Michelle facilitating a women's yoga retreat in Monrovia, CA in 2015

​​What does surrendering feel like to you?  I find that it’s often perceived as a weakness, like quitting or giving up on an important fight.  The Oxford dictionary defines it as “to cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority.”  But what if the “enemy” or “opponent” is your best self or divine will or true peace? What if the struggle is against yourself and is motivated by fear of not being enough, anxiety about not trusting that the Universe has your back or underestimating your ability to adapt to change?  Then, what would surrender look and feel like?
 
Let’s view this through the lens of physical yoga.  For the first few years of my practice attending yoga classes, I would often mentally cringe when I realized that the next posture to be held for a while was revolved chair pose or Parivrtta Utkatasana in Sanksrit.  I had an aversion to holding still for more than ten slow breaths in this belly-compressing pose, so I felt anxiety, like an 8-year old on the way to the dentist. My mind became turbulent, seeming to suffocate my ability to breathe deeply.  Stillness in discomfort felt like torture.  Oh, the inner drama my ego was creating, and thus, my body was experiencing!  
 
Years later, practicing yoga alone each morning during a very challenging year living abroad, my physical postures, or asanas in Sanskrit, became a place to try out my courage, self-trust and faith that life was supporting me.  I integrated the long holds of revolved chair pose, intentionally slowing down my breath. In my commitment to trust I was going to be okay, I surrendered the struggle.  It was a struggle against acknowledging my own power, ironically. And I gradually felt liberated from my own aversion.  I began to see how my self-created drama induced the resistance against my own well-being and peace of mind.    When I just let go of fighting or resisting and accepted the situation, in this context, the pose, as it was and focused on breathing my way through it, my act of surrendering translated into self-empowerment.  I could be just fine, not having to control the outcome of the situation. I understood that I was resilient and that no situation is permanent.  
 
Parallel to and coinciding with that year in my life, I realized I perceived the challenges and discomforts of living humbly as a volunteer in a developing country with a very similar aversion.  My ego had been clinging to the way I thought things should be as I was accustomed to back home, and I resisted change, which only brought me more suffering.  As I applied my yoga discovery of surrendering to situations I could not control, I began allowing myself to see and gradually appreciate the beauty and blessings of the new landscape and culture I was immersed in.  Not knowing what was next became an exciting adventure, at times.  And my perspective was open to tasting a new way of living and being.  My heart was open, and everything changed from there.

Living in Costa Rica, July 2009

In the following recordings, Michelle Chua of Root 2 Rise Yoga interviews (live on Instagram @root2riseyoga) Monisha Garner, Colon Hydrotherapist, about how our habits affect our mental, physical and spiritual well being--a dive into our yogic practices of self-study, nonviolence and truthfulness. She’s the owner of Moya Body Care in Torrance, CA. Connect with her at: https://linktr.ee/moyabodycare

​How do you start your day? How does that affect the quality of your life and interactions?  In my early adolescence, my mornings began with a horribly glaring alarm, on which my roommate would hit snooze several times. Groggy, I would scramble to eat, shower and get ready for a busy day at school.  Mornings felt like anxiety and rush, as if I was already behind. Gradually in my adult years, I developed a morning routine in which I woke up before the alarm to move my body, enjoy sunshine and fresh air, eat a healthy breakfast made with love and set out for a fulfilling day, already having treated myself to doing a few things I loved.  This positive feeling inspired presence and productivity at work.  How you start your day routinely can impact your wellbeing and happiness in the long run.   

​If we are creatures of habit, and habits are building blocks of character, how can we be purposeful with what we choose to do repeatedly to live a life we enjoy, sharing our best selves with the world? How do your actions first thing in the morning reinforce your values, such as physical vitality, mental clarity and spiritual connection?  In yoga, the Sanskrit word sadhana refers to daily spiritual practices to maintain mental and spiritual “hygiene,” much like brushing your teeth is to dental health. I believe having a daily ritual of aligning your inner and outer being empowers you to live consciously, rather than on autopilot, and aligned to what’s meaningful to you.  Also, when unexpected life challenges occur, such as a worldwide pandemic, your strengthened willpower and sense of health through daily ritual enhance your ability to feel grounded and resilient. Moreover, your devotion to integrity through regular discipline permeates daily interactions and shares a centered presence with those around you.    
 
