I am a Yogini ! 💜😊

    Yes, I am a Yogini.  What is that you might ask?  You probably have heard the term "Yogi" before
but "Yogini" maybe a new one for you. Yogi is a male practitioner of yoga and Yogini is a female practitioner of yoga.  Right now I am at a Yoga Teacher's Training Intensive Continue Education Program tucked deep in the middle of the woods of Virginia. The location is called Satchidananda Ashram and Integral Yoga Academy - "Yogaville" in Buckingham County, Virginia. Check out their website: http://bit.ly/1BKZJaC.  It is a beautiful place that bestows blessings to all that come. I am here for three weeks; just started the program Monday. It is and will be an awesome experience for sure. Why did I choose this school? I chose this school from the very beginning when I first sought out a yoga school to attend in order to learn to teach yoga and to receive my Yoga Teacher's Certification. I wanted to be taught the scared teachings that were originally formed in India 2000 years ago. I did my research and found Satchidananda Integral Yoga Academy. I learned that Satchidanda means, "Truth, Knowledge, Bliss."  I like that. What is Integral Yoga? Integral yoga follows the teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda, who came to the United States from India in the 1960s and eventually founded the famed Satchidananda Ashram and Integral Yoga Academy in Buckingham, Virginia and many other yoga institutes. Integral Yoga is a gentle, Hatha practice with    classes that include breathing exercises, asanas (poses) chanting (healing sound vibrations), kriyas (exercises and breathing techniques intended to purify and cleanse the body's energy channels) and meditation. The Integral method, so called because it seeks to integrate the mind, body, and spirit and is intended to give students the tools they need to live peaceful, healthy, joyful, useful lives. Integral yoga appeals to me because I want an approach that addresses my whole life, including the physical, spiritual, intellectual, and interpersonal relationships. Classes are gentle, accessible, and particularly noncompetitive encouraging the student to challenge themselves by listening to there bodies and not pushing past pain. I also chose Satchidananda Integral Yoga Academy because it is a residential program that immerses the student in a yogic lifestyle while giving an opportunity to be away from
the busy world of society all around us.  My Christian faith is also extremely important to me. The
school that I chose needed to allow me to embrace my personal faith and spiritual path without an

attempt to persuade me otherwise.  All faiths are welcomed and honored here at Yogaville. Each person is encouraged to move deeper in their faith and personal relationship with God.
               
My first night here, Sunday night my sleep was more broken than usual. The lesions in my brain from the MS cause me sleep disturbances. I wake up often, sometimes I can go back to sleep sometimes I cannot.  How do I cope with this? - medication, meditation and just try to rest even though I am not asleep. I slept well from 10:30 pm to 1:30 am. I had a dream that I overslept and missed the 6:30 am session. I meditated and tried to release this fear and went back to sleep only to wake up two more times to do the same thing again. The alarm went off at 5:15 am as planned. I got up, got ready, and arrived to the yoga session on time. My sleep the last two nights has been free of bad dreams and I have slept a little better; well as good as it gets for a person with MS related sleep disturbances.

An awareness came to me during one of the yoga sessions the last few days. As I observed the

awakening and opening of all my muscles, their tightness and pain were gradually released. A visual
or analogy came into my mind: I am like a crumpled and tightly wadded up ball of aluminum foil. As I progress through a yoga session an energy force or power greater than myself, God peels open one little section of the ball (that's me, my body) at a time, loosening the tight round form. Each edge is opened, loosened until the entire piece of aluminum foil is no longer in a tight ball. But yet there is an even more of an opening and releasing that continues. It feels as if there is a stretching and an ironing out of this aluminum foil (me) until every single little wrinkle is pressed out leaving a smooth wrinkle-free surface and  depth within.

I am loving every minute of this experience. I love having the time, the place and the amazing guidance to go deeper; deeper into each yoga pose, deeper in my physical challenge, deeper in my inner connection with myself and God and deeper in my mental focus. In going deeper I feel a fresh
aliveness that permeates every cell of my body, every thought that enters into my mind and anopenness with receptivity to new spiritual awarenesses.

We were presented with the physical challenge of doing 12 surya namaskars (sun salutations) one right after another with the first three slow then steadily speeding them up completing 12. It was certainly a challenge, but I did it and boy, did it feel great to actually do all 12. It soars my heart with joy that I indeed did accomplish this challenge, and I feel the same with other challenges that I accomplish that are presented to me each day.  It brings a peace and a self-confidence that makes me stick to my goal of doing what I can do to change my circumstances while accepting those I cannot change.

One of the aspects that I love about this program is being a part of a group of 18 Yoga Teachers that
are here as students eager to learn with a yearning to absorb all the sacred teachings that our Master Yoga Teacher and her staff have prepared for us. With us all having a passionate love for everything Yoga, there is an instant camaraderie and kindred spirits among us. It is such an endearing sweetness! We all share the understanding of having an openness to serve God and others which makes my cup runneth over with outpouring joy !


Namaste 🙏
(The peace in me recognizes and embraces the peace in you)

Lisa/Bhakti
Bhakti is my sanskrit name that I was given in 2011 during my first Yoga Teacher Training Program.
It was chosen for me and gifted to me.  It means, "One devoted to God."  I love my sanskrit name and I truly am "One devoted to God!" 💜