Vyapini 🌟Soul Star Universe Connection

 

 

🌳🌸 Hello Beautiful Friends!!

 

🕉️ Summer is nearing its end, and August approaches!! Soak in these final few weeks before the school year and Autumn arrive! I read a quote recently that said, “I didn’t realize we were making memories, I just knew we were having fun.” ☀️The PERFECT summer quote right! 🌊Basking in the sun’s rays, water or sand in the toes, sunnies & wet hair, watermelons & strawberries, 🍉🍓and lots of fun!! This world is moving super fast, take the time to slow down, before your body & mind FORCE you to slow down either with injury, illness or exhaustion. Your mental health should always take priority, if it hasn’t, make this summer THE time to change that! Every breath is a new opportunity to begin again! 🌬️

 

 

 

🌸I have LOVED LOVED LOVED holding healing space for you every Monday! I have cherished our time together, to intentionally slow down, both the  mind, the pace of class, and really focus on the mental health & somatic lessons, breathwork, and intentional movements that I’m passionate about sharing with the world. BIG CHANGES are coming! Starting in August, my classes are changing days and times ! To stay updated, you can join my Newsletter!
Click here!

 

https://mailchi.mp/a2a27d30fc28/the-light-poured-in-yoga-newsletter

 

🌟This week we’re diving into the eighth chakra, our Vyapini: the Soul Star chakra! I didn’t know this 8th chakra existed until maybe 6 months ago when I was photographing chakra essential oil mists for a friend of mine! I loved learning about this rarely know chakra and sharing it with everyone in today’s class!

 

 

 

 

 

💫This swirling energy center 6-12 inches above our head, and is white in color! It is here where we find our life’s purpose, our life’s mission! It is the seat of the soul! Here we find connection to the universe, to the divine, non-duality, and spiritual consciousness!

 

 

 

🌸Today, we opened on our backs, grounding the entire body, allowing the head & shoulders to become heavy, discovering peace, relaxation throughout the length of the body from the crown to the toes, with one hand on the belly, the other on the heart!  We discovered “havening” with the hands, either rrubbing the palms together, or brushing the hands from the shoulders to the elbows, even down the face & neck. Havening helps us connect to the body in a safe, soothing way. We found stillness again with the hands at the heart & belly. We closed the eyes, and took a slow scan of the 5 senses, even with the eyes closed, noticing what we see beyond the lids, what we hear in the room, our own breath, pinpointing an instrument in the music, birds outside, the hum of the furnace in the room, what we smell, the lavender-rosewood-frankincense essential oil mist sprayed in studio, the last thing we tasted, a sip of coffee or bite of food, and the warm air against our skin, a bead of sweat rolling down the neck, our mat underneath us, supporting us, holding us. We moved into our Pranayama practice, 3-part breath, deep inhales through the nose, filling up to the belly, allowing the belly to take up space, into the chest, expanding the ribs, filling the lungs, all the way to the crown, and then long, slow exhales through the mouth, releasing all our past events, and future to do lists, letting them wash away, no longer needed, becoming truly present! We took time just for ourselves, present in this space, in this moment. Nowhere else to be, nothing else to do, but simply be. We slowed down the chatter of the mind!  

 

 

✨We lengthened long, reaching the hands overhead, toes reaching forward, full body stretch, exhaled hugging the knees into the chest, rocking side to side massaging the low back, circling through the ankles, lengthened long again, forming a Crescent Moon to the right and to the left. We hugged the knees in, extended the arms and legs out into a star, then coiled them back in, into a cow face with the right knee over the left, and melted into a supine twist. We came through center, lengthened out into a star again, coiled into a cow face with the left over the right, and melted into a supine twist.  

