Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote:

• “Yoga does not change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees”. – B.K.S Iyengar

2) Poem by Jeff Foster

• from the book “Falling in Love with Where you Are” – by Jeff Foster

Falling in Love with Where you Are

Dying to all
you think you know

Letting go of the image
of how life ‘should’ be

Sinking into the vast mystery
of the present moment

Embracing change and loss
as misunderstood friends

Falling in love
with where you are

This is the path
for those who know
there is no path

Only endless destinations
and never-ending beginnings

– Jeff Foster

3) Inspiring Talk from Russell Brand – 8 mins

• I Meditated Every Day & This Is What Happened To Me... Russell Brand

In this short video, Russlee Brand gives a good and simple explanation on meditation  – how we are not our thoughts and feelings – and mantra and how it works to focus the thinking mind – like giving a child a yo-yo, so that we are not identified and controlled by the mind, so that we can be in higher service.

4) Music Playlist for Yoga Practice

• Pure Flow Yoga Magic 1 – Juicy, delicious beats and mantras to activate your PURE FLOW.
   

I love practicing to music to help me get in the flow zone.  I made this 13 track playlist a couple years ago, and it stands the test of time. Put it on for background music, a gentle dance, or get some sun salutation movement medicine happening!

I’m brewing some new playlists too, so let me know if there are any standout trax that you’d like to hear more.

Click here if you wanna check out more music playlists from Francie / Pure Flow Yoga

5)🎧 Francie’s Interview with Daniela Garza Rois

• Mandala Vinyasa, Vedic Teaching & the Gift of being a Single Parent

“Devotion is my teacher…Before anything you are in life, put the word “devoted” in front of it. A devoted mother, a devoted sister, a devoted child…this way you know that everything you do in life in an offering, and everything that life brings to you is also an offering”.-  Daniela Garza Rios

Sweet Bubbly and wise, Daniela Garza Rois, celebrated Mandala Yoga Teacher Trainer, AcroYogi, Vedanti, Bhakti, and teacher at Bali’s famous Yoga Barn, shares with us all about:

• Her Yoga Journey: Her mom as her first big inspiration, how Yoga found her, and her passion for sharing her unique Teacher Trainings
• What is Mandala Yoga and how she uses this practice to dance with life and connect with the rhythm of Flow
• Words of wisdom for the single parent – How becoming a Single Mom, challenged not only her morning practice, but also helped her transform the traditional concept of what it means to have family, to recognise that family and support is all around
• Obstacles as tool for Self-growth – Self with a capital “S” – The harder the teaching, the thicker the blessing.
• Acro-Yoga as a way to experience and understand how the body moves, by feeling meridians and anatomical planes
• Bhakti Yoga – and what it means to be in devotion
• Dharma Yoga & the 20 Value of Values – Why it’s important to follow your life’s purpose
• Sacred space, and the power of having an altar, and working with nature and the 5 elements to help connect with and transmute emotions
• Vedic Studies – Non-Dualism and her passion for studying Vedanta – the sacred teachings of Yoga from the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata – and the importance of having a experienced guide to unfold the teachings
• Epic beautiful life wisdom Galore…

—

So much LOVE & Blessings to you sweet one!

XOXO

Francie Love

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote:

• “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony”. – Gandhi

2) Full Moon Mantra: Purna = Fullness

• Purnamada Purnamida- Shantala

The meaning of this beautiful mantra, an invocation mantra from the Upanishads: From Wholeness Comes Wholeness

Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Puurnnam-Udacyate |
Puurnnasya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate ||
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om, That is Wholeness, This Wholeness
From Wholeness comes Wholeness
Though this Wholeness is taken from that Wholeness
This Wholeness remains Whole
Om Peace, peace, peace

3) The Psoas – “Muscle of the Soul”

• How to release the Stress stored in ourBodies – Uplift Connect

This article is a great introduction to the psoas muscle, and how to stretch and relax it.

 Included you’ll also find a lovely 5 minute practice sequence for stretching the psoas.

I did my first ever TRE – Trauma Release class the other day, and got re-interested and curious about the elusive “psoas” muscle. The Psoas muscle (pronounced so-as) is the deepest muscle of the human body that connects the upper and lower body, and is activated in times of stress and trauma.  It affects our structural balance, muscular integrity, flexibility, strength, range of motion, joint mobility, and organ functioning.

