spiritual practice

Keeping practice simple

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Daily practice is important. It helps to connect us to our spiritual path, and to anchor us into our lives. Committing to a daily practice isn’t always easy. We often simplicity-01want to rush down the road, and simplicity gets pushed aside for complexity. I see this a lot in yoga. We often want to jump into the complexity of inversions and arm balances, and only use sun salutations as a warm up. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t reach for things that are complex, but we have to start where we are. Simplicity invites us to start at the foundation. In yoga, this may be simply showing up to your mat, having a seat and breathing deep
ly. Yoga is harmonizing the breath, the body, and movement into an integrated, embodied flow. Simply breathing is where we start, anything beyond that is magic.

Where are the foundations of your practice?  How often do you return to check in with that base layer of your Great Work?

In yoga, much of the other more complex poses and sequences are found in sun salutation. There is so much that happens in those 12 asana. There are some months, where I solely focus on building this base. Coming back to sun salutations, not as a warm up to my practice, but as the practice it self. There are some days when rolling out the mat and sitting on it are enough.

From that place of simplicity, I find myself able to reach for the more complex aspects of my practice. When things get out of control, or more difficult to manage, I return to the foundational work. I pause, sit and breath… from there I move, and I build until I arrive at a place that feels right for that moment.

How we define simplicity will vary from person to person, and practice to practice, and moment to moment. This is just an invitation to explore what you are currently doing, to invite simplicity into your work.

 

 

Moving the Body, Engaging the Storm

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indexThe storm is upon us.   The body follows the mind, and right now stress seems to be permeating the global experience.  Now, more than ever physical body spiritual practices important for connection and stepping into the storm.  Things are not easy for many right now (but when are they truly ever easy).  We are getting to step into our tests in new ways, and as we step into engaging spirituality, the divine, and intuition we cannot forget to include the body.  The body follows the mind.  When we are crippled by stress or overwhelmed by life the body reacts.  For many this means sore backs, achy joints, loss of mobility or even sickness.  The phrase “I’m worried sick”, become literal.

When we move the body, we are moving energy.  When we sweat we are building heat, we are breathing, we are engaging stagnation that might reside in the body.  This all helps us to move into the life experience we are facing off our yoga mats.  A lot of times I know my students come to class to get away from the storm.  They hope to leave it behind for the 90min that we are together.  They hope that by avoiding the chaos that it might disappear.  I encourage a different approach.  When we invite our chaos to the mat, when we invite it to the practice we engage the storm, we get to play in the puddles, and we move the energy.  We are not empowering the chaos, but we are proactively engaging it.  We burn off the physical and mental stress, and invite the body into the spiritual process.

You can use any physical body practice to do this work.  I recommend yoga because it elongate the body, opens the joints, we are engaging in focused breathing, and each asana is a meditation.  Spirituality is built into the yoga practice.  Start your practice with an intention.  If you are inviting life to the mat you could start like this: “Beloved chaos, I invite you to the mat… flow through me, ignite my body,  bring clarity to my mind, and let’s be at peace.”

Yesterday as I was walking home, my umbrella fell apart.  For a moment, I felt anger surge through me.  I did not avoid or run away from being angry, I sat with it.  Then I looked at my mangled umbrella, the up at the gray sky and laughed.  I l asked the rain to cleanse me, and perhaps that was the gift my umbrella was offering me.   I was able to engage the storm in a literal experience, and it was beautiful

Where is the storm in your life?  What do you do to engage the storm?

You are loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Namaste.

 

Mike Brazell

Pilgrimage to the Heart (Part 2)

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543428_10200973243806535_281176769_nI’ve really been taking my time writing this follow-up post.  There is a lot changing for me, not only in the way I am personally engaging my spirituality and path, but how I am relating to other.  Lots of wonderful movement is occurring, and my biggest lesson is stepping back and allowing the changes to take place.  I think too often I get in my own way, I feel that I “have to do”, rather than just hold presence.  Taking the trip to South Carolina opened me up to a lot of things that I needed to see.  I won’t be sharing all of the changes here, as those are meant just for me.  My journal is now my constant companion, as is a mala (I take different ones out depending on the day, my mood, and which one calls to me from my altar).

