Sacral Chakra 101

 

Now that we’ve established that we are safe and secure (see root chakra here) we can move on to considering how we actually feel.  Apparently we always want what we can’t have, just as soon as we are holding on and grounded we want to change and flow.  We naturally move towards pleasure, and thus away from pain, and this is what the sacral chakra is all about.  It is the center for all things feel good and sweet in life!

 

Location: In the lower abdomen, near the reproductive organs

Color: Orange

Physical: consider the location, but also remember this is the water chakra, so anything fluid: the reproductive organs, bladder & kidneys, and circulatory system, but also sacral plexus

Balanced:  in tune with your own feelings, creative, trusting

Unbalanced: emotionally unstable, manipulative, oversensitive, hard on yourself, guilt, addictive personality

Yoga: This is my most favorite way to work on this chakra.  This chakra is all about the flow, just like yoga.  The word emotion literally has the word motion in it.  For me it’s all about using the movement to filter the emotions through your body.  I love to use the poses to work through the feelings and toward the happy.  And just a reminder, this is not only reserved for negative emotions either.  Yoga is a fabulous way to embrace the good too.  Check this post  but here are some good ideas to work on this chakra specifically…. pigeon, happy baby, frog, triangle, dancer

Oil: it should make you feel creative….orange, tangerine, grapefruit, or citrus bliss blend are great choices

Stones: carnelian or topaz

Nutrition: all things orange, especially oranges (duh!), melons, papayas, mangos and pumpkin, but also hydrating fully with fresh clean water.

Affirmations: My life is flowing as it should, I am worthy of love and pleasure, I have a right to express myself creatively, I’m embracing change and moving towards happiness and 

Root Chakra 101

 

Let's start with the root chakra.

Our root chakra is our center for survival and stability.  If we don't feel grounded, centered, and secure with our basic needs none of the higher chakras can be happy and we really can't be then either, so this one is super important.  It is quite literally the base, think of it as a solid foundation on which to build up.

Location: base of spine

Color: red

Physical: bones, teeth, adrenals, fight or flight response, spine 

Balanced: safe and secure, calm strength, reassuring, in tune with abundance 

Unbalanced: fear, anxiousness, materialistic, lethargic, restless, spacey, chaotic, ineffective, greedy

Yours not quite on track? Here's some suggestions...

Yoga: Check this post .. but think grounding poses... child's pose, lotus, warrior 1, tree...

Oil: think woodsy and grounding... cedar wood, cypress, patchouli 

Stones: think red.... jasper, garnet, 

Nutrition: eating clean and nourishing food... again, think red...  peppers, apples, cherries, strawberries, etc, and also think proteins for strength...meats and beans.

Affirmations: I am safe, I am grounded, I am rooted, I am centered, I have enough, I am enough

10 Roads To Happy Chakras

A dear friend and I just did a reiki training yesterday.  Awesome! Eventually I'll do a post on it.

The reiki attunement was such an amazing experience!  And it kicks off an energetic cleans that works its way up through the chakras.  As this cleanse takes place for me and moves into each of my chakras I'm going to post that info for you guys that I talked about here.

But first I want to share/remind you of some ways to check in and bring balance to your chakras.  I want you to keep these ideas in mind as we work our way through your basic chakra system.  Remember definitely keep an open mind, but otherwise only keep want sounds and feels good to you. 

 

I can't stress enough how life changing it has been for me to take a good hard look at my chakra system!  Being a #gutsygirl I focus SOOOOO much on my physical body.  And while that's so important for everyone, it's just the vehicle that drives your #soul around.  There is so much more to your entire beautiful self!  Checking in with my #chakras helps me make sure my entire being, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, is functioning in top notch condition! 

These are some ways that I do just that! 

10 roads to #happychakras...

1. #Nutrition

2. #Aromatherapy

3. #Yoga

4. #DailyQuestions & #Journaling

5. #Affirmations

6. #Meditation

7. #Nature 

8. #CrystalHealing

9. #SacredSpace & #ColorTherapy

10. #SoundTherapy

#holistichealing #holistichealth #fillyourtankfirst #selflove #grateful #happy #blessed 

 

Here my gorgeous friend and I are being the playful Yogis that we are in the yoga room where we did the reiki training.  I am participating in an instagram 10 day yoga challenge through #yogabycandace and the #wildthing was the pose of the day.  So we snapped this cool picture to represent our sunny Sunday morning learning new things in the city.  Awesome reminder of an awesome memory! #namaslay 

Why love inversions?