Here are things to consider when designing your morning ritual:
 
1. Personally meaningful– Choose meaningful actions that inspire you or reinforce something you value, so as not to simply become another laborious task on your To-Do list or a routine performed mindlessly.   That’s why I chose the word ritual, implying that it is sacred to you.  
 
2. Positively impactful- Through consistent practice, evaluate how the experience of your daily ritual affects you immediately after, throughout your day, during your week and long-term, and determine if it needs to be tailored.  But first, commit to practicing it regularly for at least seven days, so that you are not just fluctuating between different practices and can notice a true pattern in your experience, like if it’s enhancing a character trait about you that you want to strengthen. Do you feel spiritually uplifted?          
 
3. Make it doable.– Choose a realistic time of day, duration and location with which you can practice regularly and with full presence. I find that first thing in the morning is optimal, when my mind is more of an open slate and my body could use a balancing rejuvenation.  Making it a consistent priority may entail waking up a few minutes earlier than before and sleeping earlier the night before.  

So what are examples of activities to include in your morning ritual?  
​These will depend on your interests, goals, values, health needs and spiritual practices. Let me take you through my morning ritual to demonstrate its reasoning and logistics to spur ideas in constructing yours.  Being a student and teacher of yoga for many years, my morning ritual largely comprises of yoga and includes Ayurveda, the ancient Indian healing science that complements yoga.  The following is my current morning ritual, as it has evolved through the years, with time allotments, identified purpose and origin of each action to demonstrate how they were acquired:
 
12 minutes – Ayurvedic practices, including tongue scraping, face washing with eyes open and oil pulling for oral health, followed by connecting nonverbally with loved ones at home and making the bed

• Ayurveda as prescribed in 2019 by a practitioner in Bali with elaborations acquired from a 2019 body cleanse retreat in the Philippines
• Making the bed is essential to bring closure to sleep and sharpen willpower.

 
3 minutes – Yogic techniques to promote digestion--Uddiyana Bandha (abdominal energy lock) and nauli (stomach churning)—followed by drinking a tall glass of warmed water with fresh lemon juice and dash of Himalayan salt

• Drink derived from 2017 body cleanse retreat in Costa Rica

 
5 minutes – Soul movement, that’s moving my body intuitively to a randomly selected song, and a simple Tai chi sequence that welcomes energy flow with gratitude while admiring nature outside the bedroom window 

• Tai chi acquired from Chi Gong master during 2018 retreat in Big Sur
• Soul movement develops connection with my intuition and is a practice of allowing flow in my life.

 
3 minutes – Journal how I feel and how I’d like to feel today

• Self-reflection to promote living from my truth

 
1 minute – Bhastrika pranayama, or bellows breath, to energize the lungs and clear the mind. 

• Learned at 2020 workshop by Art of Living and practiced to promote respiratory health and clear the mind for meditation

 
20 minutes – Sit in silent meditation.

• Involves one-pointed focus and begins with mindfulness meditation or breath counting if the mind is very active
• Learned from various teachers, including Shunyamurti, during 2018 meditation training in Costa Rica
• The most important part of my morning ritual that invites clarity into my day and connects me to my inner being

 
2 minutes -- Nadi shodhana pranayama, or alternate nostril breath, to balance left and right hemispheres of the brain and relax the nervous system

• Acquired from my initial yoga teacher trainer in 2010

 
5 minutes – Focus Wheel writing to cultivate positive creative energy 

• From Abraham-Hicks’ teachings on using the Law of Attraction 

 
1 minute – “Ego eradicator” kriya, which includes breath of fire in navasana, or boat pose 

