Love...why do you LOVE it?

Bhakti is a devotional practice simply described as a practice that is love centered around God. Even if you don't have a God, I'm sure your practice is devotional in some regard whether it be spiritual, peaceful or even physically centered on redefining your own body in strength, flexibility and balance.

As you develop your own yoga practice you come to love something about it.  Perhaps a particular asana or maybe just the time you take for yourself away from the daily grind. Take a moment on our Facebook page to share your "love story" in yoga. How has it changed you? When did you fall in love with it? What is your favorite asana?  What is your favorite essential oil?

I will pick one lucky winner to receive this Valentine treat of doTERRA products and samples. (ships to US address only)

For more information on doTERRA please visit my website or schedule your private yoga session to experience them first hand aromatically, topically and internally.

I hope your Valentine's Day is filled with lots of LOVE!

Namaste ~ MJ

Follow Your Heart This February #GoRedMi

February is the perfect time to focus on love.  As a bhakta, a devotee of God, I continue to focus my practice on this path, thus, the name Bhakti Wellness. Simply stated, God is Love and Love is God. Often it is simplicity that nurtures, heals and allows us to achieve our ultimate goal of peace and happiness.  For some, simplicity in the mind and heart is unattainable for they are tainted with ego and self preservation.
With inward reflection and increased mindfulness we can slowly begin to observe our own heart and the hearts of others, but the path is an arduous one for many.
Love is accessible to everyone: we all love someone or something, frequently with great intensity. Love makes us forget ourselves, our whole attention being devoted to the object of our adoration. The ego loosens its grip as we think of our beloved’s welfare more than our own. Love gives us concentration: even against our will, we constantly remember the object of our love. In an easy and totally painless way, love creates the preconditions necessary for a fruitful spiritual life. (Vedanta Society)

The path of love is not achieved by all, but we can take small steps toward this united goal of every religion or innate secular thought. For that reason (and a few others) I felt the need to share love this month to everyone by offering two donation based Yin Yoga classes Monday, February 9 and February 16 at 7pm. 100% of the donations will support the American Heart Association and the Go Red For Women campaign (Heart Heroes Team). Please RSVP  to reserve your space.
For more information on Yin Yoga click here.

Advent: A Time for New Beginnings

Advent is the opportunity to begin again.  As we prepare for a very holy event we prepare our minds and hearts to be renewed no matter what our beliefs.  We can change our attitudes and/or behaviors and at the same time, get rid of baggage (both emotional and physical).  We can make new friends and repair relationships with old ones. We can look to the New Year with hope and let our faith provide the underlying strength!
The holiday or Advent season can be somber for many, but we must recognize that fear and isolation are weapons Satan uses to try to destroy human community, and we must fight back! We cannot allow him to wipe out the hope and optimism left in our hearts.We can find strength from Isaiah 40:1-5 where he speaks of comfort not fear.There is peace in finality yet the journey can also be laden with love and comfort.  We must not let our enemies control us nor tempt us into sin and negativity.  This is the time to wash our hands clean of evil, narcissism, hypocrisy, and malice. 
Advent literally means "arrival".  The month is swiftly passing by and we need to take constant measures to enjoy the fruits of this beautiful season.  We miss this essence if we do not become mindful of our hearts and the gift that is offered on December 25.  Divinity is coming into our midst.  It is not a coming of just the past, but a recurring possibility of a future of peace.  Advent, according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, might be compared to a prison cell "in which one waits and hopes and does various unessential things...but is completely dependant on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside." It is a fitting metaphor.  But dependency does not release us from responsibility.  If the essence of Advent is expectancy, it is also readiness for action: watchfulness for every opening, and willingness to risk everything for freedom and a new beginning.
I choose this new beginning.  What do you choose?
Many blessings to you and your family this Advent season.  Let us become humble enough to recognize the gift set before us. 

Back-to-School Special: FREE Massage

Purchase eight (8) private yoga sessions and receive a FREE massage to compliment your path to wellness.  Enjoy relaxation not only in shavasana, but anytime your muscles are craving additional care and attention.  Combined with yoga, massage is a great way to keep the muscles relaxed and ready for any fitness routine! 

Purchase before August 10 and receive a FREE intro kit of doTERRA CPTG essential oils including 5m bottles of peppermint, lavender, and lemon.  Learn how to use essential oils in every day life including topically, internally and aromatically.




Call 586.929.0806 for details or to purchase your package today!  Please visit www.bhaktiwellness.com for additional information.  No other discounts apply. Offer expires August 31, 2012.

