Summertime is a great time in the year to model a healthy lifestyle. So many of us are actively seeking new ways to engage life in a more whole and meaningful way. Though we are all part of one energy field, we often feel disconnected with ourselves, with others and with source or God. Check out these 3 easy ways to start living a path of wholeness and heart-connection using Yin Yoga and Zhineng Qigong tools in your daily life and practice.
The Zhineng Qigong Inner Smile Meditation The Zhineng Qigong Inner Smile Meditation is an opportunity to smile at yourself and embrace your whole being and happiness. It is a simple yet profound meditation. Place yourself in a comfortable posture for meditation and start with a body scan; relax consciously any tension you may be holding.
Take your time while you do this. Let your spine rise from the root of the pelvis upwards toward the top of your head. Draw your chin slightly inward and lengthen the back of your neck. Use all your senses and explore your inner body space, allow a natural feeling of lightness and happiness to arise and to encompass your whole body. Imagine your body as being transparent, touching the sky in all directions.
Feel and imagine your eyes becoming light like "smiling eyes". Once you generate the feeling of this smile, let it radiate down trough your body like a waterfall. Visualize this meditative stream flowing through your body parts and inner organs, pause at each organ and let it soak up this bright, loving, compassionate, smiling energy like a sponge soaks up water.
Complete the process by directing your inner smile to your lower “Dantian” (also know as your “navel center”), and complete your meditation with a moment of gratitude and reflection to seal the energy of your meditation into your life.
Feel your mind clear and relaxed, a light natural happy feeling spreading from deep within the heart. Remember that you can cultivate the inner smile anytime throughout the day to fill the heart with compassion.
2. Explore Yin Yoga "Heart Openers"
To explore Yin Yoga "heart openers", remember that upper back and shoulder stretches are an invitation to slow down and surrender to the joy of the present moment.
Using blocks or bolsters in poses like supported fish, reclined butterfly or the melting heart pose allows you to relax and surrender your body for the next several minutes.
The soothing and contemplative practice of Yin Yoga balances the sometimes overactive and outward-focused fire element, especially needed during hot summers, and connects you to the infinite source of light within yourself.
You can also use these poses as beautiful and relatively quick time-out refreshers throughout your day. Combined with a few deep, heart opening breaths and an Inner Smile, it works like a quick Recharge & Shine tool.
3. invite Consciousness into Your Daily Actions and Allow Your Awareness to Expand
Another easy but profound tool that connects you to the awareness of wholeness and heart-connection is to invite consciousness into your daily actions and allow your awareness to expand.
Next time you take a walk outside, don´t just walk along while your mind is busy chattering in self-talk; rather become aware of your body, your movements, your posture, your breathing, your feeling, your inner space, the space around you.
Try to feel the space between you and the trees, between you and the other people around you. You will be surprised how much more you perceive, how much more connected you feel.
Imagine and use all of your senses, feel the top of your head as transparent, the soles of your feet as transparent, notice your head touching the sky, your feet touching the sky down on the other side of the earth. Enjoy this feeling of expansion; it´s like you start sensing the whole picture not just a part of it.
If you find that these tips have helped you to find better connection to yourself and you feel a calling to go on a deep-dive exploration of their fullest potential and the potential within you, then why not consider joining us at the Recharge and Shine or Source Healing Events at Suncokret Body & Soul Retreat in beautiful Hvar Island for a dedicated retreat experience aimed at bringing you to that heart-centered place, inviting you to call into your life more of the things that make you happy, healthy and whole!
Hope to see you there!
Anita