Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can fly. When the stormy winds of life threaten to knock you down, may you have the courage to spread your wings and fly! No bird can fly without opening its wings, and no one can love without exposing their hearts. You’ve to…
— Read on semperleeyoga.org/2020/09/03/spread/
Tag: Resilience
Spread Your Wings And Fly
Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can fly. When the stormy winds of life threaten to knock you down, may you have the courage to spread your wings and fly!
No bird can fly without opening its wings, and no one can love without exposing their hearts.
You’ve to spread your wings if you really want to fly. Take risks, try new things, go places you haven’t gone, be willing to not know, be okay with making mistakes.
Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven. Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. Imagine what will happen to a child who’s not provided the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.
How to let go of what weighs you down?
Begin by learning to control your breath. Allowing yourself that awareness will provide you better physiological responses of relaxation in the midst of challenges.
Begin to meditate “To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrender.”
Embrace mindfulness, keeping yourself at the present will decrease unnecessary worries about what will happen tomorrow.
Embrace into the practice of yoga, it will help you to let go and release from mental and physical blockages that creates a sensation of carrying the world on your shoulders.
Becoming able to master both skills, is to surrender and winning at the same time. Because once you control the turbulence of you thoughts, you are able to let go anything that weighs you down. Hence you will go further than you could ever dreamed possible.
God will only push you off a cliff if He’s going to give you wings to fly.
Spread your wings of love, and let your mind fly to a distant land where love is the air of life.
Last but not least;
It was pride that changed angels into devils, it is humility that makes men as angels.
Namaste
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; Criminal Justice, BA; RYT-200 hrs; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; Spirit Guide Coach; Master Resilience Trainer.
How to embrace “The Hero’s Journey” in order to rebirth.
There are moments in life when we feel that we need to step out of something or someone that instead of nurturing our evolution towards a higher self, is dragging us back. Here is the thing, there is a gift we all have which is called discernment. We are energy and there is lots of scientific search and research that sustains it, you just have to navigate on the web in order to find it. So, I will not begin giving a class about that subject.
Being that said, when I took a course about Christ healing I learned about the existence of this precious gift we all have and I would like to share some of that.
Discernment works through our inner voice/intuition, awareness on this because sometimes our ego (representing our inner shadow struggles) https://wp.me/p7G3QF-qv, posted in mindfulness, yoga), begins to operate from our inner vulnerabilities to confuse us within a back and forth loop generating energy of self guilt and drama. That way this hold us back from letting go and move on towards a better version of ourselves finding a state of wellness anywhere else.
When you feel that something or someone brings to your life enlightenment, self-grow, self-love and even encourages any spiritual or religious practice that contributes to your resilience in a positive way; that… is an energy of high vibration which is closer to our “Higher Power” or “God”.
However, if it happens creating you disorientation, anxiety, guilt with self punishment orientation, constant isolation then is an energy that has roots from a low vibration which is obviously dragging you away from your “Higher Power” and source of inner and external love which as result ends up driving you into sorrow and unhappiness.
From my military background I learned about personal courage as an army value, that does not states there is absence of fear, instead teaches us to transmute that fear into a positive energy that will remind us to stay alert if engaged into combat during the darkness (looking forward to survive until dawn) by taking unfamiliar routes in order to succeed until the sun rises.
In summary do not be afraid to take an unfamiliar path. Sometimes they are the ones that take you to the best places. Allow yourself to embrace your inner Hero’s Journey.
Joseph Campbell developed a narratology to guide us into this journey, named “The Hero’s Journey” which is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis and comes home changed or transformed.
Campbell who was influenced by Carl Jung’s analytical psychology, used the monomyth to deconstruct and compare religions. In his famous book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), he describes the narrative pattern as follows:
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
Below is an illustration of this template and a breakdown of the steps.
1. Ordinary World:
This is where our Hero’s exists before our present story begins, oblivious of the adventures to come. It’s our comfort zone. Our everyday life where we learn crucial details about our true nature, capabilities and outlook on life. This anchors our Hero as a human, just like you and me, and makes it easier for us to identify with him and hence later, empathize with his plight.
2. Call To Adventure
Our adventure begins when we receive a call to action, such as a direct threat to our safety, our family, our way of life or to the peace of the community in which we live. It may not be as dramatic as a gunshot, but simply a phone call or conversation but whatever the call is, and however it manifests itself, it ultimately disrupts the comfort of our Ordinary World and presents a challenge or quest that must be undertaken.
3. Refusal Of The Call
Although we may be eager to accept the quest, at this stage we will have fears that need overcoming. Second thoughts or even deep personal doubts as to whether or not our Hero is up to the challenge. When this happens, we will refuse the call and as a result may suffer somehow. The problem we face may seem to much to handle and the comfort of home far more attractive than the perilous road ahead. This would also be our own response and once again helps us bond further with our reluctant Hero.
4. Meeting The Mentor “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”
At this crucial turning point we desperately need guidance and in serendipity the Universe (God) bring us a mentor figure who gives us something we need. Therefore we could be given an object of great importance, insight into the dilemma we face, wise advice, practical training or even self-confidence. Whatever the mentor provides us with it serves to dispel our doubts and fears encouraging the strength and courage we need to begin our quest. This is when our fears begin to transmute into personal courage, as I mentioned during my introduction.
