Wendy's Blog |
I am dating a recovering adrenaline junky. Well, maybe he isn’t in full recovery as he screams down the street in any fast car he can get his hands on but he has stopped shirtless motorcycle wheelies. Baby steps.
Is driving fast a big deal? Heck no as my mini cooper corners like she is on rails. But when we surround ourselves with incessant intensity (& noise) that is what we are nurturing inside as well. Because… Everything is energy. Our precious aura’s pick up on everything. And then we wonder why we can’t slow down the monkey mind or get rid of the anxiety. Re-insert the boyfriend who says he would never be able to meditate because his mind goes non-stop. Ahh…the immediate gratification & instant results society we live in. Meditation takes a slow dedicated practice (probably the same as he needed to learn to hold a motorcycle wheelie for 2 city blocks). If he only knew how I was picking on him…sshhhh. Let’s take this one step deeper and hop off the pavement onto a different path; a spiritual path. If you are on one, do you wonder why you aren’t receiving the intuitive wisdom to help you make decisions everyday that are in your highest and best purpose? Your inner knowing and your spiritual posey are ALWAYS there waiting for you to slow down and listen. Slowing down for you may mean sipping a cup of tea as you silently watch the lake freeze over, or cultivating inner stillness on your meditation cushion, or melting onto your mat in a yoga class…whatever speaks to you…just be sure to…give it a second. Enjoy my all time favorite Louis CK interviews as he hilariously brings the point home.
Until our paths cross again…wrapping you in love & light,
Wendy
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I caught myself in a little white lie (again). It was super small. Insignificant really. But, the words just found their way out of my mouth.
Do you do it? Of course you do! Well maybe if you have reached a state of pure self love & unwavering acceptance of your authentic soul all the time…maybe then you don’t ever speak them. But, I know I am talking to a human on the other side of this technology device and we all have a tendency to fall into our shadow selves. We see ourselves as somehow less than and not enough. We are conflict avoiders. We are afraid to let our true colors be known. We are out to prove something. And the fib reasons can go on. I am here to confess the ones I occasionally fall victim to: 3 little white lies:
Yet just another reason I love my yoga practice. Since the body never lies, yoga helps to uncover the truth and shed the old lies that have unconsciously been shoved deep into the fascia, cells, nerves, etc. When you harness the breath & melt into yoga postures, you get the old inauthentic energetic kinks out and you shed light onto your true self. You will know what it feels like to truly heal from the inside out. If you can feel it, you can heal it. As you feel the tensions release, know that you are tapping into your spiritual self where you have the realization that truth will always set you free. And insert one of my favorite Dr Wayne Dyer messages: First remember that you are a spirit in a human body rather than a body with a spirit. We are here to spiritually grow, love, co-create, and above all else to forgive ourselves and others (from all those lies). So embrace this human experience and live it from a point of truth; your growth will accelerate and others will want to join your party since true authenticity is contagiously sexy. Before I close today’s chat, try on this cool mantra outfit (one size fits all): I am real. I am honest with compassion. I am a truth vibe trend setter. Trust me when I say; when you wear that outfit it will feel like you are giving yourself a big hug (and I’m not exaggerating). Plus, you will get the most compliments EVER when you wear that outfit! Until our paths cross again. In love & light, Wendy As I sit here typing, I am at the tail-end of leading (& partaking) in a Fall Yoga Detox 3-week series. I am not a rookie at seasonal detoxes but this time it seemed different. Not seemed different – it was different. I didn’t feel hungry or deprived as some of you may think pertains to a detox (ok, there was one emotional day where I really wanted a glass of wine), but I realize that was only because I wanted to be comforted. That want was fleeting because I found the comfort elsewhere. I was comforted in the realization that I am my own best friend. Big bold realization, right?! How about you? Do you feel all comfy cozy at home with your true self? If not, where are you seeking the external comfort? When you cleanse out all the “false sense of security junk”, you can see clearly through the door. The door that reveals the light of your soul’s truth & in that place there will be no turning back. Because you will realize this is the happiest of all places. If you have been feeling the desire lately to rid your life of unwanted, mind cluttering toxins, and to step into your true joy, maybe you picked up on some of our collective energetic vibrations. For when one person does the work to heal & become their radical self, that energy helps everyone step into their unique truth. My unique freak flag is up in the air, what about you? Little BONUS: I’m happy to share a fun yoga detox music playlist with all of you. It is more than fun. It is powerful! Each woman who participated in the yoga detox shared a favorite song which is the compilation of the yoga playlist below. It is their way of flying their unique flag…enjoy! ************** Knowing – Lucinda Williams Dream – Priscilla Ahn Magic – Coldplay Listen to the Lion – Van Morrison Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones A Case of You – Joni Mitchell Fool In the Rain – Led Zeppelin Night Moves – Bob Seger Every Rose Has It’s Thorn – Poison You Are for Me – Kari Jobe The Story – Brandi Carlisle By the Grace of God – Katy Perry (Everything I Do) I Do for You – Bryan Adams Hey Jude – The Beattles 1000 years – Christina Perri How Can I Keep From Singing – Enya Put a Little Love in Your Heart – Mary Mary *************** Keep the music rolling and feel free to reply to this blog with your favorite song. Your unique addition will help the authentic collective conscious flow.
