21 Day Yoga & Meditation Challenge VIDEO Promo

I made the mistake on the video title & amidst the announcement, of stating THE WRONG dates or the challenge! This is what happens when you aren't using a script or double checking your work!
The challenge is January 2-23, 2014. Welcome to my perfect imperfection :).

21 Day Yoga & Meditation Challenge, Jan2-23, 2015

I am often asked how often I practice, how long I practice, when I practice, and where I practice.

I feel the best way to find your OWN RTHYM is by simply STARTING a practice.

 There are no rules or guidelines, but for many, we just need to know HOW to start.

It is said that you must do something at LEAST 20 times to develop a habit.

Consider a pack of cigarettes and you can get the idea;

for those of you who've never had to kick or relinquish this habit, there are 20 in a pack.

So, to start this New Year off with INTENTION and PURPOSE, I would like to present to you

Join us this New Year as we slowly learn to incorporate Yoga & Meditation into our daily practice.

Each week, I will present to you asana suggestions and meditation considerations that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

I have created a simple outline for those of you who are looking to begin, but you can be as creative or as generous with the time as you want to be. But this isn't just for beginners; seasoned Yogi's are HIGHLY encouraged to participate! You may think you need to reduce your times, and while this is COMPLETELY UP TO YOU, I would HIGHLY encourage you to AT LEAST attempt this routine for the next 3 weeks.

Week 1: Set aside 20 minutes each day to practice 5 asanas,

and allow yourself 5 minutes of meditation.

Week 2: Set aside 25 minutes each day to practice 10 asanas,

and allow yourself 10 minutes of meditation.

Week 3: Set aside 30 minutes each day to practice 15 asanas,

and allow yourself 15 minutes of meditation.

Easy enough, right?!

RIGHT!!!

YOU MAY BE SAYING TO YOURSELF, "I don't have time to practice!"

If you have 1 hour to sit mindless and sedentary in front of a television each day,

then  you have 45 minutes to invest in your body, mind & spirit!

TRUST ME! This will be AMAZING!

You will feel a sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT & be  SO EXCITED

to have made your way through 21 days- it will FLY by!

By the time we wrap this thing up, you may very well find you are actually

 looking forward to your "quiet time".

To add to the fun, I will be creating a board for our participants. For each class, you will receive a GOLD STAR! For the participant with the greatest class attendance, I am eager to gift YOU a one hour ride on my magic carpet! That's a ONE HOUR VEDIC THAI YOGA MASSAGE ON ME!!! And for the REST OF YOU, my top three participants will receive $25 off their next massage or private session! NOW HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THIS!?!

"The Sanctuary" will host a special calendar

 of classes during the 21 Days:

*Please note Silver Linings is a DONATION Yoga Studio; consider your funds; consider your instructor-then GIVE!

Mondays & Wednesdays at 6:30pm

Tuesdays & Thursdays at 8:30 am

Fridays at 12 pm

You are encouraged to share your photos, videos, and any other thoughts pertaining to your experience. We will be learning together, so know that your experience may very well help someone else through theirs! Beautiful things begin to happen when we slow down and center ourselves. *Please know that any information you choose to share, including but not limited to: photos, videos, notes, names and testimonials on the "21 Day Yoga & Meditation Challenge Event Page", will be your permissive virtual agreement entitling  Silver Linings,llc to use all obtained information for future use. This agreement does not entitle any participants or contributors the right to any monetary compensation or discretion on how, when or why it is used. This agreement shall withstand indefinitely, and exempts Silver Linings, llc from any and all liability regarding the use or distribution of said materials.

If you REALLY wanna make this an incredible experience, follow along with us as we join Danielle Fryer, Registered Dietitian, Board Certified Specialist in Sports dietetics, Certified Fitness Trainer, Yoga Teacher, and Public Figure as we coincide this event with her

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/21dayvjc?source=feed_text&story_id=762020637179956

HOW TO STAY CONNECTED:

www.thehealingartscenter.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/thesilversanctuary
Instagram:
#Silverliningsllcyoga
#Silver2014
(use #21dayY&MC)

Holding Out So You Can HOLD ON!

Holding Out So You Can Hold ON!

Written by April Jones, 2013

 

Dating is no easy task. Sifting through potential partners can be a bit like searching for the needle in the hay stack. You like someone, but you aren’t attracted to them. You are attracted, but there’s no depth. You’ve common interest, but no common ground. It goes on and on. Sometimes, it’s easy to get sidetracked when someone shows us a little interest, even if it isn’t entirely what we want. It’s REALLY easy to get distracted when we allow for physical intimacy to become a part of the equation, ESPECIALLY when there is only a glimmer of emotional intimacy. I once had a history of settling, even trying to force compatibility, with those I believed MIGHT be a “good fit” for me. I believed that if we were attracted, and had an intense, passionate physical connection, that the rest was certain to fall into place.  Time has brought some maturity and understanding for me in this, but as I continue to watch people settle over and over again, it makes me curious to consider why more aren’t holding out?

No one starts off thinking, “I’m just gonna settle for this one a little bit,”; but it happens, all the time. Compromise is made that a sense of companionship can be experienced, even if it isn’t completely satisfactory. Allowances for certain habits or unfavorable conditions are made so that we don’t feel lonely, or simply aren’t alone. Before you know it, a few months have passed, and you find yourself in a situation where, not only are you NOT fulfilled, you’re not happy and now struggle with how to get out of it. You’re longing becomes even greater than it was before, for the void has now been further stretched.  I must say, it is a condition I see growing, more amongst my lady friends, than my man friends, but still present in both. It saddens me to see so many wrestling with the feelings of being unworthy and unwanted, and yet they continue to settle for less than what they want and get it. They continue to repeat the same patterns hoping THIS TIME, it will be different.

People laugh and say it’s silly when I suggest making a list of desirable traits in a partner. It’s as if we’ve been led to believe we can’t REALLY have what we want, and that there is no power in our thoughts or words. “The power of life and death is in the tongue,”* and what we think and say makes a difference*. I know not everyone buys into the idea of “Manifestation”, but The Word clearly expounds repeatedly on our ability to do JUST THAT! If we don’t know what we are looking for, how will we ever find it? If we don’t know what we want, how will we know when we have it? If we don’t get clear about what we need, how will we ever know fulfillment when we are being fed? To say that it is all left to chance is not only a bit foolish, it’s a bit depressing. I believe God created ALL partners at the SAME TIME. If I was fearfully and wonderfully made*, isn’t it be probable my “help mate” was fearfully and wonderfully made at the same time?

Let’s take it back to the garden, shall we? Adam was around a while before Eve came into the picture. We aren’t privy to the exact time frame, but long enough for him to name the ENTIRE animal kingdom*, which, despite our many extinct creatures, still tallies to a rather impressive number. I don’t imagine all of these animals were just hanging around ready to be found. Adam had time to discover them all and observe them long enough to grant them a proper title. When the time came for him to have a partner, there is no mention to God’s hour of deliberation.  We know that years are only a moment to The Master*, so who knows how long or deep that sleep was for Adam. What we do know, is that He crafted a creature of Adam, for Adam. He pulled, from the center of his very being, an essence that would so perfectly match and reflect Adam, that not only did she compliment him, she catered to him*.She was flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone*.

Before God created Eve, Adam did not lack. He had everything he needed, for God was his companion and their communion complete. The Word makes no mention of Adam’s loneliness or longing. Adam never knew a “desire” for a companion, nor did he have a “need” to be intimate with someone, because his union was created under the conditions of “wholeness” with the Father. He did not know he lacked anything, for at the time, he didn’t. He was made in the image of God, which means that within his person, he was complete in both his masculine and feminine energies, for he was made in the likeness of the Great I Am! But GOD saw that it “was not good for man to be alone.”* He saw that Adam needed a partner-someone made LIKE HIM to do the “work” which he was called and DESIGNED for. God saw how having a companion would not only benefit Adam emotionally, but physically, therefore creating the desire to be “complete”. He agreed, with The Trinity*, to make man a partner in the “Holy Image”. What’s so incredibly exciting for US is that it reinforces OUR need for not only an OPPOSITE SEX COUNTERPART, but a spiritual match as well. The Trinity is comprised of THREE essential parts, and in order for our partner to properly “complete” us, they must be too! We want to forget that the Great I Am is both masculine AND feminine spirit, but since we are ALL made in His image, it would be foolish to deny that God encompasses both man and woman.

When God anesthetized Adam, He pulled from him, not just a rib, but the feminine essence, along with some of the masculine, that had made Adam whole. He took from Adam the “yin” energy and enveloped it in a frame that gave rise to a several longings in Adam. It wasn’t just a “WANT” that came over him; he ‘NEEDED HER’. He left in Adam the bulk of “yang”, or masculine traits and energy, but removed the bulk of his “yin” energy, which now left man “incomplete”. Adam was not depleted of the many attributes which are more frequently used to describe the feminine spirit, but he definitely had to sacrifice some of it, in order for her to be formed. Woman was wired to provide companionship, comfort, allure and assistance; Eve was a part of him, and yet separate enough that they had to join in the marriage bed to once again become one*. Eve hosts the “yin” energy, but was created AROUND that masculine spirit, therefore also being incomplete.  There was no flaw of design that where men are shaped and wired one way, women are genetically designed the other. This is not only evident through our physical differences, but our emotional, mental and spiritual ones.  God knew the EXACT balance required to sustain that match, and ensure the “fruitfulness”* of a holy union.

