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Yoga Nidra for Letting Go of Anxiety & Stress

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Yoga Nidra, aka as deep sleep, is a very amazing meditation technique that I personally LOVE teaching to all of my students. It can be done both laying down or sitting. depending on your environment. It’s a simple way to reduce anxiety and stress, which is needed collectively now more than we have most likely ever experienced before.

 

So, find a comfortable space in your mind and with your body where you can be undisturbed for the next 10 minutes, light some candles, put on your lavender aromatherapy diffuser, and enjoy this Yoga Nidra for Letting Go of Anxiety & Stress.

Learn more about 1 on 1 Life Coaching with Alana.

A Metta Meditation Ceremony for the Lunar Eclipse in Gemini and Beyond

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Namaste Explorations of Self community,
Here is your Lunar Eclipse Full Moon Meditation. Have you journaled around this Full Moon Lunar Eclipse? There is still time… A lot has been brought to the surface for everyone. Right now is a great time to have ceremony around this. After you write down insights to what you are letting go of, plus emotions and memories that come up around it, go outside and pray that this all be removed and surrendered to Divine once and for all, then set it on fire with a bowl of water near by and let the smoke carry it all away to the cosmos.
It’s time to LET IT GO. It’s time to complete and end things. This is the closing of the circle. We are starting over again during this time period. This is deep, deep work. This will most likely be around really sticky patterns from relationships from our past.
The next 3 days will be a brilliant time post-eclipse to do ceremony around surrender and release so that you can finally allow the new positive chapter to fully come in!
I strongly felt for this moon that we collectively do this Metta Meditation for kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and surrendering.
As we close this old chapter of deep wounding, we send it away with loving kindness so that we can be fully present with the beauty that IS in our present moment and create space for much more beauty in every sense of the word, to come.

With love and deep respect for your journey,

35 Ways to Self-Sooth During this Holiday Season

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Hello EOS Community,

I hope that you had an amazing Thanksgiving despite our collective challenges with the current climate. For most of us this holiday was incredibly different. Embracing change can feel extra challenging when it’s thrust upon us. However, if we accept the moment for being exactly as it is for a very good reason, then we can not only find the lesson, but also find the treasure.

I spent last year’s Thanksgiving in the deserts of California with my daughter and some good friends, which was a first. It was incredible! Years ago when I was living in Costa Rica, I spent Thanksgiving eating rice and beans. Also, amazing. This year I got to spend Thanksgiving with my close family. What a gift. I have also lost a close friend and family member around this holiday, spending Thanksgiving Day grieving and tending to the heart. I can only imagine what your holiday memories have been like over a lifetime. Life is ever changing… People, places, and things come and go.

I have been very blessed to to be able to know that Divine grace is within me and all around me (And my loved ones) during all moments along this path. I have especially been aware of it over the last decade or so because of mindfulness practices being integrated into my daily lifestyle. I went from needing to know every single detail of my future (Which is impossible) to letting go more and more because I knew that God had a better and bigger plan for me. My faith has felt imperfect at times. I’m human. I get caught up in fear and patterns from time to time, but what I have noticed is that because of my unrelenting commitment to fulfilling my divine purpose on this planet for God has made all of my life a work of art leading to a miraculous destination that is right…now…. and right now we are connected to Divine, the only thing that is unchanging, which is the essential Truth of who and what we truly ARE and always have been. So, in that way, it’s ALL been perfect.

Right now you’re walking your path and you are held by God right where you are. If you feel that this year has been one big derail for you, let’s help ourselves by witnessing Divine grace within it. How can we find gratitude, forgiveness, and joy for this year? How can we accept people, places, and things for being exactly as they are while allowing ourselves to be transformed by our willingness to let go. How are we becoming stronger, stiller, confident, kinder, more faithful, more giving, appreciative, forgiving, compassionate, loving,  free-flowing, less ego-ic, less defined by our surroundings, more defined by our inner character that is forever blossoming and changing when prompted by something being stripped away? Pay attention to those things, because that is what keeps you going and GROWING.

So, my friends, where ever you are personally on your path right now, stay humble, stay excited, stay curious, and stay faithful. The best is yet to come.

If you find yourself feeling a little low during this holiday season, take some time to self-sooth. You’ve been through a lot this year. Give yourself a pat on the back. Know that you are loved and that everything will be ok.

