Alexis Martin Yoga

be infinite

[alexismartinyoga]

Being a mom didn't feel so natural to me in the beginning. I remember thinking, "Am I really responsible enough to be alone with this helpless child? I have no clue what to do." So I read some books, made new friends who had kids, and tried to follow my intuition. And prayed a lot - sometimes just to get through the next few minutes. Time and pressure ... that's how diamonds are made, I often reminded myself. . Some days are filled with easy and grace, and other days feel like the whole world is out to strike every last nerve and place of vulnerability I have hidden in the deepest corners of my being and take me down. And then I stand tall or fall down, only to get right back up, and do it all again tomorrow. So just like every yoga pose, I stay in the present moment. I try my hardest to choose love instead of fear, forgiveness instead of grudges, and let go of the things I cannot control to surrender to my highest potential. I was never given a how-to-be a mommy manual (please let me know if you have one). Honestly, I just make it up as I go along (don’t tell my daughter please). I follow my intuition. And when I doubt myself, I usually get the opportunity later to validate what I already knew to be true. I am not perfect. Sometimes I get mad. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I say things I wish I could erase. Sometimes I say the best words at the best time. Sometimes I’m frumpy. Sometimes I give the only hug that can soothe. Sometimes I need a hug. Sometimes I can’t stop laughing. Sometimes I screw up and let the guilt cloud rain on me. I celebrate every mom-win and learn from every heartache. And in the midst of all this, there’s one thing I know for sure that is never-changing …. I love my daughter unconditionally. And if that is the only thing she remembers about me, then I will have considered myself a good mom. . Feeling immense love and connection with all the female admiration today. Honor and love between generations all too often gets lost in the shuffle of life. Remember: We were all created in our grandmother’s womb. Gaia, Shakti, Lakshmi, Mary - whoever you connect with - may that female energy of empowerment replace any competition. (Cont'd in comments)

[alexismartinyoga]

Feel your panic. Feel your frustration. But keep your intuition and eyes available. The answer may be closer than you think - maybe it's right in front of you. . By patient. Be gentle. Open your heart. Let it show you what it knows. Let yourself learn to hear the gentle & trustworthy words of your heart. You're wiser than you think. . ❤️🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #yogaeverydamnday #yogateacher

[alexismartinyoga]

I meet a lot of people who show up for yoga class and say, "I want to be more spiritual." But when they begin practicing I observe what the really reason is ... "I want to be happy with my body." . As far as people who are trying to be happy with their body instead of despising it, it is impossible when you really explore the body. Everything, including your body, is beautiful when you see through the eyes of awe and experience how magnificent it truly is. There is no cell in the body that is separate from another. And if it is, we give it names like cancer. When we separate the body into what we like and don't like, we question our body's very own innate intelligence. . As far as people who are trying to live a more spiritual life instead of a worldly life, it is impossible. Everything is spiritual. There is nothing that exists that is not spiritual. Everything you see, everything you experience is God. . Repeat to yourself: My entire body is important. My entire body is beautiful. My entire body is worthy of my appreciation and happiness. Everything I see is God. Everything I experience is God. This is a spiritual experience. . ❤️🙏🏼 #beinfinte #alexismartinyoga #bodybeautiful #spiritualawakening 📷 @jasonhreinhart

[alexismartinyoga]

When you bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen. A ship may be safe in the port, but that's not what ships are made for. Peace is my tradition. Love is my religion. Freedom is my God. We are worthy of happiness. This is my dream. . ❤️🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #dreambig #miracles #peaceloveyoga

[alexismartinyoga]

Every good story has its fair share of challenges that the hero or heroine must overcome. In fact, the bigger the challenges, the better the story. The more we feel it. The more we connect with it. The more we remember it. The more we share it. You are in the process of writing your life story. There are no restrictions and no limits to where your story goes from here. When life is difficult or challenging - especially when life is difficult and challenging - the present is always an opportunity to learn, grow, and become better than we’ve ever been before. You have arrived in the moment to learn what you must learn, so you can become the person you need to be to create the life you truly want. Even stories that end with everyone living happily ever after have chapters that make you want to cry. A great life does not always go perfectly. Repeat to yourself right now … I know that everything in my life right now is temporary, and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. And then share with me … You are the author or your own hero’s/heroine’s journey. What do you want YOUR next page to say? . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga

