Deserving | gentle movement
Soma Yoga | Trauma Informed Yoga
4 SESSION SERIES
In this series we explore receiving love and joy through movement, meditation, affirmations, and breath work.
Session 1: Love
Side body, hips, hamstrings, meditation.
Affirmation: I am loved. // I am deserving of love.
Poem for Contemplation: by Jacquie Compton
It takes a certain kind of love
the type of love that pulls you on your feet
pulling you to the ground
rooting you to the earth
Grounding you
steadying you
loving you
in all moments of transformation
as you expand
as you deepen
into the core of you
Session 2: Ahimsa (Compassion)
Mudra for heart chakra, side body, spine, chest.
Affirmation: I deserve a love that is forgiving and lenient. // I forgive myself. // I accept every part of myself.
Contemplation: “We can have hearts that are full of love for others, and intentions to love that are pure. But the truth is, we will express that love for others by treating them the same way we treat ourselves. Love lies at the core of nonviolence and begins with our love of self. Not a love that is ego-centric but a love that is forgiving and lenient; a love that sees the humor in the imperfections and accepts the fullness of the human expression. Only when we find this love for all parts of ourselves, can we begin to express fully the love that wells up inside of us for others. Finding this love for all parts of ourselves means we have to forgive ourselves. Without forgiveness, we carry guilt like a heavy burden around our hearts. Guilt holds our love for self and others hostage and keeps us bound to a one-sided expectation of the human expression. I cannot say this enough times. Our inability to love and accept all the pieces of ourselves creates ripples - tiny acts of violence - that have huge and lasting impacts on others.”
- Deborah Adele in The Yamas & Niyamas
Session 3: Worthy
Heart space, shoulders, hamstrings, glutes.
Affirmation: I am worthy now.
Contemplation: “Worthy now. Not if. Not when. We are worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.”
- Brené Brown
Session 4: Joy
Front body, quads, shoulders.
Affirmation: I welcome joy. // I give myself permission to feel joy.
Contemplation: “If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”
-Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver
