Inhabit Your Being ~ A 5 Week Exploration of the Yogic Koshas

To me, the 5 yogic koshas are a map for living a more fully embodied life ~ inviting me to honor all of the layers of my body and being and invite me to ask myself, how am I tending to the wholeness of being human? Join me this summer at Full Circle Yoga for a 5 week class series diving into yogic philosophy. During this one hour class we will have a short lecture, meditation, contemplation, and a beginner level yoga class to anchor the teachings into your body.

Join for all or drop in for as many as you are able. Please reach out if you have any questions! Looking forward to seeing you on your mat this summer!

Visit the Facebook Event Here

SO ... WHAT ARE THE YOGIC KOSHAS?

According to Yoga Therapy, the yogic koshas are a map of inclusion, a non-dual model of spiritual understanding and awareness that remind us of our whole integrated nature. Ultimately leading us towards the remembrance of the true Self, and discovering ourselves as spiritual beings, the koshic layers tend a holistic approach towards mindfulness and wellbeing and teach us to tend our body~energy~mind~soul~spirit along the journey towards spiritual awakening. Some styles and forms of yoga stress one layer (or Kosha) over another, some placing strong emphasis on the body and yoga postures and others ask us to denounce our body and focus only on finding states of bliss. To me, a more well rounded approach is necessary for the goal of yoga (union) an be reached. As the Yoga Sutras state, "yoga is the cessation o the fluctuations of the mind" and , in my opinion, the map of the koshas highlights the key for activating balance in our lives and in our practice by looking at the whole of our being to create true health.

Each layer of our being requires presence, love, and intentionality if we are to truly thrive as spiritual beings. I can see that when I am tending one layer of my being it truly affects all of the other layers of my being. Just as we are an individual in a world of other humans and communities, so is our many parts. If we an work to tend the many parts and layers of our wholeness with love and presence we are bound to become more balanced individuals and beings waking to our full potential.

SO WHY STUDY THE YOGA KOSHAS?

* understand a map of whole mind-body health
* create more awareness around how your body, mind, and spirit affect and support one another
* become present to how integration at the layers of the koshas determine our health and well-being
* remember your divine connection to source
* expand your understanding of body awareness and embodiment
* explore the yogic journey pointing us to the true self, welcoming us home

Principle-Based Partner Yoga - Immersion in Colorado June 20th - 23rd

Facilitated by Elysabeth Williamson, founder of PBPY and assisted by Lara Barber, teacher/ practitioner of Partner Yoga for over 10 years.

25hrs CE credits through Yoga Alliance

Investment: $395 through May 20 / $495 after
Returning participants: $295

ABOUT:
The Principle-Based Partner Yoga™ Level I Training / Immersion is an opportunity to explore and develop skills that elevate our human potential, including our innate capacity for trust, compassion and creativity.

This visionary art expands the traditional practice of Yoga into the realm of relationship and authentic relating with others. The program is not just for teachers but designed for everyone with a sincere interest in Partner Yoga.

As global culture becomes more technology driven, the need for embodied, heart-centered relating becomes more imperative.

This first of its kind training includes an in-depth curriculum and a comprehensive Training Manual. The tools and techniques presented are invaluable skills for anyone (1 year Yoga experience required) seeking to live a more embodied and connected life.

Graduates leave the training with greater physical, emotional and spiritual understanding of the power of partner practices to deepen their individual practice.

Participants also receive inspiration to access their innate heart wisdom that imbues all relationships with greater authenticity.

For those wishing to facilitate the practice with others, all the necessary tools and guidelines are included in the Training Manual.

For further info or to register visit: www.PartnerYoga.net

What is Embodied Truth?

Illuminate.

Transform.

Restore.

Balance.

"All the pirouettes in the world, all the spectacular feats cannot impress me as much as a simple movement that originates from a deep feeling of aliveness and understanding of the human body. " - Frances Becker 

Woman, you were born into this realm with your body. You were born here, different than a man, with a womb space to birth life and creation. What would your life look, feel, and be like, if you truly connected with your womb, created a loving relationship to your body, and listened to it's innate wisdom?

Embodied Truth is my gift to woman everywhere, inviting us to remember the path of sacred embodiment. For years, I personally over developed my mind and neglected my body's wisdom. In order to fit into the societal norms, recover from trauma, & feel safe in intimacy, I abandoned my body and suffered for years from self sabotage and being unsatisfied. What is your version of leaving yourself? 

We all have stories that we tell ourselves as woman, about not feeling good enough or feeling like too much. For me, it has been a deep idea that I do not belong or fit in. Perhaps for you, you find yourself judging and comparing to others, or hating your body by hurting yourself with addictive behaviors. Maybe it is the way that you stay too long in a relationship that isn't really nourishing you. Maybe you have neglected your deepest desires to be met fully in a loving harmonious relationship. 

Whatever your story, I am here to remind you, that it is here, among the wound, that we have access to our humanity. It is here, that the true healing work can begin. When we face and meet the hard parts of our experience, life can flow with more joy and ease. If we avoid the hard parts of our experience and only go towards what is easy, things will ultimately get harder for us. When we make a conscious commitment to meeting all of life and all of our embodiment we can discover that we will live in right alignment with our soul's purpose and evolution. 