According to Liz Koch, the psoas is “far more than a core stabilising muscle; it is an organ of perception composed of bio-intelligent tissue and “literally embodies our deepest urge for survival, and more profoundly, our elemental desire to flourish”.

Click below to read more:

4) Ecstatic Dance Party Moment – 6 mins to Shift your Vibe

• Crazy –  Kalya Scintilla / Seal Remix

Feeling the full moon power giving you energy?

Free form dance is one of my main practices to shift stagnant energy, to bring more joy and connection.

Put this new edition throwback on full blast and have a boogie!

5) My New Favourite Self-Care Ritual

• Facial Gua Sha – Ancient Traditional Chinese Medicine( TCM) Technque

I love my new jade self-care tool. I’m a person who tends to hold a lot of expression in the face.  Many of us are.  Notice. See if you can spend a moment now, to just consciously relax every single muscle of the face.  Notice this a few times a day and relax.

A few friends have been talking about Gua Sha recently, so I got curious and ordered one from the internet.  My immediate response is that I need to get many to give away as presents.  It feels great.  The face likes being touched, and you can feel the benefits of this self massage immediately.  You can read about how to give yourself the ultimate gua sha facial here.

Gua sha is a Traditional Chinese massage technique for opening the neck and face.  It improves skin complexion by relaxing the muscles, improving blood flow, supporting microcirculation, reducing stagnation, and draining lymph.  It has enormous anti-ageing and beauty benefits, and it helps boost circulation of oxygen and nutrients to our face and helping to move stagnant lymph and wastes away from our face. This helps reduce puffiness, stagnation and swelling.  Facial Gua Sha can also help relieve headaches, sleep, and stress

—

So much LOVE & Blessings to you sweet one!

XOXO

Francie Love

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote:

• “Each of us is a moving centre, a space of divine mystery. And though we spend most of our time on the surface in the daily details of ordinary existence, most us hunger to connect to this space within, to break through to bliss, to be swept away into something bigger than us”. – Gabrielle Roth

2) Sound Healing – Music @ 432Hz

• Echoes of a Dream – Stephen Halpern

Stephen Halpern is a Grammy® Award nominated, multi-platinum selling recording artist, composer, producer, researcher, author and he is considered the pioneer and founding father of modern sound healing.

For the past 44 years, he has been producing and recording his beautiful music at 432Hz which is said to be in harmony with the cosmic vibration. His music is ideal for Yoga, meditation, healing and creating relaxing sacred space for inner peace.

3) Guest Blog Post

• 5 Tips To Creating a Meaningful Sankalpa – By Emma Lowe

Have you ever been in yoga class and zoned out when invited to set an ‘intention for your practice’, or during Yoga Nidra got the dreads when asked to call upon your sankalpa?

Know that you are not alone….

Getting clear about our intentions and coming to know our life’s purpose can take a little time and heart felt thought.

Read on….

Join Emma on Retreat at Pure Flow Yoga from Mid-August to October!

4) Mystic Mantra Meditations

• 2 Free Worldwide Online Live Chanting Sessions – Mantra Into Meditation  – August 21 & 24th – With Lulu & Mischka

I highly recommend you sign up here to join their FREE August 21 & 24th global mantra and meditation sessions.

5) 12 Steps of Spiritual Recovery

• Source: “The Twelve Steps of Spiritual Recovery,” from The Deeper Dimensions of Yoga , by Georg Feuerstein

“Spiritual life can usefully be pictured as a progressive recovery from the addiction of ordinary life, which is inherently schizoid and hence lacking in fullness and bliss. The well-known twelve-step program of recovery used in the literature of addiction also serve as a convenient model for spiritual process. Spiritual recovery is an uncovering of the spiritual dimension, whether we call it transcendental Self, God, Goddess, or the Ultimate – the dimension that is ordinarily covered up by the self-divided ego-personality, especially when it comes under the influence of the rational consciousness.

Here are the 12 steps of spiritual recovery:

Here are the 12 steps of spiritual recovery:

1. We admit the fact that our ordinary human condition, based on the dualistic perception of life, is a stubborn habit that we normally conceal from ourselves through denial.

