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The Stress of Decision Fatigue When it comes to making decisions, big or small, have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of choices you face daily? Right or left, yes or no, stay or go, act or not. Constantly deciding which path to take can exhaust you without you even realizing it. No wonder you feel depleted at the end of the day! Wouldn’t it be nice to release the weight of deciding for ourselves…. but also still decide for ourselves? Here’s a story that highlights decision-fatigue: I recall my immigrant dad telling me of the day he first walked into a supermarket in America. The sheer volume of cereal options was too much. And then in the next aisle, the numerous choices for a can of beans…..oy! He left without getting his groceries. While it might’ve been less stressful to have one cereal and one can of beans, we do gratefully have and want the options– but this illustrates how overwhelming it can be trying to pick the right ketchup, much less the rest of your day! Moral of the story: we want options, just not the stress of decision-making.  Decision-making, even for mundane matters, can accumulate and cause anxiety and stress. While some choices are easy and instinctive, others will cause minor agony or demand mental effort. Thankfully, there are those moments when you feel confident and content with your decisions. It’s this experience we are striving for to empower confidence and satisfy the soul. So how do we get there? THE YOGA ANSWER We all know that yoga serves to increase flexibility and balance, reduce anxieties, and induce calm. It may seem obvious that deciding from a less anxious, more calm space will help you. But, it’s more than that….. Did you know that yoga can strengthen your mental-emotional health, particularly your decision-making skills? As a lifelong, self-help junkie, yoga was not on my radar as a way to reduce the stress of uncertainty and self-animosity, until way into my adulthood. I discovered this benefit quite by accident – or perhaps it was divine intervention. A few weeks into the practice of kundalini yoga, I was surprised to experience a clarity and lightness that allowed previously-persistent worries and woes to dissipate seemingly overnight. Worrying about all the things that can go wrong makes it really hard to make sensible decisions. Indeed, you heed the fears and decide protectively….often leaving you with a feeling of loss, misalignment, dissatisfaction, and sadness sensing opportunities were missed. Do you know this feeling? So what was this kundalini yoga? How did it make such dramatic changes for me? The Power of Kundalini Energy. Kundalini yoga is known as ‘the yoga of awareness’. The kundalini refers to a latent energy that sits at the base of your spine and represents your unmanifested potential. Through the practice of kundalini yoga, you awaken this energy to coil up your spinal channel, stimulating your body’s main energy centers along the way. These are known as your chakras. Imagine. Your lowly, dormant potential…..suddenly awake with expansive possibility! Like having been imprisoned in a small area, not even realizing there was more out there. Waiting. For you. I believe that we know deep down when we’re being stifled. We have an inner sense that we’re deciding from incomplete information. We hesitate to decide because there’s an inner resistance. Often this happens because we are inadvertently going against the natural rhythms of life and of our own alignment; the modern world doesn’t really support this. We humans are great at disrupting natural rhythms with our mental clutter – manipulations, distortions, and justifications. Technological inventions play a role in this (--and this is not to say we should deny electricity or computers!). We are intelligent and capable of enjoying ‘advancements’ AND being conscious of the impact it has on the natural order…and on us. It’s about balance. This is where tapping into and aligning our energy helps us. It’s the power of our expanded awareness and connection to a divine source.  Your Divine Intuition. Picture the sun, the moon, the stars, the rotation of the planets, nature….a seamless, harmonious flow. It knows what to do, when. And it acts on it. This divine wisdom resides within each of us as well. Raising our kundalini energy and maintaining the practice balances, nourishes, guides and supports our highly-intuitive sense of Self. With this elevated energy, we begin to know what is aligned for us and to trust it. Energy in Thought & Being. We are all energy, even our thoughts. Negative thoughts, toxic stress and paralyzing uncertainty manifest as blocked energy. When we practice yoga, we practice controlling our breath through pranayam (breathing exercises). This practice helps us to be with our thoughts consciously, both on and off the mat. Here’s another image: picture a boulder in a river. A bit of “normal”, stressful thoughts around decisions is like smaller rocks that the water finds its way around and smooths the rocks’ edges as it does. It adds attention, dimension and beauty. This is healthy stress. When the stone is huge and blocks much of the flow, it creates a back-up and effectively stops movement. The energy is pressurized, uncomfortable and overwhelming. This type of stress around decision-making will create blockage and impact your overall health, much less leave you undecided.  Credit Unknown Mindful movement and breathwork creates more room for flow and breaks down what’s no longer serving us.
