AWAKEN

To awaken is to be. Be still to awaken. Awaken and be.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Unconditional love envelops you like the warmth of the sun. It manifests in acts of loving-kindness to yourself or to another. Unconditional love occurs between the space where one person truly sees another. Includes loving-kindness meditation

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerSeptember 17, 2020unconditional love, love, kindness, loving kindness, meditation, guided meditation, healing, painComment

THE HEART AND MIND CONNECTION

Our everyday grief presents us with an opportunity for growth. We train our mind by finding what is within our control. We heal our heart by acknowledging grief. In doing this, we can align with our highest potential and see clearly the next step for our soul’s evolution. Contains Grief Meditation

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerMay 9, 2020meditation, guided meditation, healing, grief, loss, mindComment

GRIEF

Most people think of grief as a deep sadness one feels after loss. It is this and so much more. It is the little losses and the big losses; it is the time we cannot get back. Life is a perpetual motion of grief one moment to the next. Getting into our everyday grief allows for a letting go that calms the mind and heals the heart. Includes Grief Meditation.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerMay 8, 2020meditation, guided meditation, grief, healing, love, self healing, abuseComment

LISTEN

Meditation is a means of exploring the mind/body. Like driving through a snowstorm, we tightly grip the wheel, squinting through the blinding hail of thoughts. At times, it feels as though we will drive right off the road. Slow down and line yourself up with what you know will never change or lead you astray.

HOLDING SPACE FOR PAIN

Sitting with our own pain and softening to the sensations arising is a teacher. It educates us on how to be with the unpleasant. What do we do when the unpleasant arises and we cannot run from it? There is nothing to do but sit with it, soften to it, and listen. This is giving space to our pain and trusting the process.

RESPONDING TO ILLNESS AND INJURY

The urge to succumb to self-defeating thoughts is strong and creates resistance to what is happening. In learning to soften and accept the unexpected trials that come our way is to trust that there is a reason to the life-altering events that are happening. Trusting the process and finding gratitude were pivotal in moving through an otherwise challenge filled year.

ENOUGH

There will always be someone you can perceive as better than you. If we hold ourselves to this arbitrary standard, nothing is ever enough. We become a victim to our own judging mind. Believing the story of not being enough defeated me and kept me small for so many years. I turned the emotional pain of this story into suffering until I let go of trying to meet an impossible standard.

COURAGEOUS ACTION

Softening to resistance does not mean non-action. As Mahatma Gandhi said when asked about the “passive resistance” he was teaching all over India, “There is nothing passive in my resistance. It is just non-violent.”

REMEMBER

Remember. Spirit awakens. Divine alarm. The cushion calls, To remember. Sit. Breathe. Connect. Flow. Remember to breathe. Breathe to remember.

MENTAL ADDICTIONS

Next time you drive down the street, look around you. What do you see? Fast food restaurants, sex shops, bars, coffee shops; all things that are monetized based on demand for pleasure. What do all people want? Happiness. What brings a feeling of happiness? Ice cream for some, alcohol for others. The pleasure these things bring in is not bad. In fact, they are an experience that should be enjoyed when made mindfully.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 20, 2020meditate, guided meditation, forgiveness, addiction, healing, mind trainingComment

HEAL THE HEART: MINDFULNESS

A practice of being mindful shifts one from the planning mind of ‘what is next.” into acknowledging what is happening now. With a mindful approach to living, one is gratefully present with each instant, with each breath. Whether things are calm or hectic, can you surrender into the sensations coming in and put your full concentration on what is happening now.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 14, 2020meditation, consciousness, mindfulness, presence, love, healing, meditateComment

CALMING THE INNER VERUKA SALT

When one is operating in this limited mindset, they cannot be present nor satisfied with what is. Like mindlessly swiping through Tinder profiles, the pleasure seeing mind lives in a daze of half-asleep monotony, perpetually looking for what is better. More! More! More! demands the never satiated Veruka Salt of the mind.

THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE

What motivates you to sit with your own mind? A desire? A desire to feel better? A desire to get better? A desire to be the best? Ask yourself, what is it that you want? What is your heart’s deepest desire?

THE JOURNEY INWARD

No one accompanies you on your journey inward. It is one you do alone. You will meet yourself in that dark cave and stand eye to eye with the phantoms of your mind. This journey is not easy but nothing that brings growth ever is. Remain disciplined. The rewards for your efforts will come with a joyous magnitude that cannot be remotely compared to any earthy pleasure. Climb on.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 6, 2020meditation, self improvement, self healing, healing, yoga, courage, love, self loveComment

TONE YOUR VAGUS

The tone of your vagus nerve impacts your body’s ability to recover after instances of stress. When the heart rate is elevated, the tonacity of your vagus determines how quickly your heart can return to its resting state. Meaning, how quickly you can hit that reset button after intense emotions arise.

CALM AMIDST THE CHAOS

Meditation is a means of training the mind to be responsive rather than reactive. Our intention with meditation is to encourage a responsive, unwavering mind. By sitting in meditation and processing what is coming up, we lessen the effect that outside stimulus has on the mind.

WORKING WITH LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION

Noticing what you have aversion towards is the initial process to the work. What is coming up? What is making you uncomfortable? What is drawing you away from sitting; from listening and allowing in. My aversion was the word suffering and the idea that I was suffering, not wanting to feel suffering.