Find Your Shine September Week 2

Wow!! Week 1 of Find Your Shine was incredible! I have loved reading everyone’s Cozy List! Thank you to everyone who made their lists & is joining me in this fun movement of Finding Your Shine!

Find Your Shine, to me, means so much. It’s all about:

• Putting aside certain insecurities.

• Adjusting our attitudes to be more positive, not let certain situations or people get to us.

• Enjoying life more.

• Love more! Yourself and others.

Last week’s exercise >>> Here <<< was to make a list of all the things we love and live for to remind us that those things – how big or small they may be – are what life is all about! You can continue to keep this list with you in your head, on your phone, or printed out. When you feel yourself starting to take life too seriously, take a glance at it and allow yourself to remember what really matters! Allow yourself to feel cozy for a minute =)

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September Week 2 - Find Your Shine

Now that we’ve done an exercise to help remind us of what we love, let’s try one this week that will help us let go of the negative parts of our day, or our life even. There are 3 parts to this week’s exercise, and I think you’ll love them!

Exercise: Letting go of the negative.

Part 1 – Breathe (Pranayama if you want to get yogi-technical!)

“Ujjayi” is a technique of breathing used in yoga very often to help you keep focus in poses when your mind starts to wander. I am always finding myself getting distracted and thinking too much during my practice, and when this happens I just turn to my breath and put all my focus into just that. This technique of breathing can help wonders with focus & stress relief – 2 things that are essential to Find Your Shine, right?? Here is how you do it…

Breathing in and out through your nose with mouth closed. (Be sure to keep mouth lightly closed – no clenching of the jaw.) Inhale slow and long, and as you exhale your air out of your nose, it will sound like the ocean – that is when you know you’re doing it right!

Part 2 – Flow (Asana or Poses)

I will post one simple flow today for us to go to this week! Do this flow at the beginning of the day to set your day straight and/or at the end of your day to let go of any stress or negative that may have snuck it’s way in. (We all know that’s bound to happen, but having the right tools to let it all go is what is important!)

Part 3 – Put it together

Follow the breathing instructions for each pose. (On one pose you’ll inhale, on another you’ll exhale, some poses you will hold your breath etc.) And to get down and cheesy for a minute –

Inhale: Imagine you are actually breathing in positive, happy and loving vibes towards yourself. Send those vibes to your whole body. No matter what the day will bring, or what it already dished out to you, you deserve this “You” time, and you deserve these positive vibes.

Exhale: Breathe out all of the negative. Breathe out hate, ego, or whatever the day brought to you that hinders you from shining. Anything that may have taken some shine from you does not belong. Dismiss it from your life and your body as you move on to your next loving inhale.

This week will help you even more to Find Your Shine! Be positive, love life, love yourself and enjoy what's around you this week!

The joy of sharing, and what my goal & aspiration is for all of this is to help & inspire us all to find our shine! It’s hard to be vulnerable by sharing, but you could be the one to inspire someone to find their shine. Post a video of your flow, a picture of yourself in your favorite pose of the flow I post, or your personal practice (Savasana definitely counts ;) letting us all know that you let go of your negative to Find Your Shine =)

Stay tuned in the next few hours as I post the flow for this week’s exercise!

Love always,

Ash

xoxo

#findyourshineseptember