Sometimes a short morning stretch is just what the body and mind needs to wake up and start your day with intention and gratitude. My latest audio recording lets you mindfully move right from the comfort of your bed or on your yoga mat.
This practice includes mindful breathing, attention on gently stretching the back and whole body including the ankles, feet, and toes. This is a yoga for beginners sequence, or anyone wanting to move the body slowly and gently. Give it a try! It might become part of your daily routine to start your day feeling grateful for your body, mind, and your life.
For something a bit more active, here’s a 15 minute Vinyasa Sequence:
Child’s Pose – 5 breaths
Downward Dog – 5 breaths
3 Sun Salutation As
Crescent Warrior – 5 breaths each side
Tree Pose – 5 breaths each side
Downward Dog
Half pigeon pose – 5 breaths each side
Seated forward fold – 5 breaths each leg
Lay down and hug your knees into your chest
Supine twist – 5 breaths each side
Savasanaor seated meditation in Sukhasana (easy pose) – 3-5 minutes (set your timer)
Let me know how these short yoga sequences work for you! Leave me feedback in the comments below or in a review on my podcast or Insight Timer. Thank you!
Thank yourself for nurturing yourself with some yoga today. Namaste.
August 22, 2021 is the date of the Full Moon, Blue Moon, Sturgeon Moon. May you release what no longer serves you.
Full moon, Sturgeon Moon, Blue Moon
You will need:
2 bowls, one suitable to hold water, one suitable to burn paper in
1 candle
A paper and pen
Step 1. Clear Your Energy.
Imagine standing under a silver waterfall and allow all negative energies to be washed away.
Step 2. Create a Sacred Space.
Find a quiet place to sit, declutter and clean, you might like to place crystals or other special items around you, or cleanse the room with some incense.
Step 3. Set Your Space.
Light a candle – I have 2″ candles for this purpose,
Fill a small bowl with water, and have another bowl suitable to burn a piece of paper in.
Place both bowls in front of you.
Step 4. Centre Yourself.
Take a few deep breaths, centre yourself.
Step 5. Release.
Write on the piece of paper all that you wish to release from your life, what limiting beliefs do you want to be free from, what no longer serves you or what you want to let go of?
When you have finished your list, sign and date the page.
Breathe deep into your heart and declare “I now let this go. And it is so.”
Step 6. Let go.
Place a corner of the piece of paper over the candle allowing the flame to light your page – place the page into the empty bowl as it burns, watching the flames consume what you are releasing, the smoke taking your intention to the Universe.
**if your piece of paper struggles to light or burn, consider if you are really ready to let this go! Only when you are willing to let go will the page burn – the faster the flames, the more willing you are to let it go…
Step 7. Cleanse.
Then place your hands in the bowl of water. Signifying cleansing of the old and opening to the new.
Remove your hands from the water and take a deep breath.
Step 8. Assimilate.
Sit in silence for a while and see if any inspiration comes. You may even want to journal around your thoughts.
As I prepared the theme for today’s yoga classes the word “energy” kept popping into my mind. When I reflect on who is showing up to yoga, meditation, or reading posts like this you might be feeling:
Exhausted
Depressed
Imbalanced
Sleep-deprived
Or simply curious about what I have to say 🙂
I arrived to two simple questions and a call to action: START or STOP
SELF-INQUIRY: START or STOP?
Close your eyes, take 5 breaths and ask yourself two questions:
Right now, what do I need to STOP today?
Right now, what do I want to START today?
CALL TO ACTION
Commit to STOP what is draining your energy.
Commit to START what gives you energy.
Write and recite positive affirmations to STOP and START.
I could have written an article suggesting you eliminate gluten or sugar, or get to your yoga mat and meditation cushion every day, or do what lights you up like going to the beach, dancing, book a ticket to a sporting event, or call a friend to play Scrabble. There are plenty of articles and books telling you what to do. Instead, I invite you to discover for yourself the answers by experiencing Svādhyāya, the yoga practice of self-study, self-inquiry, and discovery.
My offer to you is to look within, to trust your intuition, listen to your inner guide, who always has your back, and trust that you have the answers. Weed out what’s sucking the energy out of you and bring in what will allow you to thrive and feel alive! It’s a practice my friends, to know which thoughts to pay attention to and which ones to dismiss and ignore.
In my personal experience, when I feel low-energy I also tend to feel sad, depressed, brain fog, physically weak, unmotivated, anti-social, tendency towards negative thinking. As opposed to feeling high-energy I am enthusiastic, smiling, laughing, physically strong, awake, alert, alive, vibing high with positive thoughts, willing to connect with others. Observe your energy levels, they are an important barometer to signal what is requesting your attention and self-care.
As someone who was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), adrenal fatigue, gluten sensitivity, iron deficiency, and menopausal mood swings, I have first hand experience of low energy and all of the other symptoms which emerged from my physical challenges. I 100% am NOT saying that low energy is all in your head, that it can be simply solved by asking two questions and writing in a journal AND I am also 100% saying, for me, discerning between what thoughts and actions drained me vs. energized me has been a huge part of my healing process and discovering what it takes for me to gain my energy back and experience life with vitality. I practice what I teach.
Of course, a situation can be complicated, I know mine was, and yet, the power of paying attention to my symptoms and choosing STOP or START every day is a simple, powerful framework to prioritize what is needed for your particular circumstance. Shift your mindset from impossible to possible and you will experience an increase of energy.
