Children of Change

Light and unity is what yoga is purely about. If you haven’t heard about Indigo, Crystal & Rainbow children – this is an interesting idea. I first learned about Star Children about 10 years ago, and was immediately drawn to it. Throughout my life I have had interesting encounters with intuits and lightworkers approaching me; telling my mam I was a child of light, and other often bizarre but truly amazing experiences. I know I am not the only one, and I’m sure many children and parents these days also encounter similar experiences. I think those of us that are open and here with clear purpose encounter such people and experiences as reminders to stay connected to our mission. This is why working with children, who are naturally open, intuitive, and here with purpose, is so important to me. These children often experience high levels of anxiety, ADD/ADHD, may be on the autism spectrum, or may encounter other sensory integration challenges. I believe this is because they are of a different vibration, and struggle to fit into the current environment and or be understood by others.

The challenges these children face can also be gifts, but it’s finding the tools and support to allow these gifts to shine. Communicating and sensing the world differently does not make it easy to integrate and can be isolating, nor can it be easy for parents. While our current systems do offer many tools and are becoming more open to alternative tools, I feel it’s valuable to keep diving into alternative and more intuitive approaches. I don’t think it matters how we help others, even if it’s placebo or perceived as placebo due to our current limited understanding, so long as it holistically supports. The challenge is to find the right fit for the child, or adult. Star Children get it and see through things very easily. For more information on understanding and alternative ways to support children with sensory integration challenges, see the blog on A Different Approach to Sensory Integration.

What are Star Children?

Star Children are Lightworkers, here on a mission to make this world a better place, through compassion, healing, driving change, and healing. They understand the greater purpose and are relatively selfless. This also poses a problem as these children and adults tend to take on the pain of others, and may not have the skills to protect themselves energetically.  Each Star has it’s own characteristics with the same purpose: to create positive change for all, by bringing a new way of being and more light into the world.

Indigo Children

Indigo children are stubborn warriors and change-makers born between the 60’s and 90’s. Their role is to dismantle the systems that are not serving the greater good. They are entrepreneurial in spirit, trying new experiences and intrigued by finding innovative solutions.

Crystal Children

Crystal children are pure – seeing the best in all, highly creative, empathetic to a fault, incredibly sensitive, and intrigued by the supernatural. They feel it all, which can be painful, yet manage to flow through it. Crystal children are here to create new ways of being. They are born between the 80’s to 2000’s.

Rainbow Children

Rainbow children are just that – full of colour and vibrancy! They are lovers of people, animals, easily adaptable yet will not to conform to old ways that the Indigo have helped to clear. They are fearless, see unity and will to continue to bring this into the world. These children embody our pure potential and have come to Earth since 2000.

Each Star Child brings inspiration in their own way. So how do you nurture yourself or your child to help bring out the best in them? I believe each parent knows their child, and am truly grateful my Mam had the understanding that each of us was very unique and encouraged us to express ourselves, yet have the wisdom to step back and be there with unconditional love and support. I don’t feel that labeling really matters – it serves as a framework to better understand. This and the blog on A Different Approach to Sensory Integration are simply tools to look at a situation differently, and hopefully to gain more insight to better support you and your child on your journey.

Yin – Bridge Pose to ease the low back

Yin yoga helps balance our yang lifestyles – I believe this is why it’s so popular, particularly on the North Shore where we love to be outdoors and active! As I mentioned in the 8 Limbs of Yoga , the physical Asana practice has traditionally been a minor portion of Yoga. The primary purpose being to learn to sit still in order to meditate, to ultimately seek the bliss state of enlightenment.

How Yin Works

Yin is the feminine, intuitive, gentle aspect. Yang is active and powerful, requiring that we be conscious of alignment and engaging our core for support and to protect our bodies. Yin allows us to let go completely – we melt into the earth. In a Yin class, you will typically hold poses for 3 to 5 minutes – don’t worry, they are generally comfortable, easy poses. The reason for holding is to allow the muscles and surrounding fascial tissues to melt, which allows us to reset our posture, and release deep tension which is often subconsciously holds our emotions. It’s ok to be emotional in yin, as I believe it is in any class. It’s quite beautiful to know that moving your body with breath can provide a release deeper than the physical. Through Yin and Pranayama (breath-work), you can help heal yourself. This practice encourages you to dive into meditation, focusing on the breath during challenging poses to escape the chatter of the mind. This is a powerful tool in any aspect of our life.

