New Website

I've found a new home on the internet!
Come visit me at www.jjohnsonkennedy.com

On a Personal Practice

“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you woe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. 

But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.” 

—Joseph Campbell

“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you woe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.” —Joseph Campbell - See more at: http://yoganonymous.com/alanna-kaivalya-how-to-go-from-being-a-good-yoga-teacher-to-being-a-great-yoga-teacher/#sthash.Ui1FKDL8.dpuf

“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you woe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.” —Joseph Campbell - See more at: http://yoganonymous.com/alanna-kaivalya-how-to-go-from-being-a-good-yoga-teacher-to-being-a-great-yoga-teacher/#sthash.Ui1FKDL8.dpuf

“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you woe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.” —Joseph Campbell - See more at: http://yoganonymous.com/alanna-kaivalya-how-to-go-from-being-a-good-yoga-teacher-to-being-a-great-yoga-teacher/#sthash.Ui1FKDL8.dpuf

Frontline Wellness: Summer 2014

I'm excited to be able to announce this summer's modules of my Frontline Wellness: Yoga for Care Providers!  We will be meeting for four separate modules, each focusing on a specific skill.  

As a care provider you know just how rewarding it is to work in the helping professions.  You also know how challenging it is.  Frontline Wellness is a program specifically designed to meet the challenges you face, so that you are able to thrive personally and enjoy the rewards

of your work.

This summer's Frontline Wellness workshops are being offered as four
individual 2 hour modules.  They will run from 11am to 1pm on Sundays
out of HeartStream Yoga .  You may come to one, or plan on all four.
Each session costs $30.  Preregistration is appreciated, but not
required.

Each module will cover one portable, practical, applicable yoga
wellness skill.  Each of the techniques we will cover are simple to
integrate into your day without taking lots of time out from the
people you care for professionally or from your personal life.
Self-care doesn't have to be just another item on your to-do list.

Absolutely no experience with yoga is required!

All that is necessary is your presence.  If you have a colleague or a
friend within the helping professions who looks a little stressed,
invite them along!  Anyone of any age and background can learn and
benefit from these wellness practices.

Wear comfortable clothes, and bring a water bottle or a mug of tea.


~ ~ ~

Do the statistics about career longevity in your field scare you?

Have you seen collegues and co-workers burn out and leave their jobs?

Do you ever feel like work-food-sleep is all you can manage in a 24
hour period?

What would it be like if you offered yourself the same unconditional
care you offer your patients or clients?

Do you feel like you're losing touch with the reason you began the
work in the first place?

Do you find yourself too run down in your off time to focus on things
that bring you joy?

Do you feel like you need to sleep for a whole day in order to be
ready for the next shift?

Did you laugh at the last person who asked you what you're doing for self-care?

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, I hope you'll join me for this summer's Frontline Wellness modules.

May 18th : Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra

This module is everyone's favorite! "The class where we took a nap" is a tried and true way to let go of stress.  It is a reset for a tired or fried nervous system.  Restorative yoga is the practice of gentle physical poses, supported by props and blankets, that are specifically

designed to soothe the nervous system and restore depeleted energy. Yoga Nidra is a practice of dynamic relaxation that has been shown to be clinically effective in reducing stress. Take a look here and here for information about the practice of Yoga Nidra.

June 29th: Breath and the Parasympathetic Nervous System

Learn practical, portable breathing techniques which the yoga tradition calls pranayama.  These breath practices allow you to choose to move out of the stress response of the sympathetic nervous system and into the relaxation response of the parasympathetic nervous system.  These simple exercises can be integrated into your daily routine, done while on the job or meeting with a challenging patient. You can even share them with your clients!

July 20th: Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness is a bit of a buzz-word these days... because it works! You see mindfulness based approaches to living with cancer and chemo, to birthing, to just about any sort of life challenge we experience. Why not integrate mindfulness into the challenges of your daily life as a care provider?  Mindfulness is a technique to cultivate capacity and resiliency, so we are better able to manage stress and experience joy.

