Did you know that repressed anger can not only make you unhappy, but it can make you unhealthy? I don’t know about you, but I used to squish my feelings down. Well, this week I had an opportunity to express some hot holy hell and I learned a lot from what happened. When you get pissed do you deal with it or do you lie to protect others and avoid tough questions? If your answer is yes, then this vlog is for you!
If this topic resonates for you or if you have some tips to share, I’m sure we all could use them!
Over the past five years, my illness evolution has unfolded exactly the way it was meant to unfold, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the process, admittedly becoming impatient at times. My diagnosis of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (RSD/CRPS) has been my greatest gift, my teacher, and my master, bringing me closer to my core self, others, and a higher power. I received the message loud and clear in the form of incessant, burning, widespread neurological pain, but I am on the road to health and healing with the help of a spiritual counselor, who can be likened to a therapist, psychic/intuitive, and best friend all wrapped into one. She guides me on my spiritual journey by accessing my spirit guides and creating an individualized plan just for me.
I am often asked how I “do it”—how do I achieve happiness with what should be a debilitating illness while pursuing a Master’s degree, nurturing fulfilling relationships, and believing I am healing from an “incurable disease?” It has taken five years of self-reflection—breaking down my old, limiting belief systems and replacing them with new, life-affirming principles—to get me where I am today. As a result, I want to share with you my “Ten Tips for Happiness.” I hope you enjoy them!
1. Be Grateful: Being grateful for the abundance in your life and focusing on the positives can raise your vibrational energy, which always aids in healing. ALWAYS being positive can create a shallowness in relationships with others and yourself. Instead, honor your feelings of sadness and frustration when they arise, and then remember to move on. You receive what you focus on, so focus on healing rather than pain, disease, frustration, etc.
2. Set Healthy Goals: Setting healthy goals can aid in feelings of self-confidence and self-worth when an illness threatens the very core of who you know yourself to be. You don’t have to be in a Master’s program to achieve a goal. Learn how to draw, speak a new language, write some poetry, etc. These goals are all just as, if not more, important and offer distractions, especially if you are in pain.
3. Change Your Mindset: Learn to view your illness or any setback as an opportunity for growth and personal development. See what society has taught us are negatives and view them as positives by finding the lessons. Fighting your illness suggests that it is separate from you and is your adversary; healing cannot take place when you are waging a war against your own body. Relax into the discomfort and find the lessons. They are there! TRUST ME!
4. Go Inward: In our materialistic, dualistic, ego-centered society, we are taught that if a problem arises, look OUTSIDE for the cause. Did someone’s negative attitude make me sick? Is my environment toxic? Is my food polluted? Are my genes flawed? We are so quick to attribute the cause of our suffering to some outside phenomenon, but in many cases, the cause and cure for our ills—personal and social—can be found inside of us. Start looking!
5. Be in Mindful Awe: With the hustle and bustle of today’s world, we tend to forget to stop and smell the proverbial and real roses. Take a moment to allow yourself to be in awe of the wonders of the world and that divine intelligence that helps those ordinary miracles unfold. Be mindful of the present moment, because the past is over and the future doesn’t exist. Accept where and who you are in this moment and enjoy the process of life.
6. Be a Child: Look at any small child before society has forced its belief systems upon him/her. The child, if from a loving family, does not have a care in the world and only lives for the pleasures of the present moment. The child does not need to control every single detail of his/her life, does not judge, desires to spread love, and always has FUN. You will not sacrifice your maturity by taking some notes from a child.
7. Let Go of Ego: You know ego—that little voice inside of you that judges (you and others), fears the unknown, is attached to the material world, and desires to control every little detail. The first step to overcoming your ego mind is to become aware of its presence, so listen closely as you go through your day. Once you recognize it, you are more likely to let it go. Replacing the negative chatter of the ego mind with positive, life-affirming thoughts will help raise your vibrational frequency and heal your body.
8. Listen to Intuition and Others: *Let me preface this by affirming my love for each and every one of you.* We don’t have all the answers. If we did, we would be healed already. Put your ego aside and listen to the teachings of those who are wise in their fields. If you tap into your intuition, which is the voice of God, you will know the right direction to go. Have faith that your intuition will guide you.
9. REST: Over its development, our society has decided that if you aren’t constantly achieving in the specific ways that society deems admirable, you aren’t a worthwhile human being. This is not true! Rebel! Decide to take care of yourself, to go outside of the box and REST. Find that balance between work and play; if you don’t, your body will force you to stop, whether or not you are prepared.
10. Read: I have found that reading self-help/spiritual/alternative medicine books has been a great supplement to my past and present therapeutic experiences. While you read, take what concepts appeal to you and integrate them into your belief system. I have read approximately thirty books outside of the texts necessary for my Master’s program in the last year, and they have been an integral piece of my healing. The same books that appeal to me may not appeal to you, so explore a little.