I had the opportunity to sit with my past in interesting ways.  I found a stack of my old journals.  Many of them leading up to my transition to DC, and I even found one that I kept for my first year in the Navy.  Seeing my personal transformation through these texts really brought me into a deep place of gratitude for where I am, and all the beautiful trials and tribulations along the way.  Getting to be with family helped me to root, to ground, and to just be me for a bit.  I didn’t have to be a teacher, a student, a psychic, a healer, and sometimes when we have the opportunity to step out of our roles we shake the wrinkles out–then we put our multicolored coats on once again.

Now that I am back into my routine, I am getting to live a lot of the changes that I experienced on my Pilgrimage.  I am in the process of de-cluttering my life on many levels (internally and externally).  I am looking at where I am and where I am going a bit differently, and am allowing the changes to take place through a place of deep and unconditional trust.  I am reconnecting to part of my path that are calling to me, and am being kind to myself a bit more.

Spiritual transformation takes many forms, and sometimes we have to step into and out of our lives to gain perspective.  One of the things I did when I went to on my trip was to ask the universe to give me clear signs as to the changes I needed to make… and so my perception opened, and I listened deeply.

I’m going to be writing a series of articles relating my processes moving forward and reflections on the deeper changes that are taking place.  Fasting, writing, loving, being, meditating, yoga, silence and a bit of solitude are now part of my experience.  My processes are mine, but it is my hope that we can share, learn from one another, and grow through the beauty of our shared experience.

 

What changes are you making, and what is changing you?

When you venture into a retreat, take a pilgrimage, or attend an event–how do you integrate what you bring back from the experience into your life?

 

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Michael A Brazell

Michael@michaelbrazell.com

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

 

The Practice of Gratitude

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gratitudeYou only need to do a quick Google search on the “science of gratitude” to see that there is power in being thankful.

Many spiritual teachers (myself included) often assign gratitude journals to help us look for those things to be grateful for daily.  When we move into a place where we be in gratitude for the smallest things we can shift patterns, thoughts, and limitations in the moment.

One of the struggles that I see in this exercise is that we often try to force the practice.  We open our journals, and we sit.. stare at the blank page, tap our pens… and feel the resistance that is sometimes present in spiritual work.  One way to breakthrough this is to start where you are, “I am thankful for this journal, I am thankful for the ears that allow me to hear the tapping of this pen… (then deeper), I am thankful for my resistance, I am thankful for the thoughts that are moving in my mind, I am thankful for my struggles today and I am thankful for the contrast they offer my life, I am thankful for life…”

You can also write the same things more than once.   Our tendency is to try to find new things everyday to be grateful for… doesn’t have to be so.  Try to take the circle of gratitude outward, but do so when you are ready.

We have our journals, we have our affirmations, and most of that exists in the conceptual.  We have found gratitude, now it is time to extend it and to LIVE it.  Sharing gratitude is powerful, and makes it real.  Saying, “Thank you” to those you encounter, saying to loved ones, “I am grateful for you.”, doing acts of kindness without expectation of return, all allow us to experience gratitude.  When we take gratitude off the paper and out of the mind it becomes real.

What are you grateful for today?  How are you going to Live Gratitude today?

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Namaste and Blessed Be.

Mike

 

Finding Stillness

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thIn a world that is moving at the speed of thought, where do you find stillness?  How do you define this sometimes elusive concept?

I find stillness in yoga.  There is movement occurring with my body, but my mind and my awareness are centered within.  There is stillness on my mat, the earth she holds my space and keeps it sacred.  I can feel the space between the inhale and the exhale, and stillness rests there.