 

 

💖We rock n rolled along the spine to come into our Hero’s pose, sitting onto the heels for our self-healing reiki practice!  We often forget our hands are tools for healing, not just for others but for ourselves as well!! We softened the body, released jaw clenching, smoothed through the forehead, released chest tightening. We focused on our mental health, sending healing energy to the soul, releasing everything we no longer need. We sent healing energy to the mind, quieting the chatter. The mind is often a time traveler, becoming stuck in the past or traveling too far forward into the future. We connected to the body, which is always present, releasing the past pain & frustrations, and future worries. We sent gratitude to the heart & lungs, set our intention, inhaled fingers to the sky, melting into side bends, and reaching the fingers to the sky, crossing one wrist over the other, inverting the hands, palms together, interlace the fingers, reaching up to the sky, inhaling while gaze lifts, crown lengthening, opening the chest, exhaling palms forward, curling the back, repeating 2 more times. We released the hands behind the glutes into a backbend, and exhaled forward into our puppy, melting the heart, and then sank the hips back into a child’s pose, walking the hands to the right, through center to the left!

 

 

⭐️We moved in yummy ways, with a yummy warm up flow of Cat-Cow, adding in organic movements, hips swaying side to side, child’s pose waves, listening to what the body needs! We could stay in Childs pose for the rest of class! If we needed more movement, we found a neutral spine, inhaled peeling the right toes to the back rocking into the toes, awakening the ankle, lifted the leg parallel to the mat, and crossed it over to the left side of our mat, gaze following over the left shoulder. We brought the right leg through center, extended the right leg out to the right, sinking the hips back, 1-leg Childs pose, rolled forward floating off the hands reaching them to the sky, and letting the right hand fall to the right leg, left arm overhead into our Gate, and then cartwheeled the hands up and over to the left, planting the left hand, extending the right overhead. We moved through a cat cow flow and honored the left side! Super delish!! We opened our heart, chest & lungs, lengthened, extended, linking breath + movement, opened our hips, releasing tension & tightness to release negative energy & nourish the body.

 

 

 

 🌛✨Our first flow spiced up our energy, kept us warm, and rooted to the earth as we flowed into our downward dog, lifted high into the toes, rolled forward into plank, 3 times creating waves as slowly as possible, into pranam, low cobra, downward dog, into our tadasana, rooting the feet into the earth, feeling that grounding energy all the way up to the crown. Our big flow today was a MOON MADALA! A moon salutation meets a mandala flow all the way around our mats! We began with crescent moon side bends, palms together, right and left, through center bringing the right knee up into our Pilar and then stepping the right foot back to open up into a 5 pointed star to the right side of our mat. We bent the knees, cactused the arms into our goddess, lengthened long into our star, and melted into a warrior 2 toward the back of our mats, straightened up into a Sky Archer, melted into a warrior 2, and then hinged from the hips to reach the right hand forward and then melted into our Triangle, peeling the left hand up, opening the chest. We planted the left hand inside the right foot, extended the right hand high into a Twisted Lunge. The right hand grounded as the right foot stepped back to meet the left into a Side plank, right hand to the sky! We grounded the left knee, floated off the left hand, both hands to the sky into our Gate, melting the right hand to the right leg, then cartwheeling the hands up and to the left, planting the left hand, right hand overhead. We melted the hips down, into a seated Fallen Tree, right leg long, left foot meeting the right thigh, left hand reaching overhead toward the right foot. The left hand planted behind us, as the hips lifted into a Rainbow Arch, right hand overhead. We tucked the left toes, floating up into a Wideleg fold, the head and shoulders hanging heavy. We twisted right and left, then walked the hands to the right foot, right toes to the top of our mat, planted the right hand to build our Triangle from the ground up. We floated forward into our Half Moon, then grounded the left toes to the back and rose up into our Crescent Warrior. Hands reached to the sky, cactused, found a bind behind the back, and humbled in, bending forward toward the right knee. We lifted through center, stepped the left foot in, keeping our bind,  and found our Pyramid, hinging forward at the hips, melting the heart. We released our bind, planted the hands, step onto our plank, and moved through a vinyasa flow. We rolled up to Tadasana, and honored the left side! We encircled the healing space on our mats!