Maria is a 25 year old, raw vegan graduate student living with a progressive neurological disease, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (RSD/CRPS). Follow along as Maria reflects on lessons learned through her health challenges, shares her experiences with alternative and traditional treatments, enjoys life to its fullest, and heals herself at her blog!
Today kicks off the first in a series of short, fun and sass-o-matic vlogs. I’ve missed connecting with you so much, but I’m back in the crazy sexy saddle and ready to share my wellness tips and adventures once again. Lots of people ask me how I start my day. To be honest, it’s never the same, which is why it’s so exciting! Here’s a sneak peek of one of my current sources of inspiration, Cheryl Richardson‘s Self-Care Cards. I have many decks to choose from but these days Cheryl’s are speaking to me LOUD and clear. As my mental and emotional space changes and grows, I shift my morning spiritual practice to meet my soul needs. I hope the wisdom helps you as much as it helps me. Who doesn’t love a dose of self-care, self-love, how-to? I sure do.
Hey, I’d love for ya’ll to help me get my vlog groove going, so if you have any requests about certain topics you’d like to hear me cover let me know! Leave a comment and I’ll respond over the weekend. Speaking of the weekend, have a lovely restful few days. I simply adore you!
The experience of your first yoga class feels like embarking on a mysterious adventure in a whole new terrain. As you curiously peer into the incense-filled hallways lined with Ganesh and Shiva, the open-hearted calm beckons you to travel into your own sacred inner realm. The seductive power of yoga is an addictive calling to go deeper into yourself. Once you experience firsthand how magical yoga is, all resistance becomes futile.
Regardless of your intention when you plant the first seeds of your lotus flower, the transformative power of this ancient spiritual science works on a deep level of your being. Many people start yoga for fitness reasons, only to find that yoga changes their lives in ways far beyond the physical. Even if you are not a true believer and only wish to receive the physical health benefits of yoga, merely attending a yoga class regularly will have a lasting impact on your life.
The beauty of physical yoga postures is that you do not actually need to believe in them for the healing power of yoga to work. Hatha yoga approaches the transformation of the human spirit from the body first and then works its way subtly through the mind and soul. The body itself is an avenue to the spiritual that works from the inside out. As you water the seeds of padmasana (yoga pose), the full blooming lotus opens in your mind and soul.
Entering the new world of yoga is the first conscious step to live a more peaceful life. The initiatory phase of yoga is your chance to powerfully create your life, moment to moment, and live your highest potential everyday. As a neophyte, remember that it is natural to feel overwhelmed when you realize just how demanding spiritual discipline really is. Rather than a recreational activity that you can keep separate from your life, yoga asks you to transform your whole life to abide by yogic principles.
If at first you find yourself drawn to the physical display of power in advanced asana, you quickly see that the heart of yoga reaches far deeper than the postures themselves. Indeed the asanas are only used to purify the body, practice meditative states of unified consciousness and prepare the physical form to be a home for divinity in the world of mind and matter. The more advanced asanas are not ends in and of themselves. Instead, the real work of yoga occurs in the inner body and is actually the seed of your own enlightenment beginning to flower.
Like an open invitation to the spiritual path, yoga never places commandments on practitioners from above. When you start practicing yoga the body itself becomes more sensitive and then asks you to live a purer lifestyle. While the moral and ethic codes of a yogic lifestyle ask practitioners to be an instrument of kindness, compassion and healing in the world, the choice to live peacefully is meant to be a sincere feeling that each practitioner feels for themselves before acting upon it. Practicing asana makes the body more sensitive so that you feel more clearly the impact that unhealthy behavior, negative thoughts and destructive emotions have on you. Yoga never tells you what you can and cannot do. It is a path of liberation, not bondage. It is a path of direct knowingness rather than rules and edicts.
The practice of yoga itself opens your body and mind to desire wholly a new way of being, living and interacting with yourself and others. It is the heightening of your own awareness that facilitates the transformation. You change not because your teacher tells you to, but because yoga opens the door to a new way of being that you choose to walk through with joy, ease and grace. The journey into the lotus heart of yoga is a lifelong spiritual practice that bears flowers in this life and beyond.
Faced with the seemingly insurmountable goal of ultimate enlightenment, many new students doubt their ability to ever progress along the arduous path of yoga. They look at their teachers or other accomplished practitioners and wonder how they will ever get from their relative feeling of confusion to the clarity, grace and precision they see in the masterful art form of yoga. Yet small seeds do not doubt whether they will become trees. They trust the natural process of evolution and growth that takes them from seeds to sprouting seedlings to flowering, fruitful trees. With proper nutrients, care and love the flower of your inner lotus is sure to grow to maturity in the fertile soil of your own consciousness.