5. Crossing The Threshold (the doorway)
Our Hero is now ready to act upon the call to adventure and truly begin the quest, whether it be physical, spiritual or emotional. We may go willingly or may be pushed, but either way we finally cross the threshold between the comfort zone and the challenge we are not familiar with, but represents the light or fulfillment into this quest. It may be leaving home for the first time in our life or just doing something we have always been scared to do. However the threshold presents itself, this action signifies our commitment to this journey.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
Now finally out of our comfort zone our Hero is confronted with an ever more difficult series of challenges that test us in a variety of ways. Obstacles are thrown across our path; whether they be physical hurdles or people sabotaging our progress, our Hero must overcome each challenge is presented along the journey towards the ultimate goal.
We need to find out who can be trusted and who can’t. Our Hero may earn allies and meet enemies who will, each in their own way, help prepare us for the greater ordeals yet to come. They will become our teachers as well. This is the stage where our skills and/or powers are tested and every obstacle that we face helps us gain a deeper insight into our character and ultimately identify with our Hero even more.
7. Approach To The Inmost Cave
The inmost cave may represent many things in our story such as an actual location in which lies a terrible danger or an inner conflict which up until now we have not had to face. As our Hero approaches the cave (solitude) we must make final preparations before taking that final leap into the great unknown.
At the threshold to the inmost cave we may once again face some of the doubts and fears that first surfaced upon the call to adventure. This means that we may need some time to reflect upon our journey and the treacherous road ahead in order to find the courage to continue. This brief respite helps the people around us to understand the magnitude of the ordeal that awaits us and escalates the tension in anticipation of our ultimate test.
8. Ordeal
The Supreme Ordeal may be a dangerous physical test or a deep inner crisis that we must face in order to survive or for the world in which we live to continue to exist. Whether it be facing our greatest fear or most deadly foe, we must draw upon all of our skills and experiences gathered upon the path to the inmost cave in order to overcome our most difficult challenge.
Only through some form of “death” we can be reborn, experiencing a metaphorical resurrection that somehow grants us greater power or insight necessary in order to fulfill our destiny. This is the high-point of our story and where everything we hold dear (emotional baggage) is put on the line. If our Hero fails, he will either die or live as he knows it will never be the same again.
9. Reward (Seizing The Sword)
After defeating the enemy, surviving death and finally overcoming our greatest personal challenge, we are ultimately transformed into a new state, emerging from battle as a stronger person and often with a prize.
The Reward may come in many forms:
An object of great importance or power, a secret, greater knowledge or insight, or even reconciliation with a loved one or ally.
Whatever the treasure, which may well facilitate our return to the Ordinary World, that when we must quickly put celebrations aside and prepare for the last leg of his journey.
10. The Road Back
This stage represents a reverse echo of the Call to Adventure in which we had to cross the first threshold. Now we must return home with our reward but this time the anticipation of danger is replaced with that of acclaim and perhaps vindication, absolution or even exoneration.
But our Hero’s journey is not yet over and we may still need one last push back into the Ordinary World. The moment before we finally commit to the last stage of our journey may be a moment in which we must choose between our own personal objective and that of a Higher Cause.
11. Resurrection
This is the climax in which our Hero must have the final and most dangerous encounter with the metaphorical death. The final battle also represents something far greater than our own existence with its outcome having far-reaching consequences to our Ordinary World and the lives of those we left behind.
If we fail, others will suffer and this not only places more weight upon our shoulders but in a movie, grips the audience so that they too feel part of the conflict and share our Hero’s hopes, fears and trepidation. Ultimately our Hero will succeed, destroy the (inner) enemy and emerge from battle cleansed and reborn.
12. Return With The Elixir
This is the final stage of our journey in which we return home to our Ordinary World a changed human being. We will have grown as a person, learned many things, faced many terrible dangers and even death but now looks forward to the start of a new life.
Our return may bring fresh hope to those we left behind, a direct solution to their problems or perhaps a new perspective for everyone to consider.
The final reward that we obtains may be literal or metaphoric.
It could be a cause for celebration, self-realization or an end to strife, but whatever it is it represents three things:
• Change
• Success
• Proof of our journey.
The return home also signals the need for resolution for the story’s other key players.
Our doubters or enemies will be ostracized, and our allies rewarded.
Ultimately we will return to where we started with a better version of ourselves and things will clearly never be the same again.
Last but not least;
“Hard times don’t create heroes. It is when the “hero” within us is revealed.”
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; Criminal Justice, BA; RYT-200 hrs; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; Spirit Guide Coach; Master Resilience Trainer.
References;
1. https://innerpeaceouterjoy.com/the-heros-journey-an-archetypal-blueprint-for-our-lives/
2. Owning Your Shadow ( Robert A. Johnson) First edition.
To heal a wound, you need to stop touching it.
The best thing you can do today is to enjoy what is here in your life. Bringing yourself to the present is one of the best gifts you can do to yourself, if you want to love yourself embracing a journey to heal a wound from your past… Focus on your blessings and if there is a thought that is not in alignment to your blessings, visualize that you are holding a helium ballon with that uncomfortable thought that will erode your cells tissue (if you keep holding on to it) and allow yourself to let it go inside the helium ballon to the Universe in order to transmute into something positive.
Gently close your eyes and repite:
“I have so many blessings in front of me that are waiting to be enjoyed. I am free from everything that used to weigh me down and cause me stress. This chapter of my life is the greatest one yet.”
When a past event or trauma affects our lives to a point that it makes it hard to bring us back to the present moment with enough resilience to empower us to keep hunting for the good stuff out of our past experiences and it affects our physical health we might consider to approach a professional mental health or even a Life coach as complementary support.