Meditation practice does not require a 3 day zen retreat.  All you need is a few minutes and a willingness to focus the mind.  As the mind learns the techniques of meditation, you are better able to focus

on the task or patient at hand, the endless to-do lists begin to actually seem manageable, and you find that you don't get tired as easily.  After her first time meditating, one of my students said she felt "a different kind of control" in her life.

August 24th: Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra

Due to popular demand....  this module will be offered twice this summer!  Let these simple, gentle, and absolutely refreshing practices give you the restful ease you need. One of last years participants says "I find yoga nidra is absolutely essential for rejuvenation and relaxation.  Jasmine's gentle calm and soothing voice and presence helps me melt away accumulated stress and calm my jumpy nervous system.  [It] allows me to sleep better, think more clearly and experience more love and joy in life.  It fills my cup!"

Take a look here and here to find out more about the practice of yoga Nidra.

Sitting in the seat of the teacher

A student of mine is learning her lenses, playing with light and shadow, finding how to make art through a camera, so after class this week we took a few minutes to play with her lens:

When I teach, I sit between Ghandi...

...and Mother Teresa....

...in front of Bhoddisattva.

When I step into the seat of the teacher, I feel so supported: by the great teachers before me and yet to come, by the wisdom of the divine within each of us that WANTS to come into the light and be heard and heeded.  I set the intention to be a channel, a vessel, for the teaching to come through me....  from Source, from Siva, from Sakti, call it what you will.  Its not so different from Reiki.  I step into the seat of the teacher to serve, I place my hands heal...  from my Highest Self to your Highest Good, may I be of service.

om sahana vavatu sahana buknaktu

saha viryam karavavahi

tejas vi na vadhi tamastu

ma vid vi vasha vahai

om shanti shanti shanti

Dynamic Relaxation: Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is a gentle, ancient practice of dynamic relaxation that invites awareness to enter into the state that is between dreaming consciousness and waking consciousness.  In this state, the brain enters into healing theta brainwaves (the same as in deep REM sleep), the body enters into its healing parasympathetic response, and we are able to release samskaras - the energetic/emotional blockages and patterns that can drain energy and restrict your life.  Its said that one hour of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of regular sleep!


A student in my weekly Yin/Yoga Nidra class has this to say about Yoga Nidra in her life:

"In today's busy world with its abundance of chronic stress, exhaustion and over-stimulation, I find Yoga Nidra is absolutely essential for rejuvenation and relaxation.  Jasmine's gentle calm and soothing voice and presence helps me melt away accumulated stress and calm my jumpy nervous system.  Attending this class regularly allows me to sleep better, think more clearly and experience more love and joy in life.  It fills my cup!" -Susan


If you're interested in the research behind Yoga Nidra, take a look at the studies cited by the Integrative Restoration Institute, a pioneering program bringing a specific protocol of Yoga Nidra techniques into Veteran's and Military hospitals.  Meanwhile, here's some information on the effects of the Theta brainwave state that is induced by the practice of Yoga Nidra: 

~ ~ ~

Theta brainwaves

(3.5 to 7 Hz deep relaxation, twilight state)

Theta brainwave states have been used in meditation for centuries: It is common for people to feel as if they are in a trance, where the mind feels as though it may have gone to sleep although it is conscious of what is happening around it. Theta induces a capacity for prolonged daydreaming, where a loss of time may be experienced.

Theta waves are also conducive to visualization and creativity and the mind in this very relaxed state is highly receptive to direct suggestion under hypnosis. As with Alpha, in Theta our brain hemispheres are synchronized and we experience whole brain functioning.

Features and benefits of Theta brainwaves

·        Increased sense of inner peace and emotional stability

·        Deep relaxation

·        Improved memory

·        Heightened intuition and inspiration

·        Calms the chatter of your mind

·        Increased psychic abilities and sense of spiritual connection

Health benefits of Theta brainwaves

·        Speed healing, improved physical healing

·        Release beneficial hormones related to health and longevity

·        Sleep onset and better more restful sleep

·        Reduce mental fatigue

·        Reduction of anxiety and stress

NOTE: Research has proven thirty minutes a day of Theta meditation can dramatically improve a person’s overall health and well-being. Theta meditation has also been known to result in a reduced need for sleep.

