Just a short drive from the overdeveloped madness of South Florida , is a state park called Highland Hammock. The drive and the surrounding town, are not spectacular, but as soon as you enter the park, you enter another world.
Highland Hammock is one of the oldest state parks in Florida. There are trails all around the park. And all of the trails are so different. So beautiful. So healing. There are Oak trees that are estimated to be over 1000 years old. Cypress swamps, and wildlife, we saw so much wildlife.
Barred Owl
Some of the park feels very prehistoric. Especially the Cypress swamp. Early in the morning on a hike, I spotted a cottonmouth, a very venomous snake, swallowing a large fish. We watched in fear and amazement, as the snake unhinged its jaw, and swallowed this fish.
Cottonmouth Eating a Fish
We camped in one of the primitive campsites. As the sunset, with the clear sky, and the new moon, the stars were bright and beautiful. I saw a shooting star. I made a wish.
The whole trip was so restorative. We hiked slowly on the trails. We gazed up at the stars. We hugged trees. I did Restorative yoga everyday, (which my son called “sleeping”), and we ate good nutritious food.
Restorative Yoga
My daughter trying her hardest to do YOGA
We saw deer, pigs, hawks, osprey, owls, turtles, alligators, snakes, opossums, armadillos, and even two river otters.
Being in nature is so healing. Like a soul shower. We feel balanced.
Nature is the best teacher. We can never have enough nature.
On Saturday I went on a “Yoga Date” with a friend of mine. We are both yoga teachers, and mothers, so usually our hang outs are with our children, and include diapers, trips to go “pee pee”, occasional tantrums, and conversations about how yoga has helped save us from complete and total mental breakdown. “I felt like I was going to pull out all my hair and then I did some sun salutations and now I feel completely renewed.”
My friend Melissa, who teaches Paddleboard Yoga, had a couple of free tickets to an event in Fort Lauderdale called the “Yoga Expo”. I usually avoid the big festivals and events, preferring to practice alone, or outside, but free tickets and a kid free date with my friend, was something I was really looking forward to.
We met up early in the morning and after pushing through some heavy traffic and getting a little lost, we arrived at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
On the ride down, I drank both coffee and a coconut water. Not a good idea. Because when we pulled into the parking garage, my full bladder was about to explode. There was no way I could make it all the way to the crowded bathrooms!! We giggled and I nervously found a place in the parking garage to squat down and empty my bladder. Parking garage yoga-malasana pose! My friend shielded me with a yoga mat.. I joked that we would get arrested, and all the yogis would talk about the peeing yoga teacher in the parking garage. We didn’t get arrested. And I felt so much better.
At the expo, we were surrounded by a few thousand yoga practitioners. Everyone walking around with yoga mats, going from class to class, shopping, and eating “yoga” food. After checking it out and feeling a little overwhelmed, it was time to practice. The event was huge, offering 6 to 7 classes every hour. All day. The classes were packed. Flourescent lighting. We were doing downward facing dog to Beyonce, Pitbull, and some very weird songs about heartbreak.
To be honest, it was hard not to “judge” the experience. The place. The Yoga fashion trend. The noise! It was so loud. Once again, I was presented with a big lesson. Tame the mind. Yogananda wrote that in his early training, his teacher wanted him to go deep into meditation, but Yogananda was being swarmed by mosquitos. He kept swatting them, getting agitated, and could not meditate. His teacher sat there looking peaceful, deep in meditation, unphased by the mosquitos. His teacher told him to train his mind.
It is easy to relax the mind when in a peaceful setting. The real work is to relax the mind when we are in an uncomfortable setting. Convention center yoga. Take out the tools, and calm the mind. When I was able to get deeper into my breath and be present, the judgement melted away. Yoga always teaches us.
After a couple of flow classes, and with very exhausted legs, my friend and I drove home in the late afternoon. We talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly, of mainstream yoga culture. And while we both agreed that there are things we don’t resonate with, we both acknowledge that the truly important thing is that more and more people are being introduced and drawn to yoga. So many people find healing through yoga.
Post Convention Center Yoga 🙂
Yoga is a path and the wisdom of Yoga unfolds at a natural organic pace. . Even after 18 years since my introduction, I know I am still a beginner. I am still learning and being challenged everyday.