Remember if God sent a woman to partner the first person he created, the message is that there are moments in life when we will need help from someone. The military calls that “The Buddy System”.
Keep in mind that when we nurture and keep a grateful heart we attract more to be grateful for.
You can monitor yourself with the following signs in order to see your progress when you decide to heal from a past experience and begin to feel ready to move on:
1. You become more observing even to the existence of birds hovering around when you are walking, because you inner peace will allow you to do so.
2. You become less judging.
3. You become more responding positively and less reacting.
4. You develop more self love.
5. You learn progressively how to stop self sabotage.
6. You learn how to set healthy boundaries.
7. You learn to forgive yourself another without resentments.
8. You develop progressively inner peace.
9. You become careful and protect yourself from inner and outer chaos caused by negative or toxic people.
10. You develop more clarity and less confusion.
11. You develop more faith and less fear.
Last but not least;
“The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” ― Caroline Myss
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; Criminal Justice, BA; RYT-200 hrs; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; Spirit Guide Coach; Master Resilience Trainer.
Learn About Your Five Layers of Being.
Have you participated in a yoga class, and your teacher guides you (during the integration process) to scan yourself seated in sukhasana pose?
During my teacher’s training I could not understand this. I even felt some kind of reactivity to the subject; what I didn’t know (back then) about, was the kind of amazing inner tool for self-transformation and empowerment I had been introduced.
First ask yourself the following two questions:
Have you exercised your subtle body yet? Or your causal body?
The great Spiritual Masters throughout the ages have taught that we are not just what we see reflected in the mirror.
The enlightened teachers from all ages and cultures have taught us that we are much more than just our physical body and that our Being is composed of multiple layers or dimensions.
We posses as human beings the potential to have experiences outside of the known physical layer of reality.
Although these experiences are not always easy to prove, there is a mounting preponderance of evidence that we do in fact have an astral or energetic body, and furthermore that all humans are interconnected in a complex field of Consciousness outside the bounds of space-time.
Hence, this wouldn’t be a better explanation to the physical lightness sensation of someone extremely relaxed while in savasana (final part of a yoga class) or during a reiki therapy (which targets the overall wellness and balance of our energetic body).
According to the yoga tradition, every one of us has five bodies, each made of increasingly finer grades of energy. And if we intend to live a fully balanced, healthy life, it tells us, all our bodies need to be kept in good condition.
Yoga teaches us, that every one of us has five bodies, each made of increasingly finer grades of energy.
Exactly and indeed, energy.
The five progressively subtler bodies that compose our personality are described in a yoga classic called the Taittiriya Upanishad:
Human beings consist of a material body built from the food they eat.
Those who care for this body are nourished by the universe itself.
Also inside there is another body made of life energy. It fills the physical body and takes its shape.
Those who treat this vital force as divine experience excellent health and longevity because this energy is the source of physical life.
Within the vital force is yet another body, this one made of thought energy.
It fills the two denser bodies and has the same shape.
Those who understand and control the mental body become able to fully control their fears.
Deeper still lies another body comprised of intellect.
It permeates the three denser bodies and assumes the same form.
Those who establish their awarenes on their intellect, free themselves from unhealthy thoughts and actions, and develop the self-control necessary to achieve their goals.
Hidden inside it is yet a subtler body, composed of pure joy.
It pervades the other bodies and shares the same shape.
It is experienced as happiness, delight, and bliss.
In other words it’s a Samadhi Yoga experience.
Samadhi is blissful.
The above structure is called koshas, or “sheaths,” in Sanskrit, because each fits in the next like a sword in a scabbard.
Only the densest is made of matter as we know it; the other four are energy states invisible to the physical eye, though we can easily sense their presence inside us when we pay close attention.
Since the inner bodies are the source of our well-being during life and are the vehicles we travel in after death, India’s ancient yogis developed specific exercises to strengthen and tone each one in turn.
Your First Body is your physical.
Annamaya kosha in yoga,
maya means “made of”
anna means “food” or “physical matter
Your Second Body is the organizing field that holds your material body together.
This is the life energy that governs your biological processes, from breathing to digestion to the circulation of your blood.
It’s called chi in Chinese medicine and prana in yoga.
Acupuncture and homeopathy don’t directly affect your physical body; they work on the vital force that activates and sustains it.
Orthodox physicians in the West recognized the importance of the vital force up till the 19th century, but with the development of sulfa drugs and antibiotics, their attention shifted from the energy states underlying human biology to focus exclusively on the physical body itself.
The second, and energy body is called the prana-maya kosha in yoga.
When it ceases to function your physical body can no longer operate.
Your heart and lungs stop working and your cells begin to disintegrate.
In Western culture we strongly identify with our material body, yet without prana supporting and directing it, it can’t survive more than a few minutes.
Yoga devotes an entire class of practices called pranayama to replenishing the vitality of the pranamaya kosha.
Breathing Exercises like:
Diaphragmatic
Complete yogic breath Ujjayi
Alternate nostril breathing
Are specifically designed to enhance the proper functioning of your second sheath.
In addition, getting plenty of fresh air and sunlight is essential for maintaining the health of the vital force.
Yoga texts explain that the sun is the ultimate source of prana.
Furthermore, is also explained that fresh whole foods are a major source of prana.
Your Third Body
Manomaya kosha which is body made of thought processes.
Hence your mental body, which responsible for our sensory and motor activities and our day-to-day awareness when we’re functioning “on automatic.
It processes input from our five senses and responds reflexively.
