The incredible joy that I felt as this mantra and music was being created is something that just wants to be shared, so here you are!

Click PLAY below to listen and watch as this song just comes out shining!
(My kitty Josie settles in to listen, and my boyfriend Casey makes a cameo appearance.)

I’ll give a general translation, though I could also speak for hours on these few words…

Shri: Purest beauty. Ultimate goodness. Scintillating joy.
Ma: Divine mother, divine feminine, goddess energy.
Lakshmi: Goddess, archetype of beauty, abundance, benevolence.
Shakti: Limitless creative power, life energy, divine feminine, the goddess who breathes us all…

If you like the song, please let me know what you think! It still has lots of growing to do.

Feel free to leave a comment below, and please share this with your friends to help the joy and positive energy of this mantra light up as many hearts as it can.

That is the wish of the song; to uplift, to delight, to bless.

Maintaining a beautiful posture or seat in meditation is part of why the practice of asana is such a foundational and integral part of the practice.

So sit beautifully.

Whatever that means for you.

And enjoy your practice.

Ujjayi Pranayama Meditation

Begin by taking a breath of spaciousness

From the inside expand creating more space for your breath to move

Let your pelvis be heavy on the earth

Through your next inhale let your breath lift your heart taller

Your  side body, ribs, and chest rise

Shoulders slide sweetly back

There is a connection between the individual and universal sense of self.

Feel your breath. Allow it to move.

Honour the breath with your awareness. Receive it willingly and gratefully.

And then invite it to dance.

Ujjayi is like an embrace of the breath, inviting the sound of waves in the ocean of breath.

Breathe evenly in Ujjayi. Accepting the inhale and releasing the exhale in a smooth and respectful flow with the divine dance of prana.

Breathe.

Feel.

Be.

It welled up within me, whispering and then singing with awareness of the complete interconnection we all have.

I have climbed to the knees of a giant Douglas Fir Tree and sang this into the moss.

I have stood in the clearest stream of water, illuminated in sunshine. This mantra singing to me from within.

~

Om Shri Gaia Ma

Purnatva Gaia Ma

~

Beautiful, Abundant, Benevolent Earth Mother

You Are The FULLEST Perfection

Divine Mother Earth

~

Which means, in it’s most expansive grace, YOU are beautiful, abundant, and of the highest kindness. YOU are perfect in your human way, exploring through finding out what works and what doesn’t – a Divine child playing.

You are part of this beautiful Earth. Gaia, Mother Earth, is a part of you.

And so, if you recognize and resonate with this intention, this affirmation of the health and harmony that is the true essence of all that is, I invite you to take this mantra into your own heart.

And see how it feels.

• Feel free to comment below with your experience or insight.

But to hear the song of your heart, you have to first listen.

Within silence, all sound exists. Every melody and beat is there, waiting for their time – ready to contribute to the dance of life.

You know when you hear or feel a deep truth? It moves you. It hits something far within, maybe bringing tears to your eyes.

The song of your heart comes from truth, from the pure love-light being who you truly are. And every time you pause to tune into your breath, or listen to the call of your spirit, that truth becomes more clear.

Even if you don’t actually like to sing out loud, we each have a beautiful singer within. When you honor yourself by following the path that your soul asks you to take, your own personal song lights up the entire matrix of life that we call the world and universe.

The following video is me singing one of the songs of my heart. The mantra itself came to me in a meditation, and the melody simply appeared one day, birthed out of silence. I hope you enjoy it.

May your heart sing brightly to you today, and every day.

• If you resonate with this, or have something to add, please leave a comment below!

By the way, if you want to have a recording of this song, as well as some other of my songs and meditations, check out the Mini-Meditation Art and Audio set.

I could use a little more awareness in my lower hand here - see how it's collapsing slightly to the outside? So much going on in the pose, even I need to remember to align my hands.

Good alignment is good therapy, and optimal alignment is what brings the freedom in yoga therapy.

This can be anything from knowing how to place your hands and feet to aligning with your intention and coming into the natural pulsation of the breath.

