SAMAN

Heyyy....I am a female pakistani lawyer who has found yoga and has fallen head over heels for it. Apart from the standard health benefits and therapeutic effects, I have begun to understand myself better. My aim is to share the experience of yoga, the knowledge I gain and help people the way it has helped me!!! So come on in... :D

[samangul]

And what more could I have asked for. He does yoga with me.💃....together we support each other, help each other grow and progress❤❤❤❤❤❤!!!! Thank you @gizemozdem1 for the lovely experience and the learning. Your studio is no longer a virtual space for me. 🙏 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0d2orHBF4donknyUwXP5FrDSG8Zou5brfLNP40/?igshid=1f3x5ge5lq5ry

[samangul]

One of the must liberating experiences ever. Worth every penny. So much better than shopping🤪!!!!❤❤ #spendmoneyonexperiences https://www.instagram.com/p/B0d1rrUhMjXpH0jMfwkLGXE8g0zJFXxx_ZzEx00/?igshid=im73x6aeoklc

[samangul]

It is the end of quite a tumultous year.The year which reimposed the importance of self care, making yourself a priority,a year of endings and new beginnings;the year that brought forth all those that kicked me when I was down.I don't mention it but I know. I don't get affected by it because I am not suprised and it doesn't have the power to distort my balance.My practice of yoga and my time on the praying mat keep me strong and standing.It is a choice I make as I choose to walk away from it and let God/universe/karma deal with it and that is the best isn't it.The best part is that i am always pushed towards what I need.I needed a holiday,time out and to just be so finally after much compromise on my health I did.I went skiing while I was away and how I loved it.Being amongst nature and trying something completely new; the experience grounds you lifts you up simultaneously.I couldn't even walk in the equipment and I had no idea what to do so I felt inadequate.But thanks to the instructors I learned to ski.There was not a single moment they put me down,instead they saw my potential.They recognised I was atheletic and asked me which other sport I played because they could tell.I was encouraged every step of the way and was reminded to smile and enjoy.They could have very easily put me down but they didn't.For a person who has always been put down,rejected,doubted and thought little of; it meant a great deal.They have my respect and a place in my heart for life just like all those who strengthened me this year.I realised I just have to get over the fear of starting something new and recognise my own potential because that is the only way forward.I invest in these experiences and value them because they are meditative and they empower you.I went water rafting two years back and I was just mesmerized by the beauty surrounding me.Ditch clubbing and go water rafting,sking,bunggee jumping,rock climbing or just go trekking up a mountain;you will not regret it.Take that time out for yourself because apart from you no one else can.We all need it, even in yoga there is childs pose and savasana; we need our rest to rejuvenate and carry on with life or our practice.My practice is the best thing to have ever happened to me; it is honest and not at all pretentious.There are no games, no facade; things appear as they actually are.It gives you what you need,even when you fall it strengthens you.So thankyou 2016 you have been exhausting and heartbreaking but yet enriching.Goodbye!!

[samangul]

"I do believe abhyasa, practice, is not something we earn or achieve through force of will; rather, it is an innate human capacity that we awaken through practice, through our own willingness. It is an energy that builds in our lives as we use it. And it will be there for us in hard times if we cultivate it in good times."

[samangul]

Ek ehsaas hai, ek yakeen hai Unki buniyad kahab hai mujhey yaad nai Yeh durri hai khud se meri Kay apney haathoun boye hoye beej ki aj mujhey pehchaan nai Dard kerta hai mera dil is baat se Bahir ko sawartay sawartay apna app mujhey yaad nai Jab apney app se wafa na ker paye toh duniya se kia umeed karien Jab chorha apney app ko chorahay pe, toh duniya humein chorh gayi.