I also find stillness in the hustle and bustle.  Every morning I get on the metro train and make my way to work.  I like closing my eyes and getting lost in the rumble of the train, the ambient noise of those around me, feeling whole within that presence.  Sometimes stillness is not about holding ourselves apart from the world, but going into it more fully.

There are times when we need to rest the senses, to take a break, to reconnect to self.  This can be as simple as a warm soak in the tub, or taking a trip into solitude.

How do you define stillness, and where do you find it?  Where does it find you?

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Namaste.

Mike-

Touching Oneness

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onenessThe other day at the metaphysical shop I manage I had the joy and opportunity to talk to one of customers about oneness, and what it means to be connected to “the all”.

The conversation started with him asking me about meditating and using meditation to enter into higher states of consciousness and alternate realities.  Usually when someone brings this type of discussion to the table my first question is, “Why do you want to go to those places?”   His response was, “Because I want to feel like I am one with everything.”

Often in “new age” paradigms we look at these “jumps” in consciousness as ways to access a higher state of connection to those around us, to the world, or to God Herself.   Ram Dass states it best, that as we move “up” through these realities we are actually just entering into other states of illusion.

So, as we sat, I aligned my souls, and asked my intuition what the best answer would be in this situation, and this is what she said:

“Beloved, as your feet touch this beautiful earth you are connected to all that is.  As your lungs take in the air that sustains your life force you are connected to all that is.  All that is exists here, and now.  The leave the beauty of this reality is to escape true oneness, here oneness is tangible.  When you leave the body, the oneness you are feeling is temporary, brief, and powerful.  Your purpose is to find that same connection here.”

We both sat with this for a few moments, and took a deep breath… made a point to feel the earth beneath our feet and appreciated the oneness we were able to encounter.

We often forget that we live life in this reality.  We have to find those moments of connection here in this plane of existence.  Everything on earth is connected beneath our feet, our sacred Mother Earth holds all.  Our breath is our shared religion.  We all breathe and share the air around us.  The universe pulses to that primordial exhale, that big bang of creation, the inhale was the gathering of the forces needed, and here we are… an extension of that initial orgasmic breath.

Here is a quick exercise to embrace the oneness all around you:

  • Stop and breathe deeply.
  • Exhale just as deeply.
  • Feel the earth beneath your feet.
  • Take a slow step forward, feeling your foot fully connect to the earth.
  • Now the other foot.
  • Breathe in.  Feel connected fully to the air filling your lungs
  • Breathe out.  Feel the air you exhale fill the space around you.
  • Feel the limitless earth kissing your feet.  Feel the presence of all that walks this earth, all that has come before, all that will come after.
  • Feel the air around you embracing the limitless space around and above you.

You are Loved. You are Beautiful. You are Divine.

Namaste and Blessed Be.

Mike

 

 

Fueling Practice with Intention

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yogablog2Most people come to yoga class for the physical workout.  The body feels alive after moving through the asanas, energy is raised, and we settle into meditation to close practice.

At the beginning of class I like to have my students take a moment to center on the breath and set an intention for their practice.  On the inhale we bring intention into alignment with the breath, on the exhale we extend intention out into the world around us.  Setting an intention as we go into our practice allows us to practice with purpose.  We can also dedicate the energy of our practice to a place in the world, or someone in our lives that might need a little extra energy.  When we move with purpose we have a greater connection to our bodies, our minds and our spirits.

I also recommend my students keep a yoga practice journal.  Writing down the intentions back into the world when we leave our mats.  With each breath we take we pull our intention down into our bodies.  Each out breath pushed intention into the world, and fueled with movement gives birth to creation.  Yoga means “to yoke” or “to unite”, but what are you yoking yourself to.  Often people come to class to escape, or they bring their problems to the mat hoping to work them out.  If you focus on a negative thought as you move through practice you’ll be breathing that thought into all aspects of your being.  Shifting to a positive affirmation allows us to align with purpose and not defeat.