Here are some ways to self-sooth during this Holiday Season:

  1. Listen to some of your favorite music.

  2. Hug a loved one and if that’s not possible, call a loved one.

  3. Write a poem.

  4. Journal.

  5. Take a silly picture.

  6. Go for a walk in nature.

  7. Take a bath.

  8. Watch a funny movie.

  9. Meditate.

  10. Do yoga.

  11. Do tai chi or Qi-Gong.

  12. Do your hair and make-up.

  13. Take a nap.

  14. Go to bed early.

  15. Learn how to play an instrument.

  16. Learn how to read music.

  17. Watch an inspiring or funny movie.

  18. Listen to an inspirational or funny podcast.

  19. Paint your nails.

  20. Don’t do anything (Favorite).

  21. Paint, draw, scribble.

  22. Start that project you’ve been putting off.

  23. Read a book.

  24. Dance.

  25. Sign up for a self-development workshop.

  26. Start a cleanse.

  27. Check in with your life coach.

  28. Sage.

  29. Aromatherapy.

  30. Massage.

  31. Acupressure.

  32. Positive affirmations.

  33. Clean your space. Seriously, toss whatever doesn’t make you feel JOY.

  34. Get an intuitive energy reading and healing.

  35. Tell yourself 10 things you are grateful for in this moment.

Please email me at explorationsofself@Gmail.com and let me know how you are doing. Catch me up on you. Let me know who I can pray for in your circle. How can I support you?
I love you all so much and I value your unfolding journey into the deep seas of spirituality, joy, and holistic healing always, always, always.
With much gratitude
Big time blessings,

Email me at info@explorationsofself.com if you are interested in booking with me for one or more of the following:

🌸Virtual Shamanic, Reiki, Oracle Card Readings, and Intuitive Energy Healing  

🌸Fertility, Prenatal, and Postpartum support as your Virtual Holistic Coach and Doula.

🌸Virtual Yoga Private Sessions for Women

🌸Virtual Corporate Yoga, Meditation, and/or Mindfulness Events 

🌸Virtual Integrative Nutrition Coaching

🌸Life & Business Coaching for Women

🌸 Virtual Public Speaking Opportunities & Press

 

 

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Super New Moon in Scorpio Guided Meditation

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During this guided meditation with Alana you will shield, ground, re-calibrate with positive love light frequencies, release old/blocked energies/patterns, re-birth, and allow the Divine energies to cascade into your being as you prepare to rise like the phoenix into your new life’s chapter! If you like this meditation and want more free mindfulness content from me every month, please like, comment, subscribe and share my Youtube channel!

Super New Moon Oracle Card Reading: 1, 2, or 3?

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1, 2, or 3? 11/11 Ascension Portal & Super New Moon oracle card message to help you navigate these powerful, globally awakening energies. These energies are heightened right now for your highest good now through Thanksgiving!!! Seize this incredible opportunity and step INTO your purpose!✨

Oct 31st 2020’s Blue Full Moon Meditation

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We have had two Full Moons this month which creates what is known as a Blue Moon for the second one. This Full Blue Moon in Taurus marks the beginning of Samhain, the beginning of our darker, more introspective, yin energy Winter season. Samhain is where Halloween gets it’s roots historically, and it is said that today through tomorrow is when the “veil” between our earthly dimensions and other dimensions is the thinnest. 

Taurus is the bull, the sign known for it’s strength, passion, patience, endurance, and grounding energy. This makes our Blue Full Moon a powerful one for calling in what is necessary from our inner pool of Divine endurance and grace to propel us forward to fully realizing our purpose, which is ever evolving while we are in this human form!!

This is also a powerful time of release. During this time, we are all releasing deep wounding so that we can finally let it go and MOVE ON to new life lessons. It’s important to recognize that the past is the past and that you are no longer that person that you keep recalling. You are here. You are present. You are new in this moment and each moment to follow. This Blue Full Moon Taurus calls us to balance our root chakras and ground while connecting to the New Earth Grid Consciousness. Best selling author, speaker, luminary, and visionary, Lori Spagna, relates to this New Earth Grid as, “Humanity has now moved into an entirely NEW reality which IS entirely based on energy, vibration, consciousness and free will.” Meaning, we are collectively awakening and ascending when we choose to do so.

So, take the time to connect to the Amrita (Nectar of the Moon) of this Blue Full Moon at some point throughout today or tomorrow to amplify your energies. You are always worth the self awareness and the self-care.

Here is a Guided Meditation for today’s Blue Full Moon to get you in alignment to release, regenerate, envision, and charge forward towards your Divine life purpose.

