True Yoga Blog

Right Here, Right Now: Atha and Mindful Eating

2010-04-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

And, one more article by the beautiful Melina Meza. Thank you for sharing your yoga-inspired wisdom with us!

Right here. Right now.
Eating mindfully and applying atha to your practice.
--by Melina Meza, RYT-500, BS Nutrition

I’ve been deeply inspired in my daily life by the very first sutra in the classic text called Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The arrangement in which the sutras are placed is related to their significance, so the very first word in the first yoga sutra is central to understanding what Westerners call “yoga.” The whole sutra is atha yoga anusasanam. Atha is translated as now, also referred to as the moment-to-moment transition. This simple word, atha, echoes the basic wisdom often forgotten in today’s society, that in order to feel whole and connected, you must be present. Right here, right now. But, where do we spend most of our life? Somewhere in between the past and future...

I once heard a riddle that asked, “If you had a treasure to hide, where would you hide it?” The answer is, “in the present moment.” What would happen if we started weaving this wisdom from the Yoga Sutra into our daily life and eating? Would our health improve? I believe it would. This first step is perhaps the most important step on this journey because it brings your attention to what you are doing in the moment, no matter what you are doing. How can you ever understand or feel the benefit of a well prepared meal, restorative or vigorous yoga practice, healthy relationships, parenting, working, or whatever you do in life, if you are always distracted with emails and text messaging or if you are busy fantasizing about some time other than right now?

One translation of the word “mindfulness” means to pay attention or take care in every thing you do. Mindfulness and atha have a lot in common, they both remind us that now is the prime time to pay attention to life and take nothing for granted, they both graciously steer the waxing and waning mind towards one goal, one task versus many. After all, can your energy really go more than one place at a time?
Mindfulness or atha can be used as a “mantra” to be repeated throughout the day in various activities such as yoga, meditation, walking, cooking, paying the bills, or listening to a friend. Repeating this mantra throughout your day will help remind you to stay present and awake, right here and now. What would it be like to wake up to each moment’s sensual offerings and accept that moment as enough?

Mindful eating
What if eating became a part of your meditation practice? Whether you eat three square meals a day or numerous smaller meals, eating food is something every human must do to survive. To maintain healthy tissues and organs, it’s essential to eat the right foods everyday. Because we all need to eat so regularly, it’s a great place to consider sequencing in mindfulness and atha into your daily routine. Enjoy how your food tastes, smells, how well it digests, and how much you need to satisfy your hunger.

In the western culture, people are not fully conscious of the fact that they are eating; instead we are busy driving, typing at the computer, watching the TV or a movie, reading the paper or discussing politics or the latest Facebook events while hanging out with friends. Each of these scenarios requires a certain amount of energy output--energy that is pulled away from the digestive and metabolic functions occurring within. There is a classic saying, “Where your mind goes, your energy will follow.” So, why not focus on eating when eating, to prepare your digestive organs to process the nutrients?

If we were to apply mindfulness to eating, we would start by choosing a special, clean place to eat each meal, free of clutter and distractions. I believe it is valuable to choose a specific comfortable seat just for eating (like you do for meditation) other than your couch, desk, bed, or car because it promotes conscious eating. This also prevents overeating. Consider the classic conditioned behavior patterns described in Pavlov’s experiment. His research proves just how easily you can train yourself to get hungry every time you approach your desk, couch, or car, if that is where you most commonly eat. Conscious, mindful eating promotes efficient digestion and metabolism, so you’ll have more energy at the end of the day, week, and year to do your life’s work. When you take the same seat over and over again to eat, you’ll remember that eating is a ritual for nourishment rather than a reward or comfort tool.

By eating in a quiet seat, you also give your body the opportunity to stop vibrating from the day, calm the sense organs, indulge in a few deep breaths, and drop into a moment of appreciation for the delicious food you are about to consume. The food you eat, after all, will soon become you, so it would be wise to be attentive to your new guests and pray for a speedy, harmonious transformation in the walls of your GI tract.

Learn more about yoga, nutrition, and Ayurveda in one of Melina's upcoming workshops or retreats: www.melinameza.com

Spring Solutions

2010-04-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

This is an article I received from a beautiful Yogini in Seattle, Melina Meza, and I'm happy to be able to post it here. I hope you enjoy!

Welcome Spring!

Tips and ideas how to adapt your yoga asana practice and diet to accommodate the beauty unfolding in spring.--By Melina Meza, RYT-500, BS Nutrition

Spring has officially arrived! It’s time to consider shifting your diet and yoga practice to compliment the season.

