Mindy will be practicing Triangle, Trikonasana, in every class she teaches in the month of August.  Triangle is a great pose for opening the hips and lengthening the hamstrings.  It develops core strength and offers a new way to approach the world.  You know what they say, “Lateral movement leads to lateral thinking.”

Triangle

This month’s meditation, So Hum, holds its power in its simplicity.  So Hum is a practice of listening to the breath.  The inhales sound like so and the exhales make the sound hum.  If you sit quietly and listen you will hear this mantra.  It is always with us.  When translated from Sanskrit, So Hum means “I am that, that I am.”  It is a reminder that we are more than just our body and mind.  We are all connected to the Source and can live in that presence always.  This meditation is very calming and soothing to the body and mind.

Om Namah Shivaya

This mantra means: “Om, Salutations to the energy of transformation.” Another translation is: “Om and salutations. May the elements of this creation abide in me in full manifestation.” Or “Om, adoration to Shiva.”


In the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, we experience Shiva as the destroyer of evil, selfishness, ignorance, and illusion. Thus by repeating this mantra we are lighting a fire in our minds to burn away these unwanted qualities.



Mantra: Om Namah Shivaya

Eye Position: Eyes are closed focusing at the Third Eye Point (Ajna Chakra).

Mudra: Hands are in Gian Mudra (passive) or using a mala.

Breath: Long, natural breaths, inhaling between each mantra.

Comments:
We use this mantra to call upon the energy of transformation and destruction, or Shiva, to burn away attachments and to open ourselves to the connection of the individual consciousness and the great consciousness.



The Bhagavad Gita tells us the ordinary person experiences himself or herself to be an individual soul within an individual body. This limited point of view leads to considerable suffering, as we think of ourselves and our problems, which distract us from the higher reality that is our birthright. In our ordinary lives we labor under the illusion that our individual experience is the whole of reality. As we practice yoga to help detach ourselves from this illusion we find ourselves awakening to a much more expansive reality and we experience a wonderful compassion for our fellow sentient beings, and the fear of death loses its power.



If you want to overcome this illusion, transform your life or make shifts in your life, and potentially experience cosmic consciousness, recite “Om Namah Shivaya” as your mantra. Sit in a comfortable cross leg position. Allow the crown of the head to gently reach toward the sky. If you have a set of mala beads (108 on a string), use the beads to count as you chant 108 repetitions of the mantra per set. One set is beneficial, but those who feel a deep connection with this mantra might do up to 10 sets (1080 repetitions) in a sitting. Set an intention and a specific number of repetitions, or a specific time period, before you begin, and chanting until you have reached your goal. Do not merely chant until you become tired or bored.



Note: If you do not have mala beads, you can place your right hand on your right knee in gian mudra with the palm facing upwards and use your left hand to count repetitions on the joints of your fingers.



To End: Inhale deeply, hold the breath in allowing the mantra to wash through every cell of the body, exhale and relax. Take a few moments to embrace the energy of this meditation and revisit your intention. Softly close by thanking yourself and this energy for the time you have spent.



Note that the five syllables of this mantra (after Om) correspond to the five traditional elements (tattvas) of nature:
Na = Earth
Ma = Water
Shi = Fire
Va = Air
Ya = Ether or Akasha
Additional layers of meaning will unfold gradually before the sincere meditator.

Meditation for Transformation

By Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT

In life there are ups and downs, good days and bad, positive habits we possess and not so positive habits. What if you knew how to transform some of your negative patterns into a positive experience and move beyond the bondage of those traits? In this meditation you call upon the energy of Shiva or transformation through destruction to create positive change in your life. This meditation will fortify you to break down negativity.


Transformation can come in many forms. A client of mine recently mentioned to me that she was starting a home meditation practice. She realized that if she wanted to create change in her family, she first had to change herself. Another client is just finishing up chemo treatments for cancer. What could be more transformative through destruction than that? Transformation can come in the form of a new person in our lives, moving from one job to another, or taking a yoga training. Life can change in the blink of an eye. These changes/transformations can be huge and life shaking or tiny, barely noticeable.


Whatever it is in your life you want to transform, no matter how big or small, this meditation is for you. All you need is yourself, a few minutes and a quite space to practice.


Begin in a comfortable crossed leg position using a cushion to elevate the hips if necessary. Ground through the sit bones and legs and lift the spine neutrally upward. Allow the shoulders to roll back and down and gently draw the chin back toward the neck to lift the crown of the head.

Shivalingam Mudra

Move into the shivalingam mudra by placing the left hand in front of your solar plexus, palm facing up. The left hand is cupped like a bowl or mortar with fingers together. With the right hand make a fist and lift the thumb away from the hand (like a hitch hiker). Place the right hand in the left palm.