[alexismartinyoga]

There's a magic I've learned over the years. It happens when I feel my fear. When I feel the panic, when I feel the frustration, when I feel the uncertainty - it dissipates. My life changes. I become empowered to move on. Barricades I have not been able to penetrate crumble and disappear. And all I had to do was simply face and feel my fear. And let myself learn to hear the gentle and trustworthy words of my heart. . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #trust #magic #openheart #yogaeverydamnday

[alexismartinyoga]

What most people think is balance is really just moderate extremism. Much of my 20’s were full of if-then statements like this: “If I drink my green smoothie & do a lot of yoga today, then I can eat cupcakes and refuse to put on pants tomorrow.” My 30’s go a little more like this: “I feel hungry. If I drink a green smoothie, then my body might feel nourished. I’ll ask while I drinking it. My body feels stiff. If I go to yoga today, then my body might feel good in its skin. I’ll ask while I’m stretching…” Yes, I still eat cupcakes (see previous birthday post) and don’t always wear pants, but they aren’t things I need to earn or convince myself I deserve to cover up some kind of plaguing guilt. Ping-ponging from one extreme to another is exhausting. It may feel immediately gratifying, but often is ultimately unsatisfying. When we re-direct the ping-ponging to cultivating the lifestyle, actions, speech, and thoughts, as well as the spiritual practices that lead in the positive direction, we feel uplifted and content. This is the practice of Abhyasa. When we gradually let go of the mental colorings that lead away from the spiritual, rather than going in the opposite direction & giving in to the attachments and aversions, we feel inspired and infinite. This is the practice of Vairagya. Abhyasa and Vairagya are the 2 wings of a bird balanced in effort and return. This is the balance between practice and non-attachment. . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #balance #handstand #abhyasa #vairagya #illflyaway (at The Loop)

[alexismartinyoga]

My daughter took my yoga class for the first time tonight!!! (And she rocked it 💪🏼🤸🏻‍♀️) . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #familyyoga (at Blue Moon Yoga and Fitness)

[alexismartinyoga]

Where in your life do you struggle with having a teachable spirit? . Obstacles draw out your own inner capabilities. The world has been created for you and me to make use of and to grow. We can't run away. Wherever you go, there you are. Wherever I go, here I am. And if you try to run away, don't be surprised if you face the same problems. Even if you're running, you're not escaping. Difficulties come to make us strong. Giving up is easy. But facing the challenge with all your heart and strength, that's the kind of warriors we are called to be. A warrior of the light finds the ways and means to not only wholeheartedly overcome the obstacle, but to embrace the obstacle's sacred gift of wisdom. . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #wisdom #obstacles #teachable #floridalife

[alexismartinyoga]

We see the world through the lens of all our experiences. Our life is a reflection of the perspective we hold about it. . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #perspective #lensofourlives

[alexismartinyoga]

The territory is always so much more than the map. The body is always so much more than our theory of the body. . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinte #alexismartinyoga

[alexismartinyoga]

