What does it mean to be established in practice?
The above audio is an 8-minute guided breathwork practice from my Establish a Practice: Breathwork and Meditation Challenge. I recommend you lie down, make yourself comfortable, and do it before reading this article or going any further. You certainly won't regret it!
I hope you enjoyed the pause.
Ok so, as I mentioned I call my month-long breathwork and meditation challenge Establish a Practice and I wanted to tell you why and what it means to be 'established'.
Currently, breathwork and meditation practices are becoming really popular (which I love) but much of the purpose behind these practices is missed or misunderstood. I wanted to create a challenge that helped you understand the deeper meanings of these practices that fuel consistency and give you an experience of my heart-centered and practical approach as a yoga therapist and strength coach.
I share lots of my personal experience in practice so that you might embark on this endeavor with an understanding of what the goals are and where to look for the support you will need to sustain your practice for the long-haul. Unlike many 'challenges' out there this isn't just me throwing a bunch of random practices and seeing what happens, I curated this for you with love.
Here is what a recent participant said about their Establish a Practice: Breathwork & Meditation Challenge experience:
"I really benefitted from how you introduced and divvied up the material in the app. It felt very manageable. Doing each for one week felt like a good amount of time to really see how the practice fit into my particular day-to-day, but not so long that I would let things trail off and start missing days. I was always able to find some time for a version of each practice. Thanks for including the alternative versions. They were super helpful in allowing me to feel successful."
This kind of feedback makes me so excited about how I can support you to develop a practical discipline that bit by doable bit transforms you and how you perceive yourself and your life.
The core of the inspiration for the name and the flow of this challenge comes from verse 6.21 of the Bhagavad Gita. I think sharing more about it will help you connect with the kind of transformation that is possible through a wise and devoted daily rhythm.
It is translated:
She knows the infinite joy that is grasped by the intellect, but is beyond the senses; wherein established she does not fall away from this truth.
When established you become satisfied within yourself and recognize who and what you are through your own witnessing. No one else can tell you what 'infinite joy' is like but once you find out for yourself what non-circumstantial joy is, it is never lost.
You will never forget knowing yourself in this way and no loss can take it from you because you didn't get it through thought or inference or reading about it, you felt it. It's yours forever.
The next verses go on to say there is no more significant gain beyond it, that nothing is better than identifying with your Soul-Self and that we become like a flame in a windless place unflickering from even the greatest of sorrows.
This is the power of a yoga practice that is not imposed from the outside but is developed step by doable step, from deep within. This is what I can help you with.
To hear me talk more about this watch the video below! To join the Establish a Practice: Breathwork and Meditation Challenge and experience it for yourself you can sign up at this link.