Breathe and center in this seated posture utilizing the mudra for a few moments.


Now, bring into your awareness your life as it is today. Don’t judge, just become aware of your life while breathing and maintaining the mudra.


After a minute or two shift your awareness to an energy in your life that tests your resolve, tries your patience and resilience. Feel this negative energy and place it in the palm of your left hand, below the right fist. Let it rest between the hands as you bring this into your awareness.


With the negative energy or experience between your hands begin to grind the right hand like a pestle into the left as if you were grinding this negative energy into dust. Grind for as long as needed. If it is a very difficult situation grind for a longer period of time.


Once this negative energy is sufficiently pressed, let the remains of it rest between your left and right hands for a few more minutes. Let go of the hold it has on you. Feel yourself being freed of its negativity. Take back the control you may have lost to this negativity. Feel empowered and open to move beyond this experience.


Once you are ready, breathe in a deep breath and lift the hands in front of your face. With the exhale, blow the dust, the remains of this negative energy away from you in a gesture of dissolution. Release the mudra as you breathe and blow away the bondage of the negative energy. Feel yourself being transformed through this process.


After releasing the energy bring the hands into anjali mudra at your heart center by pressing the palms together (prayer pose). Feel the balance and harmony this meditation has brought. Breathe into this sensation.


To close the meditation, repeat OM three times aloud or silently. Bow to the energy of transformation and thank it for the work it has done in this meditation.


This meditation should be practiced for 5-20 minutes. If transformation is something you would like to have in your life, commit to practicing this meditation for 40 days straight.


The smile in my heart and the divine in me, bows to and honors the smile in your heart and the divine in you. Namaste.


About the author:
Mindy Arbuckle is the owner of Green Mountain Yoga in Arvada, CO. She has been studying and teaching yoga for most of her adult life and is passionate about helping people through positive and intentional self transformation.
Mindy regularly teaches meditations like this one in her yoga classes. Join her Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:00 am for an All Levels Yoga Class or Sundays at 9:00 am for Bliss Yoga.

Mantra for Attracting Abundance

“Om Kleem Shreem Maha Lakshimiyei Swaha”

Meditation to Remove Obstacles

By Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT

Obstacles are a part of life.  You have your goals and aspirations and every time you get going on your project something comes up, something blocks your way.  It is an everyday occurrence.  Some obstacles are larger than others, yet they are always there.

The Yoga Sutras describe the different types of obstacles as:

Disease, dullness, doubt, carelessness, laziness, temptation, false perception, failure to reach firm ground and slipping from the ground gained.  (YS 1.30)

These obstacles happen to everyone.  They are a common occurrence to those on the spiritual path.  Do not get discouraged by them.  The mind cannot always function on the same level – it has its highs and lows.  If there was no challenge and there was steady progress always, you would lose interest in the game of life.

Yoga practice is like an obstacle race: many obstructions are put in your way purposefully for you to pass through.  They are there to make you understand your purpose, strength and depth of your capabilities.  Everyone has strengths but you don’t always know it.  Challenges and tests help you to understand your own capacity.

This is similar to the power of water.  If a river flows smoothly and gracefully without obstructions you would never know it’s power.  However, if you narrow its path and place boulders in the way, even a cliff drop, you can see how very powerful water can be.  Over time water can be so strong that it can cut through mountains, round the edges of the hardest rocks, and create unparalleled beauty.

The next time that an obstacle comes up for you in your life or your yoga practice take a moment to detach your emotions from it and view it from a place of calm and balance.  Thank it for showing up in your life and learn from this obstacle.

Another method for dealing with obstacles is to chant to Ganesha, the elephant headed god.  He is known to help the pure at heart remove the obstacles that bind them as well as bringing good luck and prosperity.  This mantra helps you to discern a state of mind that is creating disharmony between you and another.  This will bring balance to your inner world and order to your outer world.

Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha.

“Om and salutations to the remover of obstacles.”

Offer more repetitions of this mantra depending upon the seriousness of the difficulty in your life.  Three repetitions can be a lovely way to start each day.  However, if you are dealing with a specific obstacle practice a full mala (108 repetitions).  If the problem is very serious, practice more than one mala every day for at least 40 days consecutively.

The Ganesha Mantra can be quite powerful in removing the obstacles in your way.  Be prepared for the changes that can occur with regular practice of this mantra.  Speak to a qualified yoga teacher if you have questions about the practice of this mantra or the things that come up for you.