5 WAYS YOGA MAKES SURE YOU GOT IT RIGHT Circling back to decision-fatigue and my father’s grocery store experience, when I occasionally fall back into that sort of dizzying decision vector, I know to go to my practice. Find a meditation or a kriya that clears the confusion and tames the overwhelm. Here are 5 ways that my yoga practice serves me in making confident, energized decisions:
Yoga opens, nurtures and empowers this elevated level of mental strength, fortitude, and trust to fearlessly decide and know it’s right. I hope this offers you some measure of greater confidence. Decide heartily and wholly and live in your truth– it won’t tire you out! What are you deciding on today? Does your answer come with ease and flow –and from the heart? Divinely yours, Anna SachKiret PS. Is decision-fatigue a thing for you? How do you combat it, if so? If not, what supports your process? Hit "reply" or "comment" below the post-- I'd love to hear from you!
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 I don't love yoga. That is, in the way most people know it, the way it's been popularized in modern culture. Truth be told, I think I might like this yoga now, given where I am today. But I was not sold on it in my 20s. I was flexible and strong, able to balance and stretch and hold and flow. I didn't know what I was there for. It didn't challenge me in the way I needed. I already felt relaxed and calm (or so I thought). This yoga, I believed, was for people who needed to calm down and relax.
Sounds crazy for me to say as a yoga teacher myself. But the yoga that hooked me delivered what I couldn't name at the time: a fire under my butt. And in a fast way. It gave me a spark and the courage to set my world aflame and put me out there to do battle. To get out of my own way; to conquer, move boulders and live big dreams-- and to live out the gifts that God gave me, instead of burying them out of fear, shame, a lack of trust. The battle wasn't actually "out there" but within me. Furthermore, it gave me this emboldened energy WITH the sense of calm and steadiness. Together. All at once. This yoga practice that found me was kundalini yoga. It is a unique practice that is powerful in unexpected ways. The breathwork and the types of sets, or kriyas, vary in scope from class to class. I'd always found it hard to describe. Ultimately, it's spiritual. It delivers you to yourself. Your true, at-your-core, highest Self. Here are some more of its benefits: For the Mind: Heightened awareness, increased intuition and circulation, promotes your ability to receive downloads (inspirations and answers) For the Body: Strengthens immune system, improves nervous system balance, activates the glandular and circulatory system, aligns the body’s energies to keep you optimized Spirit: Expands your electromagnetic field (we all have this and it helps us attract what we need!), deepens connections to Self, the Earth, and others Indeed, it unites your individual consciousness with Universal Consciousness, which is what yoga, in fact, means. It is this union that it gifts us. These days, when I find myself easily distracted and ungrounded, flailing around in parts of my life, I know it's because I have forsaken my daily kundalini practice. It happens to the best of us-- life shakes us up, physically and emotionally; distractions find their way in and you lose your footing. And yet, amidst these moments, knowing I have these tools-- and I know how to use them, I don't fear even the worst downward spirals that come from drifting. I'm not happy about having allowed the drift from my daily "well-being" hygiene; I just know the practice awaits me and it works every time. If you are seeking a profound practice to smooth your way in this life, I highly recommend this one. Find a good teacher -- online (like me!) or choose someone in your local area-- and make it your own. The classes typically consist of:
Bring your yoga mat, water and an open heart and mind. And simply show up. Present. With grit and grace, Anna SachKiret PS. What other daily rituals give you this kind of balance, clarity, health and inner strength on its own? I'm sure there are others and I'd love to hear it. Please comment also if this practice has served you and how. Sat nam! ❤️ “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift... that is why it is called Present” Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda We are all blessed with the present, however many of us leave this ongoing gift unopened, missing out on valuable moments in our lives because we don't realize its impact.  Image by Spencer Wing from Pixabay The Presence Present
I admit, I often find myself mired in thought about: projects I’m working on, issues to resolve, how to coordinate my family’s schedules, my to-do list, how to do this or that better, a relationship challenge, and on and on. This is rather normal, of course– who isn’t dealing with these sorts of daily life situations? What isn’t ideal however is when these thoughts cause me to miss out on:
