(Picture of Neal Donald Walsch)

I'm always so happy when I find the time to write. Writing is so therapeutic...I can't imagine not taking the time to breathe and express my thoughts in another way, other than with my mouth.

So...much has been transpiring. Mostly, I'm amazed at the transformative energy of our very own breath. It becomes increasingly obvious to me, as I grow in my understanding and practice of Yoga, just how powerful the breath really is...


When I took the Rod Stryker Yoga training, this past September, called Prana: The Power and Path of Yoga, he spoke of this very awareness. He said if there is anything we are seeking to positively change in our life, the first thing to improve is the connection to our very own breath. He guided us in the 1:2 breath, instructing us to breathe into a count of 4 and exhale out to a count of 8. We practiced this breath throughout the entire practice and in all the Yoga poses. Since that training, I've incoporated this 1:2 breathing practice into my Yoga practice and it's been both energizing and stabilizing, grounding and healing. Before learning the 1:2 breath, I usually practiced 1:1 breathing. The 1:1 breath is more activating and charging, in other words it's more of a Yang/fiery breath.

It's very powerful to notice what kinds of activities or thoughts disturb the flow of your breath, whether that's your connection to something or someone. More recently, I've been noticing how my breath gets affected when I am listening to the radio in the car. If I find I start to get emotionally affected by the music in a way that disturbs the flow of my breath, I will turn off the music or listen to a spiritual talk by one of the monks from the Self-Realization Fellowship, which, by the way, happen to be some of the most powerful information you could ever imagine listening to and receiving. You can receive SRF cds by subscribing to the quarterly SRF magazine. Each issue is like $6.50 or something and there are 4 a year, one for each season.

When I took my first training with Rod in September 2008, he said most of us are emotional breathers. This is true, for most of us our breath is affected by our thoughts, feelings, emotions, related to our experiences or people in our life. Of course, almost all mainstream music these days is all emotionally charged and can easily get you caught up in your mind/emotions. It's very helpful to have the insights about the breath, because then you can make the changes you need to make to reconnect with your breath in a meditative way. Inhale to 4...exhale to 8.

One of the spiritual practices I've learned about and have been practicing is a breath/breathing practice called Tonglen. This practice comes from Buddhism, but is really inherent in any spiritual faith or practice. The idea is that you breathe into and feel your own tension, whether it's physical/mental/emotional. As you feel what's present in you, you accept whatever you are feeling in yourself...and also whatever tension you might be experiencing in anyone you are connected to...then, as you breathe out...you exhale to release the tension, not only for yourself...but everyone you are connected to. Whatever we wish for ourself...we wish for others...even those people we have resistance to or don't like. As Yogananda says...we don't have to like everyone...but we must learn to love everyone as a soul. This is also called a loving-kindness meditation...but there is something very powerful when we connect this intention this deeply to our body, mind and breath as we feel everything that we are experiencing within us and around us. Yogananda says...if you become a friend of even those people who you perceive to be your enemies...that even God will become your friend. He says we must learn to love our enemies. This is a powerful intention whether we are an individual consciousness or a collective consciousness...such as a nation.

One other thing before I sign off for today. Neal Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God, will be speaking at the Center for Spiritual Living tonight in Dallas at 630 pm and it's FREE. Hoping to make it to this one myself. This weekend I'll be taking the first part of my 30 hour Thai Yoga Massage training with Chock Petchprom here in Dallas, as well. I'm really looking forward to learning more about this powerful and healing technique so I can share it with you in class. I will be back soon with more Yoga inspiration.

May our intelligence be guided by Divine Light and wisdom.

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