Latest / The MODERN YIN Podcast / Living in Alignment with Yin Yoga & Trusting Yourself

Transcript

Living in Alignment with Yin Yoga & Trusting Yourself · The MODERN YIN Podcast

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  Hey, Yinning at Life Gang. It's Kimberly Roberts, your host
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  here, and I'm so excited to deliver little bits of insight
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  on living your best, most extraordinary life with, of
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  course, yin yoga, traditional Chinese medicine, reflexology
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  and even mindset acts. So thank you so much for
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  pressing play on today's episode.
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  Let's do this. Hello, everybody, and welcome
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  back to the podcast. Today we're exploring and diving
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  deep into what it really means to live in alignment with yin
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  yoga and how this practice can help you completely trust
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  yourself and your decisions. Now, doesn't that sound kind of
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  cool? Like really, we don't want to
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  second guess ourselves, right? We want to be really living in a
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  way that fully embodies that yinning at life vibe.
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  OK? Because when you're in
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  alignment, choices feel clear. Life feels way more easy,
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  effortless, and you're not controlling and forcing every
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  single detail. Can you relate to that?
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  I can tell you I can because I've spent most of my life
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  forcing, controlling, grasping, pushing.
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  And you know what? It doesn't work.
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  And yen Yoga, along with some little wisdom from traditional
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  Chinese medicine that I'm going to spin in today, is going to
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  give you a really beautiful pathway into that space of
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  trusting where you're letting go and you're just fully embodying
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  that aligned life. So let's talk about, well, what
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  really is alignment? Like, what does alignment mean?
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  So alignment isn't just about the poses or the posture or the
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  alignment on the mat, OK. Like how you look in your body
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  in a pose. I mean, I often say in my yin
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  yoga classes, it's not about how it looks.
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  It's about how it feels, right? So I'm not talking about
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  physical alignment here. I'm talking about energetic
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  alignment. So when we are out of alignment,
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  we're overthinking. We create so much tension in our
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  mind. We're second guessing and
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  controlling and grasping and like basically trying to
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  manipulate our life. Not a great way to live.
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  I know what it's like and it sucks, but when we're in
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  alignment, it's almost like your life is always taking a big
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  exhale through the mouth. It's easy, it's effortless.
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  Even when you know, life quote UN quote, life's you, you have
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  so much more clarity, you're grounded, you're peaceful and
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  you trust like you just trust now.
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  I mean, how do we, how do we get there?
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  And how does traditional Chinese medicine play a role here and
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  especially in yin yoga? So in traditional Chinese
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  medicine, we have two Meridian channels or meridians that
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  really speak to this theme of alignment and trust.
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  And you've probably heard me multiple times in my classes as
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  well as on this podcast and other episodes that it's the
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  liver and the gallbladder Meridian channels.
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  OK. The liver Meridian is connected
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  to planning, control and our ability to go with the flow
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  right non resistance. However, when it's blocked, we
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  can feel frustrated, rigid or stuck in overthinking, right
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  ruminating like just, you know, hamster on a wheel going round
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  and around and around. But when it's balanced, we feel
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  more flexible emotionally, mentally, and physically.
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  I will tell you that when you are in alignment, you are going
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  to notice how much more at ease your body is.
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  Like that's kind of like a major side perk here because honestly,
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  it's more about like you want the flexibility in your mind,
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  right? So you don't want to just be
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  pushing and forcing and controlling everything because
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  that's just exhausting. And when you're in alignment,
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  life feels less like you're pushing and more like, oh, this,
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  this just happened. This was just in flow.
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  This is so easy. And it's just like, it's
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  literally, like I said before, it's kind of like you're always
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  taking an exhale. Now your gallbladder Meridian,
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  which pairs with the liver, works very closely with that
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  organ, not just physically in terms of its anatomical
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  functions, but especially energetically.
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  So it's associated with decision making and courage.
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  So when energy here is out of balance, we are more likely to
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  second guess ourselves or we hesitate to act.
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  That's where the the the lack of courage comes up.
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  It's like we might have the courage to want to do something.
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  And that's more paired in the lung Meridian.
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  It's the courage to even have the idea to do something.
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  But when we take that moment and pause and hesitate to act, and
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  then we go, Oh no, no, no, forget it, I'm not actually
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  going to move. That's your gallbladder.
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  Now when your gallbladder Meridian channel is flowing like
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  water flowing through a hose so easily, you trust yourself, you
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  make clear decisions and you move forward feeling confident.
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  There's no second guessing. You're like, you know what, this
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  is my decision and I'm going with it.
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  And that's it. You just move.
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  So This is why yen Yoga is such a powerful practice beyond the
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  physical stretch, because by holding these poses that
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  stimulate, let's just say these two Meridian channels, because
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  this is what this episode is all about.
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  You're not just stretching your body, but you're also releasing
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  stuck energy and reconnecting with that part of yourself that
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  knows how to trust, that knows how to decide, that knows how to
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  flow right? Doesn't that sound really
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  incredible to be able to experience that kind of