When we live in the present, it simply means we’re not dwelling in the past or living for the future. We are not distracted or sitting in paralysis by past pains and future fears nor dwelling in grief or longing for what was or what could be. We are fully feeling (good or bad) and living IN this very moment. Fully present for our lives. This is the gift. While it’s vital to make space for processing past situations and planning for the future, the balance between these activities and living in presence is often way off-kilter. We rush through our days, either constantly chasing the next thing or paralyzed by indecision. This is because we're not anchored in the present moment. You know that person who constantly checks their phone (-maybe there’s something more interesting calling or happening elsewhere?) and meanwhile misses the sunset, or checks work emails while on vacation and loses the purpose and enjoyment of the trip? How about those times driving from point A to point B and not recalling exactly how you got there? Do you experience this imbalance in your life? If so, how does it manifest, and how can we find the right balance? The Gift of Presence (and its two power partners) To be present, we must feel grounded. When we are grounded, our lives progress with more ease because we can be more aligned and self-aware from this space. When we are not grounded, life becomes complicated, stuck, discouraging as we are preoccupied with the past or future. We become disconnected, scattered, lost in thought, confused, and indecisive. This can lead to overwhelm and a downward spiral of emotions. Our consciousness retreats from the present moment and we go into autopilot. We are no longer rooted in our physical bodies nor aligned with our inner truth, our highest Self. We are out-of-balance and have lost sight of our gift of Presence. We can elevate our ability to Be Present with the help of two power partners. Our Presence serves these partners as well offering us a three-point team to truly live into our gifts. Power Partner #1: Our Practice Our Practice helps us develop our capacity to be more present. How do we get grounded? Strengthening our first chakra, or root chakra (the energy center for safety, security and belonging). How do we clear our negative thought patterns and blocks? Mantras (specific chants or sounds) and breathwork (focused breathing exercises) can be powerful tools. How do we find the energy to help ourselves move through the complications we create? Expand our aura, strengthen circulatory and nervous systems, boost the immune system. When our Practice is established, we give ourselves the support we need to be grounded, in Presence, and in alignment with our true selves. Kundalini yoga offers these supports and is my practice of choice, along with teaching it for mastery. What does your Practice consist of? Power Partner #2: Our Path Our Path clears the way for more Presence. Gaining clarity on your path can help you live a healthy balance between thinking about the future, worrying about the past, and staying present. One of the most effective ways I have found to illuminate my path is tuning-in to my emotions to uncover my blocks and acknowledge my true desires. Especially if you have a tendency for perfectionism, it can feel uplifting to spend a lot of time planning and healing without ever going into action. With the help of Power Partner #1, you can more readily access your emotional guides to release what paralyzes you and heal at the same time. The clearer your Path becomes, the easier it gets to stay Present. Tuning-in to my emotions is a powerful part of my practice to gain clarity and presence. How clear is your Path? Building Your Presence Muscle Take a moment now to reflect on your own Presence:
Your PRESENCE is something that builds like a muscle; your Practice is the gym (or mat), your Path is your goals and motivation . Finding your right balance is supported by this trifecta of powerful partners. How is your Presence? May you accept and open this gift often and receive your many blessings. With grace and gratitude, Anna SachKiret PS. a quick tip for you– include in your practice a midday alarm to check-in on your presence daily. When the alarm rings, take up to 5 minutes to notice your 5 senses, one-by-one. What do you see right at that moment? What do you hear? Smell? Feel by touch? Taste? Take your time with it and savor each sensation. PSS. hit reply and let me know how this landed for you! Do you feel your Presence is working for you?  Photo credit: unknown from Pixabay Remember that spark you had as a young child? The one that made you light up with joy and excitement? The way you expressed yourself so freely? Many of us, myself included, lose that spark somewhere along life’s journey, having replaced it repeatedly with what we deem to be a more socially-accepted way of being. As John Bradshaw, author of "Healing the Shame That Binds You," says: “Something happened…. so that we lost that spontaneity, verve and enthusiasm. Nothing more tragic than to see a child who’s had the life beat out of them…..withdrawn, depressed,…… “.
