Archives for posts with tag: new york city

Yoga Off the Mat {Podcast}

June 26, 2013 //
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Mikaela Conley, founder and director of The Daily Saint, recently invited me to participate in her podcast to discuss the daily saints in my life. The Daily Saint is an initiative focused on seeing the good all around. Small, seemingly trivial moments of kindness to grand gestures of love are highlighted on the site.

The words, thoughts and musings of Kurt Vonnegut, one of Mikaela’s favorite writers, were a source of great inspiration for The Daily Saint. In fact, it was an excerpt from a commencement speech that Vonnegut gave at The University of Wisconsin in 2003 that inspired the website’s name. He told this story: “A sappy woman sent me a letter a few years back. She knew I was sappy, too, which is to say a lifelong northern Democrat in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt mode, a friend of the working stiffs. She was about to have a baby, not mine, and wished to know if it was a bad thing to bring such a sweet and innocent creature into a world as bad as this one is. I replied that what made being alive almost worthwhile for me, besides music, was all the saints I met, who could be anywhere. By saints I meant people who behaved decently in a strikingly indecent society. Perhaps some of you are or will become saints for her child to meet.”

The Daily Saint caused me to start thinking more about my own happiness, expression of gratitude, and compassion. It made me realize that we choose the lens by which we view the world. Acts of beauty and kindness are sprinkled everywhere, much more plentifully than anger and hate. It is within our power to see the good.

Mikaela invited me to join her on a recent Podcast to discuss my Daily Saints. I realized that The Daily Saint, in many ways, represents yoga off the mat. Making shapes, connecting the body, mind, breath, and spirit are simply means to an end. At its core, yoga is a practice of unity and love. It is about being connected to our individual essence. The love and purity a yoga practice has the power to cultivate helps individuals click into their true essence and greatness.

The Daily Saint highlights real people in real places in real situations. There are no fairy Godmothers or haloed visionaries.  They are real people doing real things. The people acknowledged are not seeking accolades or recognition. They are not looking for fame or fortune. Daily Saints simply follow their truest selves. Yoga at its core is about disconnecting from our ego and reconnecting to humanity and to ourselves. Yoga and The Daily Saint go hand and hand. Luckily, as sisters, we can share the journey.

Check out our podcast by clicking here:

http://www.creatorsbroadcast.com/episodes/listen/the-daily-saint/erin-conley-06-21-13.html

Thank you for your support. And, as always, NAMASTE. XO

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Categories Uncategorized

Saturn Returns

June 12, 2013 //
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Saturn Returns Indian Ink, Acrylic, Paper, and Enamel on canvas. 8.5″x11″

Underneath the layers of ink and acrylic lie repetitive OM signs raised in enamel, symbolizing the universal vibration of birth, sustenance, and destruction. Below  the seemingly chaotic exterior of this piece lies unified repetition. In my work, I create systemic repetition, only to later ‘destroy’ the original work with chaos. The purpose of my work is to exhibit the implicate symmetry of nature, and its simplistic beauty of shape and repetition. Later, I add elements of chaos and color to cloud the simplicity and to create a wild outward emotional quality.  The integrity of Saturn Returns lies beneath the surface. It is rich with symmetrical layers that has been developed over time through various life phases. It contains varying emotional content of my late twenties.

In astrology, the Saturn Return is when the planet Saturn revisits the orbital rotation of its location at your birth. It takes Saturn approximately 29.4 years to orbit the sun. Typically, the Saturn Return reappears in your natal chart during your late twenties. It is a time of transition into early adulthood when life-altering decisions are often made.

Saturn Returns is layering of the emotional structure of my late twenties.  I began this piece living while on Nantucket in 2010 and completed it in 2013 in New York City at age 30.

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Categories Uncategorized

New York City

November 2, 2012 //
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New York City.

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Categories Yoga

I AM ENOUGH.

February 29, 2012 //
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Let’s play a little game called ‘I AM ENOUGH’. You will need your beautiful face and a mirror to proceed. Please follow the instructions carefully.
THE GAME:
  1. Look in the mirror.
  2. Look into your eyes.
  3. Notice how radiant and perfect you are;)
  4. Say aloud “I am enough.”
  5. Smile
  6. Say it again “I am enough.”
  7. Smile
  8. Say it again “I am enough.”

Now notice how it feels like to tell yourself that you are worthy. Feel it in your body. Where do you notice the sensations? Feel it in your heart. Feel it in your head. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed with happiness, maybe not. Maybe you will realize that your entire life, you have never once told yourself that you are enough.

The way we internally speak to ourselves has incredible power. The inner chatter radiates through our being. It becomes transparent in the way we carry our bodies, the way we speak, and the energy we exude. Today, bring awareness to the way you speak to yourself. Do not judge, rather observe. Allow yourself to shift the way you are speaking to yourself, even if you don’t believe it. Create an affirmative mantra that resonates with you and repeat it. Repeat it until you believe it.

For every negative thought, replace it with a positive one, an age-old simple, but effective technique.  See what happens. Purify your thoughts and set yourself free.

Shine on beauties!

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Categories Meditation, Self-Love, Uncategorized, Yoga