When we move through life passively, reacting to our environment rather than actively shaping it, our awareness is focused here.
Many people, and most animals, routinely operate at this level.
In the West we associate our routine mental state with the brain, but according to yoga the entire nervous system (including the brain) merely mediates the activity of the manomaya kosha, expressing the commands of this higher energy state through the physical body.
Visualize a patient in a coma, and you will be able to have a clear sense of what the mental body.
Their second sheath is still operating so their heart continues to pump and their lungs expand and contract.
But the person has no awareness of the external world and no ability to take action because the activity of the mental body has shut down.
The pranamaya kohsa operates from the moment of our first breath to our last.
Manomaya kosha shuts down temporarily on a daily basis, regenerating itself during the state of deep sleep.
The health of the manomaya kosha is tremendously enhanced through the practice of mantra meditation.
This soothes and balances this inner body, and helps release “knots” of energy tied up in mental complexes and obsessive thoughts.
Yogis who spend a great deal of time in meditation often have very little need for sleep, in part because their mental vehicles are functioning optimally, like a car that’s just had a tune-up.
The mental body “feeds” on the sense impressions we offer it.
If we supply our third sheath with a continual stream of violent TV shows and video games, for example, it begins to crave increasingly aggressive forms of stimulation, and may become more agitated and less sensitive to the suffering of others.
If we “stuff” it with too much work or too much play we may experience a form of mental “indigestion,” leaving us feeling exhausted. A harmonious environment, interesting professional challenges, and fun and supportive relationships offer an ideal diet for the mind.
A daily session of pratyahara, or sensory withdrawal, leading into meditation provides an excellent inner tune-up.
The practice of blindfolded yoga also provides a great inner tune-up to manomaya kosha.
Your Fourth Body
Subtler still is the vijnanamaya kosha (vijnana means “the power of judgment or discernment”).
It’s often translated as “intellect,” but the real meaning is broader, encompassing all the functions of the higher mind, including conscience and will.
This is the part during the integration of the class when I guide the student to evolve in wisdom throughout their higher state of consciousness by setting their class intention. Which ultimately is the reason that brings them to their yoga mat at least twice or three times a week, embracing their journey for a higher self.
It may be easier to understand the distinction between the third sheath or mental body and the fourth sheath or intellectual body by taking a look at those in whom the vijnanamaya kosha is underdeveloped.
One such type is someone who doesn’t seem to be in control of her (his) life, who is constantly reacting to circumstances rather than making a decision and responding proactively.
This kind of person has a hard time making up her or his mind, thinking genuinely or being creative. Hence there is very little willpower and is continually the victim of her or his own poor judgment.
Another example of a deficient fourth sheath is someone without strong personal ethics.
He may attend religious services and speak piously about moral values, but when the opportunity arises to benefit himself at the expense of others, he doesn’t hesitate to act.
His ability to discern between right and wrong is weak; conscience is a platitude rather than a living experience for him.
An activated fourth sheath is what distinguishes human beings from animals.
Only humans have the ability to direct their own lives, free from the promptings of instinct, and to make moral choices.
The sages considered the development of a healthy vijnanamaya kosha so important that they placed the exercises for it at the very beginning of the yoga system.
These are the yamas and niyamas, commitments every yoga student is asked to make:
Not to
• harm
• lie
• steal
• overindulge or desire more than you actually need; instead you are asked to be content, pure, self-disciplined, studious, and devoted.
Jnana yoga also works with this kosha.
This is the path of the intellect in which you are advised to study spiritual truths, contemplate them deeply, and finally incorporate them into the very core of your personality.
On this path your spiritual understanding becomes the “food” with which you nourish your intellect.
As your meditation practice deepens over the months and years, your ability to connect with inner guidance is enhanced.
You begin to experience the events in your life, even the painful ones, in a calm and objective manner.
Your yogic lifestyle, contemplation, and meditation lead to clarity of judgment, greater intuitive insight, and increased willpower as your vijnanamaya kosha grows stronger and more balanced.
Your Fifth Body
In the vast majority of humans, the fifth sheath is totally underdeveloped.
This is the anandamaya kosha, the subtlemost body which is experienced as ananda (spiritual bliss).
Generally only saints, sages, and genuine mystics have done the inner work necessary to make ananda a living part of their daily experience, and most people are hardly even aware that this level of consciousness exists within themselves.
The anandamaya kosha is extremely important in yoga because it’s the final and thinnest veil standing between our ordinary awareness and our higher Self.
Many individuals who’ve had near-death experiences (NDE) have reported experiencing a brilliant white light radiating all-embracing wisdom and unconditional love. A peaceful feeling from that white light that could make the way back to a grounding state hard to embrace. It’s the utmost connection to the Divine.
This is the experience of the anandamaya kosha.
Saints and mystics purify their minds so that they can have this experience throughout life, not just for a fleeting moment at death.
Another example from the tantric tradition, spirit is often symbolized as Shiva, the transcendent Lord who is ever immersed in divine consciousness.
Matter/energy is called Shakti, the Supreme Goddess whose divine body is this entire universe.
It’s said that they love each other with unspeakable intensity.
Their supreme love is experienced in the anandamaya kosha, where spirit and matter passionately embrace.
We can awaken our bliss sheath through three practices:
1. Seva, selfless service.
This opens our heart to our innate unity with other beings.
2. Bhakti yoga, devotion to God.
This opens our heart to our unity with the all-pervading Divine Being.
