movement Archives - Seren Holistic Lifestyles

Posts Tagged ‘movement’

Energetic Exercise

September 9, 2013 By Kat

Over the past few weeks I’ve really noticed when I haven’t exercised as much as my body needs too. Just like stale air in our home can build up if we don’t open the windows & make the place feel yucky energy in our bodies can get stale if we don’t clear it out. I’ve been feeling sluggish & heavy within my body, not a good sign. We need to be flushing out our systems & moving the energy through to prevent a build up which then can manifest into physical symptoms. Exercise is perfect for that.

We are constantly evolving and what worked for me a year ago may not be having the same effect today. This is very true for how much exercise I need. I’ve pulled back on my yoga practice to a ‘maintenance’ level as far as my physical body is concerned. I’m not practicing half as many classes a week as I used too.

Another shift for me is that exercise is no longer about keeping the kilos off. This has been my biggest “ah ha” moment of late. In the past I’d slog it out at the gym, group fitness classes & at yoga with the aim of loosing or maintaining my weight. Epic fail. My weight was constantly yo-yoing. Once my focus shifted within & I ‘gave up’ focusing purely on weight loss magic things happened.

All the work I have done spiritually has made me realize how essential it is to work all four of my bodies in unison – physical, emotional, mental & spiritual in order to be balanced. When I was just focused on the physical body and disregarded the other three of course I wasn’t going to get anywhere. Inside had to change first in order to manifest on the outside. Once I realized this & listened to what my Soul was telling me literally my physical body took on the shape it was meant to be with a lot less effort and complicatedness. Soul is simple.

Sorting out my emotional baggage, getting on my spiritual path & focusing on doing what I love has been the best diet & weight loss program ever. I no longer need a layer of padding around my solar plexus to hide behind. The self-doubt has gone & so have the kilos. It was that straight forward for me*.

For the past year easing off the hard-core exercise has been good for me. It’s been about maintenance, relaxing, nourishing and taking it easy. It’s time to ramp it up again. As I mentioned above physical exercise goes far deeper into the invisible plane. I’ve started to notice the more healing & teaching work I under take the more exercise I need to be doing.

Why? I need to clear my system of any stale energy or emotions that might attach to me from my work. No matter how much protection or spiritual hygiene one does before or after a session a physical release is also needed. Exercising is part of my spiritual hygiene now. Energy, especially emotional energy, can get stored and stuck in every cell of our body. A physical flush out helps release this.

The Bikram Yoga I practice & teach is an amazing release for me. I can literally feel the blockages being sweated out my pores & left on my mat. Yoga of any kind is beneficial. Yoga asana work deep into the body to a cellular level. It’s not muscles and joints that get worked out, the respiratory, circulatory, lymphatic & endocrine systems get a good going over. The constant compression and extension of every part of our body inside & out helps flush fresh high speed oxygenated blood through it. Within this blood the stale energy is released & pushed through as well.

For example different energies get stored in different parts of our bodies. Self-doubt is stored in the stomach and fear in our kidneys. During a deep backward bend by compressing into our kidneys that fear is released. Ever get a bit scared when backward bending? It’s totally normal as its all that fear being released.

It’s important to keep our physical body strong & healthy in order to bring in more light. Light (love) raises vibration & assists greatly in the connection with Soul. Recently I’ve started getting headaches & feeling really lethargic. Signs I have not been releasing as much energy as I need to be. This has kept me away from the yoga room. When what I needed was to get in there! My vibration was lowering, as I wasn’t keeping on top of my practice.

Further assurance came when I took a well over due yoga class. I’ve missed yoga. I need it more than ever now to keep clean & clear. Lying in the pool of sweat, with the lights dimmed after class I was so at peace. Opening my eyes who knows how long later I was alone, content & lighter in more ways than one.

I’m sure my body and Soul will tell me when it’s time for a change again. Something new in the exercise field or just dial it down again. Till then the hot room is calling me home.

Love Seren xx

*Disclaimer – this is my own personal journey/experience. I’m not endorsing what I do is a magic way to loose weight & be healthy. Please seek professional advice before taking on a new diet or exercise program.

