The Fifth Chakra: Your Voice, Your Truth and Creative Expression

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Your Fifth Chakra:

The fifth chakra or throat chakra is physically located at the throat, neck and jaw.  It vibrates to the color blue- a beautiful mid-day blue.  It is where you speak your truth, it is the center of your communication with others and with your own self and body.  It is the truth in how you live your life.

A deficiency in the throat chakra energy can show up in a weak voice or fear of speaking, difficulty expressing yourself or a lack of creativity.  It is being overly secretive or shy.  It is the lump that you feel in your throat when you can’t or don’t say what you need to say.

An excess amount of throat chakra energy can manifest as an overly loud voice, gossiping and inability to keep secrets.  Can you picture someone in your life that has shown characteristics at one end or the other of the spectrum of fifth chakra?

Questions to ask yourself as you get to know your fifth chakra:

Your Voice

Are there times when you need to say something but you can’t?  Are you living your truth?  Are you able to keep secrets and be trusted? Are you able to speak your mind? Are there times when you feel like you are not heard or that your voice does not matter?  Is there something you need to say that you are not saying?  Can you express you creativity?  Do you enjoy it?  Do you listen to your own body and honor when it needs to rest or when it needs to move?

Your Truth

Are living your life from a place of truth? Are you doing what brings you love and passion or are you doing what you think you should do?  What is your truth?  Do you appear as you really are or do you live beyond your means or do things only for others/appearance and not for yourself or because it is the right thing to do?

Creative Expression

Are you able to express yourself creatively? When do you feel most creative? When do you feel unable to access your creativity?  Where would you like to be more creative?  What is one step you can take to express your own creativity today?

Some yoga asanas and other activities to bring the fifth chakra into balance:

Shoulderstand, plow, bridge, neck rolls
Humming, singing, listening to music
Creative writing/journaling to get your voice out there
Listen to what your body is saying and honor it

Further Learning:

I hope that this has given you some insight into the fifth chakra and interested you enough to learn more about the chakras.  If you are interested in learning more, I suggest the Chakra Balancing Workbook by Anodea Judith.  It contains CDs for guided imagery, guided yoga sequences and a workbook for exploring your own chakras.  We use it in the Yoga Teacher Training Program and I have used mine for many years!!

I would love to hear your feedback on this post- I love learning from you!
Namaste,
Joy

What is holding you back from the brilliant life you were meant to live?

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I am taking a brief departure from my Chakra series to send this information to YOU.  I send it with all the love in my heart to encourage you to do amazing things (whether it is this yoga training or something else you have been wanting to do but have found every reason in the Universe why you shouldn’t/don’t deserve it/aren’t qualified/don’t dare).  So many times we talk ourselves out of the opportunities that the Universe is presenting us with.  We want to do great things, we want to learn, grow, help others.  We want to live our lives to the fullest.  But when it comes to putting one foot in front of the other and taking the step to fulfill our dreams, we are awesome at talking ourselves out of it.  I am here to tell you to push those doubts and the negative self-talk to the back of the line and step up and into the life you are meant to live.

If the brilliant, shining life you are meant to live includes learning more about yourself, breaking out of old patterns and habits that are holding you back, living a healthy and radiant life and helping others feel healthy and peaceful, you may want to continue reading the rest of this post.  If your brilliant life looks like something else, stop reading and go do it!!!!!

Much love, light and flow to you as you travel the road to the highest version of yourself,
Joy

**********************************************************************************

200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training

Beginning Friday, November 11

The deadline to register was last Friday, but we have a few spots left, so I am keeping the registration open for a few more weeks!  (Yes, that was the sign from the Universe that YOU are meant to sign up!)

There are a few questions that people always ask, so I thought I would answer them here, in case you are on the fence about signing up….