Watch the video to learn more about this mantra and the proper way to chant it.

Mindy regularly teaches meditations like this one in her yoga classes.  Join her Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:00 am for an All Levels Yoga Class or Sundays at 9:00 am for Bliss Yoga.

About the author:
Mindy Arbuckle is the owner of Green Mountain Yoga in Arvada, CO. She has been studying and teaching yoga for most of her adult life and is passionate about helping people through positive and intentional self transformation.



Meditate on the heart

By Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT

Many of us go through life with a sense of openness and love for others. We offer our love and compassion to others easily yet can find it difficult to refrain from placing conditions on that love or offering that same amount of unconditional love to ourselves.

There are many ways in which we can connect to our hearts in order to feel a sense of freedom. We can reconnect to nature by taking hikes in the mountains. We can go camping with our friends and family. Getting outside for a run or a bike ride can also help us connect with nature. When we connect with nature we connect with our source. We feel rejuvenated and reconnect with the larger picture of life. It helps us to let go of the small stuff.

Connecting to our vital life force, our prana, is also a great way to free the heart. Our breath is the closest physical connection we have to our prana. So take a deep breath. Breathe in light, life and love. Feel with each inhale the heart expanding its energy and with the exhales let go of things that bind the heart, old emotions that no longer serve you, hatred, anger, anxiety, etc. Feel cleansed with the exhales.

A simple meditation that can help us connect to our hearts though nature and our prana can truly inspire the heart’s energy and your love of life and Self.

Find a lovely place outside in which you can meditate. It can be a garden, a park, a spot overlooking beautiful mountain vista or anywhere that gives a sense of connecting with nature. If practicing outside isn’t possible sit near an open window with fresh air. Sit comfortably in a meditative posture and place the hands in Gian Mudra (gently touching the tips of the index finger and thumbs while extending the other three fingers) resting on your knees. Gian Mudra connects us to the Heart Chakra, the element of air, and the ability to unite with expansion in the body, mind and spirit. Feel the breeze as it gently touches your skin.

Allow the eyes to close and turn your attention to your heart center. Feel each breath coming in and being released. Notice what comes up for you as you breathe and focus on the heart, honor both positive and negative sensations. Relationships, emotional wounds, things that need to be forgiven, sadness, love for others, love for yourself? Whatever comes up allow it to flow freely, do not repress it or push it aside. Feel the flow of your emotions like the free flow of the air that surrounds you.

After a few minutes of feeling the heart use an affirmation to express the change in energy you need at your heart. Some examples are:

• I know great joy and therefore have great energy.
• I am firmly rooted in the earth and free like the air.
• I feel light and carefree.
• I am confident and full of hope.

This meditation is like taking a breath of fresh air and frees the energy at your heart. It helps you to move beyond self limiting boundaries. It helps you to develop you inner beauty and personal magnetism by making you mind and body feel much lighter and carefree.

About the author:
Mindy Arbuckle is the owner of Green Mountain Yoga in Arvada, CO. She has been studying and teaching yoga for most of her adult life and is passionate about helping people through positive and intentional self transformation.

Flow with Universal Energy Meditation

By Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT

Have you ever thought about what it means to flow with universal energy? To me it means to have faith, to be open and ready to receive what the world presents to you. So often we work ourselves so hard to get what we want and in the end it doesn’t meet our expectations. We have tried and pushed and forced ourselves to accomplish our goals and in the end it may or may not have worked out.


Working with universal energy has a lot to do with putting in the work and giving up the fruits of our labor. What does this mean? Let me tell you a short story.


It is a beautiful summer day. You see a crow flying above. It spots a resting place and lands on a tree, and at that same moment, a coconut from the tree falls to the ground. Was it the crow’s momentum that caused the coconut to fall? Or was it simply the coconuts time to fall that coincided with the crow’s landing perfectly?


This is a reoccurring theme we find in yoga. That we are entitled to the action, but not to the fruits of that action. Whether it is our action that causes the coconut to fall or it is simply the coconuts time to fall really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we continue to apply our actions – our thoughts, words, and deeds – so we can hopefully influence more coconuts.


Working with the universal flow of energy means that we work as perfectly as we can and put in the effort to the places we know we should. We do a lot of preparation so that all the elements fall perfectly into place.


To practice letting go of the fruits of our actions and to feel connected to the universal flow of energy use this simple breathing meditation:

Pran Mudra

Begin in a simple seated posture. Place the hands in Pran Mudra by touching the tips of the ring and pinkie fingers to the tip of the thumb and extend the other two fingers straight out and together. This mudra is used to our vital life force, prana, and to energize the body, mind, and spirit. Take a few deep breaths.