My Experience with Yin

I can appreciate that when we need yin the most, it can be a struggle. I was a hyper child, which is why my Mam taught me meditation in the first place. During university I became so disconnected from myself, constantly working, volunteering, working-out, I struggled with a 5 minute savasna – I simply didn’t have the time to sit around…or so I thought. That was until I broke my ankle running early before work. In that instant I fell, it was as if a light-bulb went off – SLOW DOWN Katie!! I began to laugh at myself – how ridiculous I had been constantly pushing myself – but this was one of the moments that helped me change my life for the better. This was a wake-up call for me to reconnect to myself, my spiritual side, and heal. That being said, I appreciate it can be challenging to meditate and stay put at times. I think most of us experience this at one point in our life, at least. If Yin doesn’t immediately sound like you’re cup of tea, I would recommend a combination class of yang and yin, like Kundalini or Yoga for Ski + Bike. The deep stretches in Yin are important to prevent injury.

Some Yin Poses to Ease Common Areas of Tension:

Below are Yin poses to ease common areas of tension. As with anything you do, please listen to your body first and foremost. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to email me: Katie@studio202community.com.

• Yin for Your Neck + Shoulders

One of my favorite poses is to take a bolster and place it along the spine, from just above the hips to the head. You can rest your legs in front of you, or bring the soles of your feet together into butterfly. This pose encourages deep breathing by opening the chest. Take an inhale to your chest, and allow your neck & shoulders to melt. Take an inhale into your belly, and allow your body to melt. Continue with a deep slow breath.

You can do a variation of this at work to alleviate tension by coming into prayer behind your back, or simply clasping your hands. Exhale letting your right ear lean towards your right shoulder – hold for a minute. Inhale to centre, and exhale to the left for another minute.

• Yin for Your Hips

Pigeon releases the glutes and sciatic, moving into the hips. Begin in Table, sweep your right foot out behind you, and bring your knee into your chest. Place you right foot towards the left side of the mat, bringing your leg and body towards the ground. Breath into the Heart Chakra and release. Breathe into the Root Chakra and release. Continue with a deep steady breath. This pose is challenging for many and can trigger emotions. Continue focusing on the breath – one requiring you to count helps, or inhale white light into the area of tension and release it with your exhale. Repeat on the other side.

Try this breath: Inhale 4 counts, retain 4 counts, exhale 6, hold out 2. Repeat.

• Yin for Your Legs

Hamstrings: Taking a tall seat, bring one leg out to the side and exhale folding over this leg into Maha mudra – hold for 3 minutes. Inhaling using your core (to protect your low back) to a tall seat and switch sides. Inhaling back to a tall seat, bring your legs together and exhale fold forward into Paschimottanasa – hold for 5 minutes.

Quads: Supta Virasana or Hero pose is a great one, but can be challenging. Come to kneeling, slowly lean back onto your forearms – you can place blocks under your forearms if this is enough for your quads, or if you feel comfortable, coming completely onto your back with your arms stretched out overhead. Hold for 5 -10 minutes. Be gentle coming out of this pose – swing your legs out in front of you and slowly come back to seated. See below for full Hero pose.

Yin Hero Pose to stretch the front fascia and quads

This new moon in Scorpio represents the wounded healer – definitely a Scorpio trait. The aspects of Agena and Centaurus in this new moon also represent the ability to bring to light that which our body is not yet conscious of for healing. There is a strong need to address our shadow aspects, allowing them to surface so they may be recognized and healed if needed.

Healing our Shadow through Reflection & Meditation

As Carl Jung identified, we are our persona and our shadow. Jung believed we are blank slates when we come into this world and are coloured by our experiences. Positive experiences become part of our persona, and those in which we receive negative reactions become our shadow-self.

