Think back to a time when you acted fearless. Think back to a moment in your life when you were so confident that nothing would stop you. Think to a moment in your life when you really stood up for your beliefs. Think to that moment where you stood up for someone else, took care of them, defended them, protected them, spoke for them.
You were evoking your Bear Spirit!
“I am focused and effective.”
“I am loving and powerful.”
Bear totem signifies these following elements that we all possess within our self:
-groundedness
-strength
-physical and emotional healing
-confidence
-standing against adversity
-taking action
-courage
-leadership
-protection
-guardianship
-heart
In my classes last week, we started with a brief naming of what the bear totem represents. While I was speaking to it we held the bear grip mudra with our hands. We then moved through a class that physically embodied the bear pose, as well as bear balance pose, and a flow through which there was a creation for groundedness through standing poses and standing tall within oneself through standing balancing postures. All of the postures held an element of core work for confidence and strength, as well as heart expansion and opening. I am always in awe and humbled how our bodies can be positioned in such a way to reflect and embody an inner way of being; and if nothing else, evoke from within our depths the essence of heart and healing that we all possess, that element of Source within our self.
“When we invoke bear spirit, we are invited to reflect on the qualities of inner strength, fearlessness, and confidence in our self and how we can project it in our world.”-spiritanimal.info
As we stood together in tree pose, and in our other standing postures, I invited everyone into the “Care Bear Stare”! The Care Bears were cartoons that I grew up with. Each Care Bear had a unique quality, their own name, and their own unique picture that symbolized their name and quality on their tummy. Each Care Bear had their own color. When the Care Bears stood together in unity, and they activated the ‘Care Bear Stare’, the colors of the rays of the rainbow penetrated straight into the heart of their enemy, infusing it with love. The Care Bears lived in the land of Carealot (get it, Care A Lot!). We had fun using our imaginations and allowing ourselves to step into our greatest strength, to name it, and to stand in unity with all other practitioners, and people of the world, to radiate love out to all!
This class became one of my favorite focused classes lately. Every time I would be in a new class, something else would arise and be channeled through me to speak to. For example, in one class, which carried into all the other classes that followed, I would start by having people imagine warm breath. The kind of warm breath that you can physically see in front of you on a cold winter’s day. Before I knew it, this warm breath began to infuse our savasanas(corpse pose, final relaxation). I fell in love with the imagining of this warm breath filling our toes and feet. We would continue slowly up the body, feeling every part of our body, one by one, fill with this warm breath. This warm breath, as I would remind everyone, was a deeply loving breath; it was of a warmth that was so deeply healing.
I invite you to sit, or lay down, dear reader. Allow this warmth to penetrate your heart. Allow this loving, healing warmth to melt any coldness there; any hatred, fear, worry, anxiety, and doubt. Whatever frost and icicles live there, allow them to thaw, dripping down and becoming flowing rivers of watery emotions, freedom, love, and forgiveness. It is no wonder that when we speak to somebody who is kind and caring, that we say “they have a warm heart”. Perhaps in allowing yourself to release the chill and cold, you will become warm enough in that moment of stillness and silence so you can forgive yourself. So you can forgive someone else. Or, perhaps, you will see more ways to love yourself, see a new way to support healing of yourself, or how to love others more unconditionally. For, as much as bear spirit holds all of these more fiery elements of strength, fearlessness, and more, so too, does bear represent and EMPHASIZE the practice for rest, quiet time, and solitude.
Take time for rest. And remember, rest might not mean taking a nap for you. Maybe it means unrolling the yoga mat, moving your aching body, and turning off the phone. Maybe rest for you is saying no to an extra piece of work, and yes to a walk in the woods. What is your rest? A good book? An interesting article? A podcast? A movie? A deep conversation? Meditation? Savasana? Cooking a meal? Do that.
This coming weeks classes are on forgiveness. See my full weekly schedule HERE!
I have closed my one question survey that had a free Insight Gift for taking it! Wow! So many of you responded, thank you!! I will be emailing you all the gift soon! But, that was phase one, lol! Please watch for a follow up email that I will be sending out to everyone very soon! I am going to need YOU!
Reminder: I will be cleaning up my email list very soon. So, if you didn’t read my last email, please know that if you have been active, and wish to continue receiving my newsletters, you don’t need to do anything! Thank you to all who emailed me saying “I want to stay”! It really filled my heart! And, please know that if you have been inactive(which you probably won’t actually be reading this, lol) for over a year or two, this is a warm hearted departure.
Breathe and Believe.