• Learned from Kundalini teacher and elaborated
• Strengthens my dedication to see past my ego delusions 

 
25 minutes – Set sequence of core-strengthening movements and yoga asanas, or postures, to activate navel (for willpower strength) and heart (for compassion and authentic connection) energy centers and promote digestion and clear perspective: bridge pose, upward-facing bow, forearm plank with leg lifts, bow pose, downward dog, jump through to seated spinal twists, seated forward fold, headstand and standing forward folds 

• Personally selected sequence evolving from three postures first prescribed during 2016 teacher training on “Yoga as Lifestyle”
• Core strength and stability to promote spinal health
• Backbends to promote upright posture, open shoulders and optimized breathing

​Having shared the details of my personal morning ritual and qualities to consider when evaluating or developing yours, I hope you feel ready to start your days with intention and inspired action.  Whether you set aside five minutes or over an hour, the bottom line is how does your chosen consistent habit affect your wellbeing?  How do the conditions, such as time and logistics, allow you to wholeheartedly practice it?  

​If all beings shared their presence in the world purposefully aligned to their deep sense of self and overall health, I genuinely believe peace and joy would be a potent norm.  Let’s continue to nourish ourselves daily, especially spiritually, to optimize the goodness we have to offer our lives and our world.  Rooted in conscious ritual, let’s rise together vibrantly.

Watch the recording below of our 30-minute @root2riseyoga Instagram Live interview with Ayurvedic Practitioner Anjali Deva, founder of www.RootedRasa.com.  She shares practical tips for understanding your dosha-unique (specific to your body composition and energy) stress response and skillfully using your nutrition, sleep and eating patterns, movement, yoga, meditation and more to optimize your mental, physical emotional and spiritual health during stressful times like the pandemic.  Spreading her teacher's message, Anjali elaborates upon the quote: When times get complicated, eat simple.  Derive inspiration from Ayurveda, India's ancient healing system that continues to empower one's listening to the body's innate wisdom and harmony with Mother Earth for proactive preventative self-care.  

Watch a recording of @root2riseyoga Instagram Live Interview with Jasmine Azouz Levi on 4/12/20. She shares her ideas on time and money saving tips for cooking healthy plant-based meals for your family during the pandemic and onward.  

Part 1: 21 min.

Part 2: 11 min.

Art from Instagram @charliemackesy

In globally stressful times, devoting your energy to regularly grounding and uplifting yourself is instrumental to cultivating inner and outer peace and well being. Here are ten ideas you might explore or already practice:

