Awaken: An E-Book from Alive in the Fire

  
Hi, friends! Some exciting news today on Alive in the Fire...

I'm now offering an e-book!

Are you feeling a little lost? Lacking direction or motivation? Or maybe you could just use a few moments of deep rest, of looking inward?

This one's for you!

Inherent to the practice of yoga is the element of Svadhyaya, or self-inquiry. We explore layers of awareness through physical sensation, breath, emotion, and thought. 

In this 20-page workbook, I will lead you through a unique experience of yoga that includes asana (poses), meditation, chanting/sound vibration, and creative writing. 

You’ll explore questions such as, what am I here for? What’s holding me back? Do I trust my inner wisdom? How can I release fear?

Asking these questions isn't easy work to do. We can start by creating a quiet space, breathing, and connecting with the physical body.

What we find can be beautiful and enlightening... it may also be painful or make us feel vulnerable, raw, or overwhelmed. It becomes our task, then, to trust the outcome and trust our inner wisdom. Sometimes we must walk through the fire in order to gain clarity. 

My goal in offering this e-book is to extend a little piece of my yoga teaching into this community I've created here at Alive in the Fire, and help however many yogis I can experience a little more peace in their day-to-day lives. 

It's $3 to purchase the e-book, and my hope is that it is a practical, useful tool that can enhance your yoga practice and help you discover something new about yourself along the way.

As always, I'm open to your feedback and would love to hear from you if you try out the e-book and want to share your experience (my email is aliveinthefire at gmail dot com).

Please check out the link below to support the project.

Sending each of you a heartfelt Namaste.

Buy Now

...

For Days When You Feel like Sh*t

When you get stuck in a bad mood, what helps you get 'unstuck?'

Some days, I want to crawl back in bed by 9am, yell at other drivers on the road, give up, cry in the bathroom, crumple up my to-do list, run away, throw my phone in the garbage, or just drink wine even though it's only noon.

Recently, while I was having a bad day, I stumbled across a post from Rachel Brathen (Yoga Girl) about having bad moments, not bad days. She had compiled a list of things that helps her move on when things aren't going her way.

I loved how she put it: "Own it. Feel it. Get out of it."

Such a helpful reminder! When we feel stuck in a terrible mood, we do have the choice to try and shift out of it.

So, I made my own list, and I'm planning to refer back to it the next time I'm feeling stuck. Hope these ideas are helpful to you, too (whether it's a Monday or not a Monday!).

Sh*t to Do When I'm Having a Sh*t Day

• Breathe. Pause to notice my body. When I feel angry or frustrated, I tend to breathe less. Or, if I'm anxious, I might even hold my breath. Simply sitting down and choosing to take five deep breaths can make a big difference in giving myself the time to become aware of how my body feels. I do a quick scan, head to toe, to see what I notice. It helps to pause the thoughts, notice the body, and increase the breath.

• Get outside. Or at least get out of the house. If I'm near a walking path, a beach, or a park, I'll go there. I sit in the sunshine and notice the sounds around me. I try to notice the other people, too, and that I am not alone.

• Practice yoga. If the thought creeps in, "I don't want to," or, "I can't today," ignore it. I roll out my mat anyway. If I can get to the studio, I go take a class and I do my best to let the teacher and the yogis around me hold space for me. I do my favorite poses, ten minutes minimum. Sun salutations are great for getting the spine moving, which shifts energy in the body.

• Invert. Getting upside down has a physical effect on the brain, and it can help shift your mood. I like to take headstand for at least 8-10 breaths. Headstand doesn't make things perfect, or even change my circumstances, but it certainly offers me a momentary shift in perspective.

• Be around animals. Animals don't judge you, and they listen. They love unconditionally. Give your dog a walk, or a hug, and see if it can help you smile, even if only for a moment.

• Make a list. Start with the things that are bothering the most. Notice, how are they related to your fears or insecurities? When I write about these things, it tends to help me realize what negative thoughts are making me feel stuck. Sometimes I even like to write down those thoughts and then draw a big fat line through them, as a reminder that my mind is not in a truthful space. It's almost like telling my thoughts, "NO, you're wrong" and it helps me move forward. The alternative list you can make: shit I accomplished today! Yeah, taking a shower counts! So does getting dressed, eating a nourishing meal, and putting your dishes in the dishwasher!

• Rest. A lot of times I get in a shitty mood because I've been going too fast and too hard for too long. I'm exhausted. My body is suffering, or tired, or hurting. Taking a short nap, a hot bath, or a night off can make a big difference in getting back into a good mood.

