Page 132 - Demo

132 || FITNESS MAGAZINE || AUGUST 2015www.crystalmilana.netBy Yoga Instructor Crystal MilanaImagine finding peace in moments of darkness, pain, or moments where you may feel lost and alone. If we truly seek peace, we can find it at any time because peace is already within each of us. Peace is something deep within our hearts that our creator has given us as a gift since the time we were born. Peace is more then, just a feeling that comes and goes, it is a way of being; energy within us that can be brought forth or stay dormant deep within. Our yoga practice is not about the asanas (postures) or meditation, it is a practice that teaches us how to land in peace within each moment. We see it show up on our yoga mat when we struggle with staying in a difficult posture, we can choose to struggle through the posture or we can choose to find comfort in the discomfort and land in peace. Instead of focusing on the difficulty and the sensations that come up in our body, we can shift our focus to our breath and begin to find stillness and more ease in the posture. It%u2019s the same with any distraction or struggle in our lives; we can choose to fight with the struggle and give it power to control our way of being. Or we can choose to see beyond the obstacle that is in front of us and connect to what is within; our breath, our heart and our spirit. Here is an example of how this can look in reality. A few months ago I struggled with a loss, it was the darkest moment in my life. I felt confused and heart broken, an emptiness that I had never known before. In the weeks to follow, I had many ups and downs, I continued to hold on to the pain and struggled with trying to make sense of everything in my head. Finally one day as I was driving down the road in tears, I chose to let go of the same story and thoughts that kept going through my mind over and over again. Instead I took my focus from my mind into my heart center and was able to find a moment of peace just through feeling the beat of my heart. The more I focused on my heart, the more the negative thoughts would fade away. In that moment I began to finally feel a release in my body like a weight was lifted off of me and in my heart I felt like everything was going to be okay. It is easy to say that we want peace in our lives, when the truth is first peace must start within us. Once you let go of the situations in your life that are not serving you to your highest self, then you begin to see how much easier life begins to flow. Photo Credit: Brian Landis