This weekend I had the privilege of being photographed by Angela Robinson. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100506105173141.2549445.17016564&type=1#!/A.R.chitectPhotography1  I will post a few of the pictures on here when I get them back!

Before our shoot I decided to go out on the balcony and warm up my body.  Can’t get into all those poses with a cold, unstretched body!  I absolutely LOVE practicing up high, overlooking the city.  There is something so freeing about being above the traffic and people below.  I have my best practices and meditations on high balconies!

Here is a little video of the warm up.  Many people have been asking me to post videos of things that they can do at home.  So here you go!

Enjoy!

Who are you?  Don’t list off your accomplishments and roles.  Who are you?  REALLY??

What gets you up in the morning?

What makes joy well up from your heart and burst out of your mouth with laughter?

What brings you intense satisfaction?

What activity allows you to lose yourself and become one with the moment ~being in the flow?

How do you love?

Who do you love?

When you are alone, what thoughts whirl through your mind?

When you find quietude, can you be content with the silence?

Who are you?

I’d love to hear about who you are.  Feel free to comment.  Let’s share a little about what makes us unique beautifully divine creatures.

From my open heart to yours,

Shanell

If you think reaching your health and fitness goals are impossible, you need to watch this video.  With determination, anything is possible.

“At the core of all of us, we are divine.”  – One of my truths

Yes, I’m talking to you.  And I’m talking about your neighbor who likes to drink too much outside with his shirt off (not a good look) and whistle at you as you hurriedly make your way from your car to your house.  And that woman at the grocery store who stares disapproving at you as you and your beautiful bi-racial son try to buy groceries. And then she asks…“What is he?”   Yes, even that jerk of an ex-boyfriend whose ego can’t handle the breakup so he broke into your home, stole your laptop, smashed your meditation area to smithereens (true story), and then called your students and clients to tell them what a terrible person you are.  Yes, the same jerk of an ex-boyfriend  that went online and wrote untrue, negative, and hurtful reviews about you and your business.  Yes, my friends, even he is at the core divine.

I truly believe that each of us arrive here on this beautiful earth as a divine being having a human experience.  If we are lucky, we arrive here surrounded by human parents and adults who cultivate that divinity with in us.  They water that seed of pure unadulterated bliss and encourage us to find our deep-rooted talents and help us follow our dreams.  They tell us as children who we really are (divine) and that we are ALL from the same place.  They teach us that love binds us in community and sustains us.  They teach you that forgiveness is necessary to stay in contact with divinity, by being forgiving themselves.  This type of upbringing increases our chances of growing into confident adults whom have a close relationship with our divinity within, thus allowing the knowledge to be passed on to the divine beings that are given to us to raise.

Doesn’t that just sound beautiful and well, utopian?  Unfortunately, for most of us our childhoods were a little bit different.  We weren’t given the knowledge of our inherent divinity.  We don’t fully understand how amazing and divine we are or how very special that jerk of an ex-boyfriend is.  We go through life unconsciously veiling ourselves from seeing the truth by taking on stress, frustration, disappointment, sadness, and never learning to forgive ourselves or others.  Every negative experience or let down acts as another veil that covers our inner divinity, soul.  Continue reading →

Just close my eyes and I am here!!

I will admit it, I’m a spa junkie.  I won’t pay over $30 for a new purse but I don’t blink an eye at dropping $300 for a massage and soak in a salt whirlpool.  Unfortunately, my chosen career (yoga instructor) doesn’t provide me with tons of disposable income.  What’s a spa junkie to do???  Well, this spa junkie has figured out how to bring the spa, HOME!

No less than four times a week, I soak in my bathtub at home. To transform my bathroom into a spa I turn down the lights and add a few cups of my Bound for Bliss Lavender Dead Sea and Epsom Salt Soak. It’s packed full of minerals and nutrients that are good for my skin and help promote a healthy adrenal system (and more!). And the lavender essential oil ease my busy mind and help promote youthful skin. Yes all of these amazing benefits come from just a few cups of mother nature! Continue reading →

“Concentrate in the heart.  Enter into it; go within and deep and far, as far as you can. Gather all the strings of your consciousness that are spread abroad, roll them up and take a plunge and sink down.  A fire is burning there, in the deep quietude of the heart. It is the divinity in you – your true being. Hear its voice, follow its dictates.”  ~ The Mother

This month, I turn 30.  A lot of people have been asking if I’m “freaking out” or if I find myself stressed at the thought of moving into my 30th.  Honestly, I am not.  I’m excited for the decade which to me represents growth, stability, and a deepening of one’s relationship with that inner light.  So excited to be out of my 20′s.  Wouldn’t want to do all of that again…;)

I believe my yoga practice has really allowed me to separate myself from the stigma of “falling apart as I age”.  I know that with careful and thoughtful practice, I just may be stronger, more flexible, and balanced in my 40s that I am in my 20s.  With yoga, this is possible.

This week I ran into this great slide show in IVilliage about the Anti-Aging Secrets of Yoga Superstars.  How inspiring that these strong and beautiful women did not credit mushroom infused face masks and two-hour hot yoga sessions with their ability to age gracefully.  They credited the strengthening and deepening of their “inner world” as what keeps them young on the inside as well as the outside.  These women inspire me to grow in my practice, and to embrace my 30s with wonder!

Now on to working on that graceful Sharon Gannon pose……

In peace,

Shanell

The video below demonstrates a Thai Yoga Bodywork sequence that can be used to lengthen the sidebody, open up the heartcenter, and discover a new depth in asana backbending.  Nina has been receiving Thai Yoga Bodywork from Shanell for about 9 months.  In this short time, her heartcenter and shoulders have opened dramatically.