Click on image to enlarge 
©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2013 
(please share the love with full credit thanks)

Fitness Focus – Xtend Barre

June 12, 2013 By Kat

The phrase “see you at the barre” may well get most people chiming ‘oh okay then mines a pint.’ Alas no pints at this barre unless you count the pints of sweat you will be expelling. I am talking about ballet barres. Over in the States barre classes are the latest new trend sweeping the fitness sector. A franchise called Xtend Barre reached Australian shores last year. At the time I was looking for some anonymity away from the yoga world & something new to try out my muscles on. My inner ballerina who never got chance to shine was screaming to be let out. Xtend Barre was the perfect solution.

Being the hot new thing in town getting into a class was a tad challenging. Classes are available at three locations in my city and all offered online booking. That meant they pretty much sold out & you were wait listed. Classes have strict numbers as there is only so many bodies you can fit on the barres & equipment to go round. This varies from studio to studio. If you went as a walk in chances are you wouldn’t get in. Desperate to give it a go I managed to get into a Saturday morning class. I loved it & it just what I was looking for. There was even a studio nearer to where I live which was great. With my crazy schedule I only manage a couple of classes a month but it’s worth it for a blast of something different.

The class is open to anyone, no dance or ballet experience necessary. I for one am the ‘un-co’ queen of the century so don’t worry it usually takes me a few rep’s to get my arms and legs moving in unison. The concept is simple Xtend is a 55 minute ballet inspired class using the French ballet terms & positions. Think plies, tendu, turn-out & releve. Don’t worry if are not familiar with this lingo just follow the instructors lead. A warm up sequences of plies, stretches and leg lifts leads into an upper body-work out with light hand weights. Then its time to hit the barre. More plies, squats, releves and pulsing till your legs are shaking like jelly. You have the option of lower impact variation if it all gets too much. Subtle cues like ‘light finger touch on the barre’ helps remind me I’m not a monkey clinging on for dear life!

It is a solid work out though if you put in the effort. Even in winter I am sweating my socks off. You will be rewarded with toned, lean, sculptured muscles, a firm core & improved cardiovascular function. All the instructors are accredited pilates teachers and some I have taken class with are physio’s. They know their alignment & those eagle eyes will put you back in the safe, correct position if you are unsure. You are in safe hands, especially when you hit the floor for the ab exercises at the end.

You don’t need any special equipment for barre, just a pair of socks. I have invested in the branded Xtend socks that are just like any pilates socks with the grippy, sticky ball things on the soles. Normal light exercise clothing is recommended as I said above you will sweat. The choreography incorporates hand weights, resistance balls, straps and the new Xtend Stick. These are all provided by the studios as are the mats for the floor work. Water and a small sweat towel are also useful to take.

If you looking for a fun & challenging work out with upbeat music & a killer ab track give Xtend Barre a try. The new Xtend Stick classes are launched this week in Perth so watch this space how I get on with that one.

See you at the barre!

Love Seren xx

Image Credit: https://www.facebook.com/XtendBarre

Travelling to a change of space

April 24, 2013 By Kat

Who likes to travel? Me! That’s who. I love it I thrive from mixing with different people, cultures and seeing things ‘outside of my box.’ My over seas travel journey started late. I didn’t leave my home country of England till I was nineteen. At twenty-four I took off on a one year around the world adventure. Most of my friends had already done ‘gap years’ between high school and university so to do gap year at twenty-four could be seen as late.

Travel sabbaticals later in life are very popular now especially if you have long service leave to cash in. I like having the financial stability behind me now to not have to be super budget when I’m on the road. Yes I’ve done the hostel thing and eaten cold beans out the can for dinner so I’m not 100% posh packer. I like variety so it’s great for me to go 5 star one trip then pull back to budget the next depending on where I’m going.

My favourite part of travel is the change space I receive. If you’ve read my posts about ‘Energy Cleansing’ and ‘Clean Your Space’ you’ll understand how the atmosphere around us can affect us energetically. It’s the space we are surrounded by, the invisible energy it contains that feeds us. This energy inspires us, gives us ideas, allows’ us to grow. If we stay in one place for too long doing the same thing every day, just like water in a pond, we go stagnant. How often have you said ‘I really need to get out of town for a while?’ because you are ready for a change of space.

Just like people vibrate on different energy frequencies, places do too. Have you noticed how different you feel when you’re in a new place or country? You can instantly relax & feel happy. That is why we feel so good on our holiday’s the new energy space of a different place revives us. You are breathing in new nutrients from the new space around you. When you come home you’re not only chilled out but you’re charged up with new ideas and inspiration. I know I am.

