What Matters

Joy and Celebration!

So the holiday season is offically upon us. Thanksgiving has come and gone, black friday loomed it's frightful head and windows and houses have started up with the festive decorations. Did I spy a Santa the other day as well?

Now some people might delight in the holiday spirit while others might want to run and hide. Through all and all, it seems that ignoring it is inevitable. So why NOT embrace it?

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” -the buddha

Yes there are many breathing exercises and yoga routines that can help you reduce stress to help get you through the holidays, but what about ways to help boost happiness and joy within us! And the easiest lesson I could give to start this process is to simply: LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. If you can simply be in the present, you will find joy in the even the most mundane activities. Too often the mind is distracted by the future or past, which limits your capacity to be joyfully present. All forms of yoga and meditation can help reveal the jow of NOW.

A pose for joy: try Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)

As you stretchi n this pose, your body traces the smooth arc of a crescent moon, you will have to practice but when you finally balance without fear it is a feat to celebrate!

"From joy springs all creation, by joy it is sustained, toward joy it proceeds, and to joy it returns"