4 Ways to Awaken Your Light-Part 1
We're just days away from 2022, and there's no better time than now to shed all that doesn't serve you and make way to shine your brilliant light within you like never before.
It's easy to let events like COVID, tragic weather stories, and divisiveness cast a dark shadow over you, suppressing your light, your gifts, your joy. But what never changes is that your light is always within you.
In our upcoming 4-evening virtual retreat, "Awaken the Light Within You," that starts January 17th, you will be guided through various mindfulness practices, including conscious breathing and meditation, to empower you to open that door and release your light into the world.
Each day Live Free Yoga Co-founder, Mindfulness and Meditation Master, Tida Chambers, will focus her guidance on one of Live Free Yoga's 4-foundational pillars coupled with one of the universal elements:
Day 1: Strong Mind/Air
Day 2: Brave Heart/Water
Day 3: Wise Body/Earth
Day 4: Noble Spirit/Fire
Over the next 4 days, we will start our journey together to start our new year with a mindfulness practice associated with each pillar and element, just like the retreat.
So, today, let's begin to cultivate a Strong Mind through our breath (a.k.a. Air). A Strong Mind, among other things, is focused, clear, calm, purposeful, and adaptable. As we focus on our breath, we can become present, without worries of our past or our future. This presence clears the mind and allows us to become aware of our thoughts and emotions that could inhibit the development of a Strong Mind. It is in that awareness that we can become observers of those thoughts and emotions, instead of attached to them, making it easier to let them go.
Breath Awareness Practice:
Take a comfortable position such as sitting or lying down. Whatever feels good to you.
Put one hand over your heart and one over your naval (like the picture above).
Close your eyes (or take a soft gaze if you are uncomfortable closing your eyes).
Begin to notice what happens to your body as you breathe in and out.
Inhale-stomach rises, lungs and ribcage expand/Exhale-lungs compress, navel draws in.
Don't force anything - just notice.
If your mind wonders, silently say to yourself, "Thinking, Thinking" then return to your breath and silently say to yourself as you inhale, "Breathing in," and exhale, "Breathing out."
Continue this way for as long as you choose.
You don't need a lot of time for this practice. Even if you do it for one minute every day, you will begin to notice a change in how you approach challenges and respond to adverse situations. It allows you to take a pause, and use your Strong Mind to achieve whatever it is you want.
What a great way to set the stage for your New Year and a New You.
To help you get clear on what you need to shed from your life, join us for our 4-evening virtual yoga/meditation retreat Awaken the Light Within You starting January 17th. Click HERE to learn more and register.
Also, begin your journey to Awaken the Light Within You, with our gift to you - an audio meditation recording guided by Live Free Yoga's Co-founder and meditation master, Tida Chambers, taken straight from our virtual yoga/meditation retreat in October. Get a taste of the power of what you'll experience. Just click the link below to download.
Author, Phyllis Smith, is the Co-founder of Live Free Yoga, which provides yoga and mindfulness programs for youth and adults who serve them. She is also the co-creator of Lighter Being, a transformative mindfulness video series to help you find more balance, self-love, and a lighter state of being.
Photo by Kathy Tran