CITATION

~ ~ ~

If you're interested in finding out more about Theta brain waves, here's an internet article that talks about this deep restful healing state in a very approachable style, and cites experts to boot!

Yoga at the Arctic Winter Games

The 2014 Arctic Winter Games are being hosted here in Fairbanks this month.  The Games bring a community of athletes and culture-bearers from all over the circumpolar north for a week of competition in 20 different sports, cultural galas, events, and craft fairs.

The AWG are hosting a Health Fair on Tuesday the 18th with a number of local health and wellness organizations.  I'm joining a number of UAF's Yoga Club yoga teachers to teach 20 minute yoga classes to the athletes.

Yoga is effective cross training for so many different disciplines, harnessing breath and awareness to bring to any action or endeavor.  For competition, the mindfulness skills yoga teaches are invaluable.  And for athletes, the integration of strength, coordination and flexibility that yoga cultivates is priceless.

What would you like to experience in a yoga class before an athletic competition?

Yoga Nidra Spring Series

I'm honored to be able to announce a 6 week Yoga Nidra series hosted by the Holistic Medical Clinic in their studio space on Noble Street!  I am really excited to be partnering with the awesome folks at the Holistic Medical Clinic to bring more good energy and healing to the Fairbanks community, and to bring more yoga to the downtown area!

This series will run Monday evenings from 5:30-6:30, starting March 17^th and ending April 21^st.   Classes will be $10 each.  You can plan to attend the whole series, or just drop-in on one or two classes.  I hope to repeat the series, so please let me know if you would be interested in seeing this offering again in the summertime!  Space is fairly limited, simply due to the size of the room at the Holistic Medical Center.  I expect class size will be capped at 8 or so bodies.  *Parking is available behind the Noble Street building.

Yoga Nidra is a highly effective practice of dynamic relaxation that reduces stress, improves sleep, increases immune function, and can help relieve chronic pain and fatigue.  If you feel like you never get enough sleep, or you are exhausted by the end of a busy work day – this is the practice for you!  Start the week out right, cultivate a habit of effective rest, and refill your well with this gentle practice.

Yoga Nidra can be safely practiced by people of all ages, sizes and mobilities.  All that is required is the ability to sit or lie down in a comfortable position.  I will guide you into a state of relaxation and through a series of awareness practices such as body scanning, conscious breathing, and guided visualization.  You may want to wear comfortable clothing and bring a blanket and/or a pillow.  Water is always a good idea, and hot tea will be available after practice. 

~

Yoga Nidra is the state of consciousness between sleeping consciousness and waking consciousness where the relaxation response and regeneration occur. This healing practice relieves stress patterns by retraining the nervous system to relax which creates a natural setting for the body to heal itself. Yoga Nidra is the perfect supplement to yoga, therapy, meditation, and other healing modality.

A growing body of research indicates that mind-body approaches can help people interweave healthy lifestyle practices into their daily lives that help alleviate pain, promote better sleep, increase resiliency, reduce anxiety and teach self-care management into their daily lives at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapies.

Studies conducted at Stanford, the University of Missouri, University of Ohio, and others have shown Yoga Nidra techniques to be effective to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, trauma, depression, high blood pressure, insomnia, and addiction, to lower cholesterol, to increase feelings of well being and calm, to enhance creativity and motivation, to strengthen the endocrine system, and balance the nervous system.

A 2005 study at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found Yoga Nidra techniques highly effective in reducing PTSD symptomology in veterans.  A specific protocol of Yoga Nidra techniques are currently being used in treatment programs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and over 30 other VA and army hospital sites across the US.

R&R Time! Reiki and Restorative Yoga at HeartStream!

Beat Breakup with Reiki and Restorative Yoga this April!  Join HeartStream yoga teacher and Reiki Healer Jasmine Johnson-Kennedy for a pair of mini-retreats. 

Combining the modalities of Reiki Healing and the practice of Restorative Yoga, these workshops invite you to shed the tension and stress of the long dark cold days of winter and open to the warming sun and bright joy of our Alaskan summer.  

Support the body and rest the mind with a restorative yoga practice and soothing music while you receive the healing energy of Reiki to nourish yourself on all levels.

Restorative yoga asana are restful, long-held poses supported by props (an abundance of blankets, blocks and bolsters) that are designed to relax and nourish mind body and heart.  