2. We begin to look and ask for guidance in our effort to cultivate a new outlook that embraces the spiritual vision of the interconnectedness of all existence. The means of doing so are varied from supportive spiritual environments to uplifting books.

3. We initiate positive changes in our behaviour, which affirm that new outlook. It is not enough to read and talk about spiritual principles. Spirituality is intrinsically a practical affair.

4. We practice self-understanding; that is, we accept conscious responsibility for noticing our automatic programs and where they fall short of our new understanding of life.

5. We make commitment to undergoing the catharsis, or purification, necessary to change our old cognitive and emotional patterns and stabilise the new outlook and disposition, replacing the egoic habit of splitting everything into irreconcilable opposites with an integrative.

6. We learn to be flexible and open to life so that we can continue to learn and grow on the basis of our new outlook.

7. We practice humility in the midst of our endeavours to mature spiritually. In this way we avoid the danger of psychic inflation.

8. We assume responsibility for what we have understood about life and the principles of spiritual recovery, applying our understanding to all out relationships so that we can be a benign influence int eh world.

9. Guided by our new outlook, we work on the integration of our multiply divided psyche.

10. We cultivate real self-discipline in all matters, great and small.

11. We increasingly practice spiritual communion, which opens us to that dimension of existence where we are all connected. Through such communion and through continued growth in self-understanding, we become transparent to ourselves.

12. We open ourselves to the possibility of bliss, the breakthrough of the transcendental reality into our consciousness, whereby the ego principle is unhinged and we fully recover our spiritual identity. Through this awakening the world becomes transparent to us and we are made whole.

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote:

• We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.- William James

2) Beautiful Remix

• Lilac Wine  – Nina Simone & Jeff Buckley – (Marco Rigamonti Rai Tunes Remix)

I have long loved Jeff Buckley and also Nina Simone.  This is such a beautiful downtempo remix. 

Perfect for a little 6 minute boogie or Yoga flow in your bedroom,

3) Soul Session interview with Joe Dispenza

• Changing your Brain – 43 minutes Interview by Eloise King

“Thoughts are the language of the brains, feelings are the language of the body”.

Wanna know what’s possible for your life?

In this masterful talk, high-profile neuroscientist Dr Joe Dispenza talks about quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and the nature of consciousness.  He explores what its like living in survival vs. living in creation. He unpacks the different types of stress and how they arise, emotions, meditation how-to and the brain states experienced within both waking and meditative states, and so much more.

As you know, I love hearing from you!  The past couple weeks, 2 different friends – Mel & Nadia have shared Joe Dispenza talks with me, and I’ve finally spent some time listening, and WOW!  Feeling inspired.

There are so many gems in this talk…not a huge fan of the background music tbh, but still so much gold here.

4) 🎧 Ayahuasca, Yoga Nidra & the Changing Landscape of the Yoga World

• Podcast Interview with Simone Mackay

In this Episode, Simone shares about:

• The 3 phases of the Yogi’s Journey
• Why she’s letting go of teaching 200 hour trainings after 10 years and over 500+ graduates
• The changing landscape of the Yoga World, and the irony of Yoga and social media
• Yoga Nidra– Yogic sleep as an effective and useful way to integrate healing –especially for trauma work, addictions, anxiety, depression, and stress in general
• Symbol of Aum as it relates to the brain states that we experience in Yoga Nidra, Medicine work and daily life – alpha, beta, theta, delta, gama.
• Vision quests, Rights of Passage & the value of exploring different cultural and experiential lenses and perspectives
• Bridging Yoga and Plant Medicine World
• Ceremony & Dieting with Plant Medicines like Ayahuasca, Wachuma – San Pedro – What are they? Why are they being used? Who are they of benefit to? What does it mean to feel “called?
• How the plant intelligences work: Hint: They give you what you need, not what you want…
• Re-defining self-practice and it’s important role in integrating transformation

5) Yoga Nidra with Simone – 36 minutes

Yoga Nidra the ancient and sacred science of Yogic Sleep.  Yoga Nidra is said to be so powerful and effective in regenerating the body-mind, that 1 hour is said to be equivalent to 4 hours of regular sleep.  It has proven benefits including: Increasing joy and well-being, decreasing stress, anxiety and depression, improving sleep and energy, and helping us to clear habits, beliefs and patterns that no longer serve us. Enjoy this magical practice and discover the depths of stillness with Simone.