3. Samadhi, intensely focused meditation, which opens our heart to our own divine being.
I was certified as a yoga teacher from Samadhi Yoga Institute (Samadhi’s Method) which provides a flexible and creative yoga teaching somatic format.
As result the magical transformation that takes place into a human being when opening the heart to his or her divine being is an experience that stimulates a lot of inner resilience, and as previously explained it is a structured subtle work as result of body scanning our Five Layers Of Being.
Always remember that you are a multidimensional creature. Your awareness manifests on many different planes.
Yoga introduces you to yourself and trains you to live fully and gracefully at every level of your being.
From the hatha postures that strengthen and tone your physical body to the breathing exercises that balance and vitalize your life force, from the meditation practice that quiets and clears your mind to the self-study and selfless love that open up an inner world of knowledge and unity, yoga is a holistic system that develops and integrates every part of your personality.
By getting to know your five bodies and the inner Self (whose awareness illumines them all), you can experience the health and fulfillment of an enlightened life.
If you still find hard to resonate with the above description of the koshas, see yourself as an onion with only five layers, having each layer a different and important ingredient that will improve your cooking with a much better taste (your higher self).
Experiencing Your Five Sheaths
The five sheaths are not theoretical constructs. They are real parts of your being that you can actually experience.
The following eight-step exercise will help you get a fuller sense of these inner dimensions of your personality.
Sit comfortably with your head, neck, and trunk in a straight line.
Sit upright softening your face.
You’ll feel both alert and relaxed.
Close your eyes, withdrawing your awareness from the sights and sounds around you.
Bring your full attention to your physical body.
Be aware of your head and shoulders, chest and waist, back and abdomen, arms and legs.
This is your annamaya kosha.
Bring your full attention to the point between your nostrils and feel yourself breathe.
Gradually your breath will flow more slowly, smoothly, and quietly.
Be aware of the energy pulsing through your body. It’s making your heart beat, your lungs expand and contract, the blood course through your veins, your stomach gurgle.
The force orchestrating this movement—not your physical body itself—is your prana-maya kosha.
Allow your awareness into your brain. Pay attention to the part of your awareness that’s regulating your sensory input and motor output.
This is the part of you that notices your nose is itching and orders your hand to scratch it.
It notes that you’re uncomfortable sitting in one position for so long and wants you to move your legs.
It generates the reflexive mental chatter that continually fires through your mind.
This is your manomaya kosha.
Lift your awareness higher inside your skull.
Sense the part of your awareness that consciously made the decision to participate in this exercise and right now is commanding you to sit still and complete it.
It recognizes the value of expanding your self-awareness and compels you to get up early in the morning to do your yoga postures and meditation, even though lazing in bed might be more pleasant.
This is your vijnanamaya kosha.
Center your awareness in your heart. Relax deeply; keep breathing smoothly and evenly.
Now, taking as much time as you need, allow yourself to settle into a state of complete tranquility.
Buried deep in that inner peace is a sense of purest happiness.
This is not an emotional euphoria, though as you leave this state it may pour out of you as a sense of great joy and gratitude.
It is a space of perfect contentment, perfect attunement, and abiding stillness.
There is no sense of lack, or fear, or desire.
This is your anandamaya kosha.
Now simply be aware of your own awareness. The pure consciousness that is having this experience lies beyond this experience.
It is your true inner Self, your immortal being.
Rest in your own being for as long as you can hold your attention there.
Allow your attention to your breath.
Breathe slowly, smoothly, and evenly. Open your eyes.
Take a moment to relax and absorb this experience before you get up.
From Death to Birth—and Beyond
In many yoga texts you’ll find the five sheaths grouped into three.
The physical body and vital force are called the sthula sharira, the “gross body.”
The mental body and intellect are called the sukshma sharira, the “subtle” or “astral body.”
The bliss sheath is called the karana sharira, the “causal body.”
These are recognized in many different spiritual traditions.
We’re all spiritual beings with a spiritual support system on the Other Side that oversees and helps guide our lives from the moment we’re born to the moment we leave our physical bodies and return to Spirit.
Not knowing this fact is a severe handicap, as the Universe is designed to care for and nurture all its creatures and help make our life’s journey easier and more successful.
When we learn how to connect with our angelic guides, our lives naturally fall into a pattern of ease and flow during which we grow our souls, fulfill our life’s purpose, and make our time on Earth endlessly entertaining.
Namaste
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; Criminal Justice, BA; RYT-200 hrs; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; Spirit Guide Coach; Master Resilience Trainer.
The Difference between Attachment And Love.
According to Spiritual Law, you can have anything your heart desires.
Now it is important to identify if you are focusing your happiness, sense of security or feeling of power from someone or something in your life as a source.
If that is happening then you are attached to that person or thing.
That needs to be worked because it will bind you to a lower frequency that will keep you stuck and unable to grow into a better version of yourself.
Attachment is about fear and dependency. Which is something that has to be more with self- love instead of love to another.
Love without attachment is the representation of purest love because it isn’t about what others can give you based on a wrong perception that you feel empty,
It is about what you can give others because you are already full.
Let me explain this;
Based on the Law of Detachment in the detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty…
In the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning.
And in our willing to step to the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the Universe.
The best guidance to boost your level of energy frequency is by releasing unhealthy cords that tie you to people, things and emotions.
1. In the event that we can’t ignore, neither remove (from scratch) attachments from the mind and heart, make a list and organize them placing on the top those that affect your inner peace and create a negative impact to your physical and mental health.
