🗡️🐺Freyja: Ancient Nordic Goddess Wisdom🦅

 

🌟Welcome to our Ancient Goddess Wisdom Yoga Series!! This idea came to me last Fall as I listened to my daily morning meditation, one day selecting one focused on goddess energy. It spoke to me so much that I knew I had to create a yoga series, drawing from our ancestral feminine energy! My minor in college was Anthropology, so I've always loved and been fascinated by cultures from around our incredible planet! Goddess energy, divine feminine energy lies within each of us, our ancestors and the women before us guide us through our daily lives with strength, passion, resilience, inner power, peace, love, understanding, beautiful flowing energy that is rooted in our sacral chakra, our Svadhisthana. As our lives have become more hectic, more chaotic, we've accumulated so many layers creating an armor, and sometimes we no longer recognize ourselves. We arrive on our mats to shed these layers, so return home to our truest selves, reconnecting to our deep embedded Goddess energy!

🪷I've chosen 6 Goddesses from various regions including Indian-Hindu, South America Inca, Nordic, Greek, African, Celtic (sprinkled in on my birthday class, and Indigenous North American!

✨Last week, we dove into our second Goddess, Pachamama, our Inca Goddess! She shared with us her embodiment of Earth Mother, seen in every animal, plant, tree, drop of water, and speck of soil. She created earthquakes, a reminder to us to take care of her! She brought a nourishing, fertile energy while teaching us that our roots grow strong and beyond our sight, and it is there our sacred foundation is fortified as we see change around us!

 

 

🗡️This week, we hopped across the globe from South America to the Nordic region of Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark, where Freyja originated in Norse mythology! She is often seen with golden or red hair, braided and flowing, adorned with a cloak made of falcon feathers! She symbolizes love and war, as 2 lynxes guide her in her chariot. Her lynxes, the only wild large cat native to this region, symbolize grace and independence! Freyja is a beautiful dichotomy of strength and kindness, she is fierce and compassionate, nurturing and a warrior. Her power lies in her own sovereignty, she is in control of how she lives her life! She embodies beauty, fertility, war, magic, prophecy, and clairvoyance, often seeing the future. She is Thor's stepmother, and is connected to the Solar Plexus chakra, our Manipura, this golden yellow swirling energy center in the abdomen where we connect to our inner fire, our passion, our self-confidence, our personal power. Freyja reminds us that we are BOTH, we are fierce and loving, we are a beautiful paradox in one incredible soul. She encourages us to show the world our true selves, both sides, all of us, and to speak our truth, opening our throat chakra, to use our voice for good. She inspires female empowerment, and we absorbed her diving feminine energy in this hour! 

 

 

🐺To truly honor our Ancient Goddess Wisdom series, we began in Tadasana, not often cued at the beginning of class. We enrich our lives with learning and trying new things, creating new neural pathways in the brain, keeping us on our toes, improving cognition, stepping out of our comfort zone, knowing our bravery to try new things will enrich our lives! We created our BREATH OF JOY pranayama! Deep inhale as the arms lift overhead, reaching toward the heavens, exhale as we bend the knees, arms float toward the earth, into a forward fold, fingertips brush along our mat, inhale rising up reaching to the sky with our inhale, exhale the body melts forward, repeating one more time to fill our lungs with joy! Joy as we connect with our Goddess, Freyja!

