Month: October 2019

Lifestyle, Meditation, Self-Discovery, Yoga

Be. Here. Now.

by JheniLeave a Comment on Be. Here. Now.

My last week’s blog post was about how life seems to move at the speed of light. As promised, this blog post is an elaboration of my statement, “When we get in the mode of constantly DOING, we forget to live our lives in the present moment.”

Why is it so hard for us to live in the present? Why do we have such a difficult time just BEING instead of DOING? I believe part of the reason is due to our desire for control.

“There are only two days in a year that nothing can be done.
One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow,
so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.”
Dalai Lama

Even for those “two days” that we can not control, we spend so much time trying to fix things that have already happened (yesterday) and control the future outcome (tomorrow). This creates a sense of constant movement both physically and mentally.

“Even if we are able to physically stop moving, our minds are
constantly thinking, problem-solving, organizing, worrying,
rationalizing, irrationalizing, regretting and dwelling.”
Excerpt from my book, Be Still: The Power of Biblical Meditation

Each week, I teach several styles of yoga classes (group and private classes), ranging from physically challenging to restorative and passive, longer-holds. Can you guess which one has a bigger attendance? (If you guessed the more physically challenging yoga class, you are correct!) As human beings, we’re drawn to things that create more imbalance within ourselves. The more driven you are, the more you will be drawn to activities that keep you in constant motion. When was the last time you stopped and experienced the present? When was the last time you consciously stopped your mind from regretting the past or worrying about the future?

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”
Luke 12:25

According to Luke 12:25, we can not add more hours to our lives by worrying. In fact, worrying is robbing us of our time, energy, joy, and even our health. So if worrying robs our lives (potentially shortening it), then perhaps the opposite is true: Not worrying (and BEING present) could extend our lives!

As a Yoga and Meditation Teacher, I have been trained to teach others how to be present. One of the most rewarding moments for me is when a student of mine experiences a self-transformation through becoming still. One of the practices that I teach my students is counting their breaths. It may sound funny, but I invite you to give it a shot with the following recorded practice (this one is pretty short) which is one of many techniques I have recorded for my book:


Next time you find your mind regretting or worrying, make a conscious decision to stop and experience the present.

Be. Here. Now.
With Gratitude,

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Lifestyle, Self-Discovery

Life at the Speed of Light

by JheniLeave a Comment on Life at the Speed of Light

I’ve heard many adults say, “Life just gets faster and faster as you get older.” When I was a kid, I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. I remember waiting — what seemed like forever — for my summer vacation to begin, only to start counting down the days to the first day of school (because I missed seeing most of my classmates). Those long days of summer seemed to go on and on. 

Now that I’m in my mid-40’s (45 to be exact) running my own business as a yoga & meditation teacher, fitness instructor and an author, I see more and more of what “those adults” were talking about. For example, in a single day last week, I taught 2 yoga classes, trained a client, ran errands, spent time with one of the teen girls that I mentor, drove my daughter and her friend to the mall, went to a church midweek service and spent some time on my writing afterwards. In the midst of doing one thing after another all day, I can tend to think to myself, “Where did the day go?” Life is passing by faster than the speed of light… or is it?

Growing up in Los Angeles, I was able to go to a lot of cool places. Once of my absolute favorite places in Southern California is called Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa in Corona, CA. It’s a true day spa where you pay an entrance fee and you can stay there all day relaxing by the pool, enjoying one of their add-on spa services, taking advantage of everything or doing absolutely nothing. On that particular trip to Glen Ivy, I chose to do the latter. I spent part of that day lying on one of their poolside chaise, underneath a bunch of palm trees (here are the pictures I took while lying down):

 

My view on 8/4/08
So relaxing…

I did not have anything else to do other than to just relax and feel the gentle breeze while the palm trees provided just the perfect amount of shade on this beautiful summer day in California. I remember this feeling of peace as I experienced how

TIME. STOOD. STILL.

I feel as if God allowed me to experience that day so that I can capture that moment in my heart as a constant reminder to slow down and just experience BEING as opposed to DOING.

When we get in the mode of constantly DOING, we forget to live our lives in the present moment. I encourage you to try sitting/lying still, listening to your breath, and simply be present. Perhaps this is the way we can prevent life passing by us at the speed of light.

I will elaborate on this concept of BEING PRESENT on next week’s blog!

 

With Gratitude,

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Self-Discovery, Yoga

Theme for October: Overcoming Fear

by Jheni1 Comment on Theme for October: Overcoming Fear
“There is no illusion greater than fear.”
Lao Tzu

Every month in my Yoga classes, we work around a certain theme. The yoga practices that I put together for these classes are created with that goal in mind. I use the principles of Vinyasa Krama (not to be confused with Vinyasa Yoga). Vinyasa Krama is translated as “wise progression” or “intelligent sequencing.”

