Sunset Palm Tree

Meditation~One with the Ocean

As you practice meditation, quieting your mind and releasing all thoughts, practice Ujjayi breathing or Ocean Breath. To do Ujjayi, first breathe in with an open mouth and allow the sound “aahhh” to whisper out. As you exhale, allow the sound “huh” to whisper out with an open mouth. Continue on this way until you can create the sound in the back of your throat with a closed mouth. Now as you inhale, imagine the Ocean wave coming towards you as you stand on the sand and see it break at your feet and wash up with white foam around you, as you exhale, see the water rejoining the Ocean and becoming one again. Continue this way and as thoughts arise, watch them come in and allow them to go out. Concentrate on your breath and on your point of focus which is the Ocean. As the wave becomes one with the Ocean, you become one with your truth.

One Month~ Cornucopia of Change

Dear Readers,

It has been one month since my last entry. I thought it would be fitting to begin with a journal entry about the events of the last month. As you may or may not know, Nirvana Island was started after my re-introduction to yoga. It was a solace for me, a positive escape. I wanted to help myself and help others with positivity. In the last month, I have decided to enroll in a yoga teacher training program beginning in October that will take me through a journey for 8 months. I am thrilled about the upcoming experiences that I will have! I have already begun reading the books on my class list and it’s been transformational. To add to the fun, I was away for 12 days in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where I tied the knot! We had 50 family and friends join my new husband and I for the once in a lifetime occasion! Having a destination wedding was the best decision that we could have made. Everything went so smoothly! Besides the 10 pieces of luggage that we brought down with us, it wasn’t very difficult to coordinate the planning from a distance. I have the most wonderful memories of all that took place. Being so close to the Ocean and being able to fall asleep to the sound of the Ocean waves was very relaxing. I miss that so much and use it as a basis for my meditations now. While being away from the day to day details, I decided to be more focused and really distribute my time in a balanced and even way during my waking hours. That is why the format of Nirvana Island will take a little shift. Rather than having Daily entries for all of the subjects on this site, I will have a daily entry for the day. It could be a meditation, a journal entry, a quote, or a picture. But with everything going on right now, I would rather have one entry that is well though out rather than five that I just throw up on the page. Doing this will allow me to keep this going while I also keep the other important aspects of my life going. I am looking forward to writing about my experiences in my teacher training program, about married life, about positive change, my progress with meditation and achieving equanimity. Namaste, Diana