1. Acknowledge how you feel with honesty and compassion through meditation, journaling or stream-of-consciousness writing, movement or painting.  Use the modality that allows you most ease to express yourself and perhaps experiment with one you haven’t tried.  
2. Be in your body through a body scan meditation, conscious breathing or physical movement, such as walking, yoga asana, dancing, running and exercise. Feel your body’s response to, and request for, rest, movement and specific nourishment.  Our bodies never lie, though our minds can interpret the body’s signals in a myriad of ways.  Our bodies give us direct experience with our environment, thoughts and emotions. Trust and cultivate that wisdom, using our bodies as a source of clarity and connection.  Read about the practice of free-flow soul movement here.
3. Make the space and effort to do things you enjoy daily. Play with your dog, be silly with your children, watch a brief comedy on Netflix, read your favorite book for 20 minutes, serve yourself a delicious healthy meal or let yourself sleep an hour earlier to get a full night’s rest.  Seek joy in the smallest things you can and immerse in the appreciation of joy. 
4. De-clutter and create a feeling of sanctuary in your home environment.  The act of cleaning house can channel anxiety, promote focus and feel empowering. If you share space with others, find at least a small area where you can take refuge to sit and savor a cup of tea or meditate.  Relaxing music, calming aroma and words of inspiration hanging on the mirror on a post-it can make a difference, now that you might spend more time at home.  Take a look at your current home, and notice how the objects, colors, sounds and temperature affect how you feel.  Is there a feeling of space where your mind and body can rest in safety and ease?
5. Start and close your day with a grounding and uplifting intention.  The moment you awake, instead of giving your attention to the news or social media, establish your alignment to your inner Self and source of natural well being through whatever modality allows you to connect inward—meditate, practice yoga, walk around your block, journal or move to music. Choose something sustainable and authentic to you that you can be consistent with and look forward to because it makes you feel good.  Just before bed, perhaps list all the things that uplifted you in your day.  If you don’t already, try this for seven days straight, and notice how you feel. 
6. If you’re feeling lonely, reserve a block of time each day to call a loved one, or join our yoga community on Zoom for a chat before or after our online classes.  Take the initiative to reach out and know that others might feel lonely, too, and may find comfort in your connecting with them.  Or, perhaps your added time at home is a great opportunity to finally raise a newly adopted pet that needs a family and can enjoy walks around the block with you and cuddle time to share affection with. The latter was advice from my partner and Founder of Justin’s Dog Services, Justin Hill (JustinsDogServices.com).
7. Eat for health and delight in it.  In Ayurveda, or ancient Indian natural medicine, it is important to know how to balance your mind, body and spirit through what you digest. Notice how the foods you eat, their portions and time of day consumed affect your energy levels.  If you’re already very anxious with your heart constantly racing, you might not add the hot sauce or extra spice to your meal.  Perhaps, lean towards soup that feels nurturing and calming. And of course, remember to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and stay well hydrated.  You might also snack on healthy foods with a crunch, like nuts, to help release stress.  
8. Channel stress through creativity.  “Cooking is a creative way for me to combine comfort and wellness,” shares one of my favorite Instagram Vegan Homemade Chefs, Diane Yen.  Her daily posts of healthy and colorful plant-based meals, often with recipes included, inspire art in the kitchen because you can see the love she details her cuisine with.  (Enjoy her daily inspiration of joyful nutrition by following @luv2bveg.) What’s your modality of creative expression—gardening, crafts, acting in your own YouTube channel?  It might be fun to just play with combining things you love into something that feels cathartic, productive, entertaining or engaging for you, and maybe it will also inspire others.  
9. Be of service.  “ What has helped me (through this pandemic fear) is getting outta myself and finding ways to motivate and help others through this,” shares Caribbean Radio Host and Founder of Island Groove dance fitness, Chinyere. Listen, dance and sweat to her motivating movements, talks and music through her Instagram, @cislandgroove. In another act of kindness, neighbors on my street have laid out their extra harvested fruits from their trees with a heart-warming sign that reads, “Please take some for free. “ 
10. Find ways to practice mindfulness in your daily routines, like walking to the mailbox or brushing your teeth.  Thich Nhaht Hahn is a renowned teacher and author of a myriad of mindfulness practices, like walking meditation.  Breathing consciously as you walk from one end of the block to the other, you might link each part of the breath with a grounding uplifting mental statement: (Inhale) I feel the ground beneath. (Exhale) The sun feels warm on my skin. (Inhale) A new breath is a new moment.(Exhale) In breathing, I feel free.  Friend and fellow yoga teacher, Paola Cardona (Instagram @Luna_Mamma), reminds us of the 3 P’s, “Accept and make peace that nothing is Perfect or Permanent and the best gift we can offer is our Presence. “  

 
By cultivating our own peace of mind and vibrant wellness through committing to personal practices, no matter the circumstance, we project empowerment and vitality into the world around us.  In sharing a similar hardship, we experience our interconnectedness on this planet. This heightened awareness of our oneness, coupled with our understanding of our true nature as infinite spiritual beings, both teachings from yoga philosophy, might offer some solace as we stay at home to care for ourselves and each other, including the most vulnerable.  In the words of a spiritual teacher, Shunyamurti, I meditated with in an ashram in Costa Rica:
 
At a certain moment, one crosses past the fear and doesn’t let it hold one back, and then one realizes the true nature of the Self that one always was, that the river originally was the ocean that simply took a journey of ascent and then descent and then back to the Source.
​

As Thanksgiving 2018 approaches, our Root 2 Rise Yoga community has been asked to contribute to our accumulating potluck of healthy, vegan and delicious recipes to support each other in self-care and ahimsa (yogic virtue meaning non-harm) for our planet and families.  As the great Hippocrates stated: Let food be thy medicine and they medicine be thy food.  

