Some Yoga Retreat Highlights & Upcoming Masterclass
Oct 12, 2021For my Canadian friends, I hope you had a splendid and glorious Thanksgiving. At one point, we had 5 pumpkin pies in our fridge, so I declare our celebrations to be a success. At another point, my family burst into collective song around the dinner table (Let It Go from Frozen because my niece is currently captivated by Elsa) and it was such a sparkly eyed, glowing hearts, radiating smile kind of moment. I hope you also had some heart warming experiences in your weekend.
Onto the yoga highlights:
For 6 days last week, I attended an online yoga retreat with my mentor, Dr Sue Morter, as part of the certification I’m working towards. There were so many powerful, delightful and teachable moments, and I learned so much, so I wanted to pass along a bit of the goodness.
Highlight #1
In our condo, we have floor to ceiling windows that look down over a T intersection, and the street that stretches out in front of us is currently draped in magnificent bowers of bright yellow leaves. My husband suggested that I set up my yoga mat to enjoy the view, and so I did.
There’s a pose in yoga, half forward fold, where the cue is to “look down the road” and I realized that because of my orientation in the room, I was doing exactly that. For some reason, it delighted me to no end. #simplepleasures
Takeaway: I’ve been playing with the energy of delight and declaring that every day, I am open to experiencing more and more delight because I absolutely love feeling delighted. Because I have that intention, more and more delight is indeed showing up. What feeling do you love? Can you set an intention to experience more and more of it? (The answer is, of course, yes you can!)
Highlight #2 (We’re going woo-woo with this one…)
I’ve had a few interesting things happening in my 3rd eye chakra over the last bit, thanks to the regular Body Awake Yoga I’ve been doing, and I had a chance to ask Dr Sue what was happening.
Side Note: I used to think I wanted a really dramatic 3rd eye opening type of experience with all sorts of spiritual bells and whistles. I even considered doing something like Ayahuasca (until I discovered that emptying one’s stomach is part of the experience, leading me to say a resounding no to that). From Dr Sue, I learned that a 3rd eye opening can be gradual and gentle, which sounded a whole lot better.
Recently, I’ve started to notice things that made me curious.
- After going for a run, sometimes a really bright psychedelic shape appears right in the center of my vision, and it stays there whether my eyes are open or closed. It lasts for a few minutes and then fades away. (*cue Twilight Zone music)
- Increasingly, when I do my morning movement that includes Tracing my Meridians, Affirmative Stretching and the Daily Energy Routine, when my eyes are closed, I can see what looks like the shape of an eye. (*I’m being watched!)
- On the 5th day of the yoga retreat, I noticed a long hair on my chin (what’s up with that?!?) and so I immediately went to go tweeze it. I had a little trouble seeing it and thought something was wrong with my vision. Then I realized that I could see an energetic outline of my hands and face.
When I inquired what the heck was happening, Dr Sue told me that my 3rd eye is opening. Imagine that! (If you have no idea what that means, in a nutshell, it’s that you’re gaining access to incredible intuition and energy, while waking up to the magnificent being that all of us truly are. So it’s a big deal!)
Takeaway: When you’re actively taking inspired action to care for yourself with things like breathwork, meditation, yoga, etc. and weird stuff happens with your body, it’s not something going “wrong”. It’s your energetic system showing you that you’re right on track. An older version of me would have been concerned about the shapes, colours and inner eyeballs, but it’s all happening in our favour, so it’s better to be curious than scared.
Highlight #3
Dr Sue spoke of how one’s yoga mat becomes their best friend. It’s a place to work out all of your issues on an energetic level. It’s always there for you. It will hold you as you breathe, cry, celebrate, and experience the full spectrum of your emotions. When you devote yourself to showing up on the mat, life continues to get better and better in every way. One’s yoga mat will eliminate loneliness, cultivate deep inner peace and a sense of fulfillment. I had no idea!
Then, after the retreat, I had a sad moment when I learned of a family member’s declining health. I cried some tears and then remembered that I could “take it to the mat”. I found that Dr Sue was exactly right. By the time I rose from Savasana, I felt much more integrated.
Takeaway: I actively learned that pain is inevitable in life, but suffering is optional. The yoga mat helped me to feel the pain and move beyond the suffering. There’s so much more to yoga than I thought.
I’m working diligently at my certification (Module 8 of 12 - woohoo!) and in a few months, I’ll be able to start offering some magnificent yoga experiences to you too. I’m so excited! (And by the way, I’m completely shocked that I’m getting certified to teach yoga; it was definitely never a dream of mine.)
In the meantime, this month’s Self-Care Masterclass is coming up on Friday. If you’d like to learn how to fit all your self-care practices into your day without quitting your job and giving away your children, please join us.
You’ll discover how to feel good (not guilty) about your self-care, and a practical system that makes self-care enjoyable, straight-forward and totally doable.
Masterclass details are here. There’s a sliding scale to make it accessible and you get forever access to the recording.
I’m feeling moved to leave you with a poem. It’s by Atticus (who is a spectacular modern-day poet that I adore.)
Have you ever had a feeling
there’s more to you
than the person
everybody else sees
a person hidden deep within
the very fabric of your soul-
you must pull that thread
unravel the truth of you
and wake within yourself
that great giant
you already know
you can be.
With emboldened love and unfurling courage,
Christina
Creator of Courageous Self-Care
Surprised by how life unfolds
Delighted by spontaneous sing-a-longs and pumpkin pie
PS - Just in case you only read the PS… the monthly Self-Care Masterclass is coming up this Friday. Join us to learn How to Fit All your Self-Care Practices into your Day. Details are here.