Vinyasa = Synchronizing Breath and Movement
Krama – Orderly/Wise Action

Every asana (the physical postures in Yoga) included in the practice is there for a specific reason. So with this intention, we’re working on creating a sense of empowerment (twist poses), being reminded to stay grounded and true to our authenticity and love (standing poses and heart-opening back bending poses).

Our apex/peak asana for this month is Camatkarasana (Miracle Pose, also known as “Wild Thing”) for my Monday morning class at Keith Family YMCA and for my Wednesday morning classes at IM=X Pilates & Fitness, Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel Pose – demonstrated below by one of my former aerial yoga students, Danielle Bisheit).

October Apex Poses.png

For the students who are working up to these asanas, I always provide modifications (I advise them to skip the Wheel Pose and stay on their knee for Miracle Pose/Wild Thing):

 

lines Getting Personal lines

I find myself being driven by fear and guilt. I will complete a task because “if I don’t, I will feel guilty.” I’m not this way all the time; in fact, when I spend some great quality time in “The Word” (aka The Bible), meditation, and conversations with God (aka prayer), I am more inclined to do things out of love. I feel more compelled to live out my authenticity.

Recently, I noticed that I was feeling defeated at the end of each day. I felt like I was not productive because I didn’t get everything done that I planned on completing that day <insert guilt here>. Just as a point of reference, this was a typical day:

Screenshot 2019-10-13 17.17.37

After that realization of feeling defeated, I prayed one morning for God to help me get everything done that day. And then — as I always do — I sat still and waited for God to speak to me. He revealed to me that I had way too many things that I wanted to accomplish each day. It may have worked when I was nineteen with no aches and pains, full of energy and when multi-tasking was a way of life. That is no longer me. So I changed my prayer request. I asked God to reveal the things I didn’t need to do that day. Sure enough, things started getting cancelled out of my schedule. Instead of filling those open slots with something else, I used those times to do things I enjoyed: I read, I took extra walks around the neighborhood, I listened to podcasts, I baked, etc.

I love my new schedule. Setting myself up for success feels awesome! I ask for more help from friends (instead of driving my daughter and her friends to places, I ask one of the moms if they can pick-up if I drop-off) and family (which they are always more than happy to help out). I try to multi-task less so that I can give my full attention and energy to a single task.

So back to overcoming fear: What you think is your fear may not actually be the source of it. In my case, the source of my fear wasn’t not being able to doing more but rather the fear of not being enough which is a total lie from the enemy:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:10

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Romans 8:37

Don’t believe the lies. Most of the things we fear are lies, an illusion that will most likely not even happen anyway.

With Gratitude,

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Click here to find out more about my new book, Be Still: The Power of Biblical Meditation

Book, Meditation, Self-Discovery, Yoga

My First Post in FOUR YEARS because…

by Jheni1 Comment on My First Post in FOUR YEARS because…

Today is October 11, 2019. It’s been almost FOUR YEARS since I’ve posted a blog. In the beginning on 2016, I wrote a blog titled, “What a Difference a Year Makes, Pt. 2” (Part 1 was written and posted on 8/12/15). In these posts, I did a short recap on my life since the last time I posted. Each of these “recap posts” ended with an intention (to myself) to post regularly; however, I did not follow through in 2015 or in 2016. Throughout the months and years in between, I battled feeling like a failure. In the back of my mind, I thought that I was just too lazy to have the discipline to do this; but I recently realized that I was wrong.

As long as I can remember, I struggled with self-doubt. Growing up in Los Angeles, there was always someone prettier/smarter/funnier/more talented than me. The Korean Culture that I grew up in was (and is still) filled with comparisons to someone prettier/smarter/funnier/more talented. I thought as an adult, I had “grown out” of this, but unfortunately, self-doubt isn’t something you just grow out of like a pair of shoes. It is something you have to tackle with full intention.

I recently wrote and self-published a book called, “Be Still: The Power of Biblical Meditation.” It is a book filled with breathing techniques, biblical meditation techniques (audio links to the techniques are included), scriptural yoga practice, stories from my life as well as the lives of others (Chapter 5 contains stories from brave souls who have used biblical meditation as one of the ways to overcome daily stress, child abuse, divorce, remarriage, etc.). It was such a wonderful experience, but it forced parts of my self-doubt to surface over and over again.

One of the biggest things I had to overcome was the self-doubt of authenticity.  The common question I battled regularly during that time was, “Am I qualified to write this book?”  According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word qualified is defined as, “fitted (as by training or experience) for a given purpose. 

Qualified: (adj.) fitted (as by training or experience) for a given purpose

So I had to ask myself, “Am I fit — by training and experience — to write this book?” I knew the answer was YES! Through years of training in and experiencing Yoga, Ayurveda, Meditation and Energy Science as well as biblically living out what I learned at the feet of some amazing Bible Teachers and Ministers, I knew I was fit by training and experience.

Writing this book was therapeutic and so needed. I feel that I have grown in my vulnerability through the things I wrote about myself which allows me to live a more authentic life. 

As I end this post, I am setting the intention within myself to blog more often with unapologetic authenticity.

 

With Gratitude,
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