If you read the last post, you gotta get that book Three Magic Words. I can hardly put it down.

So, if you haven't gotten the info on the upcoming True Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica, January 24-31, 2009, you can get all the details here. It's going to be a phenomenal time and January is an excellent time to go. It's actually the beginning of the dry season so we're looking forward to beautiful weather while we're there. I definitely plan to go surfing.

It's a cloudy day here in Dallas. We've had such beautiful weather recently, it's actually nice to have a day that feels kind of grey. It's amazing how much the weather affects our mood...I'm feeling a little sleepy myself. It just feels like we've been through so much recently and we need some down time emotionally, energetically.

So, I know we've all been riding a lot of waves right now, particularly, the wave of uncertainty and change. One of the intentions of our Yoga practice is to enlighten us to how to surf the waves of change. Oh, this is perfect...as I was writing this, I put on my Rod Stryker Yoga Sutras training on itunes. In this part of the training, he is talking about the 5 States of Mind. I will share some of it here:

"We're moving right along through this scripture or text called The Yoga Sutras, and, there's just so much in here, we really could have spent all 5 days on just a fraction of what we've done so far. But, really, the more time you spend with it, it just keeps coming back that Yoga is about your mind. More than anything else, it's about your mind. No doubt, they developed an amazing practice around working with your body, and most of you are here because you found that practice of meaning and of value to you, but the primary focus of all of it is mind. And, the rationale for that is pretty simple, you know it doesn't really matter what kind of shape your body is in, there are no guarantees of happiness if your mind is not in the right place. Doesn't even matter what's happening outside of you, what determines your experience of the world is your own mind. And Patanjali from the very beginning of this book, asks us each to take responsibility for the way we experience life. Life will always be uncertain, that's this word Prakriti (the world of change), so there's that world, the world of change, unpredictability, one moment things are one way, the next moment things are another way, and that's not just weather conditions. But, it's also your body. Even your body is changing, it's not just the world, politics, real estate values, everything. But, everything...everything that can be seen or perceived is changing. And, then on the other side of the chart is the realm of the Seer. The part of you that is complete, and what actually observes all of that (the change) happening. Before I did Yoga, I had some sense of this. I think many of us do, if not all of us. And, that is while we're changing all the time, and we can look back and think of ourselves in grade school, high school, we have a sense of how different we looked in all of those pictures and stuff, there's still a tiny fraction of ourself that has always felt the same. Some thing has been watching the whole stream unfolding. That's a kind of vague version of the Seer, some part of you has always seen it happening. And by definition, according to the Yoga tradition, that part of you is complete, whole, unchanging. And, in fact, it's the only thing that you and I can experience that is unchanging. And, what we've talked about a lot, is that Yoga is a practice of really separating yourself from all that seen stuff, even though a lot of it is good, so you can rest in that part of yourself that is never changing, always the same, eternal, complete and whole. Day 1 I said, Yoga is not a process of trying to make you better, it's simply a process of removing the stuff that you are identified with that keeps you from seeing your wholeness. That's really what Yoga is about. So, Patanjali makes the case it really is all about your mind, your experience of the world is less about the world than it is about your mind...

Finally, the last state. The 5th state is what it's all about. The word he uses is Nirodha. And, in this context it means, free...freedom. Nirodha. What it basically says then, is that no matter how dark or how distracted or where you come from, where you mind is emotionally and mentallly...let me actually go back. The first thing it means is it has stopped. That the action of the mind has stopped. You can stop the fluctuations, you can stop the restlessness and you've achieved that one-pointedness. But beyond one-pointedness, is there's no more movement in the mind, and the result of that is resting in your wholeness...being complete. Rest in the real you. That actually is the real meaning of the word Purusha, it means the real you, the real person, it literally means, this is the word they use for soul...Purusha means real person. My example earlier is that you feel these different you's through all the stages of your life...none of those are the real you. The real you has been the same in every phase of life...from the beginning, through the middle and it will be at the end...it never changes. Nirodha is actually one of the 7 essences of the mind. One of the 7 aspects of mind, which means that the mind at any moment has the capacity to rescue itself from uncertainty and confusion and challenge and difficulty. Nirodha is not something you have to dig for, it's something you have to remember and relax into. You don't have to create it, it's always there, permanently there. Your mind has the ability to rescue itself from all distress. What you do is have to create the right situations to provoke or evoke or awaken that aspect of your mind. Correct your breathing, move your body in a certain way, create the right opportunity for that quality of the mind to reappear."

What I love about Three Magic Words, which was recommended to me by a fellow student of Rod Stryker's, is how it explains the Universal Subconscious Mind, which is the part of our mind that affects our reality. This is the time to transform yourself through the renewing of your mind. All of the perceived instability and change we've been growing through reminded me today of the quote by Helen Keller:

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

And, as I was searching for that one, I came across these brilliant ones, as well.

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." - Helen Keller

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope." - Helen Keller

Choose faith and release fear! When change happens, it just means you're ready to surf the next enlightening wave. Surfs up!Read more