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead: 

1) One of my favourite Poems ever.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

— Jalaluddin Rumi

2) StoryTime & Music with Reggie Riverbear

• The Rainbow Flame ~ a Toltec Story – 13 mins

Close your eyes, meditate or just listen and enjoy the magic and beauty of storytelling with one of my most creative, inspiring and talented music sisters, Reggie Riverbear.  

Reggie on the Magic of Storytelling:

“For thousands of years we have sat around fires beneath star filled skies listening to the enchanting voices of the Elders taking us into timeless worlds with their words. 

Storytelling is not simply entertainment. Storytelling is a journey, a ceremony, a gift where you are taken on a magic carpet ride to the Land of the Ancients. It becomes a transmission of re-membrance and wisdom. Each Story like a old friend whom’s colourful words and mesmerising rhythms awaken the Heart, re-member the Mind & send the Spirit soaring. 

With a deep reverence for it’s Toltec origins, I have been so blessed to carry this Story and share the experience of it with so many people all around the world. The Story of The Rainbow Flame stirred my Heart into blossoming upon hearing it for the first time by Don Miguel Ruiz. For this I am forever grateful. 

May this Story bless you as it has me. May it reconnect, re-mind & re-member you ~ as it has me. 

You can listen to it as a meditation, use it in ceremony or share it with loved ones. One of the Toltec beliefs is that we are the Artist of our own lives. I hope that this Story inspires you to create the most magnificent artwork out of your life as only you know how.”

3) TEDx Video: at TEDxWhitechapel

• A New Story for the People – Charles Eisenstein – 22.5 mins

Highly recommended. I love Eisenstein and his work sharing simple wisdom with clarity and eloquence.

“Our hearts know that a more beautiful world is possible; but our minds do not know how it’s possible”. In this intelligent and inspiring talk, writer and visionary Charles Eisenstein explores how we can make the transition from the old story of separation, competition and self-interest to a new Story of the People.

4) Reading – 10 min read

• Why Keeping a Daily Journal could Change your Life – Benjamin Hardy

One of the main and most powerful daily practices that we have here on our Yoga Retreats in Thailand is journalling.  I personally started keeping a journal as a kid in school, and have since filled 100s of blank books.  I’ve always found that the habit of daily writing has been enormously helpful to me for a variety of reasons. 

Primarily, I feel it’s helped me become more self-aware.  I have often felt that I’ve managed to save thousands of dollars in life on psychotherapy by just having a diary, and cultivating these intimate conversations with myself. It’s been a powerful way for me to process emotions and whats happening in my life, while tapping in to my creative potential, opening realms of flow and expression, and being a safe place for me to get clear, organise my mind, set goals and hold myself accountable.  

5) Inspiring Reminder / Homework:

Another theme we often explore here on our Koh Phangan Yoga retreats, is the important and evolutionary benefit of consciously stepping outside of our comfort zones.  In fact, one of the main reasons we practice Yoga in the first place is to enhance our inner and outer flexibility, both on the physical level, but also cultivating flexibility within the mind. 

One of the things people are often surprised by, about their stay here for example, is how by the end of their week or two journey here, they discover that they LOVE the simplicity provided by staying in a simple Bamboo Hut, with a family of Gekkos, and no hot water and just a bucket flush toilet.  

Your homework invitation this week is to do one thing a day, or at least one thing this week,  in the name of growth and expansion, that is a step or two outside of your comfort zone, somewhere on the edge. 

Let me know how it goes.  Did you experience more magic?

I’d LOVE to hear from you!

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead: 

1) Quote

• “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself”. – Rumi

   

2) Song

• Naturaleza – Danit (Mose Edit)

Love Danit. Love Mose.  Beautiful co-creation.

3) Video: The Big Questions 

• The 4 Fundamental Questions Of Life | Neale Donald Walsch – 6 minutes

All spiritual traditions and religions have been asking these existential questions from time immemorial: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I? What do I intend to do about that?

From the acclaimed author of “Conversations with God”, Neale shares 4 profound questions about redefining your true existence on this planet. Asking them daily from yourself will make you see every day as a precious gift and a new found opportunity.

