If you long to cultivate a regular practice that becomes a spiritual anchor and sanctuary for you throughout every season and phase of life, this guide was made for you!
Community
We’re humans and we thrive in connection. Especially as women! We’re not supposed to go it alone. If you’ve been trying for months, years, or maybe even decades, to cultivate a consistent embodiment practice, and you’ve never quite been able to do it, there’s nothing wrong with you. We’re really not wired for it! We all crave the support of a nourishing community.
Step to take: Seek out a practice group, guide, or community that you resonate with. Try spaces and facilitators out until you find the one that feels the best, that feels like you’ve found your tribe.
Consistency
Create a regular practice time and get yourself into a steady rhythm that you commit to for a certain time frame – I would suggest starting with 3 months, as this is enough time to make it a habit.
Step to take: Carve out a regular time for yourself, ideally on the same day of the week and time of day. If you’re starting with once a week, keep that steady for a while until you can maintain it. If you’re ready to make it more frequent, such as 3 times a week or 20 minutes every morning, just make sure that you’re not over committing. Find a cadence that’s doable. Put it into your calendar on repeat, and guard that practice time with your life! Unless it’s a true emergency, don’t let anything get in the way of your sacred time. Or, if it’s something that really means a lot to you, you can always move your practice time once in a while too. It’s not about being rigid, but devoted and consistent.
Irresistibility
Make your practice so good that your heart longs for it, and your body asks you for it. When I started to see my practice as my sanctuary, as a sacred space that’s always here for me, that holds me through my deepest grief and highest joys, a holy place I can go anytime, anywhere, in every season of life, showing up exactly as I am…..it changed everything for me around my practice. So many women I’ve worked with around this discover that they have an unconscious performative approach to their practice. Thinking that they have to do it a certain way, or show up in a certain kind of mood. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Our practice is for us, to give to us, to revive us, to love us. This kind of cozy relationship with our practice is not only possible, it’s what we are creating together in every Amba Embodiment Circle.
Step to take: There are many layers to this one. First of all, make sure you truly enjoy what you’re doing–that it actually feels good to your body and heart. I know so many women who’ve struggled with maintaining certain styles of yoga practice, only to discover that they didn’t actually feel that good doing those movements in the first place. Then, make sure that your practice space feels incredible! This may mean wearing clothing that’s soft and feels good against your skin, or you anoint yourself with a special oil, you have soft fluffy rugs to roll around on, you light beautiful candles, the space is clean…..it’s all up to you. You can tune in and set it up so you absolutely love it and feel held when you’re there.
All In / Heart Fire:
If you’ve ever attempted to create a consistent practice for yourself, be it yoga, meditation, breath work or movement, then you probably know the painful lacklusterness of showing up to your practice half-heartedly, out of sheer obligation. Tapping into our heart fire and intention makes all the difference.
Step to take: Show up with a clear and strong intention that’s lit up by your heart fire so that you remember your why and breathe the feeling of your why through your whole body.
Receive support
Let your loved ones know how much this time to practice means to you.
Step to take: Set up your loved ones and/or those you live with. Ask them to support you in carving out a regular time to nourish yourself. Whether that means asking your husband to watch the kids, seeing if your mom can come over to care for your baby, or requesting that your housemates agree to be quiet for that time, or something else. . . when you open up about the importance of your practice to loved ones who care about you and want the very best for you, you’ll most likely be met with support and encouragement that melt your heart!
Go Out & Beyond
When we voyage outside of linear time, and into the realm of the timeless, we receive what is quite possibly the greatest whole-being recharge that exists. If you’ve ever had a taste of this state in your practice, then you know firsthand the deep magic of this zone!
Step to take: Ok, so this one can take a minute to get down. It’s usually the hardest of these six steps, and also the one that makes the biggest impact on how powerful your practice will be. The best way to learn how to do this is to regularly train with and practice in the presence of a seasoned guide who knows how to open up these pathways within herself, and is also skilled at pointing out the trails for others.