Rope Yoga with Carrie

If you observe your mind, there is always noise. It begins the moment you open your eyes in the morning and carries on every single second until you close your eyes at night. Perhaps this chatter prevents you from drifting off to sleep. And when you do finally doze off, it may make that rest fitful. When you examine your mental chatter, you will quickly discern that this unending noise has patterns. One of the most powerful and prevalent is your Voice of Judgment. Over time, negative judgments start to accumulate. Eventually they form a huge barrier that sits squarely in front of you on the path to your ideal life.
During the day, try carrying around a journal—or a file, notebook, or sheet of paper. Categorize the types of mind chatter that assault or beguile. Do this for at least two weeks. Are there wild flights of fancy? Elaborate escapist dreams? If so, try to be specific about exactly what types of accomplishments you fantasize about.
The very act of observing it changes your mental chatter. Shoplifting drops dramatically when department stores install surveillance cameras and post signs that they have done so. Similarly, your mental chatter is less able to take you down destructive paths when you become consciously aware of it. JY 2009

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Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com 

Follow these steps and allow yourself to fall into a deep meditative state that will reveal a closer connection to the present and help calm you when you’re upset.
1. Breathe. Focusing on your breathing is an essential practice that draws your awareness inward and helps you experience the presence and flow of energy.
2. Relax. The more you relax, the more you deepen awareness of sensation.
3. Feel. Let your sense of feeling move beyond physical sensation. Acknowledge who you are as a being of energy.
4. Watch. Sense who you are as a witness; be a scientist observing phenomena arising in and around you.
5. Allow. Sense who you are with no preferences. Be present to the process of your life unfolding moment by moment.

YJ 2009

“In Buddhist philosophy, mudita is the third of the four brahmaviharas, the inner “divine abodes” of loving, compassion, joy, and equanimity that are every human being’s true nature. The term mudita is often narrowly translated as “sympathetic” or “altruistic” joy, the pleasure that comes when we delight in other people’s well-being rather than begrudge it. But since in practice it’s all but impossible to experience happiness for others unless we first develop the capacity to taste it in our own lives, many Buddhist teachers interpret mudita more broadly as referring to the inner fountain of infinite joy that is available to each of us at all times, regardless of our circumstances. The more deeply we drink from this fountain, the more secure we become in our own abundant happiness and the easier it then becomes for us to relish the joy of other people as well.

We’ve probably all had moments that have shown us that happiness has virtually nothing to do with the external circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the state of our minds and hearts. We can be drinking margaritas on a Caribbean beach, totally miserable; we can be late for work and stuck in freezing sleet in a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, overflowing with bliss.” YJ 2009

10 REASONS TO TRY YOGA FOR LIFE!

1. YOGA FOR STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. YOGA FOR PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through their practice of yoga.

3. YOGA FOR BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relation responses and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. YOGA FOR FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing the range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to  relieve back, neck, joint and muscles problems.

5. YOGA FOR INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga poses use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. YOGA FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. YOGA FOR IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and as a result of various postures, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. YOGA FOR CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. YOGA FOR FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind-body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. YOGA FOR INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin practice for other reasons have reported this to be the key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their lives.

It takes courage, faith and a tenderness toward yourself to live the kind of life you desire.

Sometimes, people will come your way, in pain, and say you can’t do this or that.

Strive ahead, keep reaching for what YOU want, what makes YOUR life valuable to YOU.

Don’t base your worth on another person’s expectations or definition of who they think you are.

Only YOU know.

Only you can create the kind of life you want to LIVE.

Contact me at carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

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Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com

Please Click on Image to Enlarge!

Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com