Connect to the flow of each of your inhales and exhales for a few minutes. Feel the circular flow of the breath. Notice the inhale coming in, watch the breath as it turns into the exhale. Feel the exhale release the breath and notice where the exhale turns into the inhale.


Continue to feel the breath flow in and out and use a simple mantra. With each inhale silently tell yourself “in”. With each exhale silently say “out”. Repeat these two simple words with the flow of your breath for at least 2 minutes. Take the universe’s energy, Prana, in with your inhales and give your energy, prana, to the universe with your exhales.


Let the mantra go and take a deep breath.


Now, reverse your mantra and connect to the universe more deeply for at least 2 minutes. With the universe’s exhale (your inhale) silently say “out” and with the universe’s inhale (your exhale) say “in”. Feel how when you are inhaling the universe is exhaling. Feel your exhale flow out as the universe breathes in your energy.


Feel the connection between your breath and the universe’s breath. Feel the universal flow of energy between yourself and everything else. In the end, it doesn’t matter who is inhaling or exhaling or if one causes the other. Let the connected flow of big P Prana and little p prana (universal and individual energy) unite.


When you are ready, release the mantra and take several deep breaths to finish the meditation. Take with you this sense of connected flow. Feel energized knowing that the universe supports you with every breath.


~Namaste


Practice this meditation in conjunction with this week’s 2nd Chakra Salmon Recipe to really feel the flow.


About the author:
Mindy Arbuckle is the owner of Green Mountain Yoga in Arvada, CO. She has been studying and teaching yoga for most of her adult life and is passionate about helping people through positive and intentional self transformation.

What is Meditation?

You may think that meditation is sitting cross legged in a quiet place and shutting off your thoughts. Or maybe an exotic practice that is out of your reach.


Fortunately it is neither. Meditation is simply a conscious decision to focus your mind on something. It can be practiced in innumerable ways so that it can be the most benefit for the person who is practicing it. When you focus your mind you are meditating. For instance, reading a good book, searching for the best fruit to buy at the grocery store, even watching a movie can be a form of focus. Since we are meditating every day the question is, ‘what are you choosing to meditate on?’


Your mind is in constant motion, you are always thinking. So the benefit of meditation is to help you choose what thoughts are in your mind and to train your mind to be a more positive lens for you to view your world. Meditation is used to learn how your mind and emotions work and to develop positive habits of mind, body and spirit. It helps you to develop your potential as a human being.


This week, set aside 5 minutes every day to focus your mind on something external – a candle, a picture of Christ, a statue of the Buddha, a flower, etc. The purpose of this technique is to bring one-pointedness to your vision and therefore to your mind. It will help you to quite your mind of its constant chatter and attain a quite sense of peace. Focusing on an external object helps to calm and center yourself and stabilize the mind.


Please note, that meditation is a practice. You will not calm and quite the mind on your first attempt. It will be difficult to stop the thoughts that are constantly flowing. In this movement however, you will observe the patterns in your thinking and your emotions, which help you to learn more about yourself. Focusing during meditation helps you focus on whatever you want in the rest of your life. Focus is the starting place for other forms of meditation.


I always like to say, “If you don’t control you mind, no one else will.” Meditation is a useful tool to create positive and impactful change in your world.


By Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT, Owner of Green Mountain Yoga

GMY Tip of the Week: Weed your thoughts

GMY Tip of the Week: Weed your thoughts.
Our mind is the most powerful tool we possess yet few of us ever think about what is going on in our minds. This week, take time to observe your thoughts. Observe without attachment if they are positive or negative? Is your inner world filled with courage, confidence, and happiness or anxiety, worry and fear? Negative thoughts are like weeds taking over a fertile garden. Without the weeds our minds have the ability to grow and produce amazing things in our lives!

To be honest most of us have a rather negative inner world. We are very hard on ourselves. While you are observing your thoughts this week, if you come across a negative thought work on weeding it out. This can only be done one thought at a time (Round Up weed killer won’t work here).

Use one of the following techniques to get rid of negative thoughts or a combination of them:
1. Cut it off. The instant you recognize you are thinking a critical or negative thought, cut it off and insert a different positive thought.
2. Label it. I’m experiencing “a negative thought.” Don’t get caught up in the drama, just observe and label.
3. Exaggerate the negative through into the ridiculous; make it comical so it is just absurd.
4. Counteract the negative thought with a positive thought.

You can eliminate 75% of negative thoughts simply by not reacting to them. Negatives only have power over you IF you react to them.

Last thought: You are the only one who can control what happens in your mind and you have the power to think what you want to think.