I was diagnosed with CFS almost 20 years ago and I am no longer trapped in an experience of chronic low-energy. I manage my symptoms with those two questions, “What do I need to STOP and what do I need to START?” Yes, for me that means, I cut out gluten, sugar, coffee, toxic relationships; I add whole foods, yoga, meditation, extra sleep, alone time, gardening, etc. All informed by reflecting on my STOPs and STARTs, my YESes and my Nos.
There is hope on the other side of doubt. There is joy on the other side of fear. I believe in you. Keep the faith. Stay spiritually fit. I am grateful you are here. I’d love to hear from you! Comment below, DM me on instagram, email me. I care.
Blessings,
Amelia Andaleon
p.s. As others have supported me in my journey, I am here to support you. Please reach out if you are interested in a free initial consult if you’d like to work with me as your Wellness and Energy Healing Coach!
School’s out and it’s time for the summertime 3 R’s: Rest, Reset, Recharge!
In California, life is opening up again and for my family that means beach days, vacationing, and all the logistics to make getaways happen. One thing I’m learning is to avoid feeling like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!!
Remember why you needed that vacation? Because you needed a break from the hustle and bustle? Make time for fun, play time, a beach read, naps, extra sleep; make time to feed your soul, make time to do nothing. 🙏🏽☺️
Do yourself a favor and SLOOOOW DOWN. During your getaways, make sure to REALLY get away from feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
See video in Instagram about the challenge with my sweet pup, Kobe! 💚🐶 If you’re on instagram and want to share your participation, please tag me at @spirituallyfityoga and use #LYchallenge2021 so I can repost in my stories. I will mention the challenge on IG but, the full content is only available by signing up to receive the daily emails.
It’s absolutely 💯 OPTIONAL to participate on social media which is why I’m sharing my offerings via email. Sometimes loving yourself looks like unplugging from social media!! I do that myself!
Do you struggle to meditate? When I started, I found meditation impossibly uncomfortable and stressful. I was experiencing the OPPOSITE of what meditation promised me. For my yoga teacher training, I committed to it. I dropped it. I started off and on. Then, I finally stuck with it. It became a habit. And, now meditation is a part of my daily ritual, like brushing my teeth. I say it’s my favorite addiction. I love the calm I experience when I meditate, and how it helps me in my life. Like anything else, it takes practice to condition your muscle of mindfulness.
If you haven’t tried it, or it’s been awhile, I highly recommend it!
Press pause, breathe deep, even if just for 5 minutes a day, relax the body and mind.
I meditated with this hummingbird this morning. He visited so often I thought it would be easy to capture a photo or video. Ha…this 33 second video took me 2 hours of back and forth playing a game of him hiding every time I returned outside to try again. While I sat still meditating he was mostly a constant companion. Then, he started teasing me. Could he feel my energy…that I wanted something from him? Instead of being in the moment, did he sense I shifted from allowing what is to wanting what I could have? He taught me patience. He taught me to let go of wanting and getting. He taught me to walk away and let go. I set up my Nikon D7000 on a tripod, and walked away. I came back and found this. The journey was both frustrating and funny, mostly funny. I’ll see him again. He visits often. Hummingbirds bring happiness, joy and blessings. He made me smile and laugh and, I welcome that any day. 🙂
Look for symbols of joy and happiness in your day. Have you seen a hummingbird lately? Consider yourself blessed! Share what makes you smile and laugh in the comments below.
Three years ago, in 2018, I took this picture above in Thailand after assisting a yoga teacher training with my master teacher, and a community of amazing teachers and students. This picture looks almost exactly like what I pictured in my mind for years, as I set an intention and visualized a dream, a hope, a vision, a connection to imagined sensations of what it would feel and look like when my dreams and intentions became realized and manifested.
You’ve probably heard of vision boards or meditating on an intention and repeating affirmations in the present moment as if that intention has already manifested, as if it is happening right now in this present moment.
Or, maybe this practice of sankalpa, setting an intention, is new to you. If so, I am writing this specifically for YOU.
I am grateful you are here. It’s not a coincidence that you are reading this post today.
Setting Your Intention
Find or create a picture of your dream. Print it, draw it, create a visual representation of what you manifest and post it in a prominent place. You might post it in your kitchen bulletin board and/or make it your wallpaper on your phone. Keep what you want to manifest present in your mind…where you attention goes, energy flows.
Align your intention with being your highest and brightest self, serving a highest good.
Create a specific affirmation and write it in the present moment. For example: “I am teaching yoga and surfing in Mexico to a full yoga retreat in Spring 2022.” vs. “I hope to do something fun sometime next year.”
Observe what you experience, and what happens. Using my guided meditation, create a habit of setting your intention with a relaxed mind and body. One thing I promise you: this daily practice will keep you focused on what matters to you. As you continue to visualize and see your intention already manifested, the action steps needed to realize your dream, will present themselves to you. Set your intention from your highest and brightest self, offered up to serve the highest good.
May you be your highest and brightest self and serve the highest good.
I am setting my own intention, visualizing you attending one of my workshops or retreats, in person or virtual, where I lead you through a full practice of creating your sacred life on purpose and setting your intentions. Until then, enjoy these simple steps to practice on your own.
I’d love to hear what you experience. Share in the comments below.
The highest and brightest in me, honors the highest and brightest in you,