• Get off of social media. Social media encourages us to compare ourselves to everyone around us. If I'm having a shit day, seeing other people smiling about all the happy things they're up to doesn't tend to help. One trick I use is to put the icons for Facebook and Instagram on a different 'page' of my phone, so I have to scroll a couple times to get to them. That way, I can't just mindlessly click to look at notifications. Trust that spending some time away from the stories and input of those around you will give you clarity.

• Talk through it. Usually the thing that helps me the most is to call, text, or talk to someone who loves me unconditionally. Opening up and voicing what my concerns are-- it really takes the pressure off. I try to be selective about who I talk to, and choose someone that is going to listen and be supportive, not try to change the situation for me or make me feel guilty, upset, or ashamed.

• Give yourself some small token of appreciation, or pause for a moment to celebrate. I like to wear jewelry as a reminder of what mantra I'm trying to keep in my mind, or put on a piece of clothing that makes me feel beautiful, or confident. Or I go to a coffee shop and buy myself a coffee, and focus on the fact that I deserve to feel good for a part of my day. It can also be helpful to pause and ask, "What's going well today? Anything?" and even if the answer is that I was able to get laundry done, I pause for a moment to celebrate that damn laundry. 

• Let yourself off the hook for doing a whole damn list, and just do one thing that feels good. Maybe none of these things are going to help me get out of a bad mood today. So, move on from those, and do one thing that will help. When you take a moment to ask yourself what that one thing is, you'll know. Just go do it.

• And, because it's worth repeating, remind yourself: YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH, YOU ARE ENOUGH, YOU ARE LOVED.

Next time you're feeling caught between a rock and a hard place, just stuck in a shitty mood, try these things, or make your own list of ways you can push through. And then don't forget to do them :) While thinking about them is a helpful first step, it's the doing them that will really help.

Sending you big hugs, my friend.

Photos via Pinterest and by Justin Kral and Respiro Photography.

You're Invited to Join the Alive in the Fire Email Newsletter

Happy Monday, yogis! Hope you had a beautiful weekend.

I wanted to take a moment to invite you to join my email newsletter! :) Exciting times... it only took me 5+ years to get my act together as a blogger and get an email list going. Ha!

In all honesty, I would love if you join the list... you guys are the reason I write and you make this community what it is. :) I'll be sharing updates with recent blog posts, ideas for kicking your yoga practice into gear, info about my upcoming coastal yoga retreat (!!!), and other fun updates. There's a signup form below, and a spot in the sidebar at the right where you can always sign up.

Alive in the Fire Newsletter

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Thanks, as always for being a part of Alive in the Fire! Namaste.

Photos in this post by Brynna Bryant and Tom Huynh.

Yoga is a Daring Act of Courage

Photos by The Lost Coast.

Are you willing to get your feet dirty? 

Are you willing to risk falling?  

What parts of your ego are you willing to surrender? 

This practice of Yoga is not always pretty; in my experience, it is messy, embarrassing, risky, and humbling. 

Yoga is not simply being able to say, 'I can hold the pose effortlessly'... it is also being able to say, 'This pose took years, but I kept trying,' or, 'I'm terrified, but I'm doing this anyway.' Or even, 'This pose may never happen in my body, but I'm not letting myself be defined by that.'

Yoga is a daring act of staring fear down and not letting it win. 

Yoga is the willingness to love yourself even when you fail miserably.

Yoga happens when you are facing a situation that feels impossible, something you can't imagine surviving -- like the loss of a loved one, a divorce, an injury that changes your life, an unplanned pregnancy, a fire that consumes your house.

Even though everything is messed up and you're making mistakes and crying alone in the bathroom at night, you're willing to feel everything that is happening. You're willing to stay present, and you even manage to love yourself in the small moments when you feel more alive than you have in years.

It is in these moments -- when your feet are covered in dirt and the ground is slipping out beneath you-- that you're truly in your practice. Not the easy, comfortable, flat wooden floors at the yoga studio. The part when you're barefoot in the cold. The part where you step on a piece of glass and have to call out because it hurts so much. 

The part when you fall, and somehow, you get back up.

All this... all your willingness to keep going, to try again, to stay true to who you are... this is Yoga.

Indie Spiritualist: A No Bullshit Exploration of Spirituality (Book Review)

Photos via Indie Spiritualist website and on Facebook.

“You were born to be real, not to be perfect.”

- Chris Grosso, Indie Spiritualist

Being true with ourselves is so important. This has been surfacing again and again in my life lately: how, at a very deep level, yoga is a practice of being real.

For all its fancy postures and esoteric spiritual practices, yoga is, quite simply, a way of tuning in to what exactly is happening in the present moment. 

I may be on my mat, in a posture (asana), feeling what it feels like to breathe (pranayama). Or maybe I'm choosing to treat others with kindness (ahimsa) in a moment where I want to react in anger.

