The t-shirt I am wearing today says: DARE TO DREAM

The word for dream in Sanskrit is Bhavana. It has a beautiful definition. It means "Having the ability to see yourself in a positive way." Imagine two people with the same back pain. Person number one has severe back pain and comes into the doctors office and the doctor asks him how he sees himself without back pain. He tells the doctor he cannot imagine himself without backpain. He cannot see beyond he pain. Person number two comes in with severe back pain and the doctor asks him how he sees himself without the back pain. This patient says I see myself jogging, mountain biking, beach walking.. You guessed it - the person who was able to see himself in a positive way healed much quicker than the person who was not able to see himself in a positive way.

How do we cultivate the quality of bhavana? Two ways that we will practice today - chanting and blending breath with asana. Chanting strengthens your voice quality, brightens your mood and builds confidence which all of these practices develop the skill to see yourself in a positive way. The second way to build bhavana is by blending breath and posture. Doing the same postures each day gives the opportunity to be a witness to the strength you develop and the openings you create in your body which also lead to a more firm and upright posture and more confidence.

When I saw this shirt to me it read: Dare to think highly of yourself, dare to think of yourself in a positive way - so much that doubt has no chance of getting in ;)

An additional benefit from developing this quality of visualizing yourself in a positive way is that people around you naturally become stronger and more positive.

Let's practice.

During balance poses: it's easy to visualize yourself in a positive way when you are balancing perfectly, apply bhavana when you fall out of the pose :)