The uncomfortable side of Self-love

Aaah self-love time. Make yourself comfy with a warm blanket and cup of hot cacao. Put those tired legs up and just unwind....you've worked very hard today and deserve a bit of you time. Everything is so fast these days, time to sloooow down.

Or is it?

We all have an idea about what self-love means. The above scenario is indeed a type of self-love but what about the other sides which the ego may find uncomfortable. As we all know and get told repeatedly, life is about balance. We need the action behind the thoughts and we need the rest and recovery to check in with ourselves. This varies from person to person, depending on lifestyle and what your passions are and it is your journey to know your limits.

Now to throw a spanner in the works....The psychological mind is very clever at PLAYING self-love when actually what we really need to grow is a bit of pain and discomfort in our lives. You do not have to go out of your way to find this pain, trust in life to serve you exactly what you need, but do not always believe your minds perception of what self-love is. It is not always a big hug. Sometimes it can be getting up at 5am to do your meditation. It can mean feeling the pain of drug or alcohol withdrawal. It could mean feeling the wrath of loved ones as you start to find you true freedom. You could feel isolated, lonely, angry and yes...this is a form of self-love. 

As you start to break away from your belief systems, the mind is going to give you hell. It simply does not like it. Why? I don't know, but the prize at the end of it all is beyond anything you could ever imagine. True freedom is everything. 

Layers of identity start to peel away and when it can be seen from a true perspective, those times when you thought you were being self-loving were just pandering to the mind's beliefs.

And remember, it's all good.

Fly free. 

xxxx

Spiritual Warrior

If I had no fear I could do........................................

Imagine that, a life with no fear? Is fear not the main emotion that holds us back from what we really want to do, be, achieve?

We have all felt that crippling sense of panic overwhelm us in a very quick swift swoop. Sometimes it lingers for a moment, sometimes it can escalate into a full blown panic attack or we can go for years with a cloud of anxiety and fear hanging over our heads.

Fear is a completely natural, logical response to a dangerous situation like a elephant charging towards you or your house burning down. The fight/flight response is activated, adrenaline is pumped around the body and bam! you are in survival mode, but is this necessary for bumping into an ex? Or performing in front of people? Or thinking about that presentation you have to give out at work? Well yes and no. 

Nerves can be performance enhancing but quite often they can get the better of us and turn us into a wobbly, shakey pile of jelly, unable to think clearly and the ego gets a good old kicking. Shame, guilt and anger shortly follow.

We cannot avoid these situations, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes it is our karma that we need to burn through a deep seated fear so life will keep offering up these opportunities for us to go through. We need it so we can grow. Trust this and you will find that courage.

So how to get through it? Well there are a lot of tools out there to help. I would suggest keeping it easy and simple as too many things can overwhelm the mind and fear feeds off this. 

For me, I found the practice of Kundalini Yoga very powerful to find the courage to release the fear. Finding that self-love so you can trust in life's lessons and see everything in the light of the Divine.

Self-enquiry with Mooji helped me realise that any emotion is just a story narrated by the sense of ego/person and if we are able to drop the identity then no matter what psychological and physiological issues we are facing there remains something which is untouched, constantly perceiving all of this.

So whenever you feel the fear, find that inner spiritual warrior, and seize it, own it. Listen to what the fear is telling you. Do this with love and ease rather than a forceful nature, remembering that everything comes and goes when it needs to. 

Fear is powerful, but not as powerful as love. 

MEDITATION — FOR THE RELEASE OF SUBCONSCIOUS FEARS

To begin: Sit in easy pose with a straight spine, chin slightly locked with eyes 1/10th open focusing at the third-eye point with elbows bent so each hand is at your ear level just in front of you. Your palms will be facing forward, flat open with your fingers pointing up. Keep your arms relaxed and resting close to the body. Extend your tongue out at its length. Lightly rest the top teeth across the tongue. Inhale through the mouth in a long, gentle breath, so that you can feel the breath along the sides of your tongue.On the inhalation, mentally repeat the sound, “Go.” Exhale through your nose and mentally repeat the sound, “Bind” . The mantra “Gobind” means to sustain and protect thyself and has been broken into two parts in this meditation. Go is the sustaining factor that surrounds the essence, and Bind is the essence, the nucleus, the seed of the self, the inner point or center. Continue for 3-11 minutes.

To End: Inhale deeply, bring your tongue back into your mouth. Exhale and stretch your hands and arms toward the sky.

Comments: Sometimes at a very early age, fear becomes a part of our subconscious. As adults, we may show this unconscious fear as fear of loss, separation, abandonment, or feelings of helplessness. Sometimes it shows itself in feelings of not really being sure of ourselves. This meditation will help release subconscious fears and will give you a secure sense of yourself.

KUNDALINI CLASSES IN STOKE:

Fridays 10-11:30am, The Hub, Fenton. £5

Please bring mat, blanket and water.

Master Your Domain

Sat Nam all,

For those of you that are not able to make it to class but would like to have a practice at home, here is a great video for you to try out.