Remember trapped emotions will always search to hang out within your cellular tissue, creating as result energetic blockages that end up in muscle strains, spasms, insomnia, migraines, nervous system diseases and as such physical pain.
2. Reconnect to your spiritual source by praying and meditating.
“When we pray, we talk to God and when we meditate, we listen to God.”
After organizing your attachments, separate at least 15 minutes daily during 21 days (without cheating) sit down in a quite space and begin your personal relationship with God.
The reason of the 21 days is because it’s been sustained by scientific research that in order to develop a good habit or break an addiction within the human’s brain embracing a 21 days challenge is the most effective way to reach the goal.
Pray to God humbly…
a. Gratitude is the best attitude waking up alive during a global Pandemic is a good reason to give thanks.
b. Share what is disturbing your heart and mind (your attachments list), recognize that behind them there is a lesson that needs to be learned, accept the Lord’s will by being receptive to flow (an important person in my life, while being in desolation once told me “You do not negotiate with God”) so you might want to remember that, because if it has made a difference to me and the people I have shared this with, you might benefit from this as well.
Then sit down in silence, bring your attention to your breath thinking that “When you inhale you are taking the strength from God, when you exhale it represents the healing you are giving to yourself and service you are giving to this world.
c. As a Spirit Guide Coach and Master Resilience Trainer, I have realized through personal and clients experiences that an effective way to receive answers to our questions is working with the scriptures.
After you spend those 15 minutes of praying and meditation, have a bible near you close your eyes and ask God for guidance…when you open the bible (randomly) check where your index finger is pointing at, read the chapter because the answer to your question or the consolation to your desolation will be there.
If it’s confusing for you to relate it to your current situation, search in the web for the different reflections available from priests, pastors or spiritual teachers and I assure that you will resonate with one of their different feedbacks.
3. Watch your diet.
As an Ayurvedic Certified Yoga Teacher…
a. You are what you eat! If you are mixing anxiety with opening the refrigerator that’s a wrong answer.
b. Eat 5 small portion of dinners during 24 hours. If you skip meals and do not snack between meals every time you sit down to eat, your brain will fool you to eat at that one opportunity all the food you haven’t eaten. Eventually that will mess up your metabolism generating overweight issues, that will impact your physical and mental (self-esteem) health.
c. Be mindful with your alcohol consumption. Learn to keep boundaries with this, because alcohol lowers energy frequency creating vulnerability to our inmune system. Also alcohol is an addictive (creates attachment)depressor. Just be mindful with your relationship to it. Balance in life is necessary for everything.
4. Exercise.
Scientific research have sustained the benefits of working out to the human’s physical and mental health.
If you are a beginner and are under any kind of medical treatment approach your physician before doing any type of work out.
Walking is a great exercise to start.
Yoga has many styles that suits special needs for everyone. And the best of yoga practice is that stimulates cellular resiliency thru maintaining blood circulation free of blockages because of the consciousness developed of how to use our breath as inner healer.
5. Practice self-love.
Every morning after you wake up and have practiced gratitude to the Lord for the opportunity of another day alive, stand in front of the mirror, see that beautiful and wonderful human being in front of you.
Repeat to yourself the following words…
I love myself
I accept my imperfection and my story. Because without my story I wouldn’t have been able to bloom like a lotus flower currently rising up to the surface of the pond.
I will allow myself to forgive me, because living in pain is a choice.
Hence I will allow myself to release resentments and cut unhealthy cords that attach me to that story.
I will be compassionate to myself working without pressure but will keep in mind that receptivity and heart opening attitude will allow me to live unconditionally into self-love and love without attachments.
Last but not least;
“Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.”
Namaste
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; Criminal Justice, BA; RYT-200 hrs; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; Spirit Guide Coach; Master Resilience Trainer.
Sore Today, Strong Tomorrow.
The COVID-19 and its Invisible Warfare.
How To Pick A Battle Carefully.
It is of global acknowledgement that we are fighting a war against an invisible enemy.
Isolation and Quarantine have been two significant missiles that COVID-19 launched to Earth and the human’s mind, besides the amount of infected victims and casualties as we refer to life’s losses during combat within the military community.
Now let us begin with what isolation and quarantine do to the human’s mind.
Isolation and quarantine are public health practices used to protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease.
• Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.
• Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms.
Both scenarios trigger our sympathetic nervous system which directs the body’s rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations.
Subsequently all this triggers a flash flood of hormones to boost the body’s alertness and heart rate, sending extra blood to the muscles.
When we are unable to manage those emotions and lack resources to activate our relaxation reflexes; such as breathing mindfully (with focus at the present moment).
As result desolation arises making us vulnerable toward doubt, despair, or narcissism which can make one feel disturbed and even bring darkness to our soul.
As result this combination of emotions trigger reactivity with projections and displacement of verbal, non verbal or even physical aggressive behavior to ourselves and others.
Now as it happens during yoga with counterposes and warfare with counterfeit there is always a strategy to persevere and survive during adversity.
Here is when consolation plays an important role representing our inner light and voice through which the soul becomes inflamed with love of its Creator, Supreme Source or Lord.
Consolation teaches us to be resilient by growing and thriving in the face of challenges in order to bounce back from adversity.
Lastly seeing the life’s event as a learning experience that will make us stronger and closer to a better version of ourselves.
St. Ignatius of Loyola labeled this process as “Spiritual Warfare” mental phase.
St. Ignatius was a former military soldier who became wounded in action and during his convalescence, the Lord opened his eyes to the reality of the spiritual battle around and within him.