[samangul]

"How easy it is to move through our days as if we were in some sort of dress rehearsal for real life - despite the nagging suspicion that this is it, that real life is right here, right now. How then, shall we make it count? How do we find our way? Such uncertainty is part of the human condition and always has been. In response to this age-old questioning, this yearning for clarity and direction, we humans have, over the centuries, created a vast multitude of paths and called them by many names - religions, philosophies, political ideologies. Yoga is one path out of the spiritual wilderness, a highway that was built by those who came before us and that has been trodden by millions over thousands of years." ~ Meditations from the Mat (daily reflections on the path of yoga)

[samangul]

EID MUBARAK to everyone out there... Especially the ones away from families!! And HAPPY HOLIDAYS #hvtheentireweekoff #bestever #sawaiyaanareloveeee

[samangul]

Its been 3 years since I began this journey to let go of everything that did not serve me anymore,to take charge and move forward towards the life I wanted.It feels like a life time though.I took up everything that would help me and at every step I found the support I needed.It was and is still not easy,the triggers bring up fears,unhealthy patterns and alot of things burried away.The struggle is real and it is everytime something surfaces. Even then I have to make a choice to move forward or to stand in my own way. Yoga came as a guide, therapist and a friend.It taught me to love myself,to embrace my happiness,to be in harmony with my self.Most importantly,TO BE AWARE,MINDFUL AND PATIENT.Awareness is something we cultivate,its not something which happens at a click of finger.It requires me to be present in the moment and be the observer and not the victim.There is a certain detachment that is required,meaning that sometimes we must seek help.Things are a little tumultous from the past few months and I have not been writing and not practicing much yoga but mentally I have never been this yogic.I don't worry about things that are not in my control and I don't lose my center.My praying has alot to do with it.There is faith and most importantly love for myself.I don't want to go where I am not welcomed,where I am not valued and most importantly;where I am not respected. In my recent situations I have learnt that I under value myself and that is what I receive externally. This is not to say that someone being an ass is my fault but that I must take responsibility when I stand in my own way because that is how I can move past it.We must balance and that is what life is about.Be mindful and present and try and learn from every situation.You'd want to run in the opposite direction 99% of the time but don't, stay and just breathe through it.The decisions I hv made are based on intution and tons of faith.So I leave the rest to God,keep doing my bit and am just grateful for how far i have come.Be grateful in toughest of times because that is when you will need it the most.Gratitude,it will get you through fire even!

[samangul]

I am not practicing much these days. My mind is not still and I am running out of patience with things. That is why getting on my mat is a struggle because to keep going is a struggle. I am just very tired and exhausted. I just want to go to a beachy place, sit in the sun and read a good book, take long walks, breathe in the fresh air and do lots of yoga. I want to connect with nature. I haven't been practicing regularly, which makes me feel very crappy and I have lost my tone so I feel flabby and bloated all the time. So I don't feel too good about myself and the things around me. I realized in my practice today that I just want to rush from one asana to the other and just rush things. Sitting with the posture and being where I am is something I am bypassing. And to be very honest I just want everything to settle already and I have to fight the urge to walk away. I have to keep reminding myself where I started from. Even though I have not been practicing much, I must congratulate myself that I haven't completely lost yoga. Today I am acknowledging and admitting to myself that I don't feel too good about things and myself; I have no idea what to do and where to go. I dont even want to do anything. I acknowledge it and I allow it pass through me. So I shall keep moving, keep practcing as much as I can, even though it is hard to keep moving. Fingers crossed!

[samangul]

Practicing core work out and pike press up but the fitball is not really up for it so it throws a tantrum!!!☺️☺️☺️ #practicepracticepracticealliscoming

[samangul]

Bright, warm, sunny = beautifulll!! Loveeee the sunshine, it heals, its happiness 😍❤️🌝💐🌞💋😎

[samangul]