Reiki is a gentle and profoundly restorative form of hands-on energy healing. Reiki facilitates deep relaxation and catalyzes the natural healing response.  

These mini-retreats are a two-for-one: not only will you get two hours of deliciously restful, rejuvenating restorative practice, you will also receive a number of mini Reiki treatments. 

Jasmine will guide you in a sequence of restorative yoga poses, holding each pose for 5-10 minutes in order to allow the body's tension to melt away, the heart to open, and the mind to rest and renew.  As you rest in the comfort and support of the restorative yoga poses, she will offer mini Reiki sessions to each participant in turn.  Depending on the size of the class, everyone will receive Reiki 2-5 times.  Jasmine will place gentle hands on head, shoulders and feet and channel the healing life-force energy of Reiki to allow you to deepen your experience and receive healing where ever it is most needed.  If you're curious about Reiki or energy work in general, this is the perfect way to explore this alternative healing modality in the safe and serene space of HeartStream's yoga studio.

Are you feeling over-worked, stressed-out or tired?  Does break up have you feeling stuck-in-the-mud?  Do you long for a little peace and quiet or a private oasis?  How long has it been since you've had some quality me-time?  

These mini-retreats are for you! 

Treat yourself to a little R&R time at Heartstream!

Sunday April 6th 11am- 1pm : Gentle Detox with Reiki and Restorative - Let go of the residues of winter, release anything that is holding you back in this practice of restorative twists and heart openers.

Sunday April 27th 2-4 pm: Replenish with Reiki and Restorative - Refill your well and nourish your vitality with this gentle practice of restorative forward folds and inversions.

Workshops are $30 each.  You are welcome to attend one or the other or plan on attending both!

Register Here.

Yoga and live music~

Local artist Sabe Flores is releasing her first album.  She plays cello, an instrument that I sometimes think I would want to take up if I were to learn a new instrument.  She's a gifted musician and a beautiful soul.  She has played live music at yoga events and classes held at HeartStream before, so I'm super excited to what these two lovely, talented and inspiring ladies have up their sleeve for us to enjoy!

Maybe I'll see you there?

Introducing Reiki!

image courtesy of the most recent
Reiki News Magazine

Hello dear ones!  I am very excited and deeply humbled to announce that I am now offering Reiki Healing sessions out of the Healing Arts room at Heart Stream Yoga.

Reiki is a gentle form of hands-on healing.  It was discovered by Mikao Usui in 1922 in Japan and was brought to the US after World War II by Hawayo Takata.  The word Reiki means "spiritually guided universal life force energy."  The Japanese ki is synonymous to the Sanskrit prana or the Chinese chi.   The prefix rei suggests a divine/spiritual intelligence and speaks to the fact that Reiki energy cannot harm.  Reiki always works towards the highest good, supporting healing and balance in body, mind and spirit.

My practice of Reiki Healing incorporates Chakra Clearing and Balancing and is deeply informed by my yoga practice.  Yoga is a way of working with the human energy body from the inside-out while Reiki Healing allows me to directly aid you in clearing blockages and encouraging free and healthy flow of vital energy.  Please check out the "Reiki Energy Healing" tab above for more information, and email me with any questions or to schedule a session :-)

In light,
Jasmine

Principles of Reiki
(translation below)

The secret art of inviting happiness,

The miraculous medicine for all diseases.

At least for today:

Do not be angry,

Do not worry,

Be grateful,

Work with diligence,

Be kind to people.

Every morning and evening, join your hands in meditation and pray with your heart.

State in your mind and chant with your mouth.

For improvement of mind and body.

Usui Reiki Ryōhō.

Manipurna: the Jewel of the Self

Manipurna, the solar plexus chakra, is the 3^rd chakra up and is a fiery yellow.  I could tell you about its association with the Hindu god energy of Vishnu, the seed syllable ram, and how citrine resonates with the solar plexus.  You can find any of that, and more, with a cursory google search.  And no doubt, I'll geek out on the esoterica of the chakras at some point and write posts that explore the more arcane aspects of chakra theory ad infinitum.  Correspondences, symbols and imagery are wonderful, and if they resonate with you they can be used as a kind of energetic shorthand, bringing out the qualities they represent.