Yes, “yoga” is a huge trend. And yes, there are problems with our mainstream yoga culture. But truth be told, beyond the expensive yoga clothes, is the actual practice. A very personal and profound practice. A practice that can truly help heal the world.
I woke up this morning to the sound of trees being chopped down. The land across the street is being clear cut to make way for a large Wellington mini Mansion. We have seen hawks and turtles, foxes and possums, owls and ospreys. Where will they go?
I don’t often write about all the sad and awful things that are happening in our world right now. Wars, mass shootings, environmental destruction, anger, poverty, racism, and hate. But just because I don’t write about it doesn’t mean I don’t think about it, or feel it.. Because trust me, as an empath, I feel it. There is so much chaos right now that it is hard not to feel crazy. I think we all do. How do we heal?
For me, even 10 minutes of yoga, deep breathing, a few juicy asanas, single pointed focus, can shift my mood and perspective, drastically! I can transform from a place of hopelessness and fear, to a place of strength and healing.Through breathing and being mindful. This is why I practice yoga. This is why I teach yoga, even though truth be told, anyone who teaches yoga knows, you have to do it because you love it. And I do love it. It is through inner healing, realization, and wisdom that we can create change. Sometimes while we are deep in the surrender of savasana, we truly feel and understand that all things connect.
Putting down the shovel, for a little Asana Time
We are at a crossroads. Strange and intense times and energy. Times of transformation. We can’t just talk about the problems, we have to start living the solution. How do we want to transform? What do we want to transform into?
My suggestion is that we tap into our higher wisdom, and transform through love, compassion, and forgiveness.
Last night I had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting and studying with a well known Yoga teacher, Bryan Kest. It was the first time I had ever met or studied with Bryan, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.
Me, Bryan Kest, and Jessica McCarrick
The room was crowded, full of yogis. The workshop began with a lecture, or a talk rather. Bryan is funny, charismatic, and a bit of a rebel.. His words are what I will remember long after these sore arms of mine recover.
Bryan shared the story of how and why Asana practice began. He talked about the true meaning and purpose of yoga.“To still the fluctuations of the mind.” He talked about the ultimate goal of yoga, enlightenment, Samadhi. Not pose perfection.”You are never going to heal relationships with loose hamstrings. We have to try to develop the benevolent qualities of our mind. Through awareness we can start eradicating the shit that is hurting us.”
Something in him, I connected to on a deep level. Perhaps it was his honesty. He was real. He talked about his angry and wild past (which I can totally relate to). He openly shared that he smokes pot, and he said the “F” word, more than once. He did not come across as a phoney know it all yoga purist. He came across as someone just like me, a person, a parent, who came to yoga to heal. He talked with passion about the state of our world, and how we are all contributing, creating this world, this chaos. He also stressed that it is up to each of us to change. We have to be the change… or nothing will change.
He also talked about how even within the yoga community, there are fights, judgments, egos, teacher bashing, blacklisting.. Each style claiming they do it correctly and other practices, styles, and teachers are wrong… I have experienced this first hand, and it is really toxic. The snobbery that can be found within the yoga community is intense. Yoga is not about designer yoga pants and a perfect body. It isn’t about memorizing the sanskrit words for poses. It isn’t even about the ability to perform a difficult pose. It is about stilling the fluctuations of the mind..
Bryan is known for teaching a strong physical practice called Power Yoga. And while I am a yoga teacher, I do not have a very strong physical practice, and I certainly don’t have buns or abs of steel. Since my recent car accident, my practice has become even more gentle. I am very aware of my injuries, and I am very gentle with my body.
Thankfully, during the asana practice, Bryan repeatedly reminded us to listen to our bodies. He said, “No yoga teacher on earth knows where your body should be.” He instructed us to rest in childs pose whenever we needed. “There are 7 billion right ways to do a yoga pose.” With a strong voice he told us not to look at what other people in the class were doing, but to focus on our own breath, our own body. I was dripping in sweat halfway through the practice.
We ended the practice with a long and quiet Gratitude meditation..
