Nya

Although it can be exhilarating and joyous when things happen fast and move forward quickly it also can be scary and filled with feelings of fear, doubt and a general sense of being out of control.

And, it’s not so easy at times to just “let it ride” when your instincts tell you to dig your nails in and hold on for dear life. But now, more than ever is the time to shed what does not serve you so you can eliminate the feelings of fear and doubt and flow forward on your path. And you can, in fact have the abundance in all aspects of your life that is available, prominent and life-changing. Go ahead, it’s OK and your right to feel the expansion without any sense of panic.

By shedding those old stories that do not serve us allows us to move into a place of faith and trust. To have faith and trust that the universe not only has your back, but is with you every step of the way — even at 100 miles per hour and the brakes are out. There’s no need to slow the flow down now. Let go and experience transformation beyond your imagination.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us expand our resources to live your yoga. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.

Thank you and Namaste, Karen

So when I found out I missed the boat to get to the retreat center where I was working for a week, instantly I felt anxiety wash over me and settle in my stomach. Now what? Are they going to think I flaked out? What did I get myself into? Before I allowed doubt and fear to come in and take over, I took a breath and sat with that feeling. Allowed it to be and before I knew it, my boyfriend helped me get a water taxi and within 10 minutes I was on my way.

Before I left on this journey my ThetaHealer said that a week teaching at the retreat center will be transformational. “Now this is what I want,” I thought to myself, “Transformation. Cool. I can’t wait to get there.”
But now I found myself expecting. I started to expect to find transformation here, at this retreat center with its beautiful open-air accommodations surrounded by lush jungle and peaceful ocean. If transformation was going to be somewhere, here was it.

After a few days feeling like a bystander in my own life, I realized that it didn’t matter where I was. If I was going to find and experience transformation, it was going to be within me. And only my responsibility to make it happen. And, let me tell you, this realization didn’t come as a gentle glow of light that I stepped into, it came on in the form of a migraine. I taught class one night feeling the migraine coming on only for it to blossom later that evening. And, again, I sat with it.

By the next morning I awoke with the migraine gone and I experienced an awakening that I knew in my heart how much I love my studio home and living there with my boyfriend and our dog and two cats. That I loved eating Cheetos and beer. I love my body as it has changed over the years and I love this life I created for myself. And I realized that missing the boat was the thing I needed to awaken the truth within me; and to give me clarity to know and trust that transformation was with me all along.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us expand our resources to live your yoga. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.

Thank you and Namaste, Karen

When I think of investing in myself, things like massages, pedicures, or a vacation, come to mind. But sometimes it isn’t about the things we do but the things that happen. The experience is the investment. It is giving yourself the experiences in life to get to know what serves you and what doesn’t. It’s the journey.

When we invest in ourselves we accumulate experiences, gain knowledge, clear old habits, discover and hone our intuition.

And, well, sometimes that journey involves a weekend getaway at a fancy spa.

But many times it’s going outside your comfort zone — going to a different yoga class, for example, or taking Spanish lessons; or chaperoning a youth camping trip. Sometimes it’s taking a leap of faith and letting go of control of a situation, such as apologizing to a friend.

All of these things, our everyday actions and encounters are an investment in ourselves. A chance to grow, serve and be a part of a greater good. To discover our path, fine tune it, change it and continue on it the best we can with all the tools we have in our heart toolbox.

If we think about every experience as an investment in ourselves we realize that all experiences are good and have potential to light a fire within us.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us expand our resources to live your yoga. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.
Thank you and Namaste, Karen

Last week I decided to take some time off…no teaching, no special classes, no nothing at the studio. I thought it would be a good time for me to re-energize before I started my new Fall/Winter/Spring schedule. But my time off soon turned into getting a construction project going and mosaic-ing the studio bathroom.

What happened to doing nothing? Relaxing? And then I realized that, like my teaching and classes these projects gave me joy. To add pieces of tile, rocks, glass, action figures and beads to the cement that I mixed felt great. The creativity was flowing and I felt re-energized.

Although doing nothing and just being can definitely provide the re-energizing I needed; so can changing the routine and switching things up. So how do you know what you need? Well a sure sign is what your heart says. For example, if you switched your routine and it seems stressful or difficult that is a sign to back things up, slow it down and take a minute to re-evaluate. If you try to “have a quiet day” and you find yourself thinking about projects, getting easily distracted or yearning for the outdoors, while you are meditating or reading don’t force it. Take a break and maybe go for a run, practice yoga, paint, play racquetball, whatever feels good to burn some energy and calm the mind. Then revisit that quiet space and see where it leads.

The most important thing is to take it one step at a time without fear or judgement. Tap into your heart consciousness and see what it tells you. Then listen to how it feels each step of the way and don’t be afraid to change and adjust when needed.

Your next action could be stillness … or bring on the projects … either way, let your heart lead the way.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us expand our resources to live your yoga. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.