4) Reading

• Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!
  – Tony Robbins

Here’s the thing.  There’s a reason why Tony Robbins is the acknowledged expert in the psychology of change.   There’s a part of me that feels somehow embarrassed to share this with you if I’m honest. 😉  It almost feels like a bit of a guilty pleasure.  That being said, it’s actually my second time reading this book, and I love it.  I find it smart, empowering, inspiring and logical and i think you may find a lot of goodness in it.  His step-by-step programs teach the fundamental lessons of self-mastery that enable you to discover your true purpose, take control of your life, and harness the forces that shapes your destiny.

5) Podcast

• Transforming Cellular Memory, Yoga Deep & The Celtic Woodland Yoga Festival with Cathy Pearson

This is the first of a series of new interviews I’m so excited to share with you.  In this talk Cathy shares about the deep and life-changing inner work of Transforming Cellular Memory, the Celtic Woodland Yoga Festival,  how she’s helping to uplift and giveback to her local Yoga scene through the creation of Ireland’s 1^st ever International Yoga & Spirit Festival, being a mom, and the power, bliss and choice of Natural Birth, and her work with the “A trillion trees project” and why it’s so important to do our bit to support worthwhile endeavours that are helping with climate crisis.

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead: 

1) Quote

• “Our vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes”.  – Carl Jung

   

2) Beautiful Song

• Melody Day – Caribou (Four Tet Remix)

A bit of a throwback to my Canadian hipster days.  So pretty, and such fun to flow with on the mat…

3) Article: Silence as a Life-hack

• Science Says Silence Is Much More Important To Our Brains Than We Think
  

4) Video(s): How to get into a Flow State 

• How To Get Into The Flow State | Steven Kotler – MindValley – 37 mins
• Animated Book Summary of Mihaly Csikszenrmihaly’s “FLOW” – by FightMediocrity – 5 mins

I’m a bit of a flow junkie.  Before running Pure Flow Yoga, I was a hula hoop artist, connected deeply to Flow Arts Community and Flow as a state of being.  These days, my current flow state tends to come from my work and creations.  Currently I’m in flow state researching flow for possible online course topics I’m planning for end of 2019/2020 and came across these awesome “how to” videos. 

Flow is a state of optimal experience / consciousness in which is found to be the quickest way to happiness and creativity.

In flow, there is a complete immersion and concentration on an activity –  In this state, there is no time for attention to problems, our sense of time becomes distorted, and self-consciousness disappears,

We are all hardwired for flow. Flow is learnable and trainable.

Let me know below what you think of FLOW…::)

Knowing that you have access to flow state:

“What kinds of impossible grand challenges would you go after if you could be 500% more productive, 600% more creative, if you could cut learning times in half? – this is exactly what is available to you today” – Steven Kotler

5) Book I’m Reading / Required Reading for Women

• Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power
  by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer

I’m so incredibly grateful to finally have access to the timeless wisdom contained in this work, and I do believe this, or perhaps any book on menstral cycle awareness (MCA)  should be required reading for women.  I’m so grateful to finally have this “user’s manual” and operation guide for my body and being as a woman.  

“As a woman you are coded for power, and the journey to realising the fullness and beauty of that power – your Wild Power – lies in the rhythm and change of your menstrual cycle.

The menstrual cycle is a vital and vitalising system in the female body, yet our understanding of and respect for this process is both limited and distorted. Few women really know about the physiology of their cycle, and many do not see it as an integral part of their health and wellbeing, let alone as a potential guide to emotional and spiritual empowerment.

Wild Power tells a radical new story about feminine power. It reveals:

• Your inner architecture and the path to power that is encoded in your body
• How to tune in to the rhythm and changes of your menstrual cycle to realise the fullness and beauty of your authority
• Three ‘maps’ to guide you through the energies, tasks and challenges presented as you journey through each cycle
• How to work with your Inner Seasons to pace your energy, calm your nervous system and gain insight into your overall wellbeing
• How to work with your cycle to channel spiritual forces, affirm your expression in the world and achieve a deep sense of belonging

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote

• “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.  I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love.and in love “.  – Victor Frankl

2) Meditate – A New Vision

• A New Vision – Invocation – Darpan and Temple Step

3) Tedx Talk – Breathe to Heal

• Max Strom | TEDxCapeMay

With anxiety, stress, and sleep dysfunction skyrocketing around the globe, it’s time we look at the unspoken reasons why. These debilitating challenges can be meaningfully impacted with ten to twenty minutes of breathing exercises per day. Max Strom,who has taught breath-work for 20 years, reveals his insights into the healing power of the breath.

