Enlightening ways to find your silent space within and make it part of your daily practice.

Life in Gozo is one of the parts of my life I cherish deeply. In winter it turns a beautiful bold hue of green, resting against the cobbled walls of limestone set against the blueness of the sky and sea. It fills me with beauty and beauty equates to love. Love, appreciation, courage and beauty all create inner energy that fills us with light. In these times I feel it’s imperative to invite in as much love & light as we can to keep our inner state healthy, which in part reflects our outer world.

Love emanates from the heart. We are love. Our arms grow out from the heart and are there for connection. Can you sense that? Are you reaching out from the inside? Are you connecting to what fills your heart with light and love?

As you sit can you feel the space to the left and right side of your chest? The inner space of silence and stillness is what our hearts need. These silent spaces inside create a deep connection that gives us an anchor we can hang onto any time, especially if we feel we are drowning in the abyss of opinions, the news, the confusion and all those voices.

The silent space will lower the volume. The silent space will create a connection to your heart.

Can you get comfortable in your silent, still space?

In the yoga tradition the right side of the heart is responsible for feeling..can you feel it?
If not, remember it’s a practice, keep connecting to how you feel to strengthen the connection of allowing your emotions to happen.

Allow yourself to feel your emotions fully until they feel seen and heard and dissolve like milk chocolate on your tongue.(haha, I’m on a 30-day sugar cleanse and so missing chocolate!) In this very moment, how does your heart feel?
If I were to ask you to share one word that would describe that feeling what would it be? Can you sit with that feeling and just feel all it’s feels?

Dropping in regularly to connect to that inner voice, the one that knows what’s best for you. The silence & stillness is your spiritual experience. The space between your thoughts. The thoughts your mind feeds your body. Where you feel open and where you don’t. Where you can feel and where you can’t. There’s no judgement here, just listening, collecting data and working towards connecting to our inner world – the only world you are in control of.

Our inner world is a reflection of the outer.

The silent stillness is the spiritual experience you can’t read about. It’s yours. There is no right or wrong experience. You are just connecting your mind, body and spirit. Your team. Reflect on whether you feed this team equally, lovingly and kindly.
Is there one of those team players that is being fed too much and another who is feeling hungry? Reflect on what you can do to bring balance into nourishing your team of mind, body and spirit so they all feel equally fed to serve us on all levels.

Let’s bring balance into your inner and outer worlds. Let’s begin to sense our breath, more and more. Everyday. Especially when we are challenged or in conflict.

When we are experiencing a lot of negativity in our lives where nothing is working out and/or we are in conflict it is time to sit and be still. It’s time to regulate your breath.

So the mind so the breath, so the breath so the mind. As above so below.

Here’s a practice to play with:

In a comfortable seated position with your thumb and forefinger touching (Gyan hand mudra) and the palm of the hand facing up, begin to breathe in and out from your nose and just become aware of your breath. Sense the space the inhale provides and the relaxation the exhale provides.

Sit here for a few minutes to sense the breath, body, mind and spirit.
Then begin to inhale from the nose and count to 5, then exhale and count to 5. If counting in and out to 5 is too restrictive for you choose a sustainable number.

Practice this for 1-3 minutes every day. Notice how you feel.

If counting to 5 on the inhale and exhale is a struggle for you I highly suggest you practice this technique for a longer period of time to the number you can do until you can reach five..then keep practising!

Remember, the breath is your life force It’s why you are still here! Honour it, pay attention to it. Find the still silent space within to rest and digest which in turn makes your heart very happy. However, you feel you share.
We do need to be feeling more love and more light right now.

So the mind So the breath So the breath So the mind

Thank you all so much for reading, I do hope these practices will move into your everyday life so we can all reap the benefits of more love and light.

Michelle Bartolo's 2022 Offerings

1.) Weekly Classes In Gozo
Three classes a week on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays in Gharb, Gozo.

2.) Weekly Classes On Zoom
For the global community, Michelle offers a live class on Zoom every Tuesday and Friday.

3) Free Short Practices suitable for all levels & sound bath meditations on YouTube.

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Author: Michelle Bartolo

Michelle Bartolo is a Yoga Guide based in Gozo. Blending the styles of Vinyasa and Kundalini with Pranayama Practices, Mindful Meditation, and Quantum Physics, she offers holistic classes, private sessions, retreats, and teacher training using yoga tools to heal the emotional, mental, and physical bodies.