Lighten your load
It makes sense that many of us are drawn to the idea of cleansing and purging this time of year—it’s time to lighten our load. Spring is really a time to THRIVE and it’s difficult to thrive if you feel weighted down by your inner or outer world. In order to feel your best, perhaps a little cleanse is in order to get rid of any extra winter weight, household clutter, or material possessions that keep you in the past or limit your freedom in the moment...

Here are a few diet adaptations that will help prepare your body and mind for spring:
Decrease heavy, oily, cold, fatty foods.
Increase spicy, bitter, and astringent foods (arugula, mustard greens, kale, strawberries, blueberries, and sprouts).
Increase your vitamin, nutrient and chlorophyll intake with early dark green vegetables and sprouts.
In general, eat light and eat local.

Spring cleaning through asana
Over the winter months, we recommend practicing yoga sequences that emphasize Sun Salutations to promote circulation, extra twists to strengthen metabolic fire, and dynamic forward and backbends to tonify the kidneys and urinary bladder, which regulate water in the body as well as our emotions.

Now that winter has passed, it's time to start sending some TLC to the liver and gallbladder, which may have been working overtime during the winter with diets heavy in fat, protein, caffeine, alcohol or sugar. Springtime invites cleansing the liver and gallbladder, which do many helpful things for our health including: filtering toxins from the external environment and food, aiding in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fat, and protein, helping to break down fats in the body, and processing our anger. These organs tend to get overloaded in the winter with extra socializing, large meals, decreased exercise, and not enough rest.

In regards to asana, the inner legs and outer leg lines correlate to the meridian lines that feed into the liver (inner legs) and gallbladder (outer legs). Spring is a great time to deepen your relationship to poses such as Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (pigeon), Garudasana (eagle), Prasaritta Padottanasana (wide leg forward bends and Gomukasana (cow face), as these poses help you connect to and activate the liver and gallbladder meridians.

Following are two asana sequences specifically geared for spring.

Yin/restorative class sequence for spring:

Lying on your back:

Supta Baddha Konasana, Happy Baby Pose, Wide Leg Splits (while supported by the floor)

Easy Twist with bent legs, “Thread the Needle”

On the knees or seated:

Wide Leg Child’s Pose, Sphinx, Pigeon, Ardha Matysendrasana, Gomukasana, Upavista Konasana, Padmasana

Seasonal Vinyasa Yoga Spring class sequence:

Supta Baddha Konasana, Happy Baby Pose, Wide Leg Split, Supta Padangusthasana (standard and twist), Abdominal work with Twists, Abdominal work with legs in Garudasana, Lion’s Breath, Fire Hydrant, Spinal Rolls, Uddiyana Bandha, Agni Sara

Sun Salutes with Salabhasana, Squats, Surya Namaskar B, Garudasana, Prasaritta Padottanasana Series, Sirsasana, Bakasana, Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (pigeon), Gomukasana, Double Pigeon, Pursvottanasana, Mayurasana (peacock), Bharadvajasana, Maha Mudra, Janu Sirsasana, Setu Bandha, Halasana with Padmasana…finishing poses.

Melina Meza, BS Nutrition, 500-RYT, has been exploring the art and science of yoga and nutrition for over 16 years. She combines her knowledge of Hatha Yoga, Ayurveda, whole foods nutrition and healthy living into a unique style called Seasonal Vinyasa Yoga. Melina’s Seasonal Vinyasa Yoga classes, workshops and DVDs emphasize the healing teachings of the ancient yogis and inspires students to adapt their asana practice, diet and lifestyle routines to better harmonize with the seasonal changes occurring in nature. Melina is the lead teacher at Seattle’s 8 Limbs Yoga Centers and is also the author of Art of Sequencing an innovative book that includes 34 unique yoga sequences and over 1,500 photos offering creative inspiration for experienced yoga teachers as well as fresh instructional ideas to jump start a home practice. More information about Melina and her offerings can be found at http://www.melinameza.com/

Springtime Metamorphosis

2010-04-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

So, there is this great event tomorrow night I'll be attending. It's called Springtime Metamorphosis and it's at Move Studio and it's only $5!

Join us for an entertaining, invigorating and informative evening with two beautiful yoginis who have studied Tibetan Heart Yoga extensively and now travel and teach this ancient practice around the country.

During the Friday evening dharma talk at MoveStudio (only $5) you'll learn methods including breath techniques, meditation, visualization as well as subtle, yet potent, yoga postures to cultivate your inner powers.