Today's my 34th birthday! I hope my wish comes true ... If I were able to share some words of wisdom with my younger self right now it would be this: Everything doesn't need to make sense right now. One day it might, or maybe it won't ... but it doesn't need to make sense right now. Stop trying to explain things away or make excuses for people as a way to feel safe and dissociate. Feelings are just feelings. And you aren't your feelings. So go ahead and feel them and let them flow on through. Just keep showing up every day with a teachable spirit. I know you're doing the best you can. And so is everyone else. Just simply be yourself - in a world of people trying to mold you into what's comfortable for them. Be kind to others. Be true to you. And choose happiness. Every day choose to be happy. Not because you believe the Universe finally dealt you a good hand. But because your joy is not circumstantial and arises from within you. You're worth it, no matter what any of those doofuses told ya. You're definitely worth all of it. The best days of your past will be the worst of your future. Share with me! What are your #wordsofwisdom to your younger self right now? And tag your wisest friend to share, too! PS I've created a spectacular Birthday Bundle offer to spend some quality one-on-one time with me available only for the next 24 hrs via my Alexis Martin Yoga FB page. Go check it out. Link in bio. ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinte #alexismartinyoga #birthdaywisdom #youngforever #ageisjustanumber #yogabirthday #makeawish

[alexismartinyoga]

When I first began practicing yoga many years ago, I thought there was no better way to create change in my life than by practicing yoga. (Once I got passed the sweat and the awkwardness and wearing tight clothes in public and what seemed like endless suffering in bizarre contortionist shapes while on my mat…..) I was fresh out of college and ready to “establish"myself. I wanted to prove to myself and everyone else that I could support myself "on my own.” So I practiced yoga regularly and was convinced this “yoga thing” was really a miracle drug in disguise. I began to soften. It didn’t happen overnight - in fact it took years. But I slowly began to soften. Now I’m a yoga instructor and I’m blessed with the gift of watching others connect with their inner teacher. I’ve observed over the years that it’s not really the yoga that creates the change. The postures themselves are 100% empty. But what yoga does do is encourage the most important relationship we will ever have - the one with ourselves. Yoga encourages us to see with open eyes, hear with dynamic ears, feel with compassionate skin, and taste the sweetness of our fresh perspective with new lips. Change is inevitable whether we practice yoga or not. Yoga invites us to use the tools of presence and surrender to find our own daily moments of enlightenment amidst change. . ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #yogateacher #crow #yogaworkshop 📷 from the #armbalance workshop this weekend @ocalayogacenter

[alexismartinyoga]

What do you practice on your yoga mat & cushion? Calisthenics ~ noun gymnastic exercises to achieve bodily fitness and grace of movement. Yoga Asana ~ noun a physical state of the body such that the posture moves one into an existence of wholeness and steadiness allowing one to reflect inwards on the entire being. This state of steadiness involves no goals, no future, and no analyzing - just observing how the physical self receives vitality and openness, enabling the mind to explore clarity. Only you know what you are practicing. Only you know why you practice. Be honest and do your practice. 🙏🏼❤ #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #satya #calisthenics #yoga 📷 from the @wandakochphotography archives

[alexismartinyoga]

It’s sneaky, this practice of yoga. It's so sneaky. It goes in and it transforms every part of your life. It changes your desires. It changes how you make choices. It changes the friends you want to hang out with. And then over time, little step by big leap, we lead each other into simpler ways of living. And then we look back and wonder, "How did I get here?" All the while whispering with a smile, "I like it here." ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinte #alexismartinyoga @oneoeight.tv @benkanephoto

[alexismartinyoga]

Bypass clever antidotes. Being luculent isn't enough. Whatever you feel you are lacking is not fullfilled by acquiring. You must tune in. Raise the vibration of your inner attunement higher than your outer attainment. ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga

[alexismartinyoga]

Welcome back to this place again. Perhaps the circumstances are different, but it feels very familiar. You've tried a variety of tools to change your circumstances, many of them in fact. You've loved what they have done for you over the years. And yet, you inevitably overuse or abandon the tools of circumstantial change. Because constantly focusing your shifting methods on external things is temporary and exhausting. Wherever you go, whatever you do ... There you are. You’re not alone. This epidemic is widespread. Our entire culture has an unreal view of what it means to be human. You are not a finished product. You are not complete on your own. To be whole, we need to stay connected to something beyond ourselves. The constant effort for this connection means that a human being can never be more than a work in progress. Your Being is inherent in your Becoming. ❤🙏🏼 #beinfinite #alexismartinyoga #becoming