Sedona Sol Acupunture & Ayurveda

Renewal of the Heart with Ana Camacho-Hansen

5/18/2021

Renewal of the Heart
When it comes to marriage, we can all agree that unconditionally loving and living with a life partner is a daily choice. Hopefully, the lovers of the world know how to love unconditionally, forgive wholeheartedly, and live faithfully in the world. I have been married for 15 years and have lived with my husband for 20 years. We have differences that, on the surface, may appear to be very difficult, and there were times when I was overwhelmed by our differences. Somehow, we journeyed through the phases of our adventure and made it to the other side. I am grateful for the adventure and knowledge that only lovers know through endless conversations, truth-revealing, and problem-solving. In this article, I would like to offer some hope for those couples out there that day after day make a choice to be together through all challenges and difficulties. When we enter relationships of any kind, we commit ourselves to work on the subconscious of the mind or the Chitta. There is an image that I love that explains the Chitta, where there is a massive iceberg. Above the water, the iceberg appears as a mountain of ice, pointy and meager in size. However, below the water level, the iceberg is extremely deep and monstrous. The subconscious is below the surface and something that we don’t understand in its entirety. When we are in marriages and partnerships, all that is below the surface rises up for contemplation and understanding.

A Happy Heart Chakra
We cannot talk about happy marriages and partnerships without addressing the Anahata chakra or heart chakra. Talking about the heart chakra has become a cliché in the yoga world. It seems like everyone needs help in activating it, and they don’t exactly know what it means. The yogic heart center is located at the spine at the same point as the center of the chest but on the backside of the body. Venus is the ruling planet of the chakra that is the “wheel of the unstruck.” The image of the chakra is a green hexagon, and the sound of the chakra is YAM (pronounced YUM). This chakra is very profound for many reasons. The health of this one chakra affects the rest of the chakra system. The heart chakra is a deep well of latent subconscious experiences waiting to be revealed, contemplated, and understood. When the heart chakra is healthy, embracing, allowing, and receiving unconditional love becomes easy and beautiful. When the heart chakra is not healthy, embracing, allowing, and receiving unconditional love becomes painful, confusing, and overly dramatic. Receiving unconditional love is one of the most difficult challenges. I know it has been for me over the years. When the heart chakra is activated, people often think that everything is lovey-dovey and rainbows, but in my experiences, that is only half true.
To completely embrace unconditional love, it is our responsibility to embrace the subconscious. When the heart chakra is activated, all those latent mind-stuff of the subconscious rises to the surface for you to release and surrender. Once that mind-stuff is released from the subconscious, it is our choice to apply judgment of the ego or release it with the higher knowledge of intuition. Sometimes that release can be painful and emotional, and sometimes it can be beautiful and joyful. The most profound thing is the release with the higher knowledge of intuition.
After the cleansing of the heart chakra’s deep well, you are a new person.

A New You
This spring, I encourage you to launch a renewal of the heart. When you do your yoga practice, make the intention to cleanse your past experiences. Do some gentle backbends that open the heart center, using the bolster at the lower back. Visualize your heart chakra radiant and open with joy and happiness of the present moment. Also, make the intention to hold the space for your lover or partner or friend to renew the heart as well. This is what lovers know best. Lovers know how to hold the space for others to cleanse the depths of the subconscious. Lovers show up for each other day after day, year after year, because they know the secrets of unconditional love and are not afraid of the adventure.

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Happy Spring! Tis This Season of Cleanses

4/6/2021

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Happy Spring, everyone! Tis the season to cleanse! In Ayurveda, April is the ideal time to let go of the accumulated dosha from winter and late winter. Furthermore, in Chinese Medicine, it is time to cleanse the Liver or wood element.
Right about now, we all feel the natural pull to cleanse, reset, reconnect, pay attention, nurture, and revitalize the body. As the temperature increases and the sun strengthens, we feel the urge to lighten up.
So how to do this? There are a couple of different strategies and variations of weak to strong cleansing methods. Customized cleansing is what I suggest for my patients. There are a variety of different programs, changes of diet and lifestyle that can meet this goal. If you are interested, let me know, and we can discuss further. Some simple things that can be done include following simple Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet regimens such as eating at the same time every day, not overeating, eating less in general. Something simple I can suggest here is to pay extra attention to your digestive metabolism, or agni. The following recipe is a tea you can drink if you feel sluggish digestion, loss of appetite, or overall heavy upon eating.
Enjoy!