No mat required. Just bring your curiosity and join in the adventure!
Then, after the Friday night talk, we have a very special kirtan guest appearance. Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band from New Orleans are coming back through Dallas that eve! There will be a lovely, heart opening candlelit kirtan for you to enjoy. RSVP here: http://event.pingg.com/SpringtimeMeta (space limited!)

Date: Friday, April 23, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: MoveStudio (Friday) and Karmany Yoga (Saturday & Sunday)
Street: 17062 Preston Rd., Ste. 108
City/Town: Dallas, TX

Monica, the organizer of the event, said she'll be making raw chocolates...sweet! I love it. And, I'm really excited to hear this music...it's supposed to be incredible...and to dance and move with my fellow Yoga friends...I love dancing. I realize, more and more, it's really one of the most healing movement therapies there is.

Anyhow, just wanted to let you know about this inspiring event. I love a couple of these quotes so I'll share them with you. If I don't write again before the weekend...have a great weekend and I'll be back next week! Om namah shivaya~

"Life smoothes us, rounds, perfects, as does the river the stone, and there is no place our beloved is not flowing though the current's force you may not always like." ~ saint teresa of avila

"To make a difference is not a matter of accident, a matter of casual occurrence of the tides. People choose to make a difference." - Maya Angelou

Love and Let Love

2010-04-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Some people found my last post surprising that I would share so openly about myself. Isn't the intention of Yoga to be open and connected? To be true, honest and real? This is what I have longed for my whole life...to be loved and accepted for who I am, on my good hair days, on my bad hair days, without hair, with a zit on my face, with sadness in my heart, with pain in my body, to be able to let my Spirit be seen because I don't feel like I have to cover it up. As an incest survivor, I have dealt with enormous amounts of shame and guilt in my life. I always felt like I had a secret I had to hide. Some part of myself that was so ugly I couldn't let it be seen. Since I first spoke about it 8 years ago, I have been on a path of healing with myself and my family. Yoga has supported me tremendously on that journey, as well as, some counseling and the support of loving community and friends. While my family is supportive now, it was difficult for them at first, because they, too, had to go through their own healing process with it as they learned and realized the impact it had had on me. (It was especially difficult for them to accept me loving and being in a relationship with a woman.) My mom didn't realize the incest occurred over several years. She thought it only happened once. But, it actually happened for about 3 or 4 years between the ages of 4 and 8. Does this happen in a lot of homes? Yes, I believe it does. Even when it seems relatively innocent in nature, it still can have a tremendous impact on a child. I'm learning more and more, all the time, about how this experience affected me. And while I don't need to dwell on the past or on it, it's important to understand the impact it had. I've already become aware of so much. But, I still learn more and more all the time and have decided more recently to talk with a counselor, yet again, as I pull back another layer of self-awareness. We are like onions with infinite layers. As we know ourselves more deeply it is important to understand ourselves more deeply, as well. Self-acceptance, whether I am gay or straight or bisexual, has probably been one of the most significant parts of my healing process and journey. I feel like I am finally at a place where I love myself enough to let myself be who I am today. I feel like I no longer have to pretend to be someone I'm not. I feel like I can love who I love and no longer have guilt or shame about that or feel like I'm going to hell, which I did for a long time, almost 8 years. Pretty much in every relationship I had with a woman. This is why I have been so conflicted and confused. I realize now, this is not true. Love is love. I can let myself love and be loved by the person my heart longs to love. One therapist I went to talked about a client of hers who was bisexual. She said she was with a woman for several years, then she was with a man for several years...so sexuality is a very fluid thing for me. I know for many people it is not, i.e. they are clear about their sexual preference. But, for me, I am open to the evolution and who my heart guides me to be with. I will no longer live under these judgmental constraints of my mind of 'right'/'wrong' in relationship to who I love...

Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field; I'll meet you there. - Rumi

So, I'm going to be filming a documentary, or perhaps potential reality show, related to all of this. Love is meant to be a liberating energy. Not something that binds us to someone. How do we allow ourselves to explore the evolution of love in a liberated way? This doesn't mean sleeping around. This means feeling free in love. I've had a relationship before where it felt like I was married, even though we were not. We owned a condo together, etc. So, I've been there, done that. And, even after just a year and a half I learned so many lessons about what I would do or not do in future relationships. I realize I have no need to own a place with someone, anymore. That was something I needed then. I don't need that now. As I said before, though, I do have the intention of having a spiritual partner and being married or having a commitment ceremony with the person I love, one day. But, I'm also very aware it's important for there to be a fluidity in relationships. My film project will document all of this. First things first, though. Gotta buy a camera! I already know which one I'm going to get...just gotta take the plunge and get it. I will soon. I'm so excited to get this project underway. Of course, I'll also be exploring my own personal journey and the path of healing and evolution I've been on, as well.