So what is the path way in? 

Through discovering and honoring your embodied truth. 

By connecting with your unique body, listening to her rhythms, and cultivating a sacred intimacy with yourself and your womb space. 

Woman, your Embodied Truth is living inside of you. 

Honoring your body and womb and seeing its wonder, allows you to truly inhabit and own our life through connecting with your instrument and vessel as sacred. 

As a path of remembering, Embodied Truth invites your whole being, all of it's parts, and those parts yet to be discovered, with presence and love. It is important as woman living in today's world to meet ourselves with as much presence and love that we would desire from our closest lover. It reminds us, that we alone, are our life partner, and teaches us to greet, meet, and welcome the light & dark, of our experience to embrace and express more of our authentic selves. While cultivating a deep reverence and respect for our flowing rhythmical feminine, we are also guided towards cultivating our deep inner masculine to hold our selves and our processes as sacred and true. 

Embodied Truth cultivates a women's presence, love, wisdom, & power. 
From what I am discovering on my feminine embodiment path is that ... 

• The empowered woman knows herself inside and out. 
• The empowered woman slows down to pay attention. 
• The empowered woman listens deeply to her hearts longing.
• The empowered woman knows what she needs, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 
• The empowered woman creates in alignment from her knowing and follows her natural impulses and rhythms. 
• The empowered woman has unlimited potential to craft her ideal life from. 

SO what is your Embodied Truth?

Woman, invite you on a journey inward to discovering your embodied truth. 

Different than a cognitive understanding, I invite you inward and down, from your mind, down into your heart, belly, and womb space. Here, and together as sisters, we will reclaim our feminine cycle to honor ourselves and balance the feminine wisdom that our modern culture is so ready to receive. Here, we will birth a new paradigm, where our cycle will no longer be a burden, but a masterful teacher guiding us to our life fulfillment. Here, our feminine magic will be a gateway to more integration and embodiment of our authentic true self.  

Here are some questions to consider on your journey inward? 

What is your body speaking to you? 

Do you take the time to listen to your body? 

What is your authentic expression? 

Are you allowing your authentic self be seen and heard?

What is your life purpose + mission? 

Why are you living?

Do you connect with a higher purpose for being here?

What and who are you aligned with?

What do you dedicate your life towards and for?

What gifts are you ready to offer the world?

What lights you up about living?

What makes you honest?

What wisdom is ready to be heard through you?

How do you envision yourself as a leader?

How do you know yourself to be empowered?

What feminine wisdom is ready to be activated inside of you?

How else can you express your fullness?

What message or lesson wants to be lived through your embodiment this lifetime?

Embodied Truth - (Feminine Embodiment Training) is dedicated to empowering the balanced woman standing in her true authentic power and radiant joy. Through feminine embodiment practices, self-awareness, self compassion,  growing support in sisterhood, and reclaiming and discovering our creative potential, the next generation of woman leaders will remember the wisdom of their sacred womb and intrinsic connection to nature and her cyclical rhythm. 

Some benefits of discovering your Embodied Truth include: 

~ Harness and reclaim your feminine power. 

~ Remember and access great depth of creativity. 

~ Go against the grain to carve your unique path.

~ Live in harmony with your body and nature. 

~ Be more potent and balanced as a woman and leader 

~ Remember and discover the power of self love. 

~ Honor & cultivate deep presence and devotion to yourself. 

~ Learn about the wisdom living inside of your body. 

Illuminate ~ Through presence and devotion, discover your own unique body rhythms

Transform ~~ Harness and reclaim the power, beauty, & wisdom of your sacred embodiment

Restore ~~ Bring health and balance to your womb to live in a state of optimal wellbeing

Balance ~~ Create inner and outer harmony world living in true alignment following your feminine innate wisdom. 

HEALING THE POWER OF SISTERHOOD

If you really knew me, you would know that I have lots of girl friends that I love and adore. If you really knew me, you would also know that it was not always this way for me. Yes, I have always had friends that are woman, but it wasn’t until the last 5 years or so that I really began to understand the power, wisdom, and importance of true, real, meaningful connections with other woman. 

I used to be afraid. I used to judge and compare myself to other woman. I used to feel jealous of that beautiful sister with all of the radiant talents and gifts. I used to compare myself and where I was on my professional or relationship status compared to “her”. I used to feel less than and not equal to my sisters. In turn, this had me feeling very distant and separate from other woman. We would be gathered in sisterhood, and I would always feel little distant and alone. For years, I did not really have a woman with whom I could call my best friend or reach out to in times of need and stress. 

My curiosity, is this; Do any other woman find this to be true? Do any other woman have similar experience? Have you ever felt the judgmental comparison between woman? Have you experienced this in the past and/or are you currently working with any similar patterns in you awareness? 

Over the course of the last 5 years or so, I have been on a deep spiritual quest to balance and awakening my growing power being a woman. I have been consciously cultivating and healing my relationship to the feminine through joining woman’s groups to reading books and taking courses in feminine embodiment. For me, becoming a mother was a huge step in claiming my seat as a woman and required me to extend my regard to other woman, so that I could learn from them, and I could receive the love and support that I needed as I passed through my motherhood initiation. 