Please email Root2RiseYoga@gmail.com to add your contribution to the healthy potluck favorites. The only requirements are nutritious, vegan and taste-tested delicious :-) Thank you for sharing in community wellness!  Below are our first two finds...

​--Recipe by Jill Fergus at feedtheswimmers.com (featured on Blue Zones)

Steps:
1. Bring a pot of well salted water to boil.
2. Cook cauliflower in it with inner leaves intact until barely fork tender.
3. Remove and pat dry.
4. Brush generously with olive oil and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
5. Choose your favorite toppings, like those listed in the title, to taste preference.

Ingredients:
- 1 carrot
- 1 cellery stick
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 small onion (red or white)
- 3-4 cloves of garlic 
- 1 large potato or two small
- 1 cup of mushrooms 
- (welcome to add pieces fall squash or pumpkin too)
- 1 cup of sproured lentils (3-4 days sprouting or more if you'd like a longer tail on your lentils....will need less time cooking)
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp black pepper (to your taste)
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (to your taste)
- 2 large bay leads
- herbs (time, marjoram, or oregano)
- also can add 1/4 of turmeric

Instructions:
Sauteed onions & garlic with herbs. Then add veggies. In separate pot with 1 liter of water, bay leads, cook potatoes with lentil (try not to bring to boil to maintain live enzymes in sprouts) let cook in low temperature. Soutee veggies until well marinated also in low heat. 
Once potatoes & lentils are cooked add sauteed veggies & let simmer together. 

This makes about 8-9 servings

Stay tuned for more contributions!

An amazing superpower we humans possess is free will.  It’s enabled us to transform the darkest challenges into inspiring miracles, like when poet friend and guest speaker at our retreat, Marshall Jones, chose at the last moment not to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and take his life but instead transformed his words into inspiration to uplift thousands of lives on TEDx and more.  When we train ourselves to utilize our free will, we can surpass others’ and our own limiting beliefs and create the so-called impossible.
 
What are the limiting beliefs that get in the way of using our free will to realize our potential? “I’m too old” influences our choice to not pursue something we love or take a risk that will empower us.  “I don’t have time” can lead us to choose to deprive ourselves of what we know inside is more important use of our energy. “They’ll think badly of me” directs our choices to muting our self-expression and undermine others’ capacity to be compassionate.  
 
What are we here for if not to use our free will to elicit our fullest expression of our uniquely talented and gifted selves to help raise the vibration of our planet so that we all thrive together?
 
So, how’s yoga related to free will?
The Yoga Sutras describe yoga as the calming of the fluctuations of the mind. It also delineates the obstacles to peace and self-realization that cause humans to suffer:

• Ignorance of self
• Egoism
• Attachment
• Hatred
• Clinging to bodily life

 
In our asana (physical posture) practice, we train in steadying the fluctuations of the mind by focusing on our breath and the present moment constantly.  We seek to study our self and limiting beliefs we all have that blind us of our superpower--free will.  We practice discernment from our ego mind in choosing when to modify a pose by honoring what’s honestly good for us.  We attempt challenging physical feats to let go of our attachment to fear, familiarity or comfort and practice endurance with our free will.  Lastly, we use our free will to view ourselves with loving kindness and compassion as we remember we’re on a journey of learning and not everything comes at once. Sometimes a lesson needs to repeat itself until we fully integrate it into our being.  By repeatedly awakening to our superpower, we can align our actions, thoughts, words and everyday being with our highest, and resiliently peaceful, Self.