Now, let’s bring that up to modern times. God created each of us with very specific desires, interests, strengths AND weaknesses. We all have a difference in opinion, attraction, dreams and destinies. When we were shaped, our essence was formed with a counterpart that could bring balance, security, companionship and HELP. We were never designed to do ANY of this alone.* God knew PRECISELY who you needed to inspire, encourage, support and assist you in your purpose. He knows what you like in way of physical preference (and YES, that includes sexually!), what you like in personality, and most certainly what you need spiritually. We get so wrapped up in this stuff that we forget when the match is right…WE FIT. God designed the PERFECT FIT for you, and that fit is not only someone that hosts the qualities you admire, but the ones you LACK! The Lord designed your partner with, what I like to refer to as “reflective parts”. He knows our inadequacies and capabilities; both strengths and weaknesses. If He knows all these things, can’t we trust Him to bring to us someone that not only balances us but CHALLENGES us!? Our partners were designed to generate both friendship AND friction. It is easy to forget that our lovers WILL  sometimes “rub” wrong  against us, for friction is what creates refinement.*

God does not wish for us to be alone*. That was never a part of His plan. I’m not saying there aren’t those that were called to dedicate their lives to a work that is to be done without a mate, but those individuals are STILL surrounded by counterparts and community, despite the lack of physical intimacy brought on by marriage. Because we have this “desire” and “design” for a partner, we often settle into one that simply isn’t right for us.

No ”good fruit” can ever come from a relationship comprised of two individuals that have settled. There’s no long-standing rewards when a relationship isn’t right. There’s not only no reward, but no regard. When we allow ourselves to unequally yoke ourselves* with someone for the sake of comfort or more common still, convenience, there is little that will actually keep us there when “someone better” comes along. When unhealthy compromise is made in the beginning, you can be assured, it will continuously be compromised until the end. We compromise in so many ways, but the most detrimental is when we buy into the lie that we need to know someone sexually in order to truly gage our compatibility. Don’t think for a moment that God made ANY mistakes, nor is there ANY confusion, to what pleases and fulfills you in this regard. When we give into our flesh, we give up our strength. And strength is required if we are to cling to the promises God has for us!*

Believe in who GOD made you to be. Believe in the purpose and passion He has so carefully knit within you. Believe in it enough to know that if God so carefully crafted you, He also invested the same in your mate. Stop settling for the “feel good”; the “here now”; the “potential promise”, and for the “maybe one day”. Start holding off for the “prayerfully considered”; the “perfect timing”; the “promised gift” and the “definitely to come”. Keep holding out so when the right one DOES COME, you can not only HOLD ON, but CLING to the person that God has been preparing JUST FOR YOU! God doesn’t promise us mediocrity. He doesn’t promise us insecurity or compromise…He promises “good things to those He loves!”*. If you find yourself stuck and settling, get still and seek the Father’s will and wisdom. Ask yourself as you sit across someone at dinner, “does this person have the qualities I want? And do they have that which a lack?” Your mate was created with enough similarity to compliment you and enough difference to balance you. If it appears they are too much on one end or the other, than THEY ARE. Your perfect partner was forged in the same fire as you; designed and created as a GIFT! Remember these things, for God seeks to BLESS all your days!* He seeks to be glorified in ALL our relationships, ESPECIALLY the intimate ones of our home. Don’t leave room for doubt. Don’t leave room for longing. Believe that your mate awaits and seeks ONLY YOU, for they ARE! When God’s timing is present, love will unfold and blossom as it should. Passionately. Purposefully. PERFECTLY. Just as God saw Adam’s need and BROUGHT HIM EVE, so too, will He see yours!

Spring Clean Workshop April 19, 2014

SPRING CLEAN WORKSHOP!

 

As Spring approaches, we begin to reorder our homes, open the windows and deep clean what Winter left behind. Many are looking for “greener” options, many are looking to save money, and I would like to show you BOTH!

 

Join us for this fun, informative workshop on the power of cleansing, aromatic oils; how to use them, and how to make your

OWN HOMEMADE ALL PURPOSE CLEANSER!

 

 

We will be discussing some powerful essential oils chosen for their anti-viral and anti-fungal properties.

