Grab your journal and drop into a moment of reflection and self-discovery. In Season 2 of Present Moments, we're using the 'What Really Matters' deck of cards created by MetaFox to explore a variety of core values. Each episode is a 5-7 minute guided process that reviews the card and it's meaning, before mindfully evaluating what the value means to you and how it is represented. You'll also be given examples of how you can create opportunities to embrace the value in your daily practices and routine.

Self-discipline is our value exploration today. Boy is this is good one! There are definitely places in my life where I need more discipline and areas where I could stand to be more flexible and less rigid. As we go through the practice today, I encourage you to bring in the yoga yama satya, or truthfulness, to your exploration so you can be honest about your relationship with self-discipline.

Some questions to explore:

• When do you overindulge?
• How do you feel about structure and routine? Do you have one?
• Do you have a set of priorities that guide where you spend your time and energy each day?
• Are there areas of your life that overly prescriptive?
• Which relationships are supportive of the discipline you are trying to cultivate and which ones are potentially destructive? (work, family, friends, pets, exercise, money, sex, diet, substances, etc.)
• What do you value about those relationships and why do they reinforce or derail your ability to practice discipline?

For more episodes of Present Moments and to access the entire library of great content from 4 seasons-worth of reflections and mindfulness practices, subscribe for $5.99/month. Start your free 3-day trial at ⁠www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

Mindfulness can be as easy as drinking a delicious beverage and noticing everything you can about the experience. Join me in this episode with your icy or hot beverage and let's drop into this Present Moment.

Some tips for using this particular practice beyond the Podcast:

• For kiddos and teens that are dysregulated... take them to a smoothie, coffee or juice shop. On the way there, tell them that their job is to see how many things they can notice in silence about the experience. From walking in the door to taking their first sip. This is a terrific strategy to employ when talking them through a problem or big emotion isn't optimal. Sometimes changing the scenery and focus can stimulate a calming effect and move the energy away from fixation and into creativity for problem-solving.

• If you are at the office and have been in non-stop meetings, grab a beverage and head outside for 15 minutes. Leave your phone and smart devices behind so you can truly unwind for a moment. See if you can simply focus on the act of drinking and enjoying the beverage. Each time you notice the mind wandering, take a sip and bring yourself back to the experience.

• Preparing for an exam? It's said the brain can only handle 90-minutes of intense focus before the mind begins to wander and you experience diminishing returns. Study hard for 90 minutes. Step away, and make yourself a beverage or head out to your favorite local watering hole for a non-alcoholic drink. Do the Beverage Present Moment practice for 15-20 minutes breathing deeply and releasing the facts and figures. When you return to your studying, you'll notice you're able to focus again and retain the information.

To enjoy the entire library and for access to unpublished seasons, begin your monthly subscription to Present Moments for $5.99/mo. New content is added weekly! You can begin a free 3-day trial at ⁠www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

Season 4 of Present Moments uses excerpts from the book, The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook for Living Yoga Philosophy, by Stuart Ray Sarbacker and Kevin Kimple to dissect yoga beyond the mat. In each episode, I read a short selection from the book and offer an interpretation followed by some practical ways in which you can incorporate the concept in your daily life. Yoga is a spiritual practice that offers a framework for people who have the desire to walk the path of enlightenment.

In this episode, we further dissect the 8 limbs and discuss how you can approach the framework. We offer ideas on various ways in which you can incorporate or study the concepts, and challenge the notion of it being prescriptive. The beauty of the 8 limbs is that they each complement one another and there truly is no right or wrong way to explore.

For more episodes of Present Moments and to access the entire library of great content from 4 seasons-worth of reflections and mindfulness practices, subscribe for $5.99/month. Start your free 3-day trial at www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

Season 4 of Present Moments uses excerpts from the book, The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook for Living Yoga Philosophy, by Stuart Ray Sarbacker and Kevin Kimple to dissect yoga beyond the mat. In each episode, I read a short selection from the book and offer an interpretation followed by some practical ways in which you can incorporate the concept in your daily life. Yoga is a spiritual practice that offers a framework for people who have the desire to walk the path of enlightenment.