As busy daily life can cause tension in the mind and body, we can become stagnant and feel just a bit off. Our energy levels start dipping and we can feel like we are just keeping up all the time without flourishing in the way you know we should be.

This Kriya moves the glandular system and restores the nervous system. Flushing out toxins and bringing prana to the cells allowing you to meet life's challenges with ease and grace. To keep focus on living from your heart and all it's desires.

Click on the link below and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=97&v=hiWDwhQRVQg

CLASS UPDATES!

NEW CLASS TIMING:

10:00-11:30am

Price: £5

At The Hub, Christchurch Street.

Shall look forward to seeing you :)

You are warmly welcome regardless of ability, gender, age, profession, health state, busy mind, quiet mind...just bring your good selves and let the Kundalini Yoga do it's work.

Please email jennicodd@hotmail.co.uk if you plan to attend.

One year later...New Kundalini Classes Stoke

Date, Tamarind and Lime Chutney

Time has gone by and it has been over a month since I last wrote on the blog. 

I have been meaning to, but it just hasn't happened. Ooopsyy.

So, let's try and get the ball rolling again. I feel this time of year is very renewing and there have been a few changes for me.

I haven't been experimenting in the kitchen as much lately. I have fallen off the raw food "gourmet" wagon and have been loving eating lots of simple raw meals emitting overdose of nuts and seeds, mainly of one thing...fruit. I know everyone says this type of thing but I can't believe how much it has improved my digestion. My tummy is SOOOO happy. I have learnt a lot about what combinations of food are not good for me by cutting back on everything. And eliminating most things...although I still am nibbling on the cacao. So, although very exciting for tummy, not very blog worthy if I just tell you about my divine mango moments I have. God I love mango's.

I've also been a lettuce head lately and chomping down on those green leaves. Lettuce makes me feel amazing and slightly euphoric? Give it a go, eat a head of lettuce at a meal and see if you don't start to get giggly. 

This is the chutney that I made recently for my little leaves. You can thin it out with water to make more of a dressing, or keep it thick and creamy for a chutney.

Date, Tamarind and Lime Chutney

• 6 dates soaked in water
• 1 tbs tamarind paste
• juice of lime
• garlic clove
• inch turmeric root (or powder)
• inch ginger
• 1 chilli

Blend. Add water so you get desired consistency.

Once of the sutra's for the Aquarian Age (the current age) is "when the time is on you, start and the pressure will be off". All you (I) have to do is breathe, sat nam, and start. It is that easy! 

Sat Nam

The Five Sutras of the Aquarian Age

1. Recognize that the other person is you.
2. There is a way through every block.
3. When the time is on you, start, and the pressure will be off.
4.  Understand through compassion or you will misunderstand the times.
5. Vibrate the cosmos, and the cosmos shall clear the path

Raw Food Movement is a bit of a mess...

Good day y'all

So you come to raw food as you have met someone who has got amazing glistening eyes and a certain energy of stability, grounding yet lightness..or you have a dis-ease which makes you look at health in a new light..or you want to sort out your yo-yo weight problem once and for all..and that skin problem which has been around for a few years. Whatever your reasons for coming to living food, it is not a minor change in your life, your whole lifestyle can change. Your whole consciousness changes. Suddenly you start being aware of the plants around you, you want to take your shoes off and dance in that field. You feel like you are connected to a whole breathing living organism, you start awakening...you want to detox all that crap that you have put in your body. Those trauma's and emotions from the past start to get healed. 

You are healing.

Months go by, you start to find out about new pieces of equipment, a new "superfood" to buy, fermenting foods, raw dairy, high fat, low fat, fruit diets, wild greens, drinking urine, eating insects...

eating cooked food?! What the *^"$^.

HAHAHA. a wee bit confusing.

The raw food movement certainly is a web of contradictions and confusion. This really is such an individual journey. If you have just begun, or are a long term veteran of raw food the only way to go is YOUR way. I am so thankful of all the information out there, but people spreading the word need to remind others that there is not one UNIVERSAL diet for everyone. Life is changing. All the time. We are evolving, but all at different stages. Drop all fear surrounding food. Let's get out of our little bubble and look around at life. 

For me, I like to eat raw food. Simple and easy. I am not into taking lots of supplement or superfoods (although I am making raw chocolate at the moment so tasting is part of the job!). I take Kelp as a supplement for my thyroid, although I still don't know if I need to be taking it. I like fruit at the moment and having a break from the fats. I do not make heavy nut based sweet things anymore, although they do look and taste yummmmmmy. I like to experiment with herbs and I have found a new love of mushrooms. I absolutely love to go out foraging and picking things from the wild, nothing beats that. I do have some raw milk kefir and fermented foods as my digestive system is still healing from years of anxiety, drugs and alcohol and parasites. I am still very much healing. I do not feel I have reached my optimum level of health by any means, but I know I am a damned sight healthier than I used to be.

Yey! Now let's do a little dance...