St. Ignatius developed a structure with rules of engagement, I would have to write an article to breakdown and explain the fourteen of them. So I will go specific.
Now during this Pandemic event what applies is to become aware and understand to some extent the different movements which are caused in the soul, the good, to receive them, and the bad to reject them.
For instance St. Ignatius said…
“In time of desolation never to make a change; but to be firm and constant in the resolutions and determination in which one was the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination in which he was in the preceding consolation.
Because, as in consolation it is rather the good spirit who guides and counsels us, so in desolation it is the bad, with whose counsels we cannot take a course to decide rightly.”
You have the power to intercept any thoughts that triggers you into anxiety by replacing them with positives thoughts (consolation) resiliency oriented.
An effective resilience skill to embrace this is to “Hunt For The Good Stuff.” This means to counter the negative bias, create positive emotion, and notice and analyze what is good.
It is also an exercise that builds gratitude.
Increased gratitude was found to promote both interpersonal and personal well being (Froh et al., 2010), and being grateful may build and strengthen social bonds and friendships (Frederickson, 2004; Komter, 2004).
When do I Hunt For The Good Stuff (Consolation)?
On a regular basis in order to counteract the Negativity Bias (Desolation)
How do I use this skill?
Write down (daily) three positive experiences from the day and write a reflection about why the good thing happened, what the good thing means to you, what you can do to enable more of the good thing, and/ or what ways you or others contributed to the good thing.
At the end you will see how the good spirit (your light) perseveres over the bad spirit (your shadow).
Last but not least;
“Life is a Journey, enjoy the ride”.
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; Criminal Justice, BA; RYT-200 hrs; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; Master Resilience Trainer; Spirit Guide Coach.
FAREWELL 2019
Hey there beautiful Souls, today we are transitioning towards a new decade.
Let’s review briefly and without attachment to the past.
When you start to feel that things should have been better during 2019, remember the mountains and valleys that got you here.
Let me give you an example, yesterday I had to bury my beloved mother after a year of her health struggling. It was hard, very hard! Extremely heart breaking and painful. Moreover, she passed away the day after Christmas.
But her release from suffering, her eternal peace soothes a daughter’s sorrow.
Mountains and valleys in our lives do not show up by accident. They bring always lessons to learn. We will never be the same, but it’s our divine responsibility to pull it off in order to use those experiences as resiliency tools looking forward to find each day a better version of ourselves.
We most embrace our processes with accountability and without exposing others to any remaining collateral damage from our emotional baggage.
Look at yourself in a mirror…
You are not the same, you have grown and you are growing. You are breathing. You are living. You are wrapped in endless, boundless grace. And things will get better. There is more to you than yesterday.
I have learned a lot this year…
I keep learning that things don’t always turn out the way you think they should. Also that there are things that go wrong that don’t always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before.
I have learned that some broken things stay broken. And I have learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who loves you.
Note that 2020 will be a better chapter if we think positively. Let go of past mistakes. Make new friends. With kindness stay away from toxic people. Use our talents. Don’t hold back. Do good deeds. Be of service. Speak up for yourself and know your worth.
Semperlee Yoga wishes you a New Year sheltered with abundance of amazing opportunities, beautiful moments and joyful experiences.
May your positive actions and attitudes inspire others. May you be brave enough to take on and overcome rewarding challenges.
May you find yourself in high spirits and excellent health.
May you love with all your heart and find peace even in the most turbulent of times.
May the love you give find its way back to you multiplied.
And may you forever be filled with hope and strength necessary to make your dreams a reality.
Last but not least click on this link, to watch this gift.
Namaste🙏🏼
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; RYT-200 hrs; Criminal Justice, BA; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; CAI; CAHP; CCR; CCHP; CACR; SGC; MRT.
Inspire to Aspire Before You Expire…
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given🎚
Hey there beautiful Souls. I couldn’t miss such a special date to thank you all, for your support to this blog.
Each day there are more beautiful souls subscribing through their emails and that is sort of a Christmas gift to anyone that is humbly trying to share some light.
Also I wanted to share the following thoughts regards today and its meaning.
Let us begin with how a pregnant woman feels having inside her womb a baby and as such her anxiety to meet someone that gives her the chance to feel two hearts instead of one but she cannot see until child’s birth moment.
It is a long journey of nine months and hilariously yesterday my son’s arrival (to spend the holidays with me) was delayed due to unexpected circumstances. I had not seeing him since his college graduation back in June.
I received a text from him telling “Mom I apologize if you have been waiting longer than expected, but there was a delayed out of my control.”
I replied to him Jean if I waited 9 months nurturing you inside my womb, feeling two hearts instead of one (without seeing your beautiful face) I can assure you, I am able to wait longer today!!
So just imagine what Mother Mary went through when she was expecting the son of God, hence the light of our world and to our hearts.
We celebrate the Advent (Birth) of Christ bringing us the following gifts.
Humility (he was born in a stable) and in order to forgive you need to become humble.
Forgiveness because in order to resurrect from any adversity during life it is required to forgive ourselves and others.
That is exactly what Jesus did after his crucifixion and I understand there will never be any adversity into our lives worst than his unique experience.
Unconditional love,
Actually, once while meditating with my Higher Power… I asked
ÂżWhat is the best medicine for a human’s Soul?
The answer was “The best medicine for humans is love…”
I asked ÂżWhat if it doesn’t work? The answer was Increase the dose!
Then I realized that unconditional love one was of the strongest foundations during Christs ministry, which was energetically operating throughout the gifts and ministries of the Holy đź•ŠSpirit.