Cayenne Agni Tea
4 cups of water
1/2 cup of freshly squeezed or store-bought lime juice
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon of trikatu
2 pinches of cayenne
1 pinch of pink salt

Boil the water, fresh ginger, trikatu, cayenne, and pink salt in a pot for 7 minutes. Take it off the heat to cool. Add the fresh lime juice. Drink before meals 1-1 ½ ounces at a time.
I’d also like to add—I know many of you are receiving your vaccination shots as of late. I’ve been asked my opinion about which one is most advantageous, and I’m happy to share with anyone who asks. The decision to get a vaccine is a personal choice, and as we all know, everyone has an opinion as to what is the right thing to do. I’d like to add to this discussion a bit. But from a more Ayurvedic point of view. Everything we “take in” with all senses, including that which we take into our body via our skin and blood has to be processed via agni. This would include the vaccine which would get processed via our dhatu Agni or tissue metabolism. The number one advice I have is, when you schedule your vaccine is check-in with yourself. Ask yourself, “How will my body digest this?”

“Am I strong enough right now to process this?” “What can I do to help my body digest this better?” If you are already weak, stressed, or dealing with a mild health issue, you may want to just wait a short while until the agni is stronger. We are what we can digest, and I want you to set yourself up for the most positive experience possible for your own health and equanimity. Of course, I realize that many have had or have no choice of the timing of receiving the vaccine. I also realize that those in the most compromised or weakened states need the vaccine the most. So they have no choice but to get the vaccine to protect themselves. In these cases, we all do the best we can with what we have, and the body is magnificently attuned to adjusting accordingly.

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6 Tips for a Home Yoga Practice

2/28/2021

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How have you allowed your yoga practice to evolve? Yes! Throughout the years, the yoga practice changes to reflect the ebb and flow of life experiences. Before I had my son, my yoga practice consisted mainly of group classes and longer weekend workshops. Well, my yoga practice changed with my journey of motherhood. Instead of meditating three hours at a time, I meditated 10 minutes here and there. I did yoga postures with a toddler climbing me and playing Thomas the Train (where my legs are the train tracks). It was a far cry from the days at a spa-like environment of a yoga studio. So I had to rewrite my yoga practice and allow it to evolve to fit the needs of my REAL life. With the Pandemic fully in motion, we are asked to change our yoga practice. I am curious to know: how has your practice changed since the Pandemic? As a yoga instructor, I am also being asked to change how I connect with other yoga practitioners and my yoga students. I have been putting more attention into creating video content so that it is easily accessible for everyone. I teach online yoga classes more than I ever have in the past. The question comes up all the time: how do you discipline yourself to do a yoga practice at home? I have reflected upon my twenty years of yoga and came up with unique ways to keep engaged in personal practice. Yes! Keep yourself engaged in yoga! Here are my tips on how to create a yoga practice at home.

Remember why you do yoga.

Do you feel good when you practice yoga? Do you feel like yoga helps you relieve stress? Do you feel more connected to the heart? Do you feel like it slows down the mind? Do you sleep better at night because you do yoga? There are many reasons why people LOVE yoga and practice it regularly. Write down why you do yoga and stick it on your bathroom mirror. Many things in life are easy to forget, but don’t let yoga be one of them.

Make your sanctuary.

Make your yoga practice an unconditional practice, where conditions don’t dictate the results of the yoga experience. There have been plenty of times when I just unrolled a mat in the middle of a messy living room, without the candles and aromatherapy. Sure! Candles, aromatherapy, and incense all make a living space more peaceful and beautiful. But learn to practice even when your environment is not the most ideal. In my opinion, it is more important to be adaptable than to be conditional with my yoga practice. You can genuinely practice anywhere at any time!

Allow yourself to skip a day sometimes.