 

 

🗡️We planted the palms and melted the hips toward the rich earth beneath us into our seat, as the feet reached forward, into our Boat pose, hands reaching toward the feet into our Viking ship, before melting one vertebrae at a time to the earth, to our backs. We melted into the earth below us, recalibrating the body, mind, and soul to the rhythm of the natural world around us, still resting during winter. As humans, we've become out of sync with the living beings around us, we've sped up our activity when we should be resting. So, we take these moments to resync to the earth. Our pranayama was our 3-part breath, deeply inhaling through the nose, from the toes all the way up into the belly, filling it up, expanding, taking up space, pausing at the top of that breath, and slowly exhaling through the mouth. We repeated this two more times, the inhale lengthening from the abdomen to the chest, filling the lungs, expanding the ribs, and slowly exhaling through the mouth. The final round travelled from the abdomen, to the lungs, up to the crown!  We became present in the body and the space we're in, and allowed all of our past stresses to melt back to the earth, transformed into something new, something for our greater good. Our future schedules and to-do lists floated away, into the breeze, no longer needed, carried further and further away from us. Nothing to do, nowhere else to be but right here in this moment for ourselves. We anchored to the peace found in this stillness. Our Ujayi breath followed, even lengths of inhale and exhale through the nose, grounding, stabilizing breath, with a gentle constriction at the back of the throat creating an ocean wave sound.

 

✨”And one day, she discovered that she was both, loving and fierce, strong yet compassionate. She was full of fire. Not even she could hold herself back, because her heart and soul burned brighter than her fears.” 

🐺We inhaled as we reached the hands overhead, feet forward into a full body stretch, knees into the chest for a hug and a rock side to side. We lengthened long and extended the hands and feet to the right corners of our mat, into our Crescent Moon shape, crossing the left foot over the right, and traveled through our 5 senses, to connect to the body is to become truly present. Even though the eyes are closed, we noticed what we see beyond the lids, finding peace and serenity in this darkness. We traveled to smell, noticing what we smell around us, I sprayed "Bergamot" in studio, notes of citrus and herbs, this scent connects us to the Solar Plexus chakra. We scanned to our hearing, noticing the sound of our breath, the breath of our neighbor, the hum of the furnace, pinpointing an instrument in the music. We moved through center and created our Crescent moon to the left, scanning to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or a sip of cup of tea, coffee,  lingering in the mouth, separating the teeth, the tongue falling from the roof of the mouth. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, the warmth of the air against the skin, the softness of our clothes, the stickiness of our mat, supporting us, cradling us, serving as our anchor, bringing us back home to ourselves. We moved into Supine Twists to the right and left, and began to rock n roll along the spine 2-3 times to come into a comfortable seat or half lotus pose.

 

 

 🗡️We anchored the sit bones, lengthened each vertebrae toward the next in line, crown to the sky. The hands lifted overhead, met at the heart, interlaced the fingers and extended the index fingers together, brining this Kali mudra to our Manipura, solar plexus, index fingers pointing forward to remove negative energy, destroy unwelcome thoughts, and minimize difficulties. We met in our Anjali mudra, prayer hands. We rubbed them to create some heat, some healing energy, remembering that our hands are tools for healing, and cupped the hands to the eyes, sending healing energy to the soul. Hands floated to the crown, sending healing energy to the mind, calming the chatter. The mind can become stuck in the past, ruminating over things that have been, or travel too far forward into the future with worry, but the body is always present, so here we connect and stay present. One hand floated to the forehead, and the other to the base of the skull, gentle pressure into our vagus nerve, serving as a nervous system reset button, finally bringing the hands to the heart sending gratitude to the heart and lungs, for the work they do every moment of every day, for us.

 

 

🐺We set an intention for our class, and released it, reaching the hands to the sky and to the right for a twist, peeling the right shoulder back to open the chest 5% more, opening our Anahata chakra, heart chakra, sending compassion, understanding, love out into the world. We arched the right hand to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the left knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We honored the other side, and then came through center, planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend, and melted into a forward fold. We unraveled the legs and melted the hips back into a child’s pose, bending the elbows, prayer hands overhead, thumbs melting to the nape of the neck. With our inhale we pressed into the palms to roll back into our Childs pose. We walked the hands to the right, sinking the hips back and to the left, walked the hands through center, and to the left, hips sinking back and to the right. We created a Childs pose wave, slowly rolled through the spine, arching the back, brushing the fingertips along the mat as we rolled toward our feet, the chin dripping toward the chest, until our glutes met the heels, and then creating a little backbend, hands to the earth, the spine waving long, crown reaching to the sky, the shoulders melting back, the arms extend out and up, palms together, to the heart, and melting forward, walking the fingertips into a forward fold. We repeated this 2 more times, delighting in this spinal awakening of the body. After this fluid roll, we floated into our Boat, our Viking ship, hands joined at the heart, prayer hands, as the feet floated, we twisted to the right through center, and to the left, activating the core, our Solar plexus!