We begin on page 13 with an overview of the 8 limbs of yoga:

1. Restraint (yama)
2. Observance (niyama)
3. Posture (asana)
4. Breath control (pranayama)
5. Withdraw (prathyahara)
6. Fixation/Concentration (dharana)
7. Meditation (dhyana)
8. Contemplation (samadhi)

In yoga philosophy we spend a lifetime working in and with the physical realm to create a pure, conscious line of energy between heaven and earth, and attune to the soul's divine purpose. As each of the 8 limbs is practiced, the yogi becomes a clearer channel and conduit to become embodied spirituality. As we master alignment (inner & outer world; heart, mind, body, spirit; and divine feminine and divine masculine) and reduce attachment, we minimize conflict and stress and open our hearts and minds to become thoughtfully aware. This in turn offers the ability to flow with the energy of life and appreciate the various lessons and teachers in their earthly form (people, nature, experiences, emotions, etc.) without getting stuck or ruminating. The framework is a structure in which each tenet complements and is a prerequisite to all the others.

For more Present Moments episodes and to access the entire library of content, subscribe for $5.99/month. You'll receive access to 4 seasons-worth of various 5-10 minute moments that will help you find grounding in a flighty world. Start a free 3-day trial at www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

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Season 4 of Present Moments uses excerpts from the book, The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook for Living Yoga Philosophy, by Stuart Ray Sarbacker and Kevin Kimple to dissect yoga beyond the mat. In each episode, I read a short selection from the book and offer an interpretation followed by some practical ways in which you can incorporate the concept in your daily life. Yoga is a spiritual practice that offers a framework for people who have the desire to walk the path of enlightenment.

Episode 402 continues to unpack yoga philosophy and follows pages 9 & 10 from the book. We discuss the principle of detachment, coherence, and mental discipline as means of clarity. We review effort and action vs. receiving and being - balance in the space of tension/conflict when we are hyper-focused on outcomes and expectations vs allowing the universe to reveal the best possible solution.

For more episodes of Present Moments and to access the entire library of great content from 4 seasons-worth of reflections and mindfulness practices, subscribe for $5.99/month. Start your free 3-day trial at www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

Season 4 of Present Moments uses excerpts from the book, The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook for Living Yoga Philosophy, by Stuart Ray Sarbacker and Kevin Kimple to dissect yoga beyond the mat. In each episode, I read a short selection from the book and offer an interpretation followed by some practical ways to incorporate the concept in your daily life. Yoga is a spiritual practice that offers a framework for people who have the desire to walk the path of enlightenment.

In this episode, I read from pages 7 & 8 - what yoga is and how to enter a mode of awareness as a method of agency. Agency is the process of acting with integrity and in ways that are aligned to your core values. Rather than simply reacting or fostering relationships, patterns or behaviors that are harmful, you make mindful decisions from a place of stillness, calm and your highest Self. We discuss discipline, reflection and action from a place of full capacity and how yoga is a practice of understanding energy and consciousness.

For more episodes of Present Moments and to access all 4 seasons worth of content, subscribe for $5.99/month. We provide updated content weekly and offer a free 3-day trial at www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

In Season 3 of Present Moments, we use a variety of oracle card decks as prompts for self-discovery. Each episode takes an affirmation, intention and/or message from the card to assist with exploration and evaluation. Oracle cards have been used to reveal blind spots and/or to bring awareness to thoughts, experiences, relationships, and behaviors that may or may not serve us. Additionally, they can be a powerful tool to remind us of what is truly important and activating energetic motion in the direction that supports our divine purpose.

This episode dives into Loyalty and card #36, the dog, of the Animal Spirit Oracle deck by Lea Androic. Today I'd like you all to think about loyalty and how it shows up in your life.

• What examples do you have of loyalty and disloyalty?
• How loyal are you and under what circumstances?
• Who or what in your life deserves your loyalty?
• What does loyalty mean to you and are there varying degrees or is it consistent with everyone?

For more episodes of Present Moments and to access great new content from 4 'seasons' worth of reflections, subscribe for $5.99/month. Begin a free 3-day trial today at www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments

In Season 3 of Present Moments, we use a variety of oracle card decks as prompts for self-discovery. Each episode takes an affirmation, intention and/or message from the card to assist with exploration and evaluation. Oracle cards have been used to reveal blind spots and/or to bring awareness to thoughts, experiences, relationships, and behaviors that may or may not serve us. Additionally, they can be a powerful tool to remind us of what is truly important and activating energetic motion in the direction that supports our divine purpose.

Today I've drawn card #14 the butterfly from the Animal Spirit Oracle by Lea Androic, and our exploration is on change and freedom. Many people associate transformation with the butterfly, and this particular card invites us to evaluate how well we cope with change.

For more episodes of Present Moments and to discover the entire library of episodes in four different seasons, start your subscription for $5.99/month. Begin a free 3-day trial at www.ascendingspiritwp.com/present-moments