One thing that comes up a lot for people is pressure or pain in the wrists. However, when you use the alignment principles of Anusara® yoga and apply them to your own body, that pressure and pain can disappear.

When you’re in a weight bearing pose on your hands (downward dog, handstand, push-ups, plank, gardening, etc.) your foundation has a lot to do with what you feel in your wrists. This means the way you place your hands and fingers translates to what you feel.

The following video that explains three of the most important points to know about how to align your hands.

Though this video speaks mostly to the added challenge of having your hands on uneven ground, this alignment goes for any surface and position where your whole hand is on the ground. When you practice outside or on carpet, the stakes are higher and it becomes even more important to align mindfully. Watch to find out why…

Yoga Therapy- Alignment for Wrists

The foundation is only one part of the alignment, and everything else builds from there. Once you have your foundation set as described in the video, here are some other alignment cues which are based on Anusara yoga’s Universal Principles of Alignment™.

It’s a good idea to practice this in a non-weight bearing pose first. Placing your hands right there on your desk will do.

1. Foundation: Wrist creases parallel to mat, 4 corners of hands and 5 fingertips rooted

Keeping that:

2. Muscular Energy: Hug your forearms toward each other and, without moving your hands, draw your hands toward your body to tone the undersides of your arms. You should feel like your arms are plugging into your heart.

Keeping that:

3. Organic Energy: Extend from your heart through the bones of your arms, all the way out through all 4 corners of your hands and all 5 fingertips. This balances the engaging aspect of Muscular Energy.

The alignment of your shoulders counts as well, but I think this is enough for now. Remember, this alignment is universal, so any time your hands are on a surface you can use it.

If you’re fully in alignment you shouldn’t have any pain. If your body hurts it’s telling you something is off, so please listen to it and consult with your local Anusara yoga teacher so they can help you discover what adjustments are needed. Sometimes the tiniest adjustment is all it takes, and sometimes a full yoga therapy session is in order. Either way, learning how to optimally align can make all the difference and give you incredible freedom so you can enjoy your practice and life that much more!

Please click the following link to find out more about yoga therapy in Kamloops.

Get your blood moving, strengthen your muscles, and then lengthen them out – all the while using your awareness to make it more than just exercise. Connect to your true CORE.

This is a short segment from a full length EPIC workout.

Obviously this isn’t real time, so here’s the full workout sequence so you can refer to it. Watch the video to be sure of form (and for motivation if you’re entertained by watching me sweat!)

Center in. Take a breath and remember WHY you’re doing this. What do you want to look like? What do you want to feel like?

Warm up:

• Jog in Place (20 Sec)
• Heels to butt (30 Sec)
• Jumping Jacks (20 Reps)

Core Workout:

• Crunches (20 Reps)
• Bicycle Crunches (20 Reps)
• High Knees (30 Sec)
• Burpees (10 Reps)
• Hold Plank with Variations (60 Sec)
• One leg up
• Jumping jack legs
• Downward Dog
• Lunge Pulses (20 pulses) Hold Lunge (20 Sec)
• Lunge Pulses and Hold Other side
• Burpees with Jumping Jack Legs
• Reverse Crunches (20 Reps)
• Hold Legs 6 Inches Above Ground (20 Sec)
• Flutter Kick Legs 6 Inches Above Ground (20 Reps)
• One Leg Up / Switch (20 Reps)
• Back Extensions – Opposite Leg/Arm, then both (10 Reps of cycle)
• Dragonfly Lift (Back extension)
• Downward Dog
• Forearm Plank Hold (60 Sec)
• Forearm Plank One Leg Up (10 Sec each leg)
• Forearm Plank Wide Legs (10 Sec)
• Downward Dog

REPEAT if you want a longer workout

Take your shoes off

Yoga Cool Down:

• Child’s Pose
• Downward Dog
• Straight Leg Lunge and Crescent Lunge (Both Sides)
• Plank to Cobra
• Downward Dog
• Standing Forward Bend
• Lie on back, one leg up – clasp hands behind thigh and push thighs BACK
• Twist
• RELAX (Savasana) – stay here at least one full minute, preferably longer.
• Roll to side to come up.