 
This moment was one of my favorites of all time! Anyway... 

Do you love inversions? Hate them? More of a love hate thing?? 

I used to be scared of them.  Not scared to get hurt, but scared to fail, and that's the worst and most useless kind of scared.  I needed to get over it!!

I always tell the kiddos just try.  So I listened to my own words and I fell in love.

Why??

Here's 10 good reasons...

YES, there are tons of reasons that this physiologically helps your body... draining lymph fluids, circulation, balance, coordination... but I want to focus more on the mental side... 

And yes, of course they just look cool and photograph well... but there is soooooooo much more than that. 

1.  Perfect for teaching you the classic life lesson that when you fall you get up and try again... always try again! 

2.  Overcoming fears feels damn good!

3.  The kiddos (and some big people too) are so inspired by them.  I love sharing inspiration with them for their yoga!

4. Knowing you can hold yourself up physically makes you realize you can mentally too.

5.  My core can be a hot mess inside with all my digestive issues, and that tries to get in my head sometimes, but every time I do an inversion I prove that that core is way stronger than I think.  You are always stronger than you think and the proof is right here.

6. I said "I don't give a shit" to what people think of me.  Am I happy with my yoga? Yes! Do I do these to "show off"? Absolutely not! Previously, I didn't share because I didn't want people to think that about me.  But I realized even the people who can't stop and open their mind to the beauty of all these why's are inspired too.  Remember jealousy is flattery.

7.  It forces you to tune into your breathe, which is always, always, always important.

8.  It actually really challenges me.  Yoga has always been something that I was just naturally good at.  Like I was born and built to do it.  I don't care who you are, inversions are always at least a little bit challenging.  And that's a refreshing way to stay humble and grateful for what your body and mind can do.

9.  It forces you to stop and focus.  That's what you see in the picture below.  I was frazzled and overwhelmed... get inverted and I am balanced and centered again just like that.

10.  Sometimes you just need to change your perspective, and what better way than by hanging out upside down! 

 

Right here I have a full shop and full heart... but a full brain too! 

When I lose it, I find my zen by my vehicles, and usually upside down! 🙃 🏎

Just like I said above, it forces me to take a brain break, to focus and breathe, to find gratitude and balance. 

#yogi #zen #balance #strength #breathe #focus #gratitude #pontiac #g8 #liquidred #cargirl #stillplayswithcars #shinebykat

So, friends, be afraid, but don't let it stop you!  Try it, fall down, try again. Use a wall, who the hell cares?! Just do YOUR inversions... That's what it's all about! 

Here is a PERFECT example!

Look at this beautiful mama and her baby! I got the pleasure of teaching them both how to do that.  She didn't think she could do it, but I assured her she totally could and after walking her through it for not even five minutes she did it!  Now she has this precious picture of this amazing moment with her son!  So yes... just try damn it!! 

 

There is no room for competition on your yoga mat...

 

I'm not competing... I hope we all win... 

It's easy to look at the mat next to you and think why can he/she do that and I can't?  Well... lots of reasons.  Number one being that he/she is not you and doesn't have your body.  Duh! 

None of us are created the same... our bodies have the same parts put together relatively the same way, but the relatively part is EVERYTHING.  Our bones and muscles, connective tissues and organs, how we process our nutrition, how our nervous system is functioning on any given day... it's all variable.  We aren't made the same way, we don't think the same way, we don't fuel our bodies the same way, we don't have the same experiences both throughout our days or on our mats, and we certainly don't move the same way.  And that's where the beauty of yoga lies.  It is your yoga! Yours! Got me?

This is one of the reasons I LOVE teaching kids yoga.  In a world that is so full of competitive sports they need a physical outlet where they can just be, move, breathe, and have fun.  The beauty of kids yoga is that they still have the innocence to not give a shit.  Kenzie isn't looking at Clayton with a mind full of comparisons... she's too busy barking like a dog.  Why can't we do that??

Let's take some notes from the kiddos and try to check our egos at the door and leave the competition off the little islands of our yoga mats.  After all, that little island is reserved for peace and growth, strength, balance and flexibility, there's no room for competition.

