No Complaints -21 Day Challenge

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Christmas lights and family gatherings, it really is a time of good cheer. As we get closer to Christmas though it can become a little bit stressful with shopping and parties and finding rest too. Crowded stores and short tempers, become the perfect Petri dish for for negativity.

This year I am going to try something new that will take me right up to Christmas. I just finished reading Will Bowen’s  A complaint Free World and I’m excited to take the 21 Day Challenge. No complaining for the next 21 days. http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/

Here is one of my favorite stories titled, “Thank You for Everything”

The story is told about a woman Zen master named Sono who taught one very simple method of enlightenment. She advised everyone who came to her to adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The affirmation was, “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.”

Many people from all arenas of life came to Sono for healing. Some were in physical pain; others were emotionally distraught; others had financial troubles; some were seeking soul liberation. No matter what their distress or what question they asked her, her response was the same: “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.” Some people went away disappointed; others grew angry; others tried to argue with her. Yet some people took her suggestion to heart and began to practice it. Tradition tells that everyone who practiced Sono’s mantra found peace and healing.

Are you with me? Let’s make a difference in our own life and the lives of those around us by being positive. We know that negativity and complaining spreads like a wildfire! So let’s make a difference this holiday season. Thinking before speaking…When we think before we speak, that little pause is all we need to create the happy, joyful life we want, filled with positivity and awareness.

Happy Holidays!Karin xx

Be Still and Be Grateful

As we jump in with both feet to the beautiful month of November, we focus on Gratitude. Hot Yoga University is offering a 21 Day Gratitude Habit. Studies show there is no better way to increase happiness than to be thankful for what you already have. Setting an intention as you step on the mat and finding time to be still to reflect on gratitude during your practice will definitely change your life!.

How important is it to our students to practice gratitude?  Well… we ran out of cards on the first day! The students couldn’t wait to get their gratitude cards and hang them up on the wire outside the yoga room. After class, sweaty blissful yogis can be seen writing down their gratefulness for the day; “my family,” “my God,” “my yoga teacher,” “my health” etc..

What is the top reason why living with a grateful heart so important for our well-being?

Gratefulness = Connectedness

By being grateful we feel more connected to our family, our work and most importantly, more connected to our spirituality. Our gratefulness ultimately connects us to our source and with that Divine connection we are free to live our life in a way that has depth and meaning. Knowing that our blessings come from a source greater than us but is also a part of who we are, creates a faith in us that ultimately leads to more abundance and happiness in our life.

Living with gratitude for every experience in our life, even the ones we find challenging creates an environment of health, wellness, positiveness, growth and evolution on our journey.

Here is one of my favorite Rumi poems:

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~Jelaluddin Rumi,

What Rumi is so eloquently expressing, is something we already know… Life is all part of a perfect plan. So have faith, be grateful and enjoy the journey.

Karin xx

5 WAYS YOGA ENLIVENS OUR FRIENDSHIPS

Spending time with friends brings great happiness but what role does our yoga practice play in enjoying and even creating friendships naturally?

“You are, or will become, the average of the five people you associate with the most.” – Brian Carruthers

Yoga reminds us that to have a friend we have to be one.

The first person that we see in the mirror is our self.

“Hi there friend!”

Yoga gives us the opportunity to get to know ourselves again. We can fall in love with ourselves over and over again each time we step on the mat, in a love affair that never ends. As we “re-remember” how awesome we are, we become our own best friend and this feeling naturally flows off the mat and into our life as we easily look forward to getting to know and encourage our friends at a deeper level too.

Yoga gives us the gift of self acceptance.

This is a very necessary gift because most of the time we are seeing our self  “at our worst,” having just rolled out of bed, messy hair, still sleepy or dragging ourselves in after a trying and tiring day at work, to save our sanity!
If we can find acceptance in this capacity, we can accept others too!
As we grow more comfortable in our own skin while on our mat, it becomes just as easy to accept our friends as they are too, without judging them or trying to change them, simply enjoying their presence.
How beautiful it is, to be in the company of those who love us for who we are.

Yoga reminds us that there is more to us than what we see in the mirror.

The mirror in the yoga room is a powerful tool for transformation. It is a “metaphysical mirror.”
Looking at our self in the mirror can be uncomfortable at first, but worth every minute of it. Over time we begin to like and then to love our own reflection.
As we love our self more and more, the light from within, our true Self, begins to shine through. This is our Spirit, this is who we really are; a soul, immortal and eternal.

The realization that our body is simply the container for our soul and not who we really are, makes it easy to look past the reflection of others and to even interact with them at a much deeper level.

Our yoga practice gives us an opportunity not to speak, but to simply listen, for an hour.

By being silent and not speaking for an hour a day, we begin to hear the small still voice inside us. This still voice that begins as a quiet whisper can become like bullhorn to get our attention and it is a guide to all of our hearts desires.
By finding the stillness within we become better listeners in our friendships.
We begin to be fully present in our friendships; not feeling the need to interrupt, to look away or to get distracted. Ultimately this creates a bond of comfort and care by being there for our friends in their time of need.

Our yoga practice inspires us to live our yoga off the mat.

At the end of each class the teacher says Namaste’ and we respond in the same way.
Namaste’ is an ancient Sanskrit blessing. We are sent out into the world to live in a way that is a blessing to others.
To be able to see the Divine in our self first and then through our practice to be beautifully reminded to look for and see the Divine in our friends is the ultimate gift of our practice.

“I honor the place in you where the Universe resides,
I honor the place in you
of Love, of Truth, of Light and of Peace.
And when you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me,
there is only One of us.”

“If you don’t see God in all, then you can’t see God at all.”~ Yogi Bhajan

What are your thoughts on how yoga helps to build friendships?

I’d love to hear from you!

Karin xx

photo credit Ariel Leckband * all rights reserved