There are times in life when it is okay to skip a day, a week, or even a month. When you are truly in love with your yoga practice, you can easily return to the postures and meditations again. There are circumstances in life where yoga poses are not the priority. Taking care of an aging parent or surgery that is life-saving are just a few examples that take precedence in life. In my life experiences, I found that yoga’s true essence gets more integrated with the mundane. Rama Jyoti Vernon used to talk about using her kitchen sink as a alter for the Divine. When we understand yoga, we know that it is in all that we do and say and feel.

Be your own best friend.

Encouraging words go a long way! Give to yourself as you would give to your own best friend. Develop an intimate relationship with yourself. Know yourself more than any other could know you. Make yoga dates with yourself and make promises to yourself to keep them! We can not serve others entirely if we are empty or exhausted. Allow yourself to receive all that is Divine to be of service to others.

Do short 10-minute (or less) yoga breaks.

When you are vacuuming the living room, take a moment and stretch the arms above the head. When you are gardening, rest a moment and do cat and cow poses to loosen up the lower back. When you are cooking a meal, stand in a tree pose to practice your balance. These are spontaneous yoga breaks that naturally happen throughout the tasks of the day. You don’t need to be wearing yoga pants, and you don’t need to be in a yoga studio. The postures can be done spontaneously. Don’t forget the breath!

Have fun.

I have been practicing yoga for twenty-one years, and indeed, there were times when yoga was not fun. When I was first learning yoga, I was rigid and strict about the yoga practice. As my practice developed, I realized that yoga needs to be fun. Actually, life needs to be fun. I have great enjoyment in doing my yoga practice with my cat and dog friends with me on my lap or at my side. They enrich the depth of meditation, and sometimes make me laugh! Laughter and fun are sometimes the ONLY medicine during your yoga practice. I often laugh at myself when I make my yoga videos because I say weird and goofy things. I often laugh at myself when I teach yoga classes because, again, I say weird and good things sometimes. I often laugh at myself when I meditate. I know many have suffered during this Pandemic, and I don’t want to downplay suffering. In my heart, I know that the Divine delights in the balance of humor and play.

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The Yoga World Will Miss You, Rama!

1/30/2021

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When Rama passed into Maha Samadhi last November, I just was not ready to write out my thoughts into words, not comprehensible words at least. Like many others in the yoga world, I was extremely shocked by her passing. My sister just had dinner with her and Max last September, and I had just talked to her on Zoom during a Yoga Unify meeting. When Max left this world, I sent flowers to her and Myra. It did not occur to me that Rama was on her way to the other side as well. I wish I would have known. This tribute is a love letter to Rama and the cherished moments that I had the privilege to spend with her in the last 17 years. The time I spent with Rama was a miracle in many, many ways. It was a miracle that I stumbled upon her teachings at 7 Centers Yoga Arts in Sedona, Arizona.

Rama Jyoti Vernon's role in yoga will not be easily forgotten, and her presence as a world-renowned master of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is one that occurred through whole-hearted integration. Yes, others study Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and maybe academically understood the Sutras at some level, but Rama lived it at EVERY level. She was an everyday householder with multiple past husbands and left behind many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She worked in a household as a mother, washing dishes and vacuuming floors. She went through the trials and tribulations of staying up with children through sleepless nights, as many parents experience throughout the early years of parenting babies and toddlers.

In 2003, My first memory of Rama's was her beautiful voice and her chanting the mantra OM. She awakened something in me that is difficult to explain. Her voice was ancient and alive with WISDOM. I would find out that her wisdom was from her yoga practice and her experiences as a mother and teacher. Her voice awakened something in my bones, and I remember looking at her as a new student of mantra, thinking that the sounds could not possibly be coming from Rama. When I was supposed to be closing my eyes to follow the mantra, I could not help but open my eyes repeatedly to check if she was really chanting. Later I realized that her voice was the voice of every guru she ever studied with, and she studied with many of them. She studied with heart-filled curiosity and receptivity. Her stories about Mr. Iyengar, Satchidananda, and Baba Haridas were insights into the truth of yoga and the ancients.