Here are some little reminders/tips to help get your head out of your ass and into the right place.

1. Remember the kids can do it, so... so can you.
2. If you're too busy comparing you sure as hell aren't focused.  Focus baby!
3. Forcing is bad!  What someone may or (most likely) may not be thinking of you isn't worth getting hurt over.
4. It's your yoga... never forget that.  Be aware of your body and do whatever the hell you feel like doing.
5. Nobody is judging you, and if they are it's because they have issues of their own. Just do you thing! 
6. The end goal is for you to feel better mentally and physically after class than when you walked in the door... and competing isn't going to help get you there.
7. Comparison is the thief of joy.
8. There is no prize.
9. You are all on the same team.
10. There's really no finish line.  You are a work in progress always.  Just because you can't nail something that you perceive to be super important today doesn't mean you won't tomorrow.  Or maybe you'll come to the realization that it actually isn't all that important at all.  Whatever. It's a practice... duh, again!

Sometimes our mind still goes there.  If none of this works and you still feel the need to compete, acknowledge and deal with those thoughts... 

1. Remember: thoughts are just thoughts and they can be changed.
2. Consider why you feel that way... hmmmm... there must be something you feel that you need to be practicing more.
3. Think of the person you are "competing" with as an inspiration rather than a so called "opponent"
4. Tune your focus inward to what you are feeling instead of what you are thinking.  Thoughts can be dumb, just feel.
5. Recenter yourself and just breathe... when in doubt always just breathe!

There's my two cents on that! Namaste, my friends!! 😉🙏🏻 

Balance... these are words to live by!

Are we really positively sure that I didn't write this?! #rachelbrathen took my words! 😉😂

#words #balance

 

Orange You Glowing Juice

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter!  

Did anyone make these cookies ??

I did… and I ate A LOT of them! 

I don’t usually eat any refined sugar…

BUT Easter and Christmas are for cut out cookies, at least that’s what Grandma always said, and Grandmas know!  So I ate my cookies… and I drank a little less water and a little more wine than usual... 

Needless to say, my tummy isn’t used to all that and I was feeling kinda gunky and like I needed a bit of an immune system boost.  My eczema kinda freaks when my diet is off so I needed some skin loving alphabet vitamins too.  So this gorgeous and delicious juice was born.  All that vitamin A, C and those antioxidants were just what I needed to rehydrate with! 

 

Orange you Glowing Juice

6 Carrots

6 Strawberries

3 Cuties

 

Juice it all and drink up buttercup! 

What the F is a chakra?! And why should I care?!

 

I did a post on mindfulness and apparently you all needed that in your life.  One of the ways I mentioned that I personally use to return to myself is through a chakra scan.  Like a body scan, but for your chakras.  This forces you to check into what you have going on physically, but also mentally and emotionally too.  (Which, in reality is probably the root cause of most of your physical ailments anyway.) I've been asked for more info on this since my post so I'll give you a quick chakra 101 so you can try it too!  I'll do a post for each of seven basic chakras.  There are an endless number of chakras, but let's not get ourselves overwhelmed here.  Start simply!  I'll fill you in on what parts of our bodies and lives they coincide with and give you some easy ways to keep your chakras happy. 

But first of all... what the F is a chakra? This word is gaining some notoriety and I love it!!  Our society needs to become more attuned to what's going on on this level.  We live in a go go go and go faster world, and all that's getting us is sicker and stressed and dead faster.  No thanks!  We inhale fast food, forget to consider what it is or even chew it.  We don't sleep well or enough, hell we don't even take time to breathe.  Some of us try to manage all the stress.  We go to yoga, eat right, schedule massages, but we are still sick and tired and sick and tired of being that way.  This was me.  It's because there's so much more to you than just your physical body! Hello!!

I don't want you to think I'm preaching here, because I'm not.  Yes I have faith in religion, but this is not religion... it's science baby! 