I believe we are blank slates to a large degree, but through my own experiences, I have also come to realize that we are affected by many past-life experiences, adding another layer of complexity. These experiences result in inexplicable reactions to events in our lives. Do you have a completely irrational phobia? Have you ever met someone where you both immediately knew each other on an intimate level, although you had never met? For this reason, I believe we need to look even more deeply at our whole self and our instincts.

Depending on the culture we grow up in, our persona and shadow may wildly differ from another person. For example, looking someone in the eyes is considered polite in some cultures, while it is quite offensive in others. Different families also have different ideas of ‘acceptable’ behaviour, sometimes creating a very strong shadow that requires a great deal of healing. Perhaps you have a very strong reaction to something someone does – examine this if you haven’t – it’s quite interesting when we dig a little. I feel it is important to note that we all have shadow aspects and challenges we wish to overcome, and it is through this healing that we become stronger, wiser, and better able to support and connect with others in a truly authentic way. It is this authenticity and love for our whole self we seek, but we must start with loving OUR whole self.

Throughout life, we will continue to experience clashes in our persona due to changing environments, relationships, and expectations. This can be quite confusing, often triggering, yet it can also be incredibly healing. By taking a moment during these times of discomfort to really reflect on why certain emotions are occurring, we are able to look at the root cause and assess the situation and our reactions objectively. This can take time, so it is important to be patient with ourselves and not rush any healing. Taking time allows more to be unearthed to better understand ourselves. This is part of the beauty of meditation, as we are able to become objective and gain a more whole understanding of the situation from our perception and others’. Some of these instincts are very important, and our intuitions way of telling us a situation is healthy or not healthy. Others have been programmed into us, and may not be necessary.

“But these instincts have not disappeared. They have merely lost their contact with our consciousness and are thus forced to assert themselves in an indirect fashion.”  ~ Carl Jung

New Moon Meditation

Get comfortable in a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed. You are welcome to make this space your own with candles, healing stones, and healing music. Closing your eyes, inhaling drawing your shoulders to your ears, and exhale through your mouth to relax them down your back. Repeat this a few times, then coming into a steady Ujjayi breath – slow, long inhales and exhales through the nose. Grounding your energy by imagining roots or a golden cord reaching from your Root chakra into the earth. Taking a moment to feel this connection deepen. Begin bringing white light in through the Crown chakra and allowing it to flow down through your spine and into the earth.

• Describe your persona?
• What is it you want others to see in you? Why? Where did this come from?
• Describe your shadow?
• Why is it part of your shadow?
• What happens when you let these aspects of your shadow become a part of you? Send yourself love as you allow your whole-self to shine through, and see others also sending love to these aspects.

Know allowing your shadow to become a part of you will allow you to be your whole, true-self. Those who love you will still love you. But most importantly, do you love yourself? Think of one thing you can do for yourself for the next 30 days to show whole-self more love. Perhaps painting,  journal, a walk, quiet time for you, yoga, or meditating?

Enjoy nourishing your soul and all of you.

~ Katie

Yoga actually extends far beyond the physical practice. The physical aspect of yoga is actually only an eighth of it! Through exploring this path, you will notice your meditation  – and life experience – become richer and more meaningful. These concepts are designed to be explored.  Yoga consists of 8 aspects, with the idea being achieving enlightenment. Enlightenment is connecting to your true self, your spirit, and through that, oneness with all, in which we find freedom. A side benefit of this journey – living a healthy and happy life!

These are the 8 Limbs of Yoga:

• Yamas: these are disciplines to observe to guide our interactions with the world
  • Ahimsa: non-voilence
  • Satya: truthfulness
  • Asteya:  taking only what is rightfully yours
  • Brahmacharya: using energy in healthy ways (often seen as celibacy)
  • Aparigraha: only taking what you need
• Niyamas: personal practices for a healthy internal world
  • Saucha: purity and cleanliness
  • Santosha: contentment  
  • Tapas: self-discipline
  • Svadhyaha: self awareness
  • Ishvara Pranidhana: surrendering

• Asana:

The physical practice of yoga. It’s important to keep your body alert, healthy, and strong to enjoy your life and share this experience with others! Moving mindfully is very important to all of our teachers – we even have a class called Mindful Movement! When we move mindfully, we do so with breath, grace & strength. We can heal our bodies, and help prevent injury!