Yoga helps us detach from needing everything to be perfect, and instead just to feel, to allow, to explore, to truly connect.

I recently received a copy of Chris Grosso's book, Indie Spiritualist and it's one of my new favorites. Chris explores what it really means to be honest with ourselves, to let go of the darkness of a broken past, and to heal.

He says:

True spirituality embraces all of this [life]: the beauty that is almost too much to bear, as well as the paint hat leads some to the brink of insanity. It’s all grist for the mill. We practice our asanas and mantras, prayers and aspirations, and that’s great; but are they serving to strengthen our identification as a “spiritual person” or to help us release our identification with that illusion, and in the process deepen our exploration of more than meets the eye?

I like Chris' down-to-earth approach to exploring what it means to be human. Following his story, I really connected with the idea of him as a seeker, someone wanting to grow, and let go. And his path is not easy -- he falls down, he feels hopeless, he messes up -- but, ultimately, he chooses to keep going.

I was very inspired by his honesty, and the way he embraces all of his experiences (including the road from addiction to recovery) with an open heart.

If I am to be truly responsible for myself, then I have to accept discomfort and acknowledge the aspects of myself that scare the shit out of me and make my heart sink, because this is where the true healing can begin.

These were two other passages that really resonated:

The gift of desperation

“I was blessed with what the twelve-step fellowships call ‘the gift of desperation,’ which means that I’d hit such a rock bottom that I was finally able to surrender. I had nothing left to hold on to, and nothing holding me back. I was completely bankrupt in every sense of the word – morally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically – which allowed me to completely let go. In turn, letting go allowed for true inner spiritual growth to begin.”

The fear behind the fear

“As I kept moving forward with my recovery, I began to explore the reasons I was so scared to look at the things that sucked in my life—self-loathing, fear, emotional scars, and other baggage. I began to see clearly the futile nature of fear behind the fear. And herein lies a perfect opportunity to explore why we’re scared to take an honest look at the unpleasant things in our life (besides the obvious fact that they’re unpleasant). And more importantly, to figure out what we can do today to begin making even small steps toward changing that.”

Thank you, Chris, for sharing your story, for choosing not to hide, and for being true to yourself. Namaste.

Halloween Faces

This year I dressed in many Halloween costumes.

I was a masquerade gypsy... 

a girl from the 50s...

a witch...

...and a hooper, of course. :)

What did you dress up as?

Spinning Fire

I am present to this moment. The sound of the flames, wind running through them. The smell of the oil as it burns. The way the heat is near: present danger, held close.

I know my place. Calm, listening to the sound of my own heart beating, feeling the energy moving through me.

I'm ready to move.

Finding the rhythm within: a glowing not wholly unlike this fire that surrounds me. Circling a dance of breath and flame, moving the hoop faster.

Every exhale a release. 

I feel as though a spark has been lit.

I could stay here forever, dancing in the middle of the night, being watched by friends, meditating in this moment. No fear or insecurity, no conscious responsibility to be a certain way, no distractions.

I am simple elemental movement. I am my own flame.

Overcoming Obstacles

Hey wonderful readers...I'm going through a hard time right now. For as much positive energy and pure light as I try to bring to this blog space at Alive in the Fire... sometimes, I am sad.

Angry.

Hurt. 

Confused.

Photo by Oh Darling Photo. 

We all go through crazy stuff in life, and we come out the other side stronger. But at the time, obstacles can feel overwhelming. Goals, unattainable.

Stress & worry don't serve us, but we turn to them. (Perhaps at the time it's the only way we know how to cope.)

I have had my share of anxiety and suffering, that's for sure. :)

Would you do me a favor?

Send some positive love & light my way in the next few weeks.

Better yet, go ahead and share it with your close friends, too. Give more hugs. Smile because you can, not because you have to.

If you've stuck around at Alive in the Fire, hopefully you've noticed that one of my goals here is to make the world a brighter place because we all go through challenges... and we need each other to survive those challenges.

Whether you're a yogi in Chicago or New York City, a dancer in Sacramento, a massage therapist working in Kansas, a friend of a friend from London or Paris or Saudi Arabia...an engineer in South America... a reiki practitioner, a young person, an old person...

I'm so grateful for all of you. :)

Photo via the ballerina project.

I love you all and I appreciate so much that you take time out of your day to read my ramblings and check out the photos.

If you guys could send me your light, I'll feel it. Energy resonates. And I could use some of your positive energy these days. :)

So thanks in advance, and keep changing the world for the better! You inspire me as much as I inspire you.

om namah shivaya

namaste!

Photo by Cara Brostrom.

PS if you're so inclined, you can always drop me a little digital hug via aliveinthefire at gmail dot com, too :) I adore hearing from you guys!