Thank you and Namaste, Karen

Giving, whether it is money, energy, time, love, support, strength or control can bring on feelings of anxiety. Anxiety arises when doubt creeps in and we second guess our actions. We may feel that the $20 donation to Girl Scouts was maybe too much and that you could have used it to put gas in your car. Or maybe saying “yes” to helping a friend seems like an energy drain.

When giving feels heavy and uncertain, let’s look at “why” we’re choosing to give… Is it because we are fearful that something bad will happen if we don’t; is it because of a need for approval; or perhaps we believe that we must sacrifice ourselves to feel joy.

Here’s the deal, you have to give when it feels good in your heart. When you give from the heart and surround it with feelings of joy you attract giving to you in return. You can even say an affirmation statement the moment you feel unsure about your $20 donation to the Girl Scouts and say “when I give this $20 I receive it back 10 fold” and feel the joy in it in your heart.

I used to think this was selfish. Shouldn’t I be giving without any expectation of return? Giving without any expectation of return, doesn’t mean we need to sacrifice ourselves in the process. The same way that it is imperative to love ourselves in order to love another person; it is imperative that we feel joy in giving of our money, time or love so that the gift vibrates with Spirit energy and opens ourselves to receiving its abundance. So, the next time a friend asks you for a ride to the airport, check in with your heart see what feels good; have the courage to say no to what doesn’t feel good; and then give from the heart.

The bottom line is you deserve abundance and must believe this is true. Giving and receiving are a part of the universe’s divine plan, so be active in it; have fun with it and enjoy the abundance that the universe brings back to you, every time you give.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us enhance our services. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.
Thank you and Namaste, Karen

Happy and sad; bliss and frustration; easy and difficult; gaining and losing.

Life seems full of opposing forces, but the truth is, it’s all the same. The universe is always cheering for us and giving us signs and nudges to keep us on our path of inspiration and pure joy. It’s our perceptions that make it seem hard, sad and frustrating.

The law of attraction, a universal law, states “like attracts like.” So when we think something is frustrating it attracts more frustration, but if we go into the situation thinking it is blissful then you attract more bliss. It’s a state of mind and a state of the heart — we think it and we feel it to make it so.

What happens when we understand the law of attraction, a seemingly difficult situation turns easy; what we saw as something we lost, we realize it isn’t ours in the first place. We are in the flow, in balance, in abundance and in a state of evenness that allows for us to feel good all the time, feel the happiness that is our natural state.

If we truly and absolutely embrace this principle; and feel it in our heart and soul, than we have nothing to lose as everything happens for our highest and best good! To feel that we have nothing to lose pushes fear aside and allows the magic to happen.

How do we do this? Start by creating a mantra or saying to repeat over and over when you are feeling frustrated, sad or in a state of lack. For example if you feeling like you don’t have enough money: “I’m in the flow now and money flows to me from all directions.” If a situation is frustrating — “I know now that everything is perfect.” And, an example for when you are feeling sad or depressed — “I am the power and presence of God creating this situation that is untrue and I reclaim my power now.”

Then feel this mantra in your heart. Feel the joy of abundance, happiness and your power within.

Even if a situation is perceived as “bad” really it is what you needed at that moment to remind you to change course, switch it up and take the easy, natural way to flow in-Spirit. Life is essentially easy, we add drama and difficulty where there really isn’t any. When we realize that everything happens perfectly in that moment the walls come down and your world opens. You will see and experience things that you never imagined before. And, you realize, you have nothing to lose.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us enhance our services. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.

Thank you and Namaste, Karen

I recently got a new puppy and it’s been awhile since I had one. Amid the joy of this adorable new being, I found myself missing my last dog intensely because he was so easy. Sure after 5 years of being with me he came when called, knew my running routine and didn’t pee in the house. But now it’s different. I felt as if I was starting over and I wondered; why didn’t I just keep my life simple.

And the bottom line is my life would not have been as rich and magical as it is now without this new addition and, in fact, with all the change in my life that’s happened so far. Without change my heart would not have known such opening.

The hard part, however, is letting go of the past, the attachment to the way things once were. Letting go amidst fear, doubt and that pesky ego, who tries to convince you that you’re better off alone, isolated and keeping to yourself holding on tight to all your things.

When you’re scared you want to hold on to that security blanket called “the past” because it seems safe. But you are given whatever you are in right now to help you learn what you need to learn in this lifetime; to grow and move forward. The past served it’s purpose but it needs to be released in order for us to experience an even greater bliss than we ever imagined, which is experience in the joy of now.

Trust your intuitive guidance, that little voice or feeling that comes to the surface when you make decisions; have faith in the divine timing knowing that whatever is happening now is perfect; and feel in your heart the beauty and happiness of now.

You can’t grow unless you let go. And, there’s no better time than now to do it — let go, flow and grow.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider donating to the Bending Tree Expansion Project to help us expand our resources to live your yoga. Our goal is to help people find their strength and creativity from the inside out…meaning finding their joy and living it fearlessly, from the heart.
Thank you and Namaste, Karen