And as a scientist, of course I believe in energy! Every single thing is made of energy.  So think of your chakra system as the anatomy of your energetic body.  Because you have an energetic body, remember everything is made of energy, that includes you and all the atoms that make up your cells, that make up your tissues, that make up your organs, and finally that make up YOU!  Just like the anatomy we are more familiar with, different parts of our energetic anatomy have different responsibilities and locations.  It's really that simple. Think of each chakra kinda like its own individual organ system, except it's an energy system.  In fact each chakra works in tandem with certain organs and glands.  More on that later... keepin' it simple for the moment.  For now just visualize your chakras as energy centers in your body.  Certain places where energy spins at its own frequency.  Like the colors in the rainbow... in fact a certain color represents each chakra just for this reason.  It's all physics!  Sometimes these energy centers are balanced and their rpms are right on target, other times their check engine light might come on and they need a little bit of a reset.  Many things cause this and this also causes many things.  Considering all the whats and whys can give you a lot of insight and healing in all aspects of your life.  So let's start considering!

I'll start with the root chakra and we will work our way up.  We will discuss what physical, mental, and emotional areas each chakra governs, and some fun ways to keep them happy. 

You don't even have to believe all the science behind this.  I wasn't sure how I felt about all this at first.  But considering that the solar plexus chakra is the center for digestive issues and also self esteem and I am a gutsy girl with a really sad eating disorder back story... I couldn't deny that connection or argue with the science.  You might get there too, might not, either way just decide considering more than just your physical self is important and use this as a road map for checking in with ALL areas of your life.

Stay tuned for this journey through your chakra system! Any questions you know where to find me!  

Mind full or mindful?! 10 ways to bring some mindfulness to your life starting right now!

 

If y'all are anything like me you have times where you are sure you are running on too many cylinders and you feel like you can't idle down.  Well get it together! 

Remember, taking care of ourselves mentally is just as important as physically.  Trust me, I know, I have colitis! If you don't take anything else from this post please just learn from my experience that stress literally destroys your body.  And at that point it doesn't matter how well you are eating or moving, stress is ruining all that hard work.  

Practicing mindfulness is a fabulous way to return to your self so you can be present and aware of all aspects of your fabulous being!  Here are some easy ways to get started...

1. Mindful breathing: I'm always gushing about the importance of breath work.  Taking a few minutes to simply focus on controlling our breath works wonders.  Breathe however you want, just focus on the inhale and the exhale.  This makes your parasympathetic nervous system so much happier and that in turn calms your whole nervous system and thus your whole body. 
2. Mindful stretching:  I wake up and be a dog and a cat... always!  Do whatever stretches feel glorious to you, and pay attention to how it feels in that moment.  Still feeling glorious everywhere? Where are you holding tension? Where are you tight? Any pain? 
3. Mindful eating: First of all I hope you are all eating breakfast! And when you do... don't inhale it, remember to chew, don't check your phone, don't play with your tablet, and for goodness sakes don't watch the news.  Focus on your nourishment.  Check in with your senses and really enjoy your first meal of the day.  The taste, texture, bright vibrant color of your smoothie or fresh fruit, the temperature, the smell... savor it all!
4. Senses aren't just for food: Become present in your own body and tune into the stimuli that are surrounding you.  What sounds do you hear? Can you smell anything? How does the weather feel? 
5. Acknowledge your thoughts without judgement:  Our minds wander, and that's ok.  Let the thoughts come and see them for what they are, just thoughts, then let them go.
6. Mindful gratitude: this is another of my faves.  I find it works best if I actually document it in a gratitude journal.  Take time to think of at least 3 things you are grateful for in this moment.  There's always something to be grateful for!
7. Body scan: Start at your feet and SLOWLY work your way up your legs, torso, arms, neck, and head.  Check in with each part of yourself and say hey, how you doin?
8. Chakra scan:  The same as above but for your energetic body.  I like to keep this simple, but you do need to have some general knowledge of your chakra system for this to work.  Start at your root chakra and work your way up through your sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and crown chakras.  Consider both mental and physical properties of each chakra as you go.
9. Mindfulness listening: I'm pretty for sure we are all guilty of responding without actually listening.  Pay attention when people speak to you. It's good for you, it's good for them.  This goes for music too.  How often have you listened to one of your fave songs and all of a sudden it's over and you don't remember hearing the second verse?  You love it... why would you not pay attention? You just missed out. Listen!
10. Mindfulness yoga:  you probably knew this was coming out of me! Next time you practice make sure you listen to your instructor.  Breathe when you are supposed to breathe.  And check in with your body.  How do you feel in that lunge.  Do you need to make it more challenging? Tone it down a bit? Listen to your body! 

I hope these ideas help you get less mind full and more mindful! Any suggestions? Leave them here!