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  alignment and to see it happening in your physical
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  reality? I mean, yes, I'm not going to
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  negate the fact that the physical stretch is going to be
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  like, oh, hey, I can like I can move much more easily and I
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  don't feel so tight and sore and achy.
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  That's great. But isn't it great to not feel
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  achy and sore and rigid in your life like with the decisions
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  that you make? So let's do something together
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  here. So if you are driving, then
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  you're going to want to come back to this part, OK?
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  Because I really want you to experience what this is going to
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  be like. We're going to do a little
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  guided mini practice and the beautiful thing is we're going
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  to do 1 yin pose that works and stimulates both Meridian
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  channels. OK, Recline butterfly.
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  This is why I love this pose because it is so incredible and
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  it's accessible for many people. So when you're ready, find a
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  comfortable position. Could be on your mat, it could
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  be on carpet, could even be lying in bed if you happen to be
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  listening to this episode of Bed and you're going to bring the
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  soles of your feet together and let your knees open up.
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  Now if you're like, oh, I'm feeling a little stiff here,
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  grab some support blocks, blankets, towels, pillows.
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  Those work beautifully. Put them underneath your knees.
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  OK, so this feels a little bit more accessible on a physical
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  level. Now if you want to bring your
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  feet in a little bit closer towards your body or further
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  away to, you know, amplify or to soften the sensations, trust
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  what feels right. OK, And now close your eyes
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  down, begin to bring your breath into your body.
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  And as we stimulate both the liver and the gallbladder
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  Meridian channels, the liver Meridian runs through the inside
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  of the legs and the gallbladder channel runs on the outside of
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  the legs. So I want you to imagine any
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  stuck energy. OK?
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  Maybe there's something in your life that you're feeling like
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  you need to control. Maybe you're over planning or
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  you're second guessing something.
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  With each inhale and exhale, you're going to start to soften
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  and release. OK, letting go of the
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  resistance. So the breath work is going to
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  be this. Bring one hand onto your belly
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  and one hand over your heart. You're going to inhale gently
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  through your nose for a count of four.
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  You're going to pause at the top hold, suspend the breath in for
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  just a moment, and then you're going to exhale slowly through
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  your mouth for a count of six. OK, so inhaling for four through
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  the nose, exhaling softly through the mouth for six.
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  Let's do this three times. OK Inhale 1 234.
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  Hold exhale open mouth 654321. Inhale 1234.
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  Hold exhale 654 3211 More time Inhale 1234.
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  Hold exhale 654321. Now let your breath come back to
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  an unmeasured state. Now notice how your body
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  softened with each exhale. Notice by just being in the
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  pose, in stillness and breathing, you're practicing
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  trust. Trust in your body and what it
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  was capable. Trusting in your breath, knowing
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  how to guide it in and out through your nose.
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  And that led to trusting yourself.
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  Now bring your knees back together and just take a moment.
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  Sit up nice and tall and your eyes still closed.
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  In this moment here, notice what has shifted in your body, in
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  your breath, in your mind. Feel that layer of peace, of
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  tranquility, not of forcing, not of controlling, but allowing the
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  energy to flow and trusting the wisdom within you.
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  That is alignment, OK? That is alignment.
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  Trusting the wisdom within you and allowing yourself to flow
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  through life with ease. This is why I say that Yin yoga
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  is so much more than just a physical stretch.
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  It's a practice of balancing energy flow, supporting your
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  meridians, and teaching your body and mind how to let go of
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  control and live in alignment. So if you love this just quick
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  mini little practice, imagine what you could get in my 14 Day
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  Unwind and Calm Acupressure, Reflexology and Yin Yoga series.
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  It includes breath work and meditation, yin poses, and
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  acupressure and reflexology to help balance your energy, to
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  help calm your nervous system, to also bring balance and flow
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  back into your Meridian channels, not just through yin
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  yoga, but also through acupressure.
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  And this in turn helps you to return to a frequency of trust
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  in flow. Because alignment, let me tell
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  you, it's not something that you chase, OK?
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  It's something that you come back to again and again with
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  practices that support both your body and your energy.
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  So if you're interested in this 14 day series, you have two
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  options. You can purchase it for a one
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  time fee and have it Foreverland, or you can sign up
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  for my monthly membership and get that series plus all the
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  other series that I have in my app.
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  So I'll link all of that information for you in the show
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  notes. I'm going to leave you with
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  this. Alignment isn't something you
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  chase. It's something that you come
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  back to over and over again with practices that support both your
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  body and your energy. So thank you so much for
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  pressing play on today's episode.
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  Again, feel free to come back to the guided little mini practice.
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  Share this episode with someone who needs the reminder to self
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  trust. And that alignment isn't found
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  in overthinking. It's actually found in slowing
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  down breathing and letting energy flow.
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  Until next time, remember your body already knows the way.
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  Just get out of the way and trust yourself.