But what if the spark of that Little You isn't actually gone? What if that part of you is simply stuck under layers of self-preservation, self-doubt and years of practice donning a persona of societal expectations? This is where the journey of self-love begins. Why self-love? Explaining the benefit of self-love is like describing the color blue to a blind person; they won't truly understand until they experience it themselves. Even though I had a good childhood, I struggled with self-esteem, depression and anxiety as a young adult. Through my commitment to my kundalini yoga and meditation practice and emotional healing work, I've experienced a strength and joy within that I never knew existed. A love of Self that can only be experienced. It's time to discover this in you! The Mask of Shame: Why We Dim Our Light Think of the "life beat out of [the child]" metaphor as the separating from your authentic self, or your soul. As a child, your entire expression came from your soul— carefree, alive and in full alignment with yourself. External influences, however well-intentioned, began to chip away at that confidence. You began to change your mind; your emotions alerted you but most of us did not have the wise guidance to understand the whispers of our own emotions. Are you wearing a mask? Here are some signs:
Healthy Shame vs. Toxic Shame: Understanding the Difference It's important to distinguish between healthy shame and toxic shame. Healthy shame is a useful signal telling you you’ve deviated from your best self, prompting you to learn and do better. Toxic shame is the internalization of these messages, essentially convincing us that we are fundamentally flawed for having made mistakes. Instead of course-correction, as healthy shame helps us do, we fall to self-criticism and seek a constant need for validation (people-pleasing). Unmasking and Reconnecting with Your Spark If you recognize yourself here, you’re likely wondering how to get back to your true self. How do I separate what is truly me and what is not? The reality is the lines and truth can get blurred. It’s like the proverbial layers of the onion. The ‘real you’ gets unveiled, one thin layer at a time. The good news is: each layer of healing feels like a mountain of relief. And once you experience this, you will be less afraid and more willing to risk peeling off another layer more often. It empowers you to keep going. Your Authentic Self: Practical Steps
Tools for Self-Love: Here are ways to build your self-love muscle:
This is just the beginning of your journey. A coach or therapist can be a valuable guide, but you have the power to start uncovering your authentic self and shedding the mask of toxic shame. Find your soul’s voice and live from that space. You are worthy of living this life ignited with your true spark! With love and gratitude, Anna SachKiret P.S. Comment "UNMASK" if you recognize you have one. Can you sense that inner spark that's been waiting to be free? Let me know! Let's talk about that feeling of being stuck. You put yourself there, you know it well – the one where you prioritize everyone else's needs, keeping your own desires to yourself in order to avoid creating any conflict or becoming a burden. We’ve all been there, myself included. Some call this “people-pleasing”, however that term never felt quite accurate to me. It wasn't about going out of my way to please people; it was about staying in my own way, shrinking myself and my dreams in order to avoid rocking the boat. Think Sandy Olsson (Sandra Dee!) in the late ‘70s movie Grease. Remember her transformation from sweet and demure Sandy to the fierce and confident woman who rocks that black leather jacket, a lioness mane of hair, and sings, "You're the one that I want"? (We'll hold off on the "need a man" part for now). This is the kind of energy we want to harness – shedding (self-)expectations of being the "good girl" and embracing our free and authentic selves. Sweet & Sidelined to Sweet & Sassy
This fear of self-release, disguised as a desire to support others, keeps us trapped in a self-constructed cage. We crave the "thrill of life" but fear venturing outside our comfort zone. So how do we break free? Here's the thing: when our will had been broken —whether in one aspect of our lives or in many— it can be hard to rely on our own willpower to break the mold, however intellectually viable it may seem. We know we want to cut free and may even know what to do, yet we've been conditioned for so long to prioritize others that reigniting that inner spark of energy takes a little extra something. This is where practices like kundalini yoga and meditation come in. This technology offers a path to clarity and action, reinstating our will and giving us the energy to combat the fears that bind us. Many kundalini yoga practitioners, including myself, have experienced this powerful effect: a way to reconnect with our inner strength, balance our nervous system, and break free from those limiting patterns. Rediscover your personal power (hello, third chakra!), reconnect your sense of safety and belonging (first chakra activation!), and tap into the feeling of both oneness and expansiveness (sweet seventh chakra!). This is your invitation to unlock yourself and experience that motivating, activating, self-affirming energy that lets you be you— to star in your own life. But the question remains: how much effort does it take to get started? What's the promise that makes it worth it? Think of it as daring greatly to step outside your safe, zap-free container to re-evaluate your actual exposure. Today. It might be scary at first, but the rewards are limitless. Just like Sandy stepping out, letting herself be seen as the strong and beautiful gift she knew herself to be, you can tap into your inner tools to shed the "good girl" persona and take center stage for your life, living into your fullest expression.