I keep reminding my self to lov my Self enough to walk away from relationships that cause suffering. If we cant love our Self, how do we expect others to show that. Its not easy to sit with your triggers and accept that something has hurt us deeply and to feel and acknowledge so that we can allow the pain to pass through. But again we must love our Self enough to go that extra mile and do that which needs to be done. We have to be a warrior for our Self! Its over whelming to keep going forward with an open heart. To be a warrior. My urge to bolt gets very strong at times. My hardest part is self love, not to think that everything that I love never shows up to me. If I lov somthing too much I will lose it and perhaps it is how I treat my Self subconsciously: not loving myself too much, not showing up to my Self completely; there is always a distance, a lack of complete embrace. Somwhere the unavailable seems alot easier, even though lov is one thing i want most in life!Or maybe there is nothing like complete embrace and its the inner child that believes in fairy tales. Love that is larger than life to which we show up unconditionally regardless of the hardships. I can do that with my work; sit patiently and take things as they come, take the good with the bad, endure and believe that which is mine will come to me. I have doubts with my work too when people keep putting me down and don't value me but i stayy focused. Its easy, its natural, its who I am. May be because I have always believed that my work is one thing that never leaves me, it stays, its loyal and it is mine. Maybe that is why I have never questioned how much I give and so I give unconditionally. Maybe one day this belief will be about everything.It gets lonely, it is tiring, being a warrior is not easy. It is to bare the heart, to leap forward with courage, with the knowledge that it might get slashed open with the blade of heartache.

[samangul]

Its the first time I cried in #savasana. I find it very difficult to cry and I really admire people who can cry and be with their emotions.It is an introvert aspect to my extrovert (apparently) personality. I find it very difficult to express my self and it takes alot of internalization and processing before I can find that space where I can sit with my vulnerability. I have worked alot in finding strength in my vulnerability by taking chances when I have had the urge to just run away. But this is how we love ourselves unconditionally and come to our own selves with all that we have. In our relationships or in life we always expect people to come to us completely or give their 100% and choose us in every situation. How often do we do that with ourselves? We always brush away our feelings in the name of being too emotional, sentimental or that there is no space for emotions. We either come to our self partially or not at all. We look for all this comfort externally. What we don't realise is that our external world is a reflection of our internal world. It is up to us to raide our vibrations and energies to that frequency, which only attracts people that com to us 100%. My upper body (emotional body) has clogged up and my sides have become tight and a simple side bend can hurt. To come in a backbend I must open up the sides of my body aswell. Nothing works in isolation in yoga, neither the posture nor the breath. I did not want to do any more heart openers than I had already done today. My arms screamed in #downwardfacingdog and I just wanted to settle into #balasana and close up into a cacoon. But GENTLY with baby steps we push our boundaries and so did I. I just breathe through it and when my breath got eratic, I knew it was time to take a break. Never push, never force and use your breath as the ultimate guide. If you cannot breathe in a posture or your breath has become eratic, its your cue that your pushing too much and its time for #childspose. By this simple action we become kind and gentle towards our Self. We show unconditional love and overcome the critical internal dialogue. This is how we break all barriers within that we have built against love!

[samangul]

I love sharing my practice, it helps and supports me in being true to my self. Being true to our selves requires us to be present in the moment and for that balance is the key. I set the intention for balance today and realised how noisy my mind has gotten. I used almost all my props today and its amazing the amount we can accomplish with a little support. Holding a plank with the fitball was quite a task today. Its not that I don't have the requisite core or upper body strength but maintaining my focus and awareness took effort. Its about being present and maintaining the balance today because that is how we can progress. Yesterday's practice brought its own release and today coming out of the fish pose I just wanted to scream. So I screamed and screamed and found myself going deeper into Badhakonasana (cobler's pose). Here we work on our sacral chakra, where our fears and insecurities lie, and press on it to release everything that does not belong. After that it was so quiet and I was so present with the sensation in my sacral, heart and throat that I could literally feel the release. My sacral is not the most balanced of chakras and as I continue to work on my self, the fears keep surfacing. The #dharmayogawheel pressed on my lower abbs in the #chinstand and I felt a strange sensation, which was not pain but as something needed to be pushed out because it is weighing me down.To balance, however, I must be present with how it feels a be gentle as I allow myself to let go and not force. Never push, never force and always be gentle with yourself. Yoga is all about balance and to progress we must maintain 1:1 ratio in the inhale and exhale, right and left, forward and backwards; if we don't we'll continue to fall out. Its the same with our lives, there has to be balance in our relationships, work, the mind and the heart, love for the self and love for others because if we don't maintain this ratio we will just induce suffering. For a better tomorrow we must balance today, there is no other option and sometimes it may require to let go, to walk away and surrender to the fact that we don't have control. We can only practice...

