In 2013, during the most intense personal development phase of my life, I began my mediation practice. In those days, I was working hard on “FIXING” myself because, subconsciously, I thought that I was not good enough and that I did not deserve love.
Most of us are motivated in our life by this type of mental conditioning. We are taking action to “fix” ourselves without even realizing that this is what we are trying to do. I wanted to have a “PERFECT” body, be successful, make lots of money, be strong and be my best. I wanted to be perfect. Gosh…it was exhausting.
Today I not only accept but also embrace my imperfections. It is these imperfections that make me more human, humble, vulnerable, and I think, even more lovable. Without my meditation practice, I would still be in a cycle of pain, aiming for perfection. I would still constantly be feeling burned out, disconnected and neglected.
When I started my practice, meditation seemed so mystical to me. I had a lot of resistance to it for this reason. But if life did not lead me to start Kundalini Yoga, I would not be where I am today. I had no idea that one day I will say this: Meditation is over-mystified.
Do you want to know why?
Meditation is simply a practice that honors the human body. It is a method that helps remove stress from the body and the mind. Having a calm mind results in having a relaxed body; and having a relaxed body results in having a quiet mind. This is why meditation is becoming a trend today.
Most of us live in fight or flight. We are feeling frustrated, feeling burned out, and pushing through life, without being able to enjoy it. We focus on career and accomplishments (even in fitness) while neglecting how we feel.
We hear about the stress response a lot, but how does it affect our lives?
Stress is the primary cause of most of the health problems today: heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol, weight gain, diabetes, insulin resistance, stroke, and cancer, just to name a few. Stress changes our biochemistry. It alters our behaviors, our emotions, and our minds.
When we are stressed, we become protective over what we already know. This means we cannot grow because we are not open to anything that is new and out of our comfort zone. Our creativity is challenged and with that, we will have a harder time finding solutions to our problems. Stress kills our positive times and our ability to connect to others. There is no joy in it at all. It also shuts down the heart. It ends up cutting us off from how we feel and thus our minds take over our lives. We live by our logic and knowledge, disconnected from our human body and feelings. By living like this, we are going against our nature and what feels right, not because we want to, but because we don’t even know what feels good anymore. We can’t feel it. I find this fact the most disturbing and scary.
We choose diets by our logic and follow it even when it does not feel right for us. We follow exercise routines without focusing on our health or what feels good to our body! We go against our will and our nature just to keep up with what we have to do or what we already know.
Meditation is not mystical. Rather, it is a tool that helps us reduce stress and reconnect with our human body. It contributes to balancing our modern lifestyle.
In addition, there are other self-care practices that we need to do to support our body, our well-being and our health. In today's society, these practices are not a luxury but a necessity. What are these self-care practices that are not negotiable?
I want to share with you what I have learned as a woman, a trainer, a yogi, and a mentor. I would like to help you embark on your own journey to move from feeling overwhelmed and disconnected (as I felt) to feeling joyful and well in your body and in your life. If you would like to lose weight or lower stress then these practices will also support you in that.
I am hosting a FREE Webinar on September 19th at 6pm. Register today and receive a Downloadable Guided Relaxation. This guide will help you get started right away by helping you reduce some tension from your body, as well as helping you feel more clarity in your life.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.
Warmly,
Ava Kyte