Q: What if I can’t stand on my head/do a handstand/do anything else you think yoga teachers should be able to do? Can I still teach yoga?
A: Yes, you can teach things you can’t do.  But a more likely scenario is that your personal physical, mental and emotional growth through this program will prepare you to do things you never knew were possible- both on and off the mat!  You will be ready to try new things, you will be stronger both in your physical body and in your mind!

Q: What if I don’t want to teach but I just really LOVE yoga?
A: Perfect! I will not chase you down if you are not teaching yoga after you complete this program!!  This program is a wonderful chance to deepen your own study of yoga and of yourself.  There are very few programs in our area that offer this in-depth of a program in which to study yoga, whether you want to teach it or not.

Q: What if I can’t come up with $2400 for the program by November 11?
A: No problem. You can pay in 4 payments of $625 or 8 payments of $325 spaced evenly over the duration of the program.

Please read a few testimonials from past Yoga Teacher Training participants.

I would really love to have YOU in the Yoga Teacher Training Program!  Email or call me (480) 209-8711 and we can chat!

Contact me for more information or to register today!

Rising Spirit Yoga is a registered yoga school through Yoga Alliance.

For yoga teachers: Heart Chakra Integration

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In the last post, we learned a lot about the characteristics of the heart chakra.  Today we learn how to deepen your student’s connection between their life off the mat and on the mat.

Backbends are super energizing so if you are teaching a backbend focused class at night, make sure you have lots of time to neutralize the backbends.  You netutralize backbends with twists and forward folds.  First twists, then forward folds.

Some peak poses- the “big deal” poses that you build up to and that the preliminary poses lead towards and systematically warm up the other body parts for- that are great to focus on for backbends are:
-bow pose, using dancer as a standing pose to compliment
-wheel, use two straps to support students- one under the sacrum and one under the shoulderblades to help students experience the opening of the front of the body even without the arm strength or shoulder flexibility
-camel- stretching the quads and hip flexors to prepare the body for backbends

While students are resting, ask them to look at the connections in their lives.  Are they able to give love and do they feel worthy of receiving love? Do they accept themselves as they are or are they waiting for the magic xyz to happen to accept themselves? Are they critical of others? Are they a people pleaser?

Ask them how that relates to their practice on the mat…. are they always trying to please the teacher by pushing too far in a pose or trying an advanced variation for which they are not ready in order to gain attention?  Are they critical of the teacher or of other students?  Will they allow themselves to be happy when their hamstrings are not so tight?  Try to shed a light on those things that they may be saying to themselves in the course of a class.

Heart openers, backbends lift energy and mood and are wonderful for depression.  So often we hunch forward at the computer or as we are carrying our babies or driving our cars.  Backbends can help to lengthen the deltoids and pectoralis major and minor that have shortened through repeated hunching.  Our upper back muscles, especially the rhomboids, get weaker as we hunch.  Backbends strengthen back muscles and lengthen the chest muscles.

I would love to hear from you- what fourth chakra practices, series of poses, questions and ideas do you weave into your classes?  I am always ready to learn from you, my friends.

Blessings of love and light,
Joy

Your Heart Chakra: Finding Connection, Compassion and Contentment

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Open Your Heart to Yourself and to Others

Welcome to the fourth chakra, the center of love and compassion for yourself and for others.  Last week we practiced backbends as we explored the idea of finding balance in the heart center.

The fourth chakra is located around the physical heart and encompasses the lungs, heart, shoulders, arms and hands.  It vibrates to the color green and is the balancing point between the lower three chakras and upper three chakras.  Fourth chakra energy is associated with how you relate to others, how you are able to love and be loved, how accepting you are of yourself and others.

Sometimes I correlate this chakra with the directions given on an airplane to parents: put the air mask on yourself first, then put it on your kids.  Just as you are no good to your kids if you are passed out (or whatever happens if you don’t put on the mask!), you have to love yourself and accept yourself before you can give or receive that from anyone else.  If you are always judging and critiquing yourself, there is no way you can let that go when you relate to others in your life.