Aren’t YOU worth it? (Yes, 1000% yes). With grit and grace, Anna SachKiret PS. I often share about the transformative power of kundalini yoga and meditation and the wisdom of your emotions, such as shame and desire. Many of us carry the “good girl” narrative or other painful thoughts and stories that keep us in our own way. If this resonated for you, stay connected with me by subscribing to my blog. PSS. Let me know in the comments how this landed for you! Have you ever felt stuck in the role of the "good girl"? What are your biggest challenges in asserting your own needs?  Have you ever found yourself repeatedly tiptoeing around a situation, carefully measuring your words and actions? Maybe it's a partner with an unpredictable temper, a work colleague who takes things personally, or within a social circle or community where one wrong move can spark drama. You feel a sense of constant vigilance, like navigating a minefield. You’re on edge, even while seeming calm and cool. This is what it feels like to walk on eggshells.
Why are those eggshells even there? Who put them there?! Is it you, or them? It's easy to blame the reactive person— the "short fuse” —for creating the eggshell environment. You’ll find a lot of agreement on the source of your plight. Sometimes, however, there is a more nuanced and subtle dynamic at play. You, the eggshell walker, might appear perfectly functional and good-natured on the surface. After all, you’ve probably become an expert in the art of keeping a peaceful minefield. YOU hold this relationship together with this skill. Right??? Yet the only one aware of the eggshells is you. Underneath the masterfully-designed “peace”, there's a constant undertone of tension, a suppressed anxiety about saying or doing the wrong thing: the eggshells appear. Skilled peace-keeping can look like: a forced smile, a carefully calculated next step, a well-crafted text, etc. – each hiding your hesitancy to express your true opinion. Does this sound familiar, my eggshell-walking friend? If you are in fact not expressing your truth, what is the impact on that particular relationship? What is the impact on you? The Nimble Walker in a Freeze In my last post, I talked about the state of being in a functional freeze— your nervous system stuck in a freeze response. Imagine your nervous system like a car with different gears, shifting aptly to meet the needs of the situation. Ideally, we're running smoothly with a balanced sympathetic-parasympathetic set of gears, allowing for healthy processing and "social engagement” for your drive in the world. When suddenly faced with those eggshells in your path, you might shift into a "dorsal vagal state," which is a freeze response in the realm of the parasympathetic, or “rest and digest”, nervous system. Thus, you can show up surprisingly calm and functional on the outside, as you tuck away your true self to be sure you don’t suffer the consequences of running over the delicate shells. Sadly, neither you nor the other gets to know the true you —and what a loss this is. Over time, this constant vigilance —or functional freeze— can become exhausting. Indeed, the nimble eggshell-walker’s energy is often spent after enough time “in the field” presenting an incomplete version of you in safe-mode. So, how do we crush those eggshells and reclaim our authentic selves?*
*The good news is: the practice of kundalini yoga and meditation is powerfully effective at helping you help yourself through all five of these steps. Build self-awareness and self-compassion; strengthen and balance the nervous system and the vagus nerve; expand your capacity to breathe; feel and understand your fears and protective responses; connect with your self-worth through a regular habit of showing up for yourself with this practice. Remember, you are not alone. Many people struggle with eggshell-walking. By taking these steps, you can create a more peaceful and genuine existence for yourself. Love, Anna SachKiret PS. If you would like more on this topic, comment below “EGGSHELL-CRUSHING” and let me know if you have specific questions or things that landed for you. And if you would like personalized attention through these steps, reach me at my website to see if we are a good fit to work together. Peace+blessings 🌻❤️ Do you ever feel trapped in a state where you are going through the motions but you know you’re not fully engaged and not fully present? You appear functional on the surface, maintaining routines and tasks, but underneath, you're emotionally numb and disconnected. You feel chronically lazy, paralyzed by overwhelm, and mad at yourself for not following through with the purposeful things you had intended to do. Again. This could be a sign that you are functionally frozen. STUCK IN THE FREEZE Functional freeze is a specific term that describes our nervous system’s protective response of “freeze” (from the “fight, flight, freeze or fawn” responses) when it becomes a chronic, everyday state impacting your emotional and engagement faculties. It’s a natural, protective response for some of us but applied to perhaps less dangerous (than like a bear chasing you) situations such as the dread of difficult conversations or “walking on eggshells”-type relationships. The problem with those of us who get into this state is that we aren’t always aware of what's happening. This automatic, protective response may create feelings of tightness (maybe a knot in the stomach) and negative emotional responses, turning-inward on oneself, as if your true voice has also gone frozen. Overwhelm paralysis, chronic laziness, and emotional turbulence from planning-but-not-doing things even when you’re excited about it are typical of the functional freeze state.  Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash Becoming aware of this nervous system response is the first step to getting yourself out of this stuck and debilitating feeling. Your nerves are stuck in freeze mode as a matter of survival. This could be a result of unresolved trauma in your past. It may be worthwhile to seek help in resolving the roots of this response.