You don’t have to wait for class to set and breathe in intentional space.  Take a moment right now and do this simple meditation:

  • Focus on an intention, a positive word, an affirmation
  • Take a deep breath into the body, down deep into the core of your being
  • Hold the breath for a count of 4
  • Exhale just as deeply as you inhaled, let your intention embrace the reality around you
  • Continue this process for as long as you need.
  • Even just doing this for a single round is powerful.

Doing this process at the start of the day allows you to bring connection into the start of your day, the same is true if you do this before bed and take intention into the dream world.

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine!

Namaste

Michael A Brazell

http://www.soulinteraction.com

http://www.facebook.com/yogawitch

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

Learning to Trust

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trustThere is an energy of change moving through all of us.  You can feel it in the air, and see in those around you.  I know I’ve been feeling the call for deeper connection to spirit, to my path, and to my practice.  Change is not always a pretty thing, sometimes it is harsh, visceral and can be difficult.

I’ve been going through my own changes over the past few weeks, but thinking back on some of these changes, the seeds were planted years ago.  My life is constantly evolving, and I love this process.  The one thing that I do notice about my life are the things that remain.  There are constants that make up my purpose and are guideposts on my path.  Those constants keep me grounded in moments of change, and as an experiential learner my changes usually are more visceral.

A few days ago I made the decision to leave the yoga studio I’ve been teaching at for over a year and a half.  It was a difficult decision, but one that needed to be made.  I feel that my life is transitioning quickly.  My guides, guardians, souls, angels have been speaking to me with greater frequency, and the message they have been repeating over and over again is:  Trust.

Trust does not come easy.  This is evident in any yoga class.  We often struggle to trust our bodies within the asanas (postures).  We have to learn to trust our instructors, trust our mats, and even trust that the floor will indeed catch us if we fall.  We have to trust that the breath will sync up with the movements, and that we’ll be able to make it through the more challenging postures.  Trust does not come easy, but it comes.  Eventually we forget that we did not have trust, it becomes part of the process, our minds become more at ease… and then we get introduced to new postures, ideas, and concepts that challenge us.. yoga is an action of magick, and extension of trust.

Challenge helps us to identify trust, to encounter her and to sit with difficulty.  Letting go of one part of our lives allows space for new things to enter, and that is where I am finding myself.  I am going be dedicating a lot of time to creating a solid yogawitch.com community and engaging the unfolding path before me.  There is fear, but that is okay.  I trust that what is opening up for me is the most positive and most powerful, because I trust my soul unconditionally.

In the next few weeks I’ll be posting videos, meditations, poetry, spells, and much more.  I also want to hear from all of you!  If there are things that you’d like to see me discuss, videos that you’d like to see, and even if you just want to say hi!  You can contact me via this blog, or at:  theyogawitch@gmail.com

What is trust to you?   What is changing in your experience that causes you to sit with/challenge trust?

As always-

You are Loved.

You are Beautiful.

You are Divine.

Namaste.

Michael A Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.soulinteraction.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

NaPoWriMo Poem

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Cherry blossoms,
Floating like butterfly wings,
Winds kissing the tress,
Beautifully impermanent,
We are speck of dust in the eternal dance,
Spinning and floating like wind kissed blossoms,
Only here for a moment,
An kiss from our mother’s lips,
A whispered prayer,
A beating heart,
Silence.

NaPoWriMo Poem

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I asked the moon to shine, she blushed bright beautiful golden yellow…  Her light kissing my cheek, sneaking trough the clouds, the stars, they danced a jig to the pitter patter pounding of my feet, I am a promise break dancing its way across he sky…Bright beautiful speck of start dust, spinning tornado of infinity… break me open like a piñata.. I am sugar sweets on the inside, hurry and get your fill… There isn’t much to go around, but my pieces if planted in a garden will grow roses… and thorns… Pricking fingers.. My petals kissing your nose… the Moon… she’s still blushing.. Beautiful