As such I will leave you with the following words…
The Advent Journey:
Hope becomes peace.
Peace becomes joy.
Joy becomes love.
Love becomes Christ🎚
Jesus is the gift that perfectly fits the size of every heart.
He is the light of our Christmas, the joy of our hearts and the hope of our world.
Last but not least;
Inspire to aspire before you expire…
Merry Christmas!
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; RYT-200 hrs; Criminal Justice, BA; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; Reiki Master; CAI; CAHP; CCR; CCHP; CACR; SGC; MRT.
The Best Journey Within…
Hello there beautiful Souls, have you visualized your physical body thru an imaginary lens?
Well gently close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breath, bring your tongue towards the roof of your mouth behind the front teeth, begin to inhale thru your nose and when you exhale, begin to activate relaxation within. Now bring your attention to your forehead. Visualize your physical vehicle.
See your physical body as a product of this material dimension. It is created on earth using elements like carbon, hydrogen and calcium. It is vulnerable, it has limitations and a finite lifespan.
Your higher self has chosen to inhabit it to have experiences that the Spirit world does not offer. It is not the real you. What you see in the mirror is only a vehicle. The real you is perfect, limitless and eternal. It is connected to everyone and everything you see. The ability to contact your Guides and their knowledge is omnipresent, but you must do your part to access their wisdom.
How do we access their wisdom? Becoming receptive to this guidance which is your birthright, we are delivered to this life guarded by a celestial energetic team of Guides that includes a guardian angel, a departed loved one (some cases two), Archangel Michael is assigned to protect humanity, so we have this energy available to us when we need to connect to it and some people might have 2 archangels assigned for guidance and protection based on their Soul’s contract or life’s purpose.
The higher our calling the larger the team will be. Meditation, sitting in silence, and asking to receive advice during the dream state are all ways to establish contact with your higher self and Guides. Also thru meditation you can find your life’s purpose and Highest Potential.
What is Highest Potential?
Before going to this explanation I want to address something to make you think.
God sends power in humble packages; on the back of fool little children always, there’s no way to conceal it.
Because they look harmless.
Think about humbleness, and it’s congruency with power…at least for a minute.
Our highest potential is manifested when we act every moment (we recognize a choice is present), towards the best potential option (available) within the circumstances as an outcome.
Embrace this process, have no fear to sitting in silence enjoy that darkness as is the only way you will be able to see the light. For assistance in how to meditate go to this website menu and click on meditation benefits.
Last but not least;
Don’t be discouraged by the earthy distractions placed between you and your Guides. Practice developing this sacred relationship. You will find that life becomes much easier when you have daily communication with your Guides.
Namaste
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; RYT-200 hrs; Criminal Justice, BA; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; CAI; CAHP; CCR; CCHP; CACR; SGC; MRT.
Where ever life plants you… Bloom with grace.
Hello there, beautiful Souls. Sometimes the little things in life are more than enough. You bet they are. Nonetheless, when staring at a sunflower see how bright sunny and positive it spreads seeds of happiness.
What I mean is that you can always choose to rise, shine and hold your head high. Flowers grow back, even after they are stepped on.
If a sunflower chooses to face the sun every single day, you can choose to face the sun as well and instead of holding yourself back in the dark.
Keep in mind that the smallest act of love should begin with self love. Self love is the kindest gift you can shelter your heart with hence someone else’s heart.
Last but not least, darkness is our nature, but the journey for light echoes from our Soul.
Namaste
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; RYT-200 hrs; Criminal Justice, BA; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; CAI; CAHP; CCR; CCHP; CACR; SGC; MRT.
Let your Soul emerge…
If there is a will, there is a way…
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change…
What is intention?
It is an aim or plan.
In the medicine and holistic fields is the healing process of a physical or emotional wound.
During the integration of a yoga class, we (the teachers) have the intention to guide the practitioner to allow him or herself to let go of anything that is not in alignment to that peaceful moment targeted to reconcile body, mind, and spirit.
To take a look at their inner selves in order to identify the reason that took them ( in the first place) to that yoga class.
Then to allow themselves to set that thought as the aim that will keep them focused with commitment to keep their poise during challenging poses just at it should be in the midst of adversity through our lives.
In other terms to be able to fall and bounce without breaking.
To be resilient.
It is important always, always…
Quoting Wayne W. Dyer,
“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.”
Also that with everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift.
Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.
The most important here is to keep flexibility and humility in order to recognize that although we are not perfect, that is not a license to project any self’s frustration over others and become hurtful with others at work, out at the streets or with our loved ones.
How do you identify this while in a yoga class?
When arriving to your mat (carrying the burdens of a day), and we cannot allow ourselves to set that intention, because we are giving power to a monkey mind to take charge intercepting our productivity and growing process.
Not only that, getting ourselves into a balance posture and finding a drishti or gaze (while in yoga and life) becomes harder than getting into the pose itself.
These are the moments when the power of intention takes place with empowerment.
Also remember that passion is a feeling that tells you: this is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in my way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.
Last but not least;
“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”
Namaste 🙏🏼
Author:
Glenda Lee Santos; Humble Military and Yoga Warrior; RYT-200 hrs; Criminal Justice, BA; Holistic Practitioner with Foundation in Yoga and Ayurveda; CAI; CAHP; CCR; CCHP; CACR; SGC; MRT.
Climbing vs Bouncing back.
Look Upon Failure…
There is always a lesson behind…
SEMPERLEE YOGA 
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