Hello my dear friends,
I hope this letter finds you breathing deep and doing well.
Halloween & Dia De Los Muertos approaches here - so I am sending out some scary good vibes.
This week I have decided to meditate on the things that scare me.
Fear of the unknown, fear of the pain in my left lower back, fear of politics, ghouls, bad guys and ebola. Fear of failure, of fighting, of falling and foul plays.
This week I invite you to join me as we focus on our fears.
What? Where is the positivity in that? Why should I focus on the things that I’m afraid of?
I propose that we consider the things that we fear this week as a way of acknowledging them and embracing them so that perhaps (just perhaps!) we can transform them.
Also, simply to grow.
Often, if I get into an argument or a debacle it is because of some suppressed worry or fear. By not acknowledging what I am afraid of I am stunting the things that are trying to work in my favor.
Have you ever stressed out over something you knew you had no control over?
Take control of the scary stuff this week – don’t let it control you.
Oh, and of course, we will make it fun.
First, take a moment this week to sit quietly and think about any fear energy living inside. Notice if any unsettling scary vibes are clogging up your energy pathways.
You don’t even have to identify every little thing that is scaring you – just notice the fear energy. If this is already sounding too spooky to you – remember, we are energy. Everything is energy. Clear the path so you can move forward with more ease and confidence.
This week, in an attempt for more balance, I’m taking the awareness I garner in my practice and applying it to my fears. I am going to experiment with embracing the things I fear the most – fear of the outcome, the unknown, the things I simply cannot control. I am going to loosen my grip and challenge myself to find balance between my playful open heart and me - the harrowing human worry wart.
And we are going to do some yoga poses too. Derr.
Chris and I have been working on a Crow Pose project for awhile. When it finally hits (next year) it will be great fun. But why wait? We can experiment and start now!
In the spirit of the ghoulish holiday here I am inviting us to grow in Crow this week.
Work to fly with no fear and a sense of play. Build strength and awareness and find empowerment through this week's Face Your Fears Crow Challenge. Make it your own and connect to others. We are all energy – we are all in this together.
Note: if you are currently free of fear and afraid of nothing – you can still play.
Bakasana is a great (and challenging) pose where we can practice embracing our fears and ask the question, “What if you were not afraid?”
It is a pose that we can practice to embrace where we are today and it is a pose where we can begin to clear those energy pathways to rid the body and spirit of imbalance.
“Forget your troubles, come on get happy!”
So check out the blog for my HAPPY Halloween assignment.
As always, there are no rules – just a happy meditation/yoga practice that we can all join in. Embrace the things that scare you this week. Recognize where you are gripping tight to things you cannot control. Lets stay conscious of what story we are writing.
I love you!
No Fear. Let’s Fly.
Adriene
PS: Pretty sure Chris & Hilah are having a baby today! Send good lovin' kula vibes throughout the day! (I'm crying as I write this.) Yippee!
You are so inspiring! I love your videos and posts! So down to earth! ♡♡♡
This is EXACTLY what I needed, thank you! I actually just realised this last week that I often hold my self back far too much and need to just trust myself more and let go 🙂 x
Hi Adriene.
I am bipolar, and currently going off my meds. I want to be kind to my body and avoid chemichals, find a natural way to be balanced and peaceful.
Yoga reminds me to breathe and focus when my mind is spinning, and gives me energy when all I want to do is sleep all day.
It's scary though, not having my 'happy-pills' to rely on. So this week I will focus on just that - the fear of beeing me, the real me.
Thank you, Adriene...you are lovely!
Hi Adriene!
Just wanted to let you know I "accidentally" found your yoga videos and they all are wonderful and goofy and awesome.