I feel grateful and inspired by Bryan. I feel grateful to connect with a yoga teacher who is sharing (on a much larger scale), the message that I share with my own students..
The workshop was hosted by The Cozy Yogi, a yoga studio in Lake Worth Florida. The workshop was awesome. It ended up running late, past the scheduled time. So, without a proper thank you, I had to rush off and pick up my son and breastfeed my tired daughter.
Bryan Kest, Thank you. When I do my “head touching my leg pose” I will think of you and smile.
Yesterday I woke up and it was cold. The strong North wind was gone, but in its place was rain. Nonetheless, Living in the Country, is proving to be quite healing and peaceful. I havent had any breathing problems since the move. I feel healing in the air.But it is loud here. A different kind of loud. Cows mooing day and night, the bah bahs of the black sheep the white and brown sheep too,chickens excitedly announcing they laid some eggs, the goats, the turkeys, the pigs, the dogs, the ducks, and the horses, they all sing their song, and it is a song I am grateful to hear.
Yesterday was Mothers day, or as I call it “American Mothers Day,” and my son, surprised me with a large bouquet of wild flowers. Portuguese Mothers day, was celebrated a week ago. Anyways, I woke up, drank some coffee, enjoyed the smell of my wildflowers, made some banana,sesame, coconut cookies, and prepared for a morning Reiki session. A friend of mine came for a session. Every time I give a session, I am reminded how powerful Reiki is.Healing rays of energy. It was a lovely morning, and after the Reiki and a plate full of cookies, my friend gifted me with a beautiful necklace she got while living in Indonesia.
Country Living, Springtime In The Azores, A field near our new house
In the afternoon, the sun appeared and warmed us. We decided to go exploring. I wanted to find some herbs, my son wanted to show me where he picked the flowers, my daughter wanted to play and get dirty, and my sweetheart wanted to show us one of the best places on the island to get fresh water. We have running water here, but it is not safe for drinking, and unfortunately most of the island relies on imported bottled water. But there are a few places with fresh, clean, water, and whenever we can, we fill up our bottles straight from the source.
Exploring, I love the old Stone Barns and Houses
Our exploring proved to be quite fun and rewarding. Not only did I find the herbs I was looking for, but I also found a large laurel tree, which was perfect because I had just run out of bay leaf. We passed the ruins of many old houses. We saw a giant lemon tree, full of ripe and rotting lemons, I picked several and felt so happy. I found a bird’s egg lying on the ground, and we searched and searched until we found its nest.
My son and I, The Bird´(Egg) Rescuers
Wandering around, hiking old dirt roads, climbing fences, getting dirty, drinking fresh spring water, picking herbs, picking fruit, saving birds (hopefully), all with my family. . My kind of day.
Smiling sweetheart, Happy Dirty Portuguese Explorer
Many hours later, we arrived home. Tired and dirty, arms filled with herbs and lemons, smiling and satisfied, I started a pot of tea. All the cookies were gone but I was hungry. As if by magic, another close friend of mine, stopped by and brought over a delicious banana cake. We sat around, drank oregano, mint,and rosemary tea, ate cake, and enjoyed the fresh country air.
Sometimes we are gifted with a day so full of healing rays- sunshine, friendship, family, love, AND CAKE!!!!!
Emotions and Feelings Associated with this chakra: The ability to love and forgive, ourselves and each other. Empathy, sympathy, and loving kindness, come from a strong and open heart chakra. Dysfunction of this chakra can manifest in many ways, feeling unworthy of love, closed to love, unable to express love, etc.. Physically, it can manifest as heart problems, lung problems, and more..
Yoga Poses For Heart Chakra: Camel pose, Cobra, Upward Facing Dog, Wheel, Standing Backbend, and more. Any pose that opens and stretches the chest will greatly benefit the health of this chakra.
Affirmation: My heart is open to give and receive love. I let go of past wounds and allow love to flow through and to me.
Ustrasana-Camel Pose An Amazing Heart Chakra Pose
The literal meaning of the word Anahata is unstuck, unhurt, unbeaten.. Lets be real here, many of us have deep wounds. But we can heal. Yoga, chanting, affirmations, color therapy, diet, meditation, hugs, etc.. Choose love.