Every accomplished yogi today has benefitted from the guidance of their teachers and has been nurtured by the yoga community. Every yoga teacher today has also nourished their journey with their own dedication and devotion. If you are a new student of yoga remember that you hold the key to the power of yoga. It is in your own heart that the seed of spiritual investigation must take root, watered by the flow of your own consciousness. Small treasures abound when you attempt challenging postures that at first seem impossible but with time, dedication and guidance, evolve into possibility. When you embark on your own operation lotus, know that this journey is a timeless one that never ends, only deepens.
Kino MacGregor is one of a handful of people around the world to receive the Certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga by its late founder, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, in Mysore, India. She shares the healing power of yoga with as many people as possible everywhere she travels and on her website. The creator of a series of Ashtanga Yoga DVDs, Kino lives in beautiful Miami Beach where she and her husband co-own Miami Life Center, a space for yoga and holistic living.
Two and a half years ago, I tried Bikram yoga and I hated it. As I was lying on my back in a pool of my own sweat in Savasana at the end of class, the teacher urged new students to come back the next day because it “gets better,” and my internal dialogue screamed, “NO FREAKIN’ WAY!” Then, as I burst out the front door and into the cool fall air gasping for breath, my inner voice continued, “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!” As a loyal Vinyasa yoga practitioner, I had given Bikram a shot, felt like I had been beaten up by the class, and never intended on setting foot in a 110 degree Bikram studio again. That is, until a few weeks ago, when I decided to give it a second chance.
There were several reasons why I went crawling back. This winter in New York was exceedingly long, cold, and gray, and I was craving heat to boost me out of my achy lethargy and self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder, which was exacerbated by four straight days of pouring rain and gale force winds. Also, I hurt my hamstring during my foray into pole dancing class two years ago, and ever since then it seizes up when I do Triangle Pose in Vinyasa yoga, and I was hoping that the heat of Bikram might help stretch it out in a non-spasmodic way. But my strongest motivation to go back to Bikram was that I had recently checked my ex’s Twitter which (a) never makes me feel good about myself and (b) always results in a depressive downward spiral. Vinyasa classes were just not working to shake the thoughts of him out of my brain, and I remembered a friend saying years ago, “Bikram yoga is the only thing that turns off my thoughts.” I needed to take drastic yogic measures to elevate my self-esteem and quiet my mind STAT… before I checked his Twitter again!
This time around, the sparks flew right away, and I fell in love with Bikram yoga. At the beginning of class during a Pranayama breathing exercise the teacher said, “Breathe out all your thoughts and worries,” and I eagerly complied, exhaling enthusiastically. Like the last time, I was again dripping in sweat, wheezing for air, and fighting frequent waves of nausea, but looking at my reflection in the mirror during class and seeing my rosy (okay, bright red) cheeks and muscular sweaty body contorting into challenging poses, I felt strong, vital, and powerful, and my self-confidence soared. I had to focus so hard on breathing and not throwing up that my thoughts hardly uttered a peep from the moment I stepped into the sweltering room until the second I left the studio. And when those thoughts eventually did return, they were more languid, sedated, and blissful, instead of racing, anxious, and agonizing about my ex-boyfriend.
After my last attempt at Bikram, I had dragged myself home and passed out for the rest of the day, but after this class, detoxified and energized, I bounded through the streets, walking/dancing home blasting “Carry Out” by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on my iPod, feeling like one badass hot (and sweaty) yogini. My friend and newly designated Bikram mentor Bridgette, who is known for having converted at least eight people to this style of yoga, texted me multiple times after class with advice and encouragement. She instructed me to drink coconut water to restore my electrolytes, and told me that a consistent Bikram yoga practice would make me calmer and increase my focus and mental clarity. Brain fog is my arch-nemesis, and I often feel like if I just had more mental clarity my life would dramatically improve. That alone was reason enough to return for another Bikram class. And, although not specifically touted as a benefit of Bikram on either the yoga studio’s website or by my friend Bridgette, if the sweaty, vigorous 90 minute classes manage to take my thoughts off my ex, then that’s a worthy bonus.
So this time, when the teacher said at the end of class, “You should come back tomorrow,” my internal dialogue piped in with, “Hell, yeah!” The third time’s a charm, and if it can get me over my ex-boyfriend, Bikram yoga and I just might be soul mates after all.
Jennifer Garam is a Brooklyn-based writer whose writing has appeared on Health.com, The Huffington Post, DivineCaroline.com, the blog “Hip Slope Mama,” and in Interview magazine, and a yogini who has been practicing yoga for the past 11 years. As the founder of WRITEOUS CHICKS, she has created and taught writing workshops for women with an emphasis on personal growth, self-care, and having fun, and writes the blog “One Writeous Chick.”