I travel to draw from this pool of new space so I can come back with fresh new ideas for my life and work. I took a big trip around South East Asia over the Christmas break. I visited Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Each country offered a new culture, new people, new tastes, smells, sights, sounds & that exciting new invisible space. I had a few ideas rolling before I left but it wasn’t until I’d had my change of atmosphere that they truly flourished. Here we are right now with the project inspired from this trip. This blog!

I had huge waves of inspiration for writing and painting in the temples of Angkor Wat. The colours and sounds of the Vietnamese markets set my mind racing with new thoughts. Eating Khmer curry out of a hallow coconut made me want to ditch my plates. All these fresh new experiences was just what I needed when I was so ready to ‘get out of town.’

When you return from a trip you are filled up with the new energy that you bring back too your home. You can fill your space with it breathe it into your usual atmosphere from within you. Bringing back souvenirs or artwork, hanging frames of your trip photographs all pull the new energy into your space & keep it there. You don’t need to travel overseas either. A trip within your own state can offer the same space change. Just like I did in the post ‘Travelling Alone in Fun!’ Go somewhere different, a part of town you seldom visit or try a new restaurant in a suburb you’ve never been too. Anything outside in nature is always a winner too. Trees and water instantly breathe new life into me. It’s all different space and it can revive you if you’re feeling that pull for a change.

Next time you’re feeling flat and looking for some inspiration or a need to get out of town go find yourself a change of space.

Love Seren xx

Shifts & Changes

April 15, 2013 By Kat

Wow what a great start to April is all I can say. These past two weeks have been great. March was draining I was very physically and mentally tired. All I wanted to do was sleep but my dreams were super busy with lots of astral travel. Meaning I would wake up feeling like I’d done a days work because I had. The planets were busy too as we rode the Mercury Retrograde with a powerful full moon.

March was however a fantastic time for me. My constant whacked state was due to my physical body catching up with the changes of my spiritual body. I’d started a new course of study with my mentor and I was (& still am) reading some old spiritual texts. It was amazing how quick things changed for me and how simple the lessons were to grasp. Whilst my inner self was adjusting to the new information, making leaps & bounds in all the right directions my poor physical body couldn’t keep up. It was literally being left behind. The division of my two parts was extremely evident with the tiredness, sleepless nights & cravings for sugar. (Which I haven’t had in a long time)

Everything I’ve learned over the past six weeks has really settled in now & has been absorbed. I can start living this new truth, integrating my two parts back to balance. I feel so alive again and so very grateful for everything I have right now. I feel cocooned in a pink bubble of happiness. It’s just lovely when these moments of integration happen. When I’m off kilter I look back to these times as a reference point to remember what to do get this feeling back.

I’m seeing random acts of kindness everywhere. Strangers interacting with each other doing the most gracious and caring things. A lady dropped her jacket yesterday in front of me. I thought ‘oh her jacket’ and rushed forward to pick it up to be beaten to it by another kind stranger. Another lady had a tear in her work trousers I noticed from a far. It was a tricky call to make, she obviously didn’t realize as it was in quite a sensitive spot, basically her ass was hanging out! Whilst I thought how shall I approach this, another lady further in front jumped in and subtly mentioned the rip. I sent my gratitude to these wonderful people & hope they are re given too ten fold for their actions. I’m sure they will be.

Another shift that has been occurring for the whole of this year has been with physical exercise. I’ve really struggled with my own personal Bikram practice. I’ve been too drained to get in the room as regularly as I used too. When I’m shifting like this I don’t deal very well in big energy situations, I tend to hibernate. Staying away from the room was my way of dealing. I had a huge mental struggle going on which was fine as my two halves were not as together as usual.

A massive part of my lessons this past two weeks has been to see everyone ‘as one.’ We are all from the same source we see each other in everyone as we are each other. One light with many projections. Does that make sense? It’s hard to explain. With this fresh in my head I was so fired up for some yoga. My body needed to move. The perfect situation to be in a room full of mirrors reflecting back the negative image of the positive soul projections, all-working together and moving together as one. One light, shining. I had a beautiful practice this morning once I’d grasped this concept. No need to feel drowned & bogged down by all the different energy in the room as there is no different energy, just one, all radiating from the same point. I could not have felt more balanced & in unity. After all yoga means unity, now I get this even more deeply.

Have a wonderful day everyone. Do something exceptional today. All the tools you need are inside you already just ask to be shown and use them.

Much love,

Seren xx

1 2 Next