 

💫Somatic experiencing gave 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. We began at the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, into the temples, the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself. 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 one hand to the base of the skull, the other hand’s two fingers rolling down the forehead to the tip of the nose! We brushed our fingertips down the neck a few times, releasing tightness in the throat. We tapped into the collarbone, and into the sternum! We inhaled through the nose as we tapped into the sternum, and stacked the hands at the heart as we exhaled while audibly humming into our bee breath🐝! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! We brushed the hands from the shoulders, down the arms, middle body, and legs, brushing away everything still tethered to the body we no longer need! 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! 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 mode). We helped our body adjust to triggers. 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!

  

🌜✨Our final flow began in Tadasana, We inhaled fingers to the sky, exhaled grounding the left foot as the right knee lifted, reaching the left hand to the right knee, right hand extended behind us into our Dancing Shiva! We came through center, reaching the right hand for the right foot, and melted the chest floated the right toes to the sky, into our Dancer. We came through center, released the right foot back into our Crescent Warrior, cactused the arms, found our bind, and humbled in, lifted up through center, and stepped into our Pyramid, and folded forward with our bind. We planted the hands, swept the left foot through center and up into a 3-limbed dog. We exhaled knee to chest, inhaled up bent the knee opened the hip, perhaps flipping our dog into Wild Thing. We came through center, thread the left foot under the right leg into a Fallen Star, right hand high, brought both feet together into our downward dog, melted the knees, walked the hands back into a toe squat. We opened the knees, heels close together, and floated the hands out to the sides, thumb and index fingers meeting, into our Flying Owl, Keeper of the Stars!🦉🌟 We grounded the knees, and walked the hands forward into a downward dog, and stepped forward into a fold, to honor the left side!

  

 

 🌸Our cool down moved us from the Fallen Star, melting the hips to come into a Straddle, legs extending out into a V, toward the back of our mats. We folded forward, rose up and formed a Fallen Tree to the right, folded forward, arched into a Rainbow, and found a reverse table, lifting the hips to the sky, head hanging heavy. We moved into a Fallen Tree to the left, folded forward, arched into a Rainbow, and lifted the hips into a Reverse Table. We melted the hips down, brought the soles of the feet together into our Butterfly, found our peace fingers, hooked our big toes, and opened the legs into our Straddle, balancing on the root chakra. We floated backward along the spine, to the mat and opened into a Happy Baby. 

 

 

🌟We lengthened long, hugged the knees into the chest, extended the arms and legs out into our Star, coiled inward into a cow face, right over left, hugged the thighs together and reached for shins gently pulling the knees toward the chest. This lengthens the IT band, and helps to soften where the sciatic nerve travels, releasing any pain we may have there. We released our shins, planted the bottom foot for a supine twist! We honored the opposite side! We made time to come into any final poses we needed before our final rest, such as legs up the wall, bridge, plow or wheel, or coming into Savasana early! 

 

🙏🏻We made it to our PEAK POSE: Savasana! Together, we completed a full body cleanse! We found meditative peace, a calming of the mind, opened our Vishuddha, found insight into ourselves, found our voice, we experienced growth, fearlessness, release, and freedom. Yoga helps us shed what we no longer need, so we may see our most purest selves! We connect to divinity! To slow down means to heal! That is why savasana is the peak pose, the most important pose, the goal, the pinnacle. To find peace. In the stillness! We surrender. We discover ourselves again without the layers, the armor, the walls. They all come down, revealing our divine self.

 

 

 

✨🌟✨ I loved creating our Vyapini playlist! Listen here!! 

 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZXqfilEn4ITq9lYbxAoyw?si=Nng81SbnQsy1NIbCR0DBSQ&pi=u-LhLzKMVnSayX

 

 

🍃Come practice with me Mondays at 8:15am!🫶🏻 ✨🌿