Xoxo
Thank you, lovely lady, for your inspiration. 🙂
Hello Adriene 🙂
This news letter is good timing. For some reason, today was a little messy, anxiety wise. Not to sound strange (and I know my increased awareness and sensitivity is a direct benefit from my yoga, home practice 🙂 but I was aware of a heaviness that kept trying to rest upon me. But each time I would recognize it and face it, it would dissolve. I decided to go out for a run and do errands while out. While in a local farmers market I noticed anxiety kick in to the point where I wanted to hurry out of the store after my initial purchase, even though I knew I needed to go back and buy some dates (my favorite sweetener). I got outside and it felt like a wall was keeping me inside a place of anxiety (I also had to jog to another farmers market because that one didn't have any coconuts in stock (my favorite quick energy snack), but all I wanted to do was get home. While slowly walking in the direction of home the other part of me, the freer, date and coconut loving part, shook off the non-sense, went back into the first farmers market for the dates, and jogged down to the other farmers market for my coconut! It's funny, when I chose to bypass anxiety I was back to my free self (notice, I did not say "my anxiety" but I did say "my coconut":). I'm so glad I did not let anxiety rob me. Balance and growth, you said it all Adriene...beautiful and conscious-full news letter!!
This was a perfectly timed blog entry. I was just thinking about all of the things that scare me and how to get over it. I happened to come to your blog after doing my yoga watching one of your videos and this was the newest entry, I was beyond thrilled that you had some amazing advice and yoga poses as well as meditation for me to think about. Thank you so much.
This was the best thing that I could have read this afternoon. Anyone who knows me will say that I'm a huuuuuge worrier and I worry about almost everything. I can't wait to try out this challenge and really try to take control over my thoughts so they don't dominate everything. I'm so thankful that I found your yoga videos on YouTube and get to practice yoga because of it!
Thank you!!!!
Today I randomly decided to do a Google search, after many weeks of Pintrest browsing, to find a quality beginners yoga video. To my ultimate surprise Yoga with Adriene was the first thing that popped up. I did the 20 minute video for beginners and then couldn't help but check out the channel and the website. Everything looks so professional and just the 20 minutes that I did today has inspired me. I love that Adriene is her goofy self in the videos and isn't too worried about having everything perfect, because we all know none of us are.
Anyways, what I am saying is THANK YOU for setting up these videos and this wonderful website! I live in Texas so I am a lot closer to her than I thought I would be, now I know I HAVE to make a trip to Austin soon. Good luck on all of y'all's yoga journeys, mine started today!
Hi Adriene! I've been working on crow lately and I love seeing and feeling progress in myself. I've been watching your shorter videos to use as study breaks, and I'm here to request a study break playlist! It would be great to have a few different short sequences to choose from, that both energize and relieve stress, for those late nights when we need to stay up longer but shouldn't let the stress get the best of us. Thanks for everything!
Hi Adriene
I have been doing your yoga in 11/2 munth and I love your stile 🙂 THANK YOU
I started because I wanted to get á stronger bag - and I am getting there :-)) but I need á little twist to get the muscles in the back a little bit stronger - Can you help me or is there alredy á clip on youtube ???
I love your way to yoga
Namaste
I am scared of inversions, in general, I don't know why I have the feeling I'm not going to be able to get back to the initial position and I'm going to break my neck or something scary, but I'm working towards facing those fears, and slowly progressing from bridge, and trying to get to shoulder stand... Can I give you my request? If possible, I'd love to have a video of foundations of yoga for shoulder stand (and all the progressions it has, which are many :/). Meanwhile, I'll try to face my fears from the mat, so I can face my everyday life stronger and more confident 🙂
Thank you for being there!
Namaste Adriene,
I have been doing Yoga with you for almost a month now. I'm trying to stop smoking and it's helping (down to 2 to 4 cigarettes a day from about 15 a day). I enjoy how calm, relaxed you are and allow for self expression through out the experience.
I would enjoy a picture or a better description of muscles being stretched and/or used during each position. Example would be Downward Dog: I feel a stretch more in my hamstrings/calf muscles (can't get my heels to the floor yet) and maybe more muscle use age in my wrists/shoulders.
I hope to find my smoke free day soon. Thanks for the free videos.
Sincerely,
Chad
I'm a big fan ... from Morocco....love you