A new life, a new treatment, a new yoga adventure!

After a period of laziness, job failures and periods of instability, I finally decided to do something with my life. I've been suffering from anxiety disorders, major depression and insomnia since the age of 15. I was prescribed Fluoxetine (known as Prozac), and honestly, I can say that it worked at first, but lately I've been having emotional breakdowns so I went to check out what to do with my treatment. Then my prescription changed to Trazodone and I've been sleeping like a baby girl. Nevertheless, I can't wait to stop taking pills and start living my life normally, without any chemicals or whatsoever. And the answer just came to my door last week...

I finally restarted my yoga routine! It makes me so happy to practice it again... my whole body is thanking me and the pain is all worthy. This is my personal solution! I've taken four different kinds of yoga so far: Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, Hatha Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga. Yoga isn't only about meditation and philosophy, as many people may think. It is about looking inside your body and your mind, recognize your inner self, know your body strength, limit and balance, and finally find your own control and focus. That, with a complete series of postures or "Asanas", that require lots of strength, balance, flexibility, and stamina. The ones who haven't practiced yoga have NO IDEA how hard it is to get your asanas well done!

Hatha Yoga is the most common practice in the West, considered as a low-impact exercise, usually known as a stress-reducing practice. It consists, mainly, on achieving perfect body alignment in a pose, an maintaining it a few seconds.

Asthanga Vinyasa Yoga, on the other hand, consists on a dynamic flow of yoga postures, where poses are then held for a predefined number of breaths. Attention in Ashtanga Vinyasa is placed on the breath and the journey between the postures.

Finally, I practiced Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini means "the coiled power," a force which ordinarily rests at the base of the spine. Kundalini is a sleeping, dormant potential force in the human organism. The kundalini energy is nothing but the natural energy of the Self, awakened by lots of meditation and postures. This is one of my personal favorites because it enforces my mind control and meditation. I started practicing Samkya two years ago and loved the philosophy of Chakras alignment and Aura Soma. It really worked for me. I highly recommend it for consciousness, physical and mental health, and love for yourself. This philosophy (Samkya) combines the art of dancing (usually bellydancing, which I adore) with woman awareness, love and self respect. I can say that all of this is a whole new adventure for me now that I can dedicate full time to yoga, meditation and, more specifically, to myself.

Now, the most popular mantra, pronounced as "Aum" or "Om", used for most meditation and pronounced for a few seconds until there's no air in your limbs (technically speaking).

xoxox

Annie