But, in their essence, the chakras are YOU.  They are your energy centers.  Your chakras are co-created by your body's kinetic, electric energy and the subtle shifts in electromagnetism created by hormonal balance.   Whether you are aware of it or not, 'believe' in it or not, your chakras are engaging with the world around you.... because you are engaging with the world around you.  And if I tell you this-and-that about the correspondences of the solar plexus chakra, if I give you an essay on the (albeit fascinating) various theories of the chakra's association with symbology and imagery from various traditions; I will only be helping you to distance yourself from your own experience.  If you are living an embodied human life, you don't need anyone else to tell you what your experience of your own energy is, you are living it.  Giving someone else the authority of your experience leaks your power.  And Manipurna is all about power.

Manipurna is the fire, the strength that supports the heart.  Manipurna is will and intent.  Manipurna is power. 

Power.  Such a loaded word.  As a young woman in our culture, it is interesting to put fingers to keys to talk about power.  Society would like to tell me I don't have it. Politicians do tell me I don't have it.  Many people claim it for themselves or on behalf of a religion or a country.  Others think it can be bought or stolen.  Somehow we think that through war we can establish it.  But power is not about control.  Power is not about power-over, coercion, or authority in the sense of wrong and right.  I can deny my power.  I can forget about it, neglect it, not use it.  But no one can take my power from me.  Nor I from them.  Power is not relational.  It has nothing to do with anyone else. 

Power is self-esteem and self-confidence and self-efficacy all rolled into one.  Power is a way of walking in the world.  Power is being so full of one's own energy, so centered in one's own self, that no one can push us over or insert their projections into our sense of self.   How do we lose power, then?  In essence, by consistently denying it.  Sometimes we internalize the idea that it is something outside of ourselves, needing to be obtained.  Sometimes we find ourselves triggered by the actions of others into (frequently habitual) actions and patterns that lead us to deny, ignore, or scatter our energy. 

How do we cultivate power?  Through yoga of course, that's why this is a post for a blog on yoga!  But seriously, we cultivate power through reclaiming the parts of self we have denied, repressed, shunned.  We cultivate power through physical work: when you get your heart rate up, blood pumping, skin alive with moisture, muscles warm you feel like you fill up your body, like you fill up the space between outstretched hands.  We cultivate power by saying "YES" to what nourishes us, to what our inner voice wants and asks for.  Usually that means saying "NO" to something else.  We cultivate power by trusting ourselves.  By believing in ourselves.  By recognizing our own authority.  We can cultivate power by strengthening the core – yes, through an ab workout.  Manipurna is located at the solar plexus, just below the sternum, at the top of the abdomen: by strengthening the physical, we strengthen the energetic.  We cultivate power by practicing discipline.  Through dedication.

In my experience, the yoga mat is the best place to practice all of this.  On the mat, I can look at the parts of myself I try to hide away, repress, deny.  I can hold space for the meeting between me and me.  I can breathe into it.  On the mat, I can get embodied – filling up my skin, filling up my luminous body, filling up the room!  On the mat, I can work out: engaging muscles, mind, and awareness.  On the mat, I can explore what is my "YES" and what is my "NO."  On the mat, I am alone.  As teacher or as student, with others or in a solo practice, ultimately it is me, myself and I on my mat.  I have no choice but to work with myself, learning trust, exploring my limits.  To stand in Vrksasana, I have to trust that my one foot will hold my whole body – or else I would crumple to the ground.  On the mat, I learn to believe in myself.  When I take a variation on a pose, moving into or out of a lunge to meet the anatomy of my hips; I am recognizing my own authority.  And every time I roll out the mat and step onto it, I am living my dedication to this practice. 

I cultivate power through my yoga practice.  I invite you to join me.

Tomorrow night (THURSDAY 5:45-7:15) we'll explore Manipurna through a practice of strong standing poses (hint: the warrior is an impeccable embodiment of power), core work balancing the extension of backbends, and chanting.  We'll end class with the deep restoration of yoga nidra.  And because symbols ARE powerful, I'll be wearing a yellow shirt.

