By Vicki Patterson
Ahhhhh February, my favorite month. The month of expressing your love to others.
To kick it off I wanted to start with the foundation of all love, which is loving yourself first. We've all heard that you can't pour from an empty pitcher. Raising three kids and running a family business I didn't have any time for myself. Now that the kids are grown and I'm out of that marriage and business I had to really dig deep into myself and what makes me happy and how to honor myself.
Finding Balance Between What I Need With What Others Need From Me
Honoring yourself means recognizing the significance, importance, validity, and sacredness of your own values, thoughts, beliefs, desires, life, and self.
Check in with yourself throughout the day. Walking that tightrope between what you need to do, what’s expected from you and what just ‘feels’ right takes practice. You are your best friend. We talk more to ourselves than anyone else. So it’s time to be kind and really listen to what we need.
It’s Okay To Say No
In the hustle of today’s workforce there’s little time for feminine energy to rest and heal.
Lessons I learned from my yoga practice to help with honoring myself and loving myself, which is the root of self love.
Self Love Meditation
Softly close your eyes and sit comfortable. Wiggle around until your tailbone is comfortable.
Begin by taking the deepest breath in you’ve taken all day. Draw the air in through your nose, feeling it cleanse throughout your body. With each exhale, feel your body release and relax.
Slowly inhale, drawing the clean wilderness air into your lungs. Each exhale brings you a deeper sensation of calm.
Focus Your Attention On Your Heart Space
Breathing in, draw the air in through your nose, cleansing your body. Feel the Earth below you as a grounding and stable element.
Go to the place where your love resides, in your heart center… as you still the body and quiet the mind, focus on your heart and feel it beating strongly within you…
Connect with the energy that radiates from your heart… now allow this energy of love to expand out, feeling it traveling all along your body.
Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. The air is renewing your life-force energy (prana) or mana in Hawaiian, your heart space is full and warm and you hear the birdsong echoing in the trees. You feel a deep sense of peace and connection to all of your surroundings.
Keeping your eyes closed ~ I want you to set a personal loving intention for the day.
It could be thanking yourself for allowing the time to connect with yourself ~ it could be loving an injury, or gently giving love to someone you know who needs it.
Send that loving energy from your heart space to your intention.
Take another deep breath in ~ and with your next exhale slowly open your eyes.
Live Your Truth
1) Live Your Truth - one of the highest callings of yoga is Satya (the 2nd Yama) guides us to think, speak, and act with integrity. The truth is so powerful to be honest with yourself.
Take Time For Yourself
2) Take time for yourself - another offspring of Satya. There are affirmations, crystals, essential oils, asanas (yoga poses) and my favourite is to write a list of Things That I Love. That list is a great resource to go back when things are out of balance. All of these tools are there to help you reconnect with YOU!
Your Feminine Energy Is Powerful
It Is An Ocean
Once You Awaken Your Inner Goddess You’ll Be Unstoppable
Yin and yang, masculine and feminine, sun and moon ~ all represent the opposite forces of nature but each cannot do without the other, they are halves of a whole, they complete each other.
All of us have masculine and feminine energies.
Your feminine energy has always been a part of you. It is a potent tool to heal and provide you with tremendous inner strength.
Women are givers, when we receive love we return it tenfold.
This instinctive ability to love and receive love is somewhere connected within the natural maternal instinct of being a woman.
We go through our cycles, procreate, nourish and nurture those close to us.
Today (Feb 1, 2023) is the waxing gibbous moon- a time for reflection and introspection. It's a time to look back on the life lessons you've learnt and the internal growth that has come from them and use this to adjust your current goals and life path accordingly.
Loving yourself is powerful, once you begin your practice of honoring and listening and become comfortable in your own skin, your soul will shine and you become a light beam of love.
Happy February Lovers!