April's Newsletter Theme: I LOVE!

All You Need is Love. One Love. What's Love Got to Do With It? Love Begets Love. The theme of life is love. Try to find a song that isn't about love or a movie that doesn't tackle the theme somewhere. The essence of everything that we do, see, feel is love. This important chakra is one that we need to always focus on because it has the ability to heal all of the others. We are all familiar with the challenges of loving someone. Its easy to do so when things are going great. But when times turn difficult, we have to work just at hard at loving someone that we used to love quite easily. And then, there are people who hurt us. How do we love them? It gets even harder, but all spiritual teachers agree that it is a task that we must step up to and accomplish - for the good of the entire planet. With Earth Day this month, let's talk about all things love - and do our part to move the energies on earth to a higher vibration. 4th Chakra Basics: Name: Anahata = meaning "Unstruck" Location: Heart Center/Cardiac Plexus Color: Green Element: Air Issues: Love, Balance, Self-Love, Relationships, Intimacy Mantra: YAM Physical Issues: Chest, Lungs, Thymus, Breasts, Arms, Wrists, Heart Questions to Ask to see if your 3rd Chakra is in balance: What does love mean to me? How do I know when I love someone? Do I put any conditions on love? Have I experienced grief/loss? How have I dealt with this? How do I express love? Do I have any issues with my lungs or heart organs? Do I have any issues with my elbows, arms or wrists? Am I connected to my breath?  How do I feel about the air element? How do I experience it in my life? Some things to do this month to work with the 4th Chakra: Breathing Exercises Take a walk or hike outside in the fresh air Smile at a stranger Donate to a charitable cause Work with essential oils Date Night Get in touch with old friends/family members Release of grief Look into your eyes in a mirror and say three times: "I Love You." YOGA PRACTICE!!!  So what type of things should you practice for your 4th Chakra? Asanas - Yoga Mudra, Eagle Arms, Thread the Needle, Warrior II/Proud Warrior/Extended Side Angle, 5-Pointed Star, Revolving Triangle,Bridge, Camel, Wheel. Sequence - Bring it down to a slow and steady pace again. We want to work with a gentle breeze, not a gale force wind! Focus on the breathing throughout your practice and in every pose and become acutely aware if your breath is slow and steady or erratic or being held. Breathing - All breathing exercises, but especially those that extend the breath such as 4,4,8, Dirga or Complete Yoga Breathing, and Kumbhuka (breath retention). Mantra - YAM (seed sound of the chakra - makes me think "yummy") Meditation - Zen breathing meditation. Focus on the four parts of the breath: inhalation, retention after inhalation, exhalation, retention after exhalation. Any of the yoga classes at One Yoga Center will help you to connect or reconnect with your 3rd Chakra. Many of our classes this month will focus on this Chakra and just being present. Dive on in! Love & Light, Tracey & the Teachers at One Yoga & Wellness Center!

Stone of the Month: Rose Quartz It may not be green, but it's all about love! Rose Quartz amplifies the energy of love, compassion and self-love - the later of which is something that we all should focus more on. If you are struggling, wear Rose Quartz in your bra or undershirt near your heart. Smudge or cleanse it daily to recharge it. Special Message from Tracey for April... Who doesn't love love? Everyone wants to be loved - whether they admit it or not. Sometimes people are so badly hurt that they may temporarily forget that this is a basic human longing. But eventually, we all come back to this essence at some point. As Shakespeare so eloquently pointed out, "The course of true love never did run smooth." Word on that, dude! Wait until Dany and Jon Snow discover this in a couple of weeks! (GOT fames out there?). But we can all relate - even those of you terribly lost by this post...you know that love is never easy. And yet, we still ease on down that road - well, some of us just jump in, peddle to the metal, don't we? Corinthians 13:4-8 reads: "Love never fails. always hopes, always perseveres. It always protects, always trusts, but rejoices with the truth. Love does not delight in evil. it keeps no record of wrongs. it is not easily angered, it is not self-seeking, It is not rude, it is not proud it does not boast, It does not envy. Love is patient. Love is kind." I come back to these words from time to time, reminding myself should I have forgotten, just what love is. Because I think that we often confuse other emotions for love. Lust is not love. Jealousy is not love. Codependency, enmeshment, fear, infatuation, need, intolerance - none of these are love. And the one point in that which always sticks out to me is that love, "rejoices with the truth." Truth or Satya is something that we yogis talk about often, for again, finding it, can be a long and difficult road. How do we know that something is true? Because the essence of love is right there behind it! (Oy, too much yoga philosophy, Tracey).  There is a famous yoga mantra that we chant often, whose essence is a prayer for love. It is: Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu. It is said that when we chant this mantra, we move beyond the egoic self and offer global well-being. Chanting raises our vibrations of love and is the basic practice for Bhakti Yogis, the yoga of devotion. When we chant we work with the air element, and offer powerful words and phrases that uplift vibratory frequencies not just within us, but that ripple across the Universe. You can learn about this mantra and others Saturday April 6th at our Mantra 101 class.  This month we are really working on our 4th chakra's collective healing offering fundraising classes for Living Beyond Breast Cancer, our chanting workshop, Reiki level 2, and preparing for our Clothing swap/drive for the Rescue Mission of Trenton May 4th. So, dive into love this month with us, and see how rewiring your own energies helps amplify the energy of love for all. In Love & Light, Tracey