• Pranayama:

Breathwork. You can see some type of pranayama we have practiced on Instagram. As breath-work has been important to me since I was a child, this is something all our classes focus on.

• Pratyahara:

Sense withdrawal. This is part of the reason I am often quiet in our Yin classes – a rare opportunity for you to be awake and completely alone with your thoughts – this is powerfully cleansing & healing!

• Dharana:

Focused concentration. Part of our #meditationchallenge focused on this form of meditation. Picking a theme, thought, vision, feeling to focus on can be very powerful to help you feel and achieve goals. I personally like to focus on a thought, then let it go to allow inspiration to flow as I feel myself stepping away and becoming more objective…which goes into the next limb of yoga!

• Dhyana:

Meditative absorption. This form of yoga is my favorite and what I have practiced for years, as it’s where inspiration comes from. The mind is freed a this point to allow intuition to guide. Again, much healing can be achieved through this approach, and this is fabulous for considering changes or growth. The trick is to not get attached to the process and details. Trust it will work out – surrender and know it will – we just may not be aware of all the details …but do you need to be? It can be a challenge, but amazing things can happen when you let go!

• Samadhi: 

A state of continual bliss, also known as enlightenment. Enlightenment is wholeness, oneness – which we already are. But being able to recognize and feel it at all times, brings us to a state of bliss as we recognize there is only pure love and energetic connection amongst us all. As James Cisneros put it; “Enlightenment is not a change into something better or more, but a simple recognition of who we truly already are.”

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook as we explore these aspects in greater depth!

Pranayama is the art of breath-work. ‘Prana’ is life force – our breath, and ‘yama’ is discipline. This is why the 8 limbs of yoga are called the yamas and niyamas – the disciplines of yoga to live a healthy and happy life. See our post on 8 Limbs of Yoga blog for more information on Yamas & Niyamas.

How Pranayama Helps Your Meditation

You’ve likely heard you can only think about one thing at a time, so choose positive thoughts. This is part of the beauty of meditation and pranayama. By focusing on a single positive thought, a breath pattern, or a sensation – you become immersed. By focusing on the breath, we are able to let our minds neutralize and reach a more balanced and happier state! It is not possible to control the mind with the mind. This is why pranayama is an essential aspect of meditation.

Notice Your Breath

First please take notice of your breath. Is it rapid? Short? Long? Slow? Deep? Is your chest expanding? Is your belly expanding? Place a hand on your lower abdomen, close your eyes and begin to connect with your breath for a minute. Has it changed?

Forms of Pranayama to Try

There are many forms of breathwork, that can be practiced, each serving different purposes:

• Calming – simple inhale with your belly expanding and exhale through the nose, flowing into each other is incredibly soothing. This is also called Ocean Breath or Ujjayi when you try to ‘fog up the mirror’ on your exhale – it creates a slight constriction in the throat making the sound of the ocean.
• Deep calming – inhale for 4 seconds letting your stomach expand, retain the breath for 4 counts, exhale for 6 seconds, and hold out for 2. Continue with this breath.
• Cooling – rolling the sides of your tongue upward and sticking your tongue slightly out, inhale and exhale. You will notice a cooling sensation. This is great for fevers! If you have a one with a fever, lay them on your bare chest skin-to-skin as you do this breath.
• Energizing – with Breath of Fire it’s important to ground yourself first. Close your eyes and imagine a golden cord or roots extending from the base of your spine into the earth. Feel that sense of connection. When you are ready, begin by taking a long belly-breath. Exhale in quick contractions, drawing your navel towards your spine. For each long inhale, you should be able to do 10 exhales. Rest between and continue.
• With kids – to help children calm and sleep, have them lay down and place a hand on their belly. As they inhale imagining their bellies are like balloons expanding, and exhaling to let the air out of the balloon through their nose or mouth.

There are many more pranayama techniques you can try too, but more advanced ones are best in a class with a practitioner who can help you ground appropriately. Check out our Yin and Kundalini classes for more pranayama!