Meanwhile, your nerves need to get unstuck. UNFREEZE YOUR NERVES Here's where kundalini yoga and meditation practices are immensely effective. Kundalini yoga, with its focus on breathwork and movement, can help regulate the nervous system and move the stuck energy that keeps us frozen. Meditation allows us to connect with our core self, furthering our awareness of the numbed emotions that need attention AND PROMOTING A REFRESHING THAW. By bringing these practices into your life, you can begin to heal the underlying causes of functional freeze and reconnect with vitality for a fully engaged life. Do you recognize this functional freeze in your life? What works for you to thaw and move forward? Do you have a regular practice to regulate your nervous system, boost your energy, and connect you with your core Being? Love, Anna SachKiret P.S. If this message resonated for you and you’d like to see more on this topic, hit reply and let me know! Sat nam 🙏 Why are you doing what you're doing? When striving for the goals you set, you start with the excitement and inspiration of the vision, and you take off running! By and by, you move through challenges, feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as you notice you can do this. And then, the blocks come in. You begin to struggle. You struggle with the struggle. Things take longer, you're not sure it's working out the way you thought it would, you take a break and come back to it. Some things shake out okay, others are still not working. You feel like you're doing all the right things, with a measure of patience and self-compassion even. Yet, you begin to question and can't help feeling the doubt over the value of these goals. You feel like a failure and you wonder if you were cut out for this. Maybe you were meant to do something else. Here's what happened: you set goals, some worked and some didn't, your expectations were not met and it took a toll on you, perhaps there were others involved and you felt like you failed them as well as yourself, the heaviness of these feelings weighed you down so it's all you can focus on, your goals begin to die an incomplete, slow death. Pause. Breathe. Just as in life, if you feel like you’re dying, you focus immediately on your breath. Being aware of this natural instinct as exactly the next right step, let go of all else and calm the urge to gasp desperately. Slow it down and focus solely on this life-giving breath. Simply taking in and appreciating each breath is always the first step. Once you feel the calm and sustaining energy of your breath, you can slowly begin to connect with your present moment, your surroundings, your situation. Ask yourself: "Why are you doing what you're doing?" Go back to your heart. Oftentimes we begin our ventures with high aspirations with a youthful (beginner’s) exuberance. As we “mature” into the journey, other factors enter the path and we lose connection with our original intent. We want to check back with the spark that lit this creative fire. Notice then:
Let’s look at the path. Goals are like the pavers of your path. Your purpose is the groundwork underneath, the foundation which began from your spark (or seed). Your vision that created the design of your path was aligned with your purpose. How you maneuver from purpose to vision is your execution-- it is your life experience, your "work".  When the pavers buckle or crack, it indicates some part of your design or execution needs attention. It's not a failure but a success in signaling to the designer and executor where to look for the problem. “You’ve veered off course!” Sometimes it's a matter you could not have predicted or known easily. Sometimes it's just something you overlooked or in the execution itself and the do-er (you) have now learned something important. Quell the outer voices taunting you or demanding you to take shortcuts. At the same time, quell any inner perfectionist that impedes forward progress. It’s a balance. The only true fail is when you decide to ignore or take the shortcuts and cover-up the signal. Set your expectations to see your chance to grow when things aren't working. If the matter is weighing you down and you feel stuck, go back to the starting driver: Why are you doing what you're doing?
Connect this with your Practice.