In my recent studies, the late Shakti Milan puts forth a radical distinction in her book, Sexual Awakening For Woman, A Tantric Workbook, that I believe is worth talking about together in sisterhood tribe. She refers to this collective judgement and comparison between woman as the “Woman’s Union". Originating from the patriarchal paradigm where men hold the power, and maintain a "power over other” mentality, Shakti describes the fact that woman have internalized this belief and police other woman who are not fitting in with the prescribed norm (especially and specifically in the realm of sexuality). Instead of supporting and uplifting one another, secretly we wish other woman negativity and do not want the other to succeed or do well, or flourish.  Perhaps this is also embedded in our psyche to protect ourselves from loosing our men. If another woman seems threatening to our family/relationship, it is understanding that we would not want her close to us so therefore we outcast her as to not cause us trouble. 

As I have begun to unpack this belief and question its origination over the last several years of my study, I have come to discover that like in most relationships, what I see outwardly is truly a reflection of my internal state. When I catch myself in thought about judging another woman, I have a beautiful opportunity. I can either give my attention and energy towards the idea of separation of power over, OR I can use the moment as a learning opportunity for further self discovery. It can also be useful to understand that what we are uncovering here is also related to what is being held in the collective unconscious. For me, it is more powerful and empowering to take a long slow look in the mirror to discover something unreseolved in my own psyche and that held in the collective unconscious. 

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{A PRACTICE IN TAKING BACK JUDGEMENTS:

TRANSFORMING THE WOMAN’S UNION 

INTO THE SISTERHOOD SUPPORT}

This practice can be done solo, with other woman as a group discussion. After you do the journal work it can be useful to share what you are learning with other woman in your life/circle. In addition, after you complete this practice you will have a leans to see what happens for you in future moments if/when you feel the woman’s union arising inside of you. Pausing for a moment to feel and notice with mindfulness is the first step towards radical empowerment. 

STEP 1: Set aside 10/20 minutes in a quiet space with your journal and pen. 

STEP 2: Light a candle, burn some sage, and settle into an intentional space to be with yourself in this powerful inquire. 

STEP 3: Find a comfortable seat or lye down and begin taking slow deep breaths. Allow your attention to shift inward towards yourself. Scan your body, heart, and mind for how you are doing in this moment. 

STEP 4: Once you feel settled, ask yourself these question: “In what way do I judge and criticize woman? What do I typically judge other woman of and for? Do I typically feel better than or less than other woman?” Come up with your own creative questions that feel aligned with this inquire for you. 

STEP 5: Notice what arrises and take 10 minutes to free write in your journal about everything that arrises from you. Do not hold back. Allow yourself to feel all of it. The key here is welcoming all parts of yourself to be present with our judgement or make wrong. Be as nasty and unedited as possible to really let the energy flow. 

STEP 6: Look back over what you wrote and reread your discoveries. Try to have an open mind and begin to try on the idea that what you see outwardly (your repulsions and judgements) are really all projections living inside of you that you are not wilding to face and own. Ask yourself powerfully, what is it in her/other woman that I either resist or desire in my own life/being? Take a serious look at the judgements and see if you can take responsibility for this aspect inside of you. 

*example: I notice that one judgement I have is that “she” sees to have such a successful career and is so confident! ~ Turning back to own my projections I would start to see that what I see in her is actually something I want for myself. I would love to have a successful career and be confident like her. Perhaps we can shift the focus towards, “wow, she seems so confident and successful. Maybe I could learn something from her!” Instead of making her wrong I can actually celebrate her and her wins. 

STEP 7: Make a commitment to take notice of how and when this comes up for you as you move forward. Again, we are not trying to change or fix anything, just simply bring awareness to the parts of ourself with a mindful awareness. As we notice projections and repulsions in others, we can begin to reclaim the lost parts of ourself that are really speaking through our judgements. 

STEP 8: Share what you are learning about this with your other sisters. Continue to inquire ongoing about this conversation. Comment and share what you are getting from this experience. 

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For me, this process has been a journey back to myself, owning my projections, and awakening the qualities see in other woman that I wish to cultivate for myself has been a deeply rich and rewarding process. Not only am I surrounded by many sisters, aunties, mothers, and daughters the I honor, respect and cherish, I have honestly created a beautiful support of sisters around me. It is my wish and honor to shed light to the conversation of how we have become separated as woman to unify together to illuminate a new paradigm in which we support and uplift one another with joy and reverence. To me, honoring the sacred in the other is a beautiful path of love and grace.

From my sister circle, to the world, it is my wish that all woman begin to remember the importance of seeing each other with honor and respect to birth a new paradigm rooted in shared care and positive regards seeing the best in one another.  Feminine nourishes the feminine in the world, and it is my prayer that we can allow ourselves the joy of sisterhood connection in the unique beautiful way that only we can offer one another.

I would love to hear how this conversation and practice outlined above has impacted you. Please comment bellow or send me a message on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stayintouchwithlarastouch/

With Love,
Lara