 

In love and deep respect for your Divine path,

 

 

 

Works Cited:

History.com Editors. “Samhain.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Apr. 2018, www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain.

10 Self-Care Tips for World Mental Health Day

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My inner state of being and life was transformed ever since I started a regular mindfulness practice in 2009. One of the reasons I started teaching yoga and meditation in 2011 is because it helped me so much with my own anxiety. I remember feeling wound up prior to entering the studio and then basically floating out of my first heated vinyasa class at 23, knowing that I had found something important, not just for me, but for anyone who was willing to allow me to share it with them. It was a practice I folded into my life on regular basis and in conjunction with my prayer & meditation practice it began to open doors for me in my own personal mental health and wellness journey that I didn’t even fathom was possible until then.

The thing is, it opened the door to more self-love, self-care, and a deep desire to explore the deep connection to Divine that I was experiencing through these mindfulness practices, or what some mystics call the higher Self. This is how Explorations of Self was born. It was birthed from my own journey healing and reclaiming my Self. The journey to mental health and wellness has expanded to include many holistic practices and rituals over the years and I use them as self healing medicine when I start to feel anxiety or fear of the unknown creep back in. It also happens to be a lot of what I’ve become educated in to provide for you aside from acupuncture and massage.

We are all on this journey together. We are all here to be human and to evolve in joy, light, and love.

Here are 10 ways I personally use to holistically self-care to help on those off days:

  1. Yoga: Yoga connects us to our bodies and our breath. This amazing practice helps us radically shift the energy within our body, mind, and spirit. You can do yoga at home and I encourage you to if you are not going to gyms or studios right now. Even doing a few poses a day can be life changing.
  2. Meditation: Meditation can come in many forms whether it’s through seated practice or movement. Finding what works for you is key. I love my daily seated practice and then find it helps me create a meditation practice out of anything I do when I am present to it. 
  3. Prayer, Intention Setting, Surrendering: Whatever your beliefs, where intention goes, energy flows. I enjoy praying throughout the day and have a longer practice in the morning and evening. I enjoy setting the intention for the day by continually coming back to the feeling of love, which I often cultivate by thinking about someone or something that brings me a lot of love, easily (For me that’s always my daughter.) I enjoy surrendering the negative feelings or worries to Divine as they arise and returning the feeling of love.
  4. Qigong and other forms of martial arts: I have been practicing Qigong more regularly lately and I have been doing various forms of martial arts for years. Qigong is an ancient practice that has been just incredible to begin the day with lately. 
  5. Nutrition: Eating food like it’s medicine for my optimal well-being is key. I eat and drink foods and beverages intuitively in this way. For me, eating a majority vegetarian diet is what makes ME feel good and I know it’s different for everyone. Even if I am having one of those cheat meals, I bless up my food. I give thanks and energy to everything I ingest. In the documentary Superhuman they demonstrate how the energy that we send into water molecules can change them!! We can absolutely enliven our food, and make it sacred.
  6. Have uplifting conversations with your community: I talk to positive people every DAY. Everyday. It’s important to surround yourself with people who inspire you to be your best self and love you unconditionally for who you are.
  7. Acupressure: Here are few I enjoy for anxiety: https://www.healthline.com/health/pressure-points-for-anxiety#heavenly-gate
  8. Reiki, Shamanic, and Energy Healing: I am a conduit for energy work with my clients and I receive energy work from trusted practitioners on a regular basis. 
  9. Salt bath: Epsom salt baths with lavender essential oils are something I love doing at least once a week. In energy medicine it’s said that it can help to move old energy or qi out of your system.
  10. Nature: No matter where I am in the world, being in nature on a daily basis is 100% one of the most important things I do for my sense of well being. If you know me well, you know that I love being in the water, surfing or paddle boarding. If I can’t make it to the water, I am in a forest with my daughter hiking.

What do you do for self-care to support and balance your mental health? Share in the comments below.

Email me at ExplorationsofSelf@gmail.com if you are interested in booking with me for one or more of the following:

🌸Virtual Shamanic, Reiki, and Intuitive Energy Healing  

🌸Fertility, Prenatal, and Postpartum support as your Virtual Holistic Coach and Doula.

🌸Virtual Yoga Private Sessions for Women

🌸Virtual Corporate Yoga, Meditation, and/or Mindfulness Events 

🌸Virtual Integrative Nutrition Coaching

🌸Life & Business Coaching for Mom Bosses

🌸 Virtual Public Speaking Opportunities & Press