🗡️Our cat cow flow followed as we warmed up the spine, adding in organic movement, hips swaying side to side, or rolling forward and back into Childs pose waving back and forward into our table top. We moved to our breath, our own pace, making our cat cow our own. We came into our neutral table top, inhaled as we melted into the forearms, into our puppy pose, today our Wolf pose, Freyja is often seen running with wolves! We inhaled lifting the gaze and right toes to the sky, extending long, exhaled knee to nose curling the back, 2 more times, and with the third extension, bent the right knee, reached the right toes toward the back of the head, floated up into the palms, and reached the left hand back for the right foot, into our Tiger pose, lifting through the chest and gaze, today, it's our Lynx as they pull Freyja in her chariot! We released the foot slowly, planted the right toes to the back of our mat, lifted the left knee into the chest curling the back, set the left knee down, right leg lifted parallel to the mat, and crossed to the left gaze following. The gaze came through center, as the right knee tucked in behind the left knee, the hands walked to the left as the hips sank back into a crossed leg Childs pose. We rolled forward, unraveled into our Table top and into a cat cow flow, then honored the left side.

 

 

🐺After we honored the left side, we tucked the toes, hovered the knees, and lifted into our downward dog- plank waves, pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog, a total of 3 times. We floated to the top of our mats into a forward fold, hanging heavy, and began to root to rise, we slowly lifted up, one vertebrae at a time, the head the last to come through, into our Tadasana, our mountain pose. We felt the grounding energy from the earth pull at the soles of our feet from the toes to the arches to the heels, like roots of a tree pulling us into he soil, anchoring us. This energy circled around the legs, to the pelvis, the hips, around each vertebrae of the spine to the shoulders as they melt down from the ears. The crown reaching for the heavens, we are stable, rooted, and anchored. We inhaled hands overhead, melted to the right with a sidebend, through center and to the right, then with a swan dive melted into a forward fold. We planted the hands and moved through a vinyasa flow, pranam knees chest chin into a low cobra, or a chaturanga flow to upward dog, or skipped the flow completely, stepping into downward dog. Always your choice!

 

 

 

🗡️Has anyone else binged the show "Vikings?" I was only slightly obsessed with this show, and with "The Last Kingdom" on Netflix, both are excellent! I definitely pulled some fierce yet loving energy from Lagertha, the main female character, the Shield Maiden, into our main flow for class! 

