling free to be me...well, beginning to feel free to be me. I live in Burbank and a week ago we reached just over 50% of our population being vaccinated. Yes!! Herd immunity, here we come! Can you tell I'm excited?

As we emerge more and more fully into personal freedom, there will be challenges - like shopping in a store rather than online or planning a trip that involves flying for the first time in over a year. Things we did without thinking will now make many of us nervous. That is perfectly natural after many months of giving up our freedom in order to allow time for vaccines to be developed, numbers to drop, etc. A close friend & I laughed on the phone recently about how we thought planning would mean something would actually take place - now we know better. Oh, we will still have fun dreaming and planning; we just won't be surprised if or when plans don't materialize into experiences. This is not a bad thing. It is simply more realistic.

Join me!...

Human beings are designed for balance.  Homeostasis is the natural mechanism that functions 100% of the time to establish and maintain balance.  It is an automatic and wonderfully complex process.  Physical, mental and emotional balance are all part of homeostasis . What affects one, affects all - whether that effect is toward health and wholeness or imbalance and dis-ease. My lifestyle choices can make it easier for my bodymind to achieve balance and wholeness. I exhaust it when my lifestyle choices undermine the bodymind process.

I can raise my own awareness by asking myself these questions:  Am I helping or hurting myself?  What are the patterns in my life?  What do I want to experience? Do the choices I make in any given moment support or undermine my fundamental desires?

Have you known someone who is faced with overwhelming life challenges and yet remains loving, kind and able to find joy in small ways? Do you wonder where they find the...