4) Inspiring Japanese Concept, Aesthetic & Worldview

• Wabi-Sabi  –  Finding beauty within the imperfections of life, and accepting peacefully the cycle of growth and decay, remembering that Nothing is Permanent. Nothing is finished. Nothing is perfect.  

Wabi-sabi is about making peace with imperfection. All life is in a constant state of change.  Even though we know this in our minds, it can be hard to accept.  Sometimes I look in the mirror and see the signs of my ageing, and there arises in me moments of sadness at the recognition that a certain youthfulness in me has now passed….This concept of Wabi-Sabi helps me celebrate the inevitable changes of life, and is an excellent tool to keep in your bag of tricks especially in those moments when you feel separate, loss or disconnected.

5) An Essential Mindfulness Read

• How to Love – Thich Nhat Hanh

This is a beautiful and insightful little pocket-book that was gifted to me by a very special friend once upon a dream.  I truly cherish it and the insight within.  This is a section from  the book that I particularly love and that we shared on retreat this week.

—

There are 4 Elements of True Love:

1. Loving-Kindness

2. Compassion

3. Joy

4. Equanimity

True love is made of four elements: loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. In Sanskrit, these are, maitri, karuna, mudita, and upeksha. If your love contains these elements, it will be healing and transforming, and it will have the element of holiness in it. True love has the power to heal and transform any situation and bring deep meaning to our lives.

1. Loving-Kindness (maitri)

First, there is loving-kindness. Being able to offer happiness to another is the essence of loving-kindness. But more importantly, we must remember that the first person we are to offer loving-kindness is ourself. How can we give happiness to anyone else if we don’t offer it to ourself?’

You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Learn how to practice mindfulness in such a way that you can create moments of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person.

2. Compassion (karuna)

Compassion is the second element of true love. As with loving-kindness, we must first have compassion for ourself. With compassions, we understand the suffering we experience as well as the suffering in another person. The compassionate mind cherishes another (and oneself) and wishes to release them from their suffering.’

You can transform your own suffering and help transform the suffering of the other person with the practice of mindfulness and looking deeply.

True compassion has no personal intention or attachment. We may think we are being compassionate when we wish for someone to be free from an illness, but if we are mindful, we may see that we want them to feel better because we miss their company. This is a selfish intention and it is likely that the relationship is based on attachment and not true love.

True compassion comes from cherishing the other and wishing them well without any self involvement.

But again, we cannot hope to be compassionate toward another unless we are first compassionate toward ourself. Thich Nhat Hahn says,

Often, we get crushes on others not because we truly love and understand them, but to distract ourselves from our suffering. When we learn to love and understand ourselves and have true compassion for ourselves, then we can truly love and understand another person.

3. Joy (mudita)

Joy is the third element of true love; that is, the capacity to offer joy.

When you know how to generate joy, it nourishes you and nourishes the other person. Your presence is an offering, like fresh air, or spring flowers, or the bright blue sky.

Simply put, there cannot be true love without joy – joy for ourselves and the one we love.

4. Equanimity (upeksha)

The fourth element of true love is equanimity or upeksha. Upa means ‘over’ while iksha means ‘to look’. This fourth element lets us look over the whole situation – without being bound by attachment, clinging, or discrimination. If your love has any of these qualities, it is not true love.

In a deep relationship, there’s no longer a boundary between you and the other person. You are her and she is you. Your suffering is her suffering. Your understanding of your own suffering helps your loved one to suffer less. Suffering and happiness are no longer individual matters. What happens to your loved one happens to you. What happens to you happens to your loved one.

It is essential to nourish these 4 elements of love. If we do not, any love we have will fade.

Also essential is practicing and directing love toward ourselves first. This is something that many people simply do not do.

The teachings on love given by the Buddha are clear, scientific, and applicable… Love, compassion, joy, and equanimity are the very nature of an enlightened person. They are the four aspects of true love within ourselves and within everyone and everything.