A deficient amount of heart chakra energy manifests in your life as fearing intimacy, being unable to connect with others, acting and thinking in a critical and judgmental manner, suffering from depression.  Picture someone with shouders hunched forward, head down- their heart chakra is literally trying to disappear.  An excess amount of heart chakra energy means you are super loving and awesome, right?!  Wrong….. excess amounts of heart chakra energy actually means that you look for approval and acceptance from others in order to receive love. You may be a people pleaser or a martyr.

Maybe you are noticing that your heart chakra is out of balance…. what can you do to bring it into balance?  Breath work and backbends are the most important aspect of working with the heart chakra.  Do you ever get the feeling that you just can’t get enough air in- usually when you are stressed or anxious?  Try lengthening your exhale four more counts than normal, and then notice that the inhale comes in much more naturally.  Just as with the breath, when you are feeling like you are not receiving enough love and acceptance from someone, begin to love and accept that person as deeply and unconditionally as possible.  Notice how it creates an opening for love and acceptance to come into your life.  Can you give away that same unconditional love that you crave/need/want/are missing?  Try it…… you’ll like it!!!

After a day of working at your computer or carrying your baby or driving, all you want to do is roll your shoulders backs and open up your heart center.  Standing up, clasp your hands together behind your back and reach your hands towards the floor, roll your shoulders back and slide your shoulder blades towards your waist.  If it feels good, bend at the hips into a forward fold and lift your arms overhead- voila! Standing Yoga Mudra!

Another less active backbend is to take a bolster, rolled up towel or blanket or pillow and put it in the floor so that it is positioned the long way across the bottom of your shoulder blades. Let your head rest on the ground and arms open out to the side, legs can be straight or knees bent.  Breath and feel the front of your body opening to love for yourself and others.

Patterns to begin to notice in your daily life that relate to your heart chakra are…..
Where, when and of whom do you feel jealous?
When do you feel critical of others? When do you feel criticized?
Are you a people pleaser?
Do you deserve to be loved or are you wait for XYZ to happen before you deserve it?
Can you accept yourself just as you are and allow yourself to be happy NOW or are you waiting to lose those five pounds, get that job, find that relationship until you can be happy?
Yoga is about noticing what is going on without judgment of yourself or of others.  Can you witness these patterns in your life and find acceptance and compassion for yourself?

Coming up tomorrow…. a post for yoga teachers on how to integrate fourth chakra topics into a yoga class.

Namaste,
Joy

For more reading on the chakras, I recommend The Chakra Balancing Workbook
by Anodea Judith.

For Yoga Teachers: Weaving Third Chakra Themes into Your Class

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My intention for this series of posts for yoga teachers is to offer some tools that can be used to deepen the yoga class experience by creating a bridge from your student’s practice on the mat to their lives off of the mat.

Third Chakra: Power, Energy and the Core

The third chakra is located as a bullseye around the navel so a third chakra focused class will be heavy on core work and twists.

Breathing practices to complement a third chakra practice would be ujjayi breath to create continuous internal heat throughout the practice.  Kapalabhati (skull shining breath) also energizes the body and can be used as a separate pranayama practice or during certain poses, possibly boat pose.

Some combination of poses that I have found to be really effective are:
-boat into a tolasana variation (feet stay on the floor)- repeated three times
-flying plank poses- begin in downward facing dog with right leg lifted behind you, as you exhale, shift forward into plank and draw the right knee in towards the chest, inhale and shift back into downward facing dog while extending the right leg behind you- repeat three times to the middle, then three times with the knee crossing the body and reaching towards the left elbow, then three times with the knee reaching towards the right elbow (these are intense which is why 3 per location- middle, left and right- is enough for most all levels classes!)
-revolved side angle pose works very well for an all levels class as there are so many variations (back knee up or down, bottom hand inside or outside of front foot, hands in prayer position with elbow resting on the front thigh)- it is also a great peak pose for a third chakra themed class

