(Picture of beloved Yogini and my teacher, Shiva Rea)

OH MY GOSH...IT'S TRUE...I HEARD THIS THE OTHER DAY...BUT IT'S REAL!!! SHIVA REA WILL BE IN AUSTIN, TX JANUARY 9-10 AT YOGA YOGA. I just verified this after I wrote this post. Wooooooooooo hooooooooooo! Dreams do come true and prayers are answered. Jai guru, saraswati mata.

Last night I went to a Kirtan and ecstatic dance at Park Cities Yoga in Dallas. It was awesome. It was led by Monica Blossom Hochberg who guides ecstatic dance in Dallas...she is an incredibly inspiring and beautiful person. I hope you have the opportunity to cross paths with her one day. And the Kirtan was sung by Rudra Das. I have never heard him sing before but it was amazing. He is incredibly inspiring and connected and what a blessing to be in his presence. He said so many things which were so powerful, such as, 'you are the guru. Yes, that's a bit much for some people at first...but, you are the guru.' He also said that the second chakra is the opening to the Divine Mother and seeing the Divine Mother in all beings and knowing the Divine Mother within us. Through this awakening we realize the Divine is within each and everyone of us and the Divine Mother is in all women and men. Even when we experience someone being unkind to us, we can know it is the Divine Mother enlightening us to greater, compassion, forgiveness, understanding and love for ourself and everyone. Any harshness we experience is a lesson in love to be learned. With this understanding, we can let go of being afraid to open our hearts, even in situations or with people we are afraid to let ourselves love. With this realization we can know, like Rev. Lee Wolak says who leads the Agape Center for Spiritual Living in Frisco, TX, that we think we are going to get hurt if we open our hearts, but in reality, they just keep opening and opening to greater love and compassion for everyone and everything. The great mystic poet Hafiz says, love is constant compassion and forgiveness.

One of the chants we sang as we moved to awaken the 2nd chakra, was Sarasvati Ma. A dear friend of mine, Kate LaCroix who owns Global Soul Adventures, just gave me this beautiful song by Daphne Tse, a fellow Yogini and student of Shiva Rea. The song is called Saraswati Mata. I highly recommend downloading it on itunes...it is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard. I met Daphne a couple of years ago at a Yoga training with Shiva and she sang one of her songs for us. When I was listening to this song this week, it reminded me of what Shiva says which is, what is the song Yoga wishes to sing through you? She doesn't mean literally singing, she means expressing the joy in the heart, the unbounded consciousness, bliss and love within us allowing that to flow to everyone we meet and know.

Let's see, what else. Well, I completed the 30 hour Thai Yoga Bodywork training over the last two weekends. It was intense and overflowing with information, but it was incredibly enriching and good, as well. I'm so glad I was able to take it with Chock. He is one of the greatest healers I have met since I have been on this path of healing. He knows so much and his presence is so loving and positive, I am grateful to know him.

Also, there will be a couple of Holiday Yoga classes I am offering. One is next Wednesday at lululemon Northpark from 6-7 pm and is FREE. The other one is Saturday, December 12th from 3-5 pm at exhale spa, with refreshments following, and is $30. Both will be wonderful and I'm really looking forward to sharing this special and sacred time with you, connecting to a deeper appreciation for the Divine gifts in our life, the loving presence of family and friends and the ever-expanding spiritual community growing and evolving in Dallas and beyond. I have just sent out more information in a True Yoga announcement. If you do not receive True Yoga News and would like to, please submit your email here.

Oh, and a True Yoga retreat is pranfesting for March 2010 to Brazil led by world traveler and Global Soul Adventure owner, Kate LaCroix, and myself. Please stay tuned for more details and join us if you can. It will be the trip of a lifetime, a true spiritual journey for your body, mind and soul.

I wanted to leave you with this. It's on a bookmark that I was given when I purchased a book by Bhagavan Das called It's Here Now, Are You? this past August at Thunderbolt Spiritual Books in Santa Monica, CA, when I was out in L.A. for the SRF Convocation.

When asked,
Are you a God or a man?
The Buddha replied,
'I am awake.'

"Do not care for doctrine.
Do not care for dogma or sects,
churches or temples.

They count for little compared
with the essence of existence in
each man, which is spirituality, and
the more this is developed in a man
the more powerful is he for good.

Earn that first, acquire that, and
criticise no one, for all doctrine
and creeds have some good in them.

Show by your lives that religion
does not mean words, or
names, or sects, but that it means
spiritual realization.

Only those can understand who
have felt. Only those who have
attained to spirituality can
communicate it to others, can be great
teachers of mankind. They alone
are the powers of light."

Sri Ramakrishna

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