In the practice of kundalini yoga, we essentially rehearse for such real-life scenarios. We walk this path of goals+dreams, visualizing+activating our power, connecting in with our purpose, moving through challenges, balancing our act, gratefully including pauses and rests, receiving support from the Universe, aligning our consciousness and energy with divine purpose, and breathing intentionally so that we can face the unexpected and define this beautifully-twisted path that is our lives. Show up. Elevate your expectations. Check-in with your spark. Repeat. Thrive. With grit+grace, Anna SachKiret P.S. Tell me, why are you doing what you're doing? Where have you veered off course and caught yourself? What beautiful twists did you discover? Feeling drained? Stuck in a funk? Maybe you’re feeling it right at this moment. Maybe you’ve been feeling it for a while. Or, maybe this is not you at all right now but you’ve been there. But we’ve ALL been there, feeling down in the dumps, in a state of fear, or dragged down by that dreaded sense of unworthiness. Your energy feels zapped, as if someone turned out your light. You feel dim, dull, not shiny, and filled with self-doubt. The good news is, you have the power to change this.
I’m not talking about shopping with credit cards. I’m talking about charging up your energy– the power source for your light! Think: “When my light feels low, charge it up!” 💡💡💡 So how do you do that? By activating the power of your energy field. Let me explain. Let's start with a visual You know when you’re with someone who is a curmudgeon, a debbie-downer, an angry grump? They darken the space they enter, like they just brought in a dense, gray cloud into the room— and it feels heavy. On the other end of the spectrum, someone who is alive, dynamic and energized can change the mood of the room, brightening and uplifting everyone they encounter. Expanding the light! This is your "energy field" (also known as your aura) at work. Imagine it as a field of energy that surrounds you. This energy is influenced by your thoughts and emotions. When you're feeling down, this energy gets depleted. The dimming or brightening of your energy field happens unconsciously in the course of your day. Fortunately, you can learn to consciously expand your energy field, which can have a powerful impact on your mood and well-being. In the practice of kundalini yoga, there are breathing exercises, postures, movements, and meditations that specifically work on expanding your energy field. Some practices are long, and some are super short. I want to introduce you to a super short one that takes just 1 minute of your time. The Aura Charger (aka the ego eradicator) This is a simple breath meditation to charge your aura and cast away the heaviness so you can feel lighter, brighter and clearer. Practice this for 1 minute, 3 minutes, or more as needed— and charge yourself up to shine bright. Click the image below for this life-changing practice. And this is how you turn on your aura light switch. This one key alone will turn you around when you are down. It will put you in a better mood to change the trajectory on how you feel, how you perceive life, and how you choose to support your best Self. Like I said, life changing.
With gratitude+grace, Anna P.S. Do you have a go-to that quickly turns you around when you are down or have low energy? Reply back and let me know what it is. Or, if you don't already have one, let me know how The Aura Charger feels for you.  Image by Moshe Harosh from Pixabay Do you feel overwhelmed?
If so, stop for a moment. Close your eyes and take a moment to check in. Where in your body do you feel the overwhelm? Do your nerves feel agitated? Does your head feel heavy and full, like a bobblehead, top-heavy, about ready to teeter head-first to the earth? How is your energy when overwhelm hits? Do you feel dull, exhausted, discouraged? What else? Give yourself a minute or so to check in with your body from head to toe. Notice what you feel where. Awareness is the first step towards resolution. What do you WANT to feel instead? Imagine how your body feels in this scenario. Visualize and feel your posture. Breathe into this renewed sense of Self. Now what? Consider these 4 essential tools and kundalini yoga-based remedies to conquer overwhelm and feel lighter, clearer and back on track.
Each of these practices offer a vital shift in energy, clarity and alignment, even when you’re not experiencing overwhelm. The best way to make these work for you is to practice when you don’t need it, so they’re available for you when you do. While breath, yoga, mantra, and presence isn’t exclusive to Kundalini Yoga, or to solving the seeming epidemic of overwhelm, they work on multiple levels at once to transform you at the physiological level, so you aren’t white knuckling your way through a state of overwhelm. It helps you stay in a more powerful state of mind to mitigate overwhelm in the future. It’s like setting the radio station to one you prefer to experience– one that promotes equanimity amidst all that is thrown at you. The purpose of Kundalini Yoga and Meditation is to help you tune into that radio frequency, allowing you to live in a material world as a more aligned and spiritual being. With grit and grace, Anna SachKiret P.S. - if you would like some meditations and kriyas to deal with overwhelm, email me for suggestions. |
AuthorI am the Essential Soul Mama. I am a mama, a soulful-spiritual teacher, an intentional storyteller, and a lover of stories of all kinds, in all forms. I write about emotions, parenting, natural health options, mind-body-soul connections, and anything that elevates our lives. Archives
November 2024
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