Until our unique journey paths cross again, Wendy As I walked along the wooded trails of The Christine Center in Wisconsin, I knew I had stepped into a magical wonder. Acorns were audibly falling all around, little creatures were dashing amongst the fallen leaves, birds were calling and I felt compelled to sit and absorb the palpable energy surrounding me. Of course, a wooded bench appeared before my eyes just as I had cast the desire into the air. I sat and found inner stillness. I was in a state of connectedness with my nature family. I began to drum. The beats came from a deep indigenous knowing and the drum’s vibrations fell in tune with All.
I became one with the whispers through the trees. Feeling compelled to continue my trodden journey I ‘thought’ that the trail to the right looked inviting yet I was ‘intuitively’ drawn to the more rustic trail to the left. The trail started with crackling leaves beneath my feet and the terrain quickly shifted to a muddy earth. I was sinking into the now and felt the inner stillness return to me. At that moment, I looked up and saw a deer staring at me with a curious wonderment. We locked eyes and I then noticed two young deer near her. The stillness permeated them as well and we shared a hidden language understood by all because: Fear was not invited to the conversation. I left my new friends and took the experience into my dreams that night. Waking before sunrise the next day, I again headed to the woods. The darkness was calming and soon the rising sun would help light my way. I easily & quickly sunk into the peace of inner stillness and I felt pulled to look up. There stood the deer family waiting for me. They had something to share and in that moment so did I. I felt a mantra fill my heartfelt thoughts “We are One. We are One.” The deer heard my collective calling and with an understanding moved closer to me. I kept the mantra repeating silently “We are One. We are One.” Soon they were within 5 feet of me. Momma deer stomped her hoof into the ground ~ “We live here. You live here. We live in peace. We are One.” After several more minutes together, I said good-bye and ventured into the chapel for early morning meditation. We were soon closing the ritualistic time together and the Sister leading the group asked everyone to form a circle. As we all hugged each other, the words that rang from the Sister’s mouth “We are One.” Until our paths cross again my friends, Wendy I can still feel the wind blowing through my hair. I grew up riding my silver bullet moped all over the town of Minot, ND where I had the pleasure of open roads and wide lanes (Kramer would have loved it; insert Seinfeld episode reference). The gas friendly mobile took me so many places and instilled a freedom at a young age my memory loves to recall.
But right next to the freedom memories, I have scars on the knees that remind me of the many gravel road crashes. The tears. The pain. The sadness of spending what little babysitting money I had saved to mend the blinkers lost in the moments where the magic bullet hit the ground and left me on bended knee. We have all skinned up our knees a time or two in our lives but when we let the emotional pain of the injury linger on …and on …it etches a scar deep within well below the surface of the obvious. In yoga, we call these etched in mental or psychological impressions; samskaras. They become embedded so deep within us that they can create emotional patterns that cause pain and discomfort or conversely; joy and freedom! Enjoy this short 12 minute audio where I was interviewed on Health Matters radio talk show. I explore the body & energy connection: The Body & Energy Connection with Wendy Billie on Health Matters Talk Radio Yoga. Breath. Awareness. All amazing tools to break through the old samskaras. Until our paths cross again, Wendy Billie Do you know how to relax? I mean really relax. Shutting it ALL off and letting the worries, fears, and doubts completely leave the building.