So much of teaching the chakras is about helping your students connect to what is going on with their chakras.  I like to offer information about what excess and deficient amounts of that chakra’s energy looks like in a person.  I also have found that posing open ended questions to my students as they are resting between poses is very effective at connecting the chakras to their lives off of the mat.
Ideas for some questions to ask students:
Can you recognize someone in your life that has excessive or deficient amounts of third chakra energy?
Can you recognize times in your life when you have had excess or deficient amounts of third chakra energy?
How is your energy right now?
What patterns do you notice in your energy throughout the day?
Is there someone that you blame in your life?
Is there an area in your life where you need to exert more power, be more assertive?
Is there an area in your life where you are controlling or domineering?

After all of the stimulating energy and heat creating poses of the third chakra, make sure that you spend plenty of time neutralizing that core work or your students may leave class amped up, jittery and unable to sleep if it is an evening class.  Gentle and supported backbends are a soothing complement to a third chakra class.
Some ideas of how to implement this:
-hold sphinx pose for an extended amount of time
-take a supported bridge pose (with a block under the sacrum)
-use supported bound angle as a resorative pose before savasana or during savasana
-make sure your students have a nice, long savasana to integrate all of the energy created during the physical practice

I hope that a few of these ideas resonate with you and that you might find them helpful in your classes.  I would love to hear from you- what third chakra practices, series of poses, questions and ideas do you weave into your classes?  After all, one definition of namaste is “the teacher and light in me honors the teacher and light in you”.  I am always ready to learn from you, my friends.

Blessings of love and light,
Joy

Your Third Chakra: Checking In with Your Power and Your Energy

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How is Your Power Center today?

We are talking about the third chakra and if you were in my classes last week, you have gotten to experience all of this first hand!

The third chakra is located in the bullseye around your navel and it takes in all of your digestive organs, liver and gallbladder.  It vibrates to the color yellow and is your power and energy center.  (Wear yellow to boost your power!)  It is associated with your inner strength and will, the fire you have in your life.  When someone has a lack of third chakra energy, they can have little energy, blame others, lack confidence, have poor digestion and have little self-discipline.  When someone has an excess of third chakra energy, they can be very competitive, controlling, stubborn and hyperactive.  When your third chakra energy is balanced, you feel positive about yourself, you are energetic, playful, able to take appropriate risks and have good self-discipline.  (Yes, please!)  Can you picture someone who falls into those categories of third chakra energy?  Can you see yourself at different times of your life with excess or deficient third chakra energy?

So now that we have identified the different variations in third chakra energy, how can you bring your energy into balance?  If you have too much energy and need to decrease the fire energy in your life, practice deep breathing emphasizing the exhale- what you want to let go of- and meditation.  Backbends also help to cool down the fire of the third chakra. (More on backbends coming next week!)  If you need to increase your fire, energy and power, think core!  Leg lifts, ”crunches”, twists of all types, plank pose, boat pose, even some arm balances as they really use the core to create stability.

Third chakra also is where you regulate your energy throughout your day.  What is your energy like today? Do you start the day with lots of energy and fade in the afternoon? Do you get a burst of energy after the kids go to bed and then have trouble settling down? What zaps your energy? What gives you energy?  Begin to notice your own patterns and think about what they can teach you about yourself.

Tomorrow’s post will be for yoga teachers and how to plan a yoga class based on the third chakra.

Namaste,
Joy

For more reading on the chakras, I recommend The Chakra Balancing Workbook by Anodea Judith.

Welcome!

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Thank you for visiting my site! Here you will find information about upcoming teacher trainings, workshops and weekly classes.  I also will share my insights as I balance life as a football mom, yogini, Reiki practitioner and wife.  I will share my journey with you as I navigate what sometimes seems like two different worlds, but to me it is just one crazy world- mine!

Much love, light and peace,

Joy