Around 2005, I attended one of Rama's yoga retreats in New Mexico, where she spoke of her experiences at Yogananda's celebration of life with her mother. Rama's mother was very spiritual as well, and they attended together a celebration for Yogananda Paramahansa's Maha Samadhi. Rama was so devoted to her parents. I remember her talking about her father and mother with tenderness and beautiful caring. As she spoke of the majestic Paramahansa, the retreat attendees felt the presence of the guru in the room. She mentioned his presence with a bright, shining disposition, and the scent of roses became overwhelming. Rama said that you know when the gurus are present because they bring with them the scent of roses. Rama had a deep affection for the gurus and teachers of yoga. She talked about them like they were her family and friends because they were. I learned that she hosted many great teachers in her home in California when she invited them to teach in the United States. She loved them so much, and she cherished them. Even today, I can imagine Rama serving as a gracious host and listening whole-heartedly at the feet of the gurus.

There were moments in my life that I went to Rama for help, and she always made me feel heard. She always made me feel like I was the only person in her presence, even if there were fifteen people around us. She was a mother for me in so many ways, and there are innumerable stories about Rama that anyone close to her remembers with great fondness. Actually, I feel that there is enough for a whole book. (Maybe that is something yet to come.) Lastly, though, I want to mention the most profound impact Rama left on me.

She gave me a lasting impression of her dedication to peace for all people. Peace was of real importance to Rama, and her work in the Soviet Union changed the world. Her work during the Cold War era was brilliant and without-equal, and moreover, it unquestionably illustrated Rama's dedication to peace. Rama had such a clear sense of service in yoga. She committed her yoga practice to the peace of the world. Unlike many yoga practitioners today that treat yoga as the latest fitness trend, Rama knew that yoga was the "how" of the many questions about peace-making in today's society. Rama taught us that there must be a higher intention in our own yoga practice. If I am candid, I am scared that yoga in the United States has become too superficial and that the last great wisdom keeper, Rama Jyoti Vernon, was the only one that could truly teach to the DEPTH that yoga deserves. However, I know if I shared this fear with Rama, she would laugh at me with a gigantic grin and tell me to keep going on my yogic path with a sense of Alice's wonder (like in Alice in Wonderland.)

Dear Rama, there is so much love here for you. Thank you for everything that you gave to this world. Thank you for your relentless service in yoga. Thank you for all your LOVE and KINDNESS. When I smell the scent of roses, I will always think of you. In conclusion, I want to end with Rama's message to yoga teachers. I must have read this message at least 100 times, either as a yoga practitioner or yoga teacher trainer, but its message is different for me now. With my highly regarded teacher and friend in Maha Samadhi, I will hold this new posture with unswerving steadiness. Please read it and imagine Rama's voice.

"There are no teachers. We are all students bound together in infinite enthusiasm of growth and exploration. We are not teachers, and yet we shall teach, teaching not with an attitude of teacher or guru but as a servant, a fellow seeker joyously sharing with others the knowledge and training we ourselves have found.
We are all a part of the greater cosmic plan. Let us honor those that have walked before us and prepared the way. Insignificant as our part may seem, it is a contribution to the evolutionary scope of all humankind.
If you are led to the path of a teacher, then practice what you teach. Let go, and the Divine will work through you and the barriers to spiritual growth will drop away.
Teaching yoga is not a business, it is not even a profession. It is a privilege. Place heart and soul within your teaching wherever you are, whoever you're with. See the Divine within your students and let the teachings be the worship of this universal truth and beauty.
You are a humble servant and as a fellow seeker, joyously share with others the riches you yourself have found. We are all perennial students of yoga. There is always more to learn, more to know, more to realize and more to share.
'Whoever does the work to be done without resort to its fruits. S/he is the Sannyasin and the Yogin, not the man who lights the sacrificial fire and does not the work. '-Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 1.
To love is to go on teaching forever without growing weary. There may be times when you may cease to love, and groan beneath the burden of environmental obstacles and doubt.
When the first high tide of elation begins to ebb, and you see darkness filling the corners of light, hold your new posture with unswerving steadiness.
There will be periodic moments of wavering enthusiasm and disbelief. Fickleness cannot be prevented but it can be observed. Beware of Tamas. Embrace Satva and be patient in Rajas. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. "

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Renewal of the Heart with Ana Camacho-Hansen

Happy Spring! Tis This Season of Cleanses

6 Tips for a Home Yoga Practice

The Yoga World Will Miss You, Rama!

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