If you are reading this, I am sure you are on the path (or are very interested) in bringing the path of relaxation into your life. And kudos to you because it is a really BIG deal to bring utter serenity into moments of your day because if you don’t … well let’s just say the brain takes major ‘blows’ when we keep it in perpetual analyze & do mode. A quick overview of the brain: Left side is the control master of analytical reasoning & is very reality based. Right side of the brain is master of creativity ~ the place of imagination, dreams, & intuition. Ok, I said quick overview so now onto how easily we can destroy our precious brain with only our thoughts. When we dive into the old song and dance of negative thoughts perpetuated by imagining the worst case scenarios happening in our life; worries, fears, and doubts shut down part of our brain. In essence, we lose our awareness or consciousness. Hmmm–do you ever find yourself saying “I can’t remember this or that?” Well, maybe you are shutting down the old thinker by worrying too much. Just a thought – pun intended. Well, I wish a poor memory was the only brainy thing that could go wrong. But, because our body steps up and produces oober amounts of cortisol with all our negative thoughts we can actually ‘blow up’ neurons. Yes, our sweet body thinks we are in distress and thus steps up to the plate and makes cortisol to combat the stress. Excess cortisol is the killer. Your Brain on Stress. I watched a video demonstrating the destruction of our precious brain cells due to high levels of cortisol (sorry video wasn’t available for upload) but let me describe what went down. Envision a mass of neurons and their dangling arms of synapses lit up like Christmas trees (similar to our cool braintree picture above). Looks all pretty and then…bam…or kaboom is better to capture the moment. A neuron exploded. Gone forever! Maybe you remember the old commercial scaring us away from using drugs “this is your brain on drugs”. This may need a little edit to include ” this is your brain on stress”. Never fear. Put the frying pan away. Yoga Brain to the rescue! Go ahead and insert a new visual. It is the end of yoga class and you feel completely relaxed. You slide into the bliss of savasana (the pose of complete relaxation) and your happy brain takes over. It starts to activate parts of your brain ~ igniting creativity & dreams, & fantasies; igniting our intuitive nature. This happens because instead of stress protecting cortisol being produced our bodies begin to release dopamine; our pleasure neurochemicals. ahhh…. You may think that based on your busy life that you need to have the left analytical side of your brain on high 24/7. But, introducing relaxation will activate the “right” and help you make decisions using the wisdom of your intuition. And this is why I highly recommend that you wait to balance the checkbook for at least 20 minutes after yoga class. Let the fantasies and daydreams guide you and enjoy the sweet bliss of Yoga Brain. Until our paths cross again, Wendy Billie I was living smack in the middle of the busy-business of Washington DC. The energetic buzz was palpable yet on one particular evening I was being comforted by my quiet fireplace lit condo in Dupont; soothed by the stillness of the night. I felt grounded. I felt calm. I felt ready. I had decided to take my 15 years of yoga practice & study up a notch and head to where the roots of yoga’s amazingness originated. India here I come! And like many major life decisions, I turned over my fate to Google to find the ideal training institute. Well, I didn’t completely let an inanimate piece of technology be my only magic worker. I also employed an intuitive tool I had been using to help me select web pages to click on. I used the energy I could feel in my hands as I scrolled through the myriad of selections and voila. There she was; The Sattvik Sedan. I had no idea what”Sattvik” meant which was even further validation for me to learn more. And here I am several years later sharing with you the blissful meaning of Sattvik. It means living in harmony with a dynamic stillness. Sattvik is exactly what I needed to learn then and now. Here is a huge life lesson pulled from the ancient teachings of Yoga (& Ayurveda) philosophy: The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. ~ Voltaire Go ahead…enjoy the vibrant feeling of “getting things done”- be dynamic. But notice at the same moment busy-ness is happening so is stillness. When those two forces find a happy marriage; that is when radiant bliss comes out of hiding and smack into the middle of your life. Here is powerful intention statement just for you: I choose to live in dynamic stillness.
Until our paths cross again. In love & light, Wendy When I was in the 3rd grade (or maybe 2nd grade), I was handed a block of red clay and was given the freedom to create whatever I wanted. My tiny fingers started moving and before me I had molded a little Indian man sitting cross legged in front of a pot. Rising up from the pot was a snake and it was obvious to me that this was possible as I had also placed a miniature clay flute in the man’s hands as he brought it to his lips and played a sweet tune that made the snake dance.
Fast forward to northern India as an adult. I was sitting across from an Indian man who was teaching me about kundalini rising. You see in Yogic tradition it is believed that a serpent lies coiled at the very root of our being (known as kundalini). As we move and work on controlling our breath, this serpent begins to rise up our center along invisible lines or better to call them psychic spiritual centers (since that is what they are). As this serpent grows, so do we as our energy ignites and our spirit awakens to our highest and most divine potential. For years now, I have been practicing this beautiful dance with yoga. And my inner knowing has blossomed, or should I say has risen, and has guided me to expand my consciousness as I extend my wings and double my yoga life with the ancient healing practice of shamanism. Through my shamanic work, animal spirt guides have been my loyal messengers. Recently, I got a nudge in my heart (during a meditation post yoga practice) to write this little blog for you. And within a matter of 24 hours I saw three hawks that were literally standing at attention waiting for me to notice. Here is what the these feathery friends wanted me to know as quoted by Dr Steven Farmer: You’re caught up in too many details, so step back so you can see the greater perspective on the situation. Stay alert and focused on the task before you, eliminating as many distractions as possible Ahh…thank you my hawk friends and I have your feather close by to remind me to take the broader view. Oh yes, the picture is of a necklace that popped into my life last weekend. Of course it did! A serpent and a feather…with a little charm that says “inspire”. Look for my next article called “The Owl and Me in the Window”. Until our paths cross. In love and light, Wendy Billie |
Wendy BillieInternational yoga instructor, Shamanic Practitioner, life coach, and more! SubscribeCategories
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