Mantra For Peace

Om saha navavatu saha nau bhunaktu
saha viryam kara vavahai
tejasvi nava dhitamastu
ma vidvisha vahai
om santi santi santihi

OM Lord, protect us as one,
Nourish us Lord, as one.
Let us flourish in Thy strength as one.
Let our knowledge, O Lord, be changed to Light and
Change our hate to love,
OM Peace, peace, peace.

Fall Yoga

October presents an ongoing Slow Flow Vinyasa (Bhakti/Devotional Yoga)at St. James Catholic Church in Novi (46325 W. 10 Mile Rd.) Wednesday's at 7:15pm. No RSVP necessary nor religious affiliation. Cost: FREE

Bhakti Yoga Private Sessions (Please call to schedule your session)


~ Private $35/hr. first private session
~ $50 one hour private session/$75 out of studio within 15 mile radius
~ 5 private sessions for $225, 60 minutes each (Save $25)
~ 5 private sessions for $325, 90 minutes each (save $50)tea and chakra assessment included
~ Yoga & Massage (with nationally certified therapist) $100 per session, allow two hours
~ Novi Chamber of Commerce Discount (please call for details)
~ PayPal available

~Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely.
~If needed, eat a healthy, small meal at least an hour and a half before class.
~We encourage you to bring your own mat, but if you need to,
we have a limited number for use.
~Please reserve your space ahead of time and arrive 5-10 minutes early.


Blogger's notes: Although I am not in Key West anymore, my spirit floats anywhere I send it. As long as it is from the heart, our Anahata Chakra, the genuine intention holds steadfast.
When on the mat, my intentions vary, but they are always from the heart. They shift from peace, to family, to strangers, to global issues, to causes and the list goes on. It is the quest of a yogini (or yogi) to follow those intentions off the mat or to release them when fulfilled. Tonight, my intention is for my children. Sweet dreams...

New Yoga Website Coming Soon....

I am pleased to announce that I will have a wonderful space in Novi available soon for small group and private yoga. Though my foundation is devotional (Bhakti), my practice, like any, will create strength, flexibility, tone muscles, bring peace and serenity to our all consuming and hectic lives.
There will be great savings for series packages for the first 30 days so take advantage of this and please share with your friends and family!

Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to Him.

Namaste ~

MJ

Types of Yoga: Your Pick For the New Year

Yoga originates in India and refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines. It is also associated with meditative disciplines in Hinduism and Buddhism. The word "yoga" has many meanings; In Sanskrit, it has many meanings and is derived from the root "to control" or "unite". The most "yogic" expressions stems back to early Buddhist sermons.
A school of philosophy was developed in India during the 4th and 5th centuries called "Yogacara" or, "yoga practice". There are physical postures (asanas) and breath movements (pranayamas). The goal of yoga is universal and that is, to improve health and achieve "moksha", which is liberation from all worldly suffering.
Let's begin to explore types of yoga....
The word Hatha is a compound of the words Ha and Tha meaning sun and moon. Hatha Yoga is what most people in the West associate with the word "Yoga" and is practiced for mental and physical health throughout the West.
Like Hatha, Vinyasa is a general term that is used to describe many different types of classes. Vinyasa, which means breath-synchronized movement, tends to be a more vigorous style based on the performance of a series of poses called Sun Salutations, in which movement is matched to the breath. A Vinyasa class will typically start with a number of Sun Salutations to warm up the body for more intense stretching that's done at the end of class.
Ashtanga practice is very physically demanding because of the constant movement from one pose to the next. In yoga terminology, this movement is called flow. Ashtanga is also the inspiration for what is often called Power Yoga.
Bikram is more generally referred to as Hot Yoga. It is practiced in a 95 to 100 degree room, which allows for a loosening of tight muscles and profuse sweating, which is thought to be cleansing.
Bhakti is devotional yoga. I teach Bhakti Vinyasa Yoga. It is told that the nine forms of Bhakti are:
1. Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories),
2. Kirtana (singing of His glories),
3. Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence),
4. Padasevana (service of His feet),
5. Archana (worship of God),
6. Vandana (prostration to Lord),
7. Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God),
8. Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and
9. Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self).
Any method of Bhakti can be practiced and through it, one can achieve Divine illumination, or, as I feel, a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Though most Christian fundamentalists consider yoga a demonic influence, I beg to differ. If peace and serenity are achieved with devotion to Christ at the center, what unrest is caused? Perhaps distance from symbolism and structure. Is a society without a rigid structure the path to destruction? Why can't the "structure" equate to no structure? A world focused on non-judgment, no expectations, no competition, respect, and utopia?
For today, let one hour of your day consist of those things. Let us give thanks and gratitude for the time we gave to our bodies. To remove the distractions society and the media give us each day. Let His Grace fill us and sustain us until we allow Him the prayer He deserves once again. For no man can ever fill the voids within us.