by Brianna | Jul 30, 2013 | Healing, practice, Reading, Reading Yoga Betterment, Uncategorized
I have always been a reader. Besides cooking, dancing and playing any sport that involved a ball – it was what I liked to do best when I was younger. My brother when we were little would say: “Bri doesn’t read. She eats books.” A weird little thing about me is that if you lend me a book and you get it back in the same condition then the truth is I didn’t read it. At least I didn’t read your actual copy. My books are used up when I am finished with them – they are like velveteen rabbits with bits worn off. I learned a while back, when I returned books to nasty looks, never to actually read someone’s book. I find that people get annoyed when their cover is peeled back and the binding is broken. I still read a lot – my typical average is one to two books a week. I love fiction but I LOVE reading more and my books span a variety of topics. This summer some really remarkable works have come into my life. Books that I know I will turn to again and again with time. Greg Bradden, Divine Matrix Brené Brown, Daring Greatly Brené Brown, Men, Women and Worthiness Gary Chapman, The 5 Love Languages Gay Hendricks, The Big Leap Each of these works pushed me in some way. Some provided a valuable insight into an issue one of my clients or myself was facing. Several of them blew my mind wide open and have literally rocked my beliefs. Within each of these works though is a very simple...
by Brianna | Mar 1, 2013 | Aromatherapy, Healing, practice
Have we met? If so, there is a very good chance that I have already waxed poetic about a salt bath and why you should take one. Bathing as a ritual and a healer is a very old practice. The Romans did it, the indigenous peoples did it, and you should do it too. I LOVE taking baths. Typically, I bathe in Epsom Salts as they are an affordable luxury and incredibly versatile. Read the back of the box and you will see that there are many other reasons to use them. Strangely enough, they are so amazing that even the Wall Street Journal is on board. Yesterday the UPS deliveryman was lucky enough to carry 20 pounds of Epsom Salts to my third floor walk-up. To give you a perspective on just how much salt we are talking about here – the kind you buy in the store is one to two pounds. This is the first time I have ever ordered salt in bulk and when I saw it I was so excited that I clapped. This weekend I am teaching a three-day training on the Energetic Aspects of Teaching in Delaware. During this training, I ask participants to practice a salt bath ritual for the three days we are together. My hope is that it will inspire them to continue to utilize this simple and effective tool for healing, release, and renewal. Making bath salts for others is meaningful to me. I believe in their power to heal and that is why I give them to my students, friends, and family. It takes me quite a...
by Brianna | Dec 17, 2012 | Breathing, chakra yoga
Top 8 reasons Quiet Winds – a Baltimore Yoga Studio – is so special: We offer out Nurturing Practices to create a Nourished Community. Yoga Classes are diverse and include: Kundalni Yoga, Anointed You: Aromatherapy and Yoga, Restorative Yoga Yoga Classes are not as hard as possible – quite frankly they are less about your ass and more about your soul. In Anointed You, for example, you will flow through postures, breathe deeply, and rest. You will also leave smelling better than when you came in. All teachers utilize the practices they offer to heal themselves. Although the room can fit over 30 mats the classes are limited to 20 students. We believe that Yoga is for every Body. If you are nervous about attending there is no need. This is not a studio that promotes gymnastic yoga or expects you to be in a fancy outfit. So throw on some comfy pants that stretch and come on over! Reiki – with your permission – is an active part of the majority of classes. Please come in and visit us soon! Amber, Atvar, Nancey,and I are here to welcome you! ...
by Brianna | Sep 19, 2012 | Breathing, Healing, restorative yoga, silence, Yoga
Not sleeping but actually relaxing? Are you constantly compelled to go, go, go? Are you stressed upon waking? Midday? Evening? Although I have no desire to go through it again my period with Chronic Fatigue taught me many things. There are far too many to list but one of the most compelling lessons was that my body needed space and time to reset. Since that time, no matter how overwhelmed, no matter how teeth-grindingly stressed I may be, I afford myself time to sit still, breathe deep, and let myself come to center. We all need time to reset. While we are designed to go full tilt for short periods of time we are not designed to go at mock speed all of the time. In the 70’s Henry Benson a Harvard Cardiologist began, much to the chagrin of his colleagues, to research the physiological affects of meditation. In his first studies he focused specifically on the practice of transcendental meditation (repetition of a word or mantra) and its affects on hypertension (high blood pressure). What doctor Benson ascertained from his studies was that through meditative techniques the body has an innate ability to move to a state of relaxation. In this state there are observable physiological symptoms: decreased heart rate, slowed breathing, and lowered blood pressure. He poetically titled it the “Relaxation Response.” In other words Benson found that the body is innately programmed to be able to reset. The technique utilized to trigger the “Relaxation Response” is incredibly simple. Though it can be done in a secular fashion, it is also a technique that is interwoven...
by Brianna | Aug 21, 2012 | Breathing, Healing, silence, Yoga
Stillness is an action. It requires effort. It requires focus. It requires a willingness to be present in order to remember to be still. Stillness is important to many aspects of the practice. In postures stillness can generate strength in the more active poses and aid relaxation in the more quieted ones. If stillness is coupled with breath awareness a powerful entrance point to meditation is activated. Keep thinking about it and the power of stillness will keep expanding. In my classes when stillness is requested most of my students will become mostly “still”. Many will continue to actively wipe and wiggle, blink, and adjust. Sometimes these movers and shakers send off electrical firestorms inspiring bursts of movement by their neighbors. Lately I have been using guilt to make my students be still. Admittedly, I feel a little guilty about it but it is surprisingly effective. And maybe, in this one instance my Mom’s logic is right. Maybe “I am not guilting, so much as reminding them” that our actions impact others. Next time you are moving through your personal practice in a community space and stillness is requested of you – put forth some focused effort – try to be honestly still and offer that energy out to the healing of your neighbor....
