Let your music play!

Today I'm off to teach at another Yoga Circle workshop ~ it was fun the last time, incorporating partner touching into many of the moves, closing the circle around our intentions. I'm going to use the same sequence this afternoon and hopefully it will go over just as well!

Yesterday, I had a great private lesson with two friends/students, one of whom has been complaining of a sore, knotted back in her thoracic area. After yesterday's session, she said that her back felt so much better ~ yay! It makes me so happy when my students tell me that their pain has gone or subsided. It reminds me that, yes, I do know what I'm doing and yes, I am aware of my students' bodies and ways that they can start to heal themselves: making sure they're properly warmed up, making sure they're doing their Planks and Chaturangas and Downward Dogs properly, making sure their bodies are aligned in the right way, taking the time to adjust them, to teach them the correct way to do the pose, not just the easy or the way that they think looks good. It's so rewarding! And I'm so thankful for moments like that when I know I've helped to make a difference in someone's day-to-day life.

My sweetie's had some pain in his lower arm, in an area that he uses a lot for guitar playing and mousing on the computer, and I gave him a long, deep-tissue arm massage on the knotted area ~ and the same thing: he said it feels better and that the massage really helped. Yay! It's funny - I got certified as a massage therapist over ten years ago, and I've never done anything professionally with it, but it's come in very handy in situations like this, with friends and loved ones. I've been considering taking a refresher course, or a specialty workshop weekend (for something like chair massage or shiatsu or reflexology)... but for now, that's only a medium-sized idea. It's helpful for the time being simply to give massages when they're needed and not have to worry about paying for and attending yet another class!

I had another wonderful Reiki and shamanic healing session yesterday afternoon with Margaretta. Every session with her has been awesome. For the past couple of weeks, I'd had this pain in my left shoulder, and a few nights ago, while meditating in the bath, trying to bring some healing light into the tight area, I had the distinct sensation that there was something sitting on my shoulder - something heavy and dead. So, when I brought that to M., we worked with my spirit guide to release the weight, the dead, heavy energy ~ which M. said was definitely not mine, and my spirit guide said was, "other people's stuff that you've made your own." Yuck! Get it outta me! And that we did. It took effort and concentration but it's amazing how it actually works. I have my shoulder back now! Just some lingering muscle soreness from carrying around this extra dead weight for the last few weeks. M. said that once you meet your spirit guide, things can accelerate pretty quickly and the body can start getting rid of accumulated, old energy pretty fast ~ and that's likely what happened. I met my spirit guide and now my body is starting to cleanse and get rid of all the excess junk that's been holding me back from connecting more deeply with the spirit world and with my higher self.

We also spent a bunch of time releasing old relationships from my life. Well, mostly old. Some of these are relatively new relationships, but ones that I realize have been dragging me down for one reason or another. These are not good relationships, they aren't healing or love-bringing. They're simply not energy that belongs in my life any more. I released from my life with love those people and their energy who have been draining me, who have been giving me their nervousness, their addictions, their diseases and depressions and darknesses, those people who cling to me while they chase their own tails and run in circles. I gave them back their energy so they can deal with their own lives and allow me to live mine with more freedom. How healing! Cleansing, healing, and most importantly, allowing the old to release to allow space for the new and good to come in. It's what I've been thinking about for the new year, and it's wonderful to have M's and my guide's assistance to help prepare me for the wonderful things that lie before me. No more wallowing in the muck of other people's dark energy ~ I am free to live in light and love, following the path of my higher self.

Today's Advent calendar image was a trumpet. For me, this represents the music I make in my life, the ways I share who I am through my creative energy. I intend to live in the beautiful, strong, light energy of pure love and awareness, and to allow that energy to permeate every facet of my existence ~ every space in my life will be filled with the wonderfulness of my higher self, keeping me living in joy on my path. It's really the only way to live creatively, for me, anyway. As Louis Armstrong said, "If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Well, toot toot to that!

I'm off to D.C. tomorrow morning and don't know if I'll be blogging from there, so have a great week and I'll be back online in a few days!