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote

• “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
  
  ― Rumi

2) One of the Best Motivational Speeches Ever 

• Jim Carrey –  Excerpt from his commencement speech in 2014 at the Maharishi University of Management

3) Read the 4 Agreements

• The 4 Agreements – by Don Miguel Ruiz

This book changed my life, and I’ve been revisiting these key agreements as a way to engage more gracefully with myself, with life and with other people.  Currently I’m working deeply with #2 – Take nothing personally.  I tend to.  So it’s been wonderful to revisit this and remember that often, if there is disharmony in relationship, it is stemming from suffering or unhappiness, either in myself, the other person, or more likely, both of us. 

The Four Agreements are:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions.
4. Always Do Your Best.

Which agreement do you feel you could benefit most from working with?

I’d LOVE to hear from You. 

4) Inspiring Reminder

Yesterday on retreat, we did some epic ecstatic dance and vocal activation.  For most of the students, it was one of the highlights and breakthroughs.  It was also one of the biggest challenges.  At first, the students were tentative, they felt awkward, I felt the looks of mistrust distrust….but then every single person cracked open a new layer of letting go, of freedom,  We were all reminded that in fact, the magic, the growth, the evolution, the proverbial lotus growing from the mud, arises when we take the leap outside of our comfort zones.  Woo hoo!

5) Music Video

• Radiohead – Daydreaming from “A Moon Shaped Pool”

What can I say? I’ll probably always LOVE anything and everything created by Radiohead.  Deep, powerful, incredibly well-produced and created. They are still one of my favourite all-time bands and this is a beautiful short film.

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Happy International Yoga Day!

Yoga totally changes lives!

How awesome that the United Nations has officially declared the summer/winter solstice as International Yoga day to raise awareness worldwide of the benefits of practicing Yoga.

Today we celebrate the importance and value of Yoga as tool for connection to ourselves, and how that affects the way we connect with others and the planet

I wonder, How has Yoga changed or improved your life?

Hit Reply – I’d love to hear from You!

We remember with love, one of our mot loyal students, devoted friends and helper, Kyle Keeber who passed this week.

“Thank you francie!!!! ! I really can’t be grateful enough for what a big difference you’ve made in my life. Hearing all the wonderful and beautiful things people have said to me and about me this past week and how much people have recognised this new positive energy I carry with me has really made me realise what a big evolution I’ve had in the past year and all this really wouldn’t have been possible without you and pure flow” – Kyle, USA

Here are your fresh Love & Inspirations for the week ahead:

1) Quote

• “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” — Tim Ferriss

2) What is Aum / Om?

• “Om or Aum of the Vedas became the sacred word Hum of the Tibetans, Amin of the Moslems, and Amen of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians.” -Paramahansa Yogananda

3) Join Global Om TODAY – June 21st!!!

• Global OM on International Yoga Day, You’re Invited!

This is happening TODAY and I encourage you to join – Click the Link for Time Converter to sync up.

From this article…”Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning “union”, and therefore yoga is a perfect antidote to our divided world. Recognising the popularity and health benefits of Yoga, on the 11th of December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. This year’s theme for Yoga Day is Climate Change and it will take a unified global effort of individuals with healthy bodies, clear minds and open-hearts to avert our planetary crisis. Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that influenced cultures in Asia and Europe, and OM is the root syllable from which the language originated. Unify.org is hosting a Facebook Live webcast of a globally synchronised OM to honour Yoga Day and inviting people to join for 15 minutes on June 21 at 10:30 AM PDT wherever they are on the planet.”

4) Guided Meditation – 20 mins

• 20 Minute Guided Meditation for Reducing Anxiety and Stress–Clear the Clutter to Calm Down from the Mindful Movement

My friend Rita, who has been a devoted meditator for many decades now, turned me on to this meditation to help me de-clutter the mind and find more relaxation.  I find the visualisations they offer pretty helpful, and could see how coming back to this again and again could be very helpful.

5) Song – To Let Myself Go

• To let Myself Go – Ane Brun {Electronica Massiva edit}

I’ve loved this song as long as I can remember.  This is a fresh more danc-y version that is helping to bring me into my embodied practice on the mat and remember the mantra …to let myself go.  Do you dig?