Take a moment to re-center before you transition into the rest of your day.

Find out more about the Yoga Fitness Kamloops Boot Camp

The video is 10 minutes long, but if you take your time with the practice, this sequence could take you 15 minutes and reward you with a huge amount of energy and focus.

Here’s the sequence:

• Child’s pose
• Downward Dog
• Straight Leg Lunge > Crescent Lunge (Both Sides)
• Downward Dog
• Plank to Chaturanga
• Cobra
• Downward Dog
• Warrior II > Goddess Warrior >High Parsvakonasana (Both Sides)
• Downward Dog
• Plank > Chaturanga
• Cobra
• Downward Dog
• Standing Forward Bend
• Runner’s Lunge (Both Sides)
• Standing Forward Bend
• Thread the Needle Hip Opener (Both Sides)
• Hamstring Hug (Supta Padangusatasana – Both Sides)
• Twist
• Stretch Out with Alignment
• Savasana

Please comment below if you have questions, and let me know how you like the practice!

By all means, get up and move when you can, but sometimes it’s okay to do yoga sitting right where you are. This is a great little practice to help you stay healthy and feeling good while you’re working.

This video gives you some great options for doing yoga while seated:

The Benefits of Chair Yoga

Though a full practice on the mat is ideal, sometimes it isn’t realistic. And sometimes life situations are such that you’re stuck in a chair for whatever reason.

But you can still do yoga, and receive great benefit from it!

Chair yoga, or seated practice, brings many of the same benefits of a full practice, though you’ll want to stretch your hips and legs out of the chair if possible too.

Anytime you’re breathing mindfully and moving in alignment, it helps to increase circulation and brings more freedom to your body.

Some of the areas where you’ll find a bit more freedom in the body using the practice in the video with alignment include:

• Side body
• Lower back
• Upper back
• Spine
• Neck and Shoulders
• Hips

And of course all that breathing is the key to feeling great!

I hope this little practice motivates you to do yoga wherever you are, however you can.

• Did you like it? Do you feel good? Leave a comment and share the love.

Yoga Core Strength Exercises Video

I’ve written an article outlining the sequence and alignment pointers in this video. There are some great photos as well. Check it out at HubPages Yoga Core Strength Exercises

Yoga Core Strength and Alignment

When you use the alignment principles of Anusara® yoga, which inform the practice above, your entire body participates in the pose. You also learn to focus your intent so you have your awareness adding to the potency of your practice.

In this approach to asana, there is a fullness that builds the core on many levels. You build the physical core by integrating and aligning the muscles and bones for optimal strength, endurance, and circulation. You also cultivate your inner core self in a way that makes it much easier to stay centered when life throws you curve balls.

In Anusara yoga, there is a concept called Balanced Action. This describes the harmony between two seemingly opposite forces that create perfection together. For example, when you use Muscle Energy and Organic Energy (two of the Universal Principles of Alignment™) in Balanced Action, you can find a place where drawing in and extending out make the pose feel amazing. Effort and ease complement each other when you have just enough of each.

By engaging your entire body in each pose and movement, with mindfulness and without over efforting, you build your core strength in many ways. And it feels so good!

• What do you think of this video? Do you have questions or suggestions? Please post a comment below.

Part 1

Part 2

This is, of course, merely one sequence in an infinite number of possibilities. Yet it’s nice to have guidance, or at least a place to start from. In my personal practice, I use many of the postures featured in these videos as the basis of my practice, and then add in other asanas as I feel inspired to do so.

Being able to do a yoga practice every day, if your body wants it, is super helpful. On the days when I don’t do a full length practice, doing something like this asana sequence is a welcome way to honor my body and recharge at any time in the day.

Even 10 or 15 minutes of moving mindfully with the breath can get your circulation going and bring great relief to areas of the body that were tight. Our bodies are so important – they deserve for us to make time to take care of them.

It doesn’t take long, and wow does it make a big difference!

• Please let me know what you think of this practice, and if you have any questions by adding a comment below. Thanks!