I am very excited to announce that I am co-hosting a yoga retreat on the island of Santa Maria, Azores, with a beautiful Kundalini yoga teacher who lives in Dubai. This will be a special retreat for many reasons, LOCATION is magical! The people are magical. And what could be better than a retreat that combines Kundalini yoga and Vinyasa Flow. And Hiking everyday!!!
We have worked very hard to provide the cheapest possible retreat, in hopes that many like-minded friends can join us. This is sure to be the trip of lifetime! If you have any questions please email me flowingyogini@gmail.com
Instagram Yoga Challenge! This one will be AMAZING!!!
I am very excited to share that I am co-hosting an upcoming 15 day yoga challenge. The challenge is called Color Your Yoga and will be on instagram. This is a Chakra Therapy Yoga challenge, with Asana, Pranayama, Color Therapy, Mantra, Affirmations, and even food suggestions.. Our challenge begins Friday March 20th, the first day of spring, also the new moon and total solar eclipse! Wow! The challenge is sponsored by Jade Yoga Mats, so participants have the opportunity to win prizes!! A Jade Yoga Mat, yoga towel, and calendar. If you have an instagram account, Follow @flowingyogini, @justinebaconyoga and @jadeyogamats.
Energy work is what I do, who I am, and a huge part of my yoga classes. I am excited to plan with another yoga teacher who feels the same way! Please join and share! This is sure to be amazing and healing.
Like most people, I was originally drawn to yoga for the physical benefits. It was more than 16 years ago, I was 21 and pregnant, and I read that Madonna (who was also pregnant at the same time) was doing yoga to stay in shape.
Inspired by that news and Madonna’s arm muscles, I bought a yoga video (VHS, remember those?). It was a Kundalini prenatal yoga video, and I started practicing daily. It was difficult, strange, fun, powerful..and that was the beginning of my yoga journey. After I had my son, and for the first few years of my yoga journey, yoga seemed to weave in and out of my life. (Always coming back to my practice when crisis hit.)
A Fun Variation of Goddess Pose
Anyways, now, many years later, my yoga practice has become a huge part of my life. Yoga is medicine. Yoga is therapy. YOGA IS MAGIC.
I have been teaching yoga full-time now for nearly 7 years. My first yoga teacher training was truly incredible. Nearly 1 year-long, I learned so much. My physical body changed so much. The way I moved my body changed. The way I sat changed. My eating habits and choices changed. I started healing. But beyond the physical, there were spiritual experiences that I cannot even begin to describe in words, though likely, if you practice yoga or meditation, you understand.
Initially, my life as a yoga teacher took very little effort, things just manifested. A friend of mine owned a popular yoga studio in South Florida, and offered me the opportunity to teach there. For the first few years, all my classes and students, appeared with very little effort. Things just floated into my lap. I was offered so many classes, that I had to say no, many times. Anyways, I showed up to teach, relaxed my mind, and allowed the yoga to flow through and to me.. The best way to describe it, I somehow quiet my mind, and access a place inside where the yoga magic just flows. Intuitive classes.
I took my advanced yoga teacher training and it was difficult mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Trying to use the mind to understand that which is beyond the mind. The written exam took so long. But I did it, I learned so much. I am still learning. In fact, I am still very much a beginner. Yoga takes lifetimes.
Anyways, I moved to another Country, where yoga is still relatively new and strange, And my goodness, my life as a yoga teacher changed. First of all, it was difficult to even find a place to teach. There are no yoga studios on this island. There are 5000 people here. Once I found a place to teach, I had to try to attract students. Not only was I suddenly working with students who were brand new to yoga, but also, I was trying to learn to teach in a new language. PORTUGUESE! Ask any yoga teacher, and I am sure they will agree, that one of the most difficult classes one could teach is a class full of beginners. There is so much to learn, so much to teach, so much to describe, and how does one do that if their vocabulary is seriously limited to a few basic words? (Think vocabulary of a two year old).
Anyways, with great effort, (and some very kind students), I am happy to say, we have built a small yoga community here. The other day, I was teaching a class, and I noticed how strong my students have become. The sound of the deep audible ujjayi pranayama brought tingles of joy to my body and soul. It hit me, I was teaching a room full of Yogis.