 In addition, we will learn which blends work best for various needs throughout the home AND

 how to safely blend them with other ingredients to create your very own cleaner.

You will walk away with an outline of our discussion, as well as the recipe that you can use time and again.

 

The Spring Clean Event will be held April 19^th, 11-1

$25 per person

Your fee includes the cost of participation, as well as your supplies for the event.

 

Registration is required

 Please contact April Jones

 

Roasty Toasty Veggie Soup

“Roasty Toasty Veggie Soup”

Created by April Jones, March 04, 2014

 I worked myself up another fine soup, gang. The blessing of storing up veggies at the end of each season, is it allows for quick prep when it comes to winter soups! I pulled down from my freezer  multiple bags of veggies I had labored over at the end of last summer. Because I had already done all the "prep" work, all I had to do was measure out the preferred portions, toss it in the crockpot, and go on with my day. Of course, store-bought produce works too, but I can't tell you the satisfaction it brings today consuming what you diligently prepared for...yesterday. The only
additional ingredients I added were my seasoning, fresh potatoes, tomatoes, and a can of garbonzo beans. You do what you need to do when it comes to the veggies, but this is how I did it.

Add first Ingredients to Crockpot

1.5 pt. Stock of Choice

1.5 pt h20

1 ½ C any additional liquid (I would HIGHLY recommend a beer here!)

4 extremely ripe tomatoes, sliced to preference (this can be substituted with 1 can of diced UNSALTED tomatoes)

2C frozen field peas

4C frozen, sliced okra

2C frozen, sliced and quartered zucchini

3C frozen, sliced carrot

1 can garbanzo beans

1 oz. fresh, finely chopped Italian Parsley

1 small bay leaf

Sea Salt to taste * I like to Add 1 T per every 4 C of veggies. This seems to work well for the taste of our family, but use what you need and/or prefer.

Pepper to taste

Additional ingredients to follow:

Approximately 4-5 pieces of bacon (you may substitute with 3 T Olive Oil should your prefer this vegan)

½-1 whole purple onion, cut to preference

3-4 cloves of garlic, cut to preference

2C frozen corn

4-5 red potatoes, cubed

After all "initial" ingredients have been added to the Crock Pot on LOW, prepare bacon  and set aside on a towel lined surface. Take frozen corn and blacken in bacon grease. Remove from skillet & place directly into Crock Pot (you might wish to first place your corn on toweled surface, but I have yet to find the oil enough to negatively affect my soup). 

 

 Use the additional grease to blacken the potatoes, along with sautéing the onions and garlic. It is ideal to cover with a lid to soften. My family prefers our potatoes and corn to be VERY crisp and golden. I feel it is so much more flavorful when the few extra minutes are allotted to gain the golden look on most all of the skin and flesh, but you do what works for your pallet and your time table.   Once a golden crisp has been brought to one or more sides of the potatoes, remove from the skillet and add to the soup.

 

Once all excess oil has been removed, crumble up the bacon, and then place all additional ingredients into the crockpot. Add salt to season and allow to cook for approximately 6 hours; 3 if cooking on HIGH. Serve & enjoy! What you don't eat or use...CAN!

 

 b’OMMM’appetite!

Couples Massage Date Night

 

Couples Massage Date Night!

 

 

Join us every Friday night in February from 7-9

Enjoy celebrating your partner THE ENTIRE MONTH of February!

 

 

$25 for Individuals and $40 for Couples per session

OR

Pay & Register for ALL FOUR SESSIONS:

$75 for Individuals and $150 for Couples

 

-Select from Essential Oil Blends chosen for their sensuous properties to

nurture & comfort your partner while applying relaxing massage techniques.

 

-Enjoy wine & light treats as you learn. You are encouraged to make a night of this event, so pack yourself a basket of LIGHT snacks and favorite beverages. Wear comfortable clothing. Ladies, you may wish to be prepared with a sports bra or swim suite when learning the back & leg work, for this is a group setting.

 

-Experience a greater partner connection where you learn to create, observe, & honor an intimate space using the language of touch.

 

February 7^th: Creating a sacred space; honoring time and touch; selecting oils & lotions;

NECK & SHOULDERS!

 

February 14^th: Revisit sacred space; LIMBS, with special focus to HANDS & FEET!

 

 

February 21^st: Revisit sacred space; BACK & GLUTES!

 

February 28^th: Closing remarks; FULL BODY BLEND!

 

 

 

If you aren’t able to attend all nights, pick the dates that work best for you!

 

Registration is required to join ANY session, please contact April Jones
thehealingartscenter@yahoo.com with "Date Night" as the subject.