Releasing and going with the flow

I'm celebrating because a lot of my March Intentions are happening! This week: I attended a wonderful yoga class last night at Divine Essence Yoga in Potrero Hill; also did a yoga dvd; I ran 5.2 miles one day; I completed one of my papers for a massage class; I spent quality time with my hubby a few times this week; I've celebrated something I'm grateful for everyday; and I've been super present with my emotions and reactions. I would love to give an example of everything, but, quite honestly, I could do a blog post for each of those things! One day.

I received a massage yesterday by a friend and fellow classmate. I didn't think I needed it as much as I realized. She integrated swedish, deep tissue and Vibrational Healing Massage. The Vibe work is what REALLY helped me release a lot. There is an area of my back where it gets knotty, and when Massage Therapists go over that area, it jumps like an electric charge. It doesn't hurt, and I always reassure them of this. The area my friend worked on was on the left side of my spine, by the erectors and lower ribs. The knot was so tight and sharp. But she continued to do the finger-work from the Vibe technique on this area. I continued to breathe, make sounds, and even voiced some things that came up such as, "It's time to go", "You're no longer serving me", "I want softness." Then the release happened. I began to cry very hard and I let myself go to release all the energy around that area. My friend kept working there and guiding it out. My legs and feet tingled. After I cried, I felt fabulous!

It all made sense to me, and even more now. As I had set those intentions (in a previous post), things began to happen. I decided to go with the stream of the river, instead of against it. Also, that spot in my back has been a collection bin of things of the past, old patterns, and a general holding.

It feels good to move it out, and move on. What things of the past are you still holding on to? If you could let them go, how would you feel? What would your life be like?

Scream it out...literally!

I wanted to share this article about letting your anger out.  In our society, we're taught to hold back our emotions in most situations.  But don't forget that you're ALLOWED to release it.  It's healthy to shout and scream your anger and frustrations.  Sometimes I do it in the shower or into a pillow.  It's great when you're alone, but if you're not, just let whoever know that you need to blow off some steam. It may seem like they're put off by it, but it's totally okay to scream it out, and who knows, maybe they could too.  So, express it. Release it from your body because that's usually where it gets stored and ends up causing blockage in places of the body.  Read more in the article(s) below where it talks about a yoga pose dedicated to this concept.  Try Lion Pose! 


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Roar Out Stress

Ever feel so stressed that you wanted to scream? A good shout can literally help you blow off steam, releasing pent-up frustrations and leaving you spent, relaxed, and calm. We are often taught, in our society, to hold all our emotions in and to betray no trace of frustration or exhaustion. But it can be much healthier just to let it out!

In yoga we sometimes mimic the roar of a lion in particular, but any roar or shout will help you reduce stress throughout the day. Some good places to try this include the shower, in traffic, or in the privacy of your bedroom. If others are around, it's helpful to alert them first—because it can sound alarming! And if you're driving, of course, make sure to watch the road as you sound your lungs.

Read the full articles:

• Unmasking Anger
• Lion Pose

Purging the past

Over the weekend, I learned how much of the past I have been holding in my body. I really appreciate my massage classes and the school, because I feel it's a very safe place for releasing emotions or other physical pain the body may be experiencing. The areas we worked on was the ribs and spine. I have NEVER had my ribs worked on before in any bodywork or massage I received in the past. I know I hold some anger in my spine and right side of my ribs. But the left ribs hold a lot of hurt and sadness. No images popped up. Just feelings. However, these feelings were definitely old, probably from childhood, teenage years and twenties. I had emotional releases both days with lots of crying. Of course, afterward I felt amazing! Lots of spaces opened up. It's amazing how much we can hold in a certain area of our bodies.

If you think of the ribs, they're a protective cage. They protect our vital organs--stomach, spleen, liver, pancreas, gallbladder. In my experience, why wouldn't some traumas, both physical and emotional, want to go there? It's the perfect place! I haven't had any issues with my spleen (at least that I know of), so I wasn't aware of all this holding. It's like a box with old memories, situations, feelings, reactions, and people in my life that I put into it and tucked it away behind my left side of ribs. It helps me to think in metaphors with this stuff to help me understand and when I share it with others. I know I've only tapped into it, but my willingness to really have a "purge", on a scale of 1-10 is at a 10.

Today I feel melancholy and a little distant. I don't want to be at work, but it's something I gotta do. I feel like I lost weight from the weekend which I probably did. Those protective layers or boxes have been shed and emptied. I feel scared about going deeper because of the images or memories that may pop up, but yet, I'm curious and want to know. I need to do this. It's okay.

Neck and Shoulder Projects

I have been doing my best to not get down or negative about it. But I did something to my left neck and shoulder area. There's definitely some space to create there I just seem to diminish it. A few weeks back, I was at the gym doing arm stuff and it started after that. Then I got a massage that day and I feel like it made it worse. However, within a week, the inflammation starts to go down. But when I do arm stuff at the gym that seems to aggravate it.

So I'm thinking that I need to lay off the arm stuff because it's possible I did something incorrect with the weights.

However, being a Holistic Health Practitioner, I know there's "other" stuff going on. Some old, buried emotions and traumas that aren't serving me anymore. I got some support from friends and colleagues about it and even my therapist. We did an exercise around this project and I had a release in our session. I realize how hard it is to really love myself and be gentle with myself around time. I've always had stuff going on in my 3rd and 4th chakras (solar plexus and heart chakras). Feelings of powerlessness around time and anger toward myself. Lately, I've just been feeling like there's not enough time or I'm not giving time to myself. It's like I've forgotten. Then I feel like I have to rush to get somewhere, even though I know for a fact I have hours to get there or do it.

After we did this exercise, I felt more space in that area and throughout my body. It's like my circulatory system undid a clog! I'm taking an anti-inflammatory during the day at least to help me through the day, but I don't like taking those things for too long. I may go to my acupuncturist and see what he says.

Also being a yoga teacher can put some strain on it, but I've chosen to not practice many arm weight-bearing poses for a couple weeks. Maybe some gentle stretches to release whatever's going on there. I'm just working on giving the area as much love as possible. And love to myself.