In our downward dog, we inhaled lifting the right leg, exhale right knee toward the left elbow, extending, curling in knee to right elbow, extending, curling in knee to chest with a hover, and planting the right foot between the hands, as the back foot grounded, rising up into our Warrior I. Hands reached toward the sky, shoulders relaxed down from the ears, hips forward, we cactus the arms, and the right forearm moved down in front of the chest as if we held a shield, and the left arm forward as if we held a sword, strong, feminine, warriors. With the exhale, we floated toward the back of our mat into our Warrior 2. With the inhale, floating to the top of our mat with our shield and sword, exhale to the back Warrior 2, creating this fluid flow. In our Warrior 1, hands to the sky, clasping the hands, we extended the index fingers together creating our sword, exhale humbling forward slicing our sword down, slicing through obstacles, negativity. Two more times as we sliced with our swords, and on the third, planted the left hand, into our Twisted lunge, right hand to the sky. We floated into our Wideleg fold toward the left long side of our mats, rolled up into a 5-pt Star, and into our Goddess pose, a little dance side to side. We created some sunray arches, right forearm to the right thigh as the left hand reached overhead, through center to the left, repeating once more, activating the core, solar plexus where we connect to our inner fire, passion, personal power, self-confidence! We extended up into our 5-pt star, arms out to a T, left toes turning toward the back of our mat, and hinging from the hips, reached the left hand toward the back of our mat, and down to a block, shin, or the earth into our Triangle pose, right hand high. Right hand planted, Twisted Lunge, left hand high. Left hand down, as we floated forward into our Half Moon, right hand to the sky. Right hand planted down, as the right foot softly lands to the back of our mat, we rise up into our Warrior I, holding our sword, we slice 3 times. On the third slice, we float to the right foot into our Skandasana, and open the chest, planting the right hand iniside the right foot as the left hand reached to the heavens. We floated through center to Skandasana to the left foot, through center, and floated into our right foot for Half Moon at the top of our mat, option to bind for a foot, even float up into our Dancer! We let this go with Standing Splits, left toes high, and curtsy taps, 3 times, and softly landing the left toes to the back of the mat, heel toeing the right foot out into our Dragon. Staying high, melting into the knee and forearms, or peeling out to the right, perhaps binding for the right foot. We stepped the right foot back into our Plank, and moved through a flow, to honor the left side!

 

 

 

 🐺Our Somatic practice gives us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. I usually alternate between these tools each week! We began in our Tadasana, brought the right hand to the left upper side of the chest, and extended the left arm forward, palm facing the sky. With a deep inhale, we kept the hips forward, as the left arm slowly traveled out to the left side, gaze following, to the back, paused at the back with the gaze over our left shoulder, and on the exhale slowly brought the arm back toward the top of our mat. We repeated this two more times, inhaled as the arms reached overhead, palms gathered at the heart. We brought the left arm to the right upper side of the chest, extended the right arm forward, palm facing up, and with the inhale slowly traveled the right arm out to the side as the gaze followed, to the back, and paused opening the chest. With the exhale we brought the right arm slowly back to the top of our mat, and repeated 2 more times!  We rubbed the palms together to create some healing heat, and we brought the fingertips to the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, even the base of the skull. We moved into the temples, massaging circles here, we dripped the fingers to the jaw, the hinge where we open and close the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself, and maybe you too. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. We brought our fingertips to the base of the skull, pressing into our vagus nerve, and melted the fingertips toward the ears, along the jawline, and down the front of the neck to the collarbone. We repeated this 2 more times, releasing tightness in the throat. We tapped into the collarbone, with slow rythmic taps, all fingers in unison, into one of our acupressure points in the body. We brought this tapping to the sternum, center of the chest. We slowly tapped here, either with the fingertips or Bilateral Butterfly taps using cupped hands over one another on the chest, activating both hemispheres of the brain, continuing as we inhaled, paused to bring the hands to the heart, stacked on top of one another, and as we exhaled we audibly hummed into our bee breath🐝! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! Humming is a somatic release, also good for respiratory infection season to break things up in the lungs, and humming has shown to reduce anxiety better than sleep! We crossed the arms at the chest, and squeezed into opposite shoulders, down to the biceps and triceps, and into the forearms. We brought the hands to the shoulders again for a squeeze, and swiped the hands down the arms, chest, abdomen, low back, and legs, making sure anything still tethered to the body is fully released. We released everything from last year, last month, this morning that we need to let go of, swipe it away, let yourself be freed of it, so we don't carry this heaviness any longer! Allow it to melt down your back! Let it drift into the snowy breeze, no longer needed in this moment!

 

 

 

🗡️We came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! All signs of a regulated nervous system. We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight /flight/freeze mode). We helped our body to experience a larger capacity to sit in discomfort, and not immediately reach for unhealthy soothers, or run from it. We welcome space for triggers to be felt and moved through. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives! We find balance! We find freedom!