My Body | My Temple

4 Tips for Gracious Living

 Grace is that subtle, powerful force that compels loving action and compassionate communication.  Last night, I met with a television journalist who asked me for my top tips for successful living.  Before answering, I sampled the wisdom of my colleagues, 4 Yoga Therapists with vision and purpose.

 Here is the short list of what we came up with: 

 1. Before you speak, stop, look and listen. 

 Not every thought you think is true or needs to be spoken out loud.  Listen generously to the other person or situation first – you will have all the cues you need to uplift the situation. 

 

2. Take one deep conscious breath on the hour every hour. 

This is a ten second meditation.  It is a way to create the practice of being present and aware throughout your entire day.  Best to start this practice now – before you need it, before a criss comes up.  Build the habit into your routine so that you can draw on this strength and power at any point in your day or life.  It is always there for you.

 3. Eat organic, vegetarian food

 This is great for your health, great for the planet, shows love for all life.  For women in particular it is important to eat food that will digest within 18 hours.  The process of elimination and digestion is a foundation to good health and vitality.  Take small steps – add raw food to each meal and notice the difference. 

 

4. To change your life positively and profoundly – meditate. 

 You knew that was coming. . . here is the quintessential meditation from the  school of Kundalini  Yoga. 

 

 And here is your bonus. . .because part of grace is generousity. . .

The fastest way to shift consciousness is to do for others.  In that process you step out of your own way.  You take action because you can.  This perspective can and will correct any limitiations in your self perception and provide you with more and more opportunities to be in service to the world.  What an incredible way to put your vast potential to work. 

 

Join in weekly for a Peace and Healing Meditation online via skype. 

Mondays from 7pm to 745pm EDT

Send a contact request to yogawithoutborders and wait for the call.

For more info click here

This is a complimentary Meditation Series established for the eradication of institutionalized violence  against women and girls worldwide and permanently in our lifetime. 

 

 

 

 

 

Commitment Character Caliber

Spiritual laws govern all that we do.  Whether we like it or not; whether we believe it or not.  It’s like gravity.  We don’t know exactly how it works but it governs how we live on this planet.

 

Recently the conversations in my world have been around money – the not having of money.  So first of all money is what money does.  There is no energy attached to money.  It is what it is and the rest is what we bring to it in the form of our history, background and experiences.  All of this can be re-written and expressed in a new way.  In fact, prosperity and abundance is our birthright.  What we deny is our legacy. 

 

The second part is that money (or anything for that matter) doesn’t show up until and unless you commit to having it.  In the words of one of my students, “When I get money from my next acting job, I will ask my partner to marry me.”   Hmmm.  Can you spot the flaws that will stop all of this from happening? 

 

The first step is the commitment. Commitment builds character and caliber.  First take a stand, ask your partner to make a long term commitment with you.  And then the rest shows up to uphold that direction and that powerful desire, iIncluding the paid acting gig.  Until then, the acting will be at half mast (because we really don’t want money because we really don’t want to be committed to the acting or to the partner).  And even if that is not a conscious act – it become part of how we operate in the world.  It takes time and practice to neutralize these old habits. 

 

That’s where Yoga becomes really helpful.  The movements, the meditations, the devotion and service all lead to new opportunities to test and challenge our ideas of what is possible.  Yoga is a tool for transformation because it creates a wedge between what has been and what can be.   The rest is up to you.  Can you handle seeing yourself in a new way without all the old stories?

 

So you say you are ready.  Here is the meditation to get you going.  3 minutes per day for 11 days. 

  

 

I double dog dare you.

 

 

Love,

 

Salimah