Upward Facing Dog, Healing with the Trees and my Beautiful Daughter
During the month of February, I hosted a yoga challenge on Instagram, just a small challenge with a few students, designed to increase awareness about asana and the physical benefits. The challenge was 21 days, 21 asanas, and was called “The Magic of Yoga.” It was a small group but we had participation from Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Santa Maria, Sao Miguel, Germany, Ohio, and Florida. My students learned and were inspired to take their practice further. The challenge inspired others to give yoga a try. The challenge inspired me! What an honor to share something so special. LIFE CHANGING! Everyday I was excited to see the beautiful photos of my students working on Asana. Everyday I was inspired to share.
Our Advanced Yoga Challenge Asana, Bird Of Paradise
I guess if I was a little more organized I should have written about it on my website so my reader friends could join in. BUT, I am happy to say, I am putting together another yoga challenge right now. This new challenge is sponsored by Jade Yoga mats, there will be prizes. I PROMISE to keep the website updated with this challenge! And I hope you will feel inspired to join in. 🙂
One of the most powerful and healing poses, Tadasana-Namaste
I am so honored and grateful to practice, share, and teach The Magic Of Yoga.
Lets go back to March 21st, 1953. There was a young, strong, feisty portuguese woman in labor, about to give birth to her third child, my mother. The house was tiny, with a dirt floor. There was no electricity, no running water, and often, there was no food. Life was very hard for my mothers family and very different from anything most of us could imagine.
Santana, Santa Maria Azores
My mom, spent the first 16 years of her life in a tiny village called Santana, on a tiny island called Santa Maria, in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. This is the island I now call home. My mom was one of more than a dozen children. My Grandmother was pregnant for a very large chunk of her life. I cant even imagine.
My mother and my sweetheart, share similar childhoods..they have known hunger. They both had to work at a very young age to help support their families..they both have siblings buried in the same cemetary. Island life is different now.. but there are stories, memories, remnants…
Three years ago, I had the strange dream that commanded me to come to the Azores.. A place I knew next to nothing about. I had no idea, that following that strange dream would change my life so completely.
But it also changed my mother’s life, because once I bought the ticket to come and explore the Azores, my mother also bought a ticket, and came home to her birthplace, for the first time in 40 years.
Me and my Mom, the first day I came to this island
My Mother with all of her grandchildren
Naturally, coming back to the island, brought up many memories, emotions, and tears.. but it also reconnected my mother to her roots, her story, her family. She hugged cousins she hadn´t seen in years, and reconnected with her Godmother, the first person to hold her, my grandmothers best friend (and cousin)..
Sometimes my mother cries that I live on the island where she grew up.. How did I even get here? Let alone fall in love with someone from this tiny place.. It is very strange.
My mother has now come back 3 times, every summer to experience the magic, the beauty, and the memories of her island home. I know when she is gone she misses it. The music, the malasadas, her childhood.
Today my sweetheart and I went for a hike and had a picnic lunch. I saw the village my mother grew up in, and I felt compelled to take a photo and share a little post..
Somewhere in history, my grandfather is sitting outside of a little bar in Santana, playing guitar, drinking, winking at pretty women, and laughing..
Somewhere in history, my mom, a young girl is running around, barefoot with her brothers and sisters, chewing old gum she found on the ground, eating malasadas, and running to the airport to get a glimpse of the rich americans who had a layover on this island.
Somewhere in history, my grandmother is smiling, thankful her kids have eaten, and enjoying the song my grandfather is singing.
The house my mother was born in, is still standing, fully modern, and is now owned by my sweeheart´s cousins.. (it just keeps getting weirder)..
Someday, I will write the story, and it will begin with my grandmother, my mother, me, and then my daughter..
Connections, life is weird..
My hair is standing up, chicken skin, because I just got a message from my mom (as I am finishing this post) that today, Jan 27th, is the anniversary of my grandmothers death..
Three Genertaions of Tough Portuguese Women…Alvarina, Rosa, and me. I miss you Grandma.
Share our stories.. there is beauty even in the pain.
Flowing Yogini 