[samangul]

Nothing is within our control, no matter how much we try to steer things our way. We can only do our best, work hard, give it our all but if it doesn't work or is not in accordance with our perception of it; we have to back off and let things flow. The river flows at its own pace and no matter how much we try to control it, we come out empty handed. So yes, have patience and maybe things will just work out irrespective of the route, the speed; it will all flow into what is meant to be. From streams into canals, through rivers and seas; water always flows into the oceans! It doesn't really make sense to me how it does but it does and that is just how it is. Can I prevent it, can I control it: NO! To survive I must flow!

[samangul]

Writing is hard for me these days. It requires me to be present and process my emotions and face my truth. I have been practicing that from over two years and yet there are times when the urge to run away from it surfaces like a shark, ready to devour me. This week during my yoga practice I tried to be present. For me the present moment has always been very hard. To deal with how I am feeling now, what I want now; it is all too much for me whereas working towards tomorrow without being aware of what I want today doesn't really help my cause. Its easier though.Perhaps, it is easy for me to sabotage my tomorrow because what ever I feel today is carried forward when I don't deal with it.While doing the rocking bow pose, something opened up in my solar plexus. While I rocked I felt as if a shift has taken place. It felt like when we crack our knuckles. The rocking bow signifies strength and conviction that we show with an open heart. It is like a bow pulled back to release an arrow but the with the vulnerability of an open chest. It signifies that true strength lies in vulnerability. To express ourselves, to bare our heart naked and yet to keep moving forward; that is hard, the hardest thing we can do.I remembered when I first time visualised my heart center. The image that came to my mind is something I am not going to allow to be ever again. I saw metal doors 9-10 inches thing, shut by thick metal chains around the handles and the chains were locked with a big heavy metal lock. I am a heart person, everything stems from my heart.Be it my poetry, my writing, my yoga, my expression, for me it all comes from my heart. I started writing again two years back and consciously worked to be where I am today. Now that I am aware, it is impossible for me to go back to that place. The toughest love is the love that we have to show to ourselves, where we choose joy over suffering for ourselves, where we choose to keep our hearts open regardless of what life brings forth in our journey. This is the wisdom of the bow pose,the yoga we must practice not just on our mat but in our lives aswell.Keep loving your self enough to keep your heart open so that you can receive love.

[samangul]

I find my self in this zone quite often where the pull of the ego gets very strong. That is when I am certain that I have to get on my mat, seek help from my reiki, healing crystals, aroma therapy or just anything that will help me. My mind has been so scattered these days and I am not sure which direction to take. This state of mind reflected into my practice, did not surprise me at all. I was just not sure what posture to transition into next. There appeared to be no direction or sequence and that frustrated me. Hence, I just decided to go with what felt right and follow my heart instead of trying to mould my practice or steer it in a certain direction. Just when I surrendered and let go, my practice just began to flow. There was no frustration, no struggle and I just did what I do best; I practiced yoga. I practiced and today after 2.5 years I finally kicked into Pincha (forearm stand). Thanks to the amazing #dharmayogawheel, it has helped me open up my upper back. This is what my practice taught me that just because I felt scattered in my life, it is not the end of things. Just let go and surrender, everything will fall into place. Life does not have to unfold in accordance with my perception, just like my practice. I just need to keep doing what I do best, come to everything with an open heart and love. To PRACTICE is the key! It gets very hard to do that because in amidst of all those dilemmas, triggers, unsurety; to come to everything with love and an open heart requires everything we have got. Lets not be so hard on our selves, not take things too seriously and just allow our selves to be by concenrating on our breath and breathe GENTLY. Never ever forget to be gentle. Don't push, never push or force. I am a heart person and that is the best thing I know. So I come to everything with love and keep giving my best and things that are meant to come to me will come my way, just like the #Pincha! Unroll your mat, become aware and it is true you'll never be the same again!