january intentions 2021
January 20, 2021
Intention: Supporting our Self and stepping into our power.
2021. Here we are!!!
While I personally have big hopes that this year will bring the freshness and progressive changes that we need so deeply here in America, I am reminded that even though 2020 is now behind us--nothing around us will change unless we do.
Unless we individually reset and check in with what support we need, reestablish our personal values and goals, reaffirm our intentions, and reconnect to all of this within our own self first. Only then can we step into the world with a renewed and open channel to all of our power and potential to make good changes in our world and life.
With all of this in mind-- this month on my mat I have set the intention of connecting & supporting my own inner self so that I can step into all of my potential and power this year.
No small task, right???
I am guided through this personal check in by leaning into the knowledge of self provided by the Chakra system. While the Chakras are not in my personal lineage, the more that I learn about this map of the body and all of the information it holds, the more insight and healing doors it has opened up in my practice-- I give credit and gratitude to the peoples responsible for early Hindu & Buddhist writings/text and ancient Tantric traditions throughout ancient India.
Chakras live in our 'subtle' body-- our non-physical, energetic, psychological, and emotional body-- and are believed to be energy centers/hubs. Each Chakra is the seat of specific psychic & emotional energies within our self and by bringing our attention to each of the seven main Chakra centers throughout our yoga practice allows us to enhance our mind-body connection and potentially balance or open different 'layers' of our emotional/spiritual self.
I find it helpful to be guided by the Chakras in my physical practice so that we can spend time in each essence and intentionally lean into yoga postures that allow us to bring our attention to each Chakra individually. Then, we can gather the information we need about or own self-- for example, when you are in an intense hip opener like malasana squats (squatting low at the top of your mat, with your feet mats-width distance apart and your hands at heart center, letting your elbows gently press against the inner edges of your knees as you open your hips & send your tailbone down towards the earth and the crown of your head lightly towards the sky ) do you feel a shortness of breath or feeling of anxiety in the discomfort? What information does this offer us? According to the Chakra system, hip openers are aligned with our Sacral Chakra (our second chakra) which is the seat of our emotions, intimacy, and creativity. If we are super tight here and feel discomfort physically and emotionally, what energy might be stuck?
Going deeper into this example- in a podcast episode of Black Girl in Om (episode linked below) Chetna Mehta, a mystic mixed media artist, unpacked Brené Brown's statement on creativity, "Unused creativity is not benign, it gets metastasized as rage and sorrow and judgment and shame and it can be destructive because creativity is such powerful energy." Chetna goes on to explain, "Creativity is powerful enough to heal us, to transform culture, to change the world. When we are repressing it by not speaking or moving our bodies or expressing, we are harming ourselves to some degree. We need the release, we cannot only intake and absorb and contain."
So, again- what does your tight hips and hard to open Sacral Chakra (seat of creativity, emotion, and intimacy) say about your subtle body? Are you giving yourself permission to creatively express yourself and to feel good and release all the energy that is potentially stuck or blocked there? What might you need to bring some loving attention to?
On our time on the mat this month, we will let ourselves notice moments of insight like this. And once we are there, we can offer our own self some opportunities for opening, physical self-support, TLC, and affirmations throughout class (which is also just a great empowering reminder that all the tools for healing and love and support we need we can find within our self-- we do not need to always look for this someone else, but that's a blog for another time).
At the jump of this new year, with resolutions and goals aside, the most important work we can do is the work of supporting and loving our own self. Only then can we really step into our power and potential in all corners of our life!
Connecting to this intentional work of finding safety, peace, and support in our own body feels especially important when everything around us feels consistently chaotic. This resonates deeply for me at this moment in time, as an American human- given the coup attempt at the Capitol Building, a transition into a new presidency, and the continued surge of COVID-19 paired with the exhaustion & grief that we are not equipped to carry, amidst the many other layers of personal, community, national, and global chaos we all face this month alone already.
So with that- the time and space on our mat, of connecting and supporting our self, feels of the utmost importance so that we can step into the rest of the year aligned and ready to be the incredible agents of love and change and purpose that we are meant to be in the world.
As always, I invite you to take what serves you and leave what doesn't. I hope to see you, virtually, this month-- feel free to reach out with any thoughts/feedback/or comments.
Wishing y'all moments of love and joy in your corners of the world <3
PS below you will find January's Spotify playlist for class as well as the podcast episode from Black Girl in Om where mystic artist Chetna Mehta dropped her insight and wisdom on creative expression-- enjoy!!