KRIPALU CANCELLED TONIGHT

There will be still be yoga at HeartStream tonight.

Drive safely, all you beauties, it is icy out there!

We'll explore the solar plexus chakra NEXT week.

Muladhara Root Chakra: From the Ground Up

Tonight we we begin 2014's journey from the Ground Up with the root chakra.  If you visualize your body's energy field as similar to the electromagnetic field of the earth, the central axis of the earth - running between north and south poles - correlates with the line of the spine in your body.  The spine runs parallel with the main energy channels in the upper body : the ida, pingala and shushumna nadis and the governor and conception meridians.  The flow of energy through these vital channels creates the electro-magnetic charge that umbrellas out of the top of the head, passes outstretched fingertips, and comes back home through feet and root chakra.  As this energy runs up it engages with each of the 7 chakras.  Anything we carry energetically: be it memory, pain, trauma or simply heavy energy, interrupts the free flow of energy and causes disruptions in our energy field.

The practices of yoga, pranayama, and mantra are three powerful ways to transform these energetic blockages, leaving us with more abundant energy with which to live.

Tonight, we focus on the Root chakra, the Muladhara, as it is the first energy center our vitality encounters.

Muladhara chakra is the energy of manifestation, of moving energy into form.  A balanced root chakra creates a felt sense of belonging, of stable vitality, and the deep security of knowing presence.  The root chakra is our connection to the earth as ground and source, our connection to gravity, and our vehicle to abundance.

Tonight 5:45- 7: 15 we will explore the strength of standing poses to ground and center, practice a grounding cord meditation, and invoke the auspicious energy of Ganesha through mantra.

A new year from the Ground Up.

Tonight is my first yoga class of the New Year.  2014 is a year full of promise and auspiciousness.  The turn of the new year gives us the chance to start with a proverbially clean slate, to move forward into growth or change.  We make resolutions.  We set intentions.

Whether we resolve to love more or weigh less, to run a marathon or start something new; deep inner work supports the process.  To create the kind of stable lasting change or growth we intend for ourselves, it is necessary to create fertile ground for new habits and patterns to emerge.

In honor of this new cycle and new year, the next 8 Thursdays will be about supporting this inner work. Starting tonight, we begin with turning inwards to find our inner wisdom, our highest Self, so that we can harness our own inner light to the manifestation of our intentions.  Next week we start at the ground: clearing blockages from the muladhara or root chakra.... and work our way up in seven steps, seven chakras, week by week.

Each week, class will focus on poses, mantra, pranayama, and meditation to support that chakra.  The subtle energy body comprised of chakras, nadis or meridians, and the aura is like a satellite we use to send and receive information from the world around us.  The human body creates a bio-electro-magnetic field, and when this energy field is cluttered with blockages or old habits, it is hard to create lasting change.

We will use these yogic practices to clear out any samskaras, old patterns, or energy blocks lodged in each chakra, moving with the flow of energy from the ground up.  Clear and charge your subtle energy body as you allow your resolutions to move from intention to manifestation!

Join me for this transformative series every Thursday from now through February at HeartStream Yoga from 5:45-7:15 pm. You can come to yoga right after work!  All levels.  Beginners welcome!

New Year, New Moon, More Love.

In honor of the New Year, beginning with a New Moon in Capricorn, I'd like to share some words from one of my heart's teachers:

"One of yoga's fundamental teachings is that our basic nature is love. Love is experienced as a felt sense of belonging, deep contentment, abiding ease, and joy. It is an overarching feeling of acceptance, inclusion, warm welcome, and understanding. In love, we experience profound tenderness and affection toward all that is and has been. Love is expressed as innate respect and care for our body, mind, and heart, and for our thoughts, actions, and relationships. Love allows us to feel what is precious and fleeting, without fear of the ephemeral nature of all things. It allows us to move fiercely toward truth, and it requires us to uphold integrity, passion, and fervency in the face of harm, or threat of shame. Love is the force through which any sense of inadequacy is burned away, allowing the blazing clarity of our deepest worth to shine forth." -SarahJoy Marsh

Here's to more love in the new year.  Here's to all the practices that support love and all the people that practice love.

Happy New Year!