One of the Yoga studios I'll be teaching at in McKinney (starting in June) called Yoga Balance and is owned by Tracy Carruth, an incredible and inspiring Yogini in the Dallas community, just told me they added a subtitle to the name of the studio, which is, 'Be Free.' I love that. Isn't that what we are longing for? Freedom. How do we feel free in love without that meaning 'infidelity.' I think it will be very enlightening to explore all of this. I'll keep you posted as the project unfolds.

I went to my first Yoga class at a studio in a long time. I had never been to Sabra Hanson's class at exhale spa, but it was awesome. I've known Sabra for almost 7 years. I have the intention to go to other teacher's classes, but sometimes it's difficult to find the motivation. A friend invited me to attend her class with him. Sometimes Yoga teachers need encouragement, too. It's awesome to feel I am getting connected to more and more people in the community who are inspired to walk this spiritual path of Yoga. Several of us went to a talk given by a monk from the Self-Realization Fellowship last night. It was awesome. As Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship says, wherever you go you shall be met with friends. This reminds me God is always opening my heart to meet kindred souls along the way. Spiritual friends who come into my life right at the right time to even suggest something as simple as going to a Yoga class. We all need friends on the path and what a blessing it is when we are aware we are surrounded by souls who are walking with us, each on our own journey, and yet, together.

A GREAT NEED

Out

Of a great need

We are all holding hands

And climbing.

Not loving is a letting go.

Listen,

The terrain around here

Is

Far too

Dangerous

For

That.
-Hafiz

Really, we are all walking the path even though we are all evolving at a different pace. Even though, nowadays, it feels like because of the obvious interconnectedness of everything, the evolutionary pace is becoming increasingly synchronized. Yogananda says, eventually, all communication will be telepathic. (Haven't you realized how much you already communicate telepathically with the people you love and know? Nothing is hidden...really...all is known. I feel like so much of my communication with others already happens this way.) I believe this is why it's important to continue loving even if we must let go for a time being, meaning we are not able to have physical contact with a person. Nonetheless, we can still love from afar. And, while with an intimate relationship there may come a time when we realize the time of physical intimacy with that person has completed itself or needs to dissolve, I believe we can still open to a spiritual love between each other. It's important to not try to change people but to continue to hold the vision for being the healthiest person you can be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and through this commitment with yourself, be an inspiration to others growing and evolving into the best person they can be, as well. But, it has to happen when each of us is ready for it. No one can push us or make us. The inspiration must come from within. As I mentioned in my last post, my last partner and I were not in a healthy place when we met each other. When relationships start this way, it's very difficult to both grow into a healthier place simultaneously. Sometimes it can happen, but that depends on many things. So, sometimes we must give each other the space to evolve. Again, this is what Michael Brown says, love is giving someone the space to evolve. So, are you able to love someone so much, and yourself, that you are willing to let go to give each other the space and time you need to evolve? And, are you willing to let go of forcing or pushing for that person to evolve at the same exact pace as you? What if their evolution takes several years. So many of the Yoga poses take years to grow into. Does that mean we should stop practicing them/loving them, i.e. give up? No. We must find our relationship with the pose where we grow into it in a conscious, healing, loving way, without aggression or forcefulness and with great patience. To force a Yoga pose is the antithesis or Yoga/Love. Love is allowing. It's ok to not know what our future with someone is meant to be. It's ok to let go but allow love to evolve. Each person can find the space they need to find and open to new relationships along the way, but continue to love and care about each other and be open to the evolution of love with one another. I think this is a powerful way to be. I think our hearts long to love and there really isn't anyone we want to let go of once we have loved them. Do we need to find our space and boundaries with people? Yes. But, there's a way of being, once we have taken care of our self in the way we need to, to find that, that allows us to still love everyone and everything that's been in our life. Do I think toxic relationships exist? Yes. Do I think people can be toxic, i.e. not making healthy choices for themselves? Yes, I think they can be. But, I think the natural desire of the human body is to feel well. So, in time, I believe we each find our way. We each learn to make the better choices for ourselves that heals and releases the pain we are feeling. I mean, just think about it...the bodies natural desire is to heal. Not only from sickness, but anything that causes us to feel pain or discomfort. Sooner or later, we realize the foods that are best for us, the relationships that are best for us, the exercises that are best, the spiritual practices, etc. This is true for all of us. We each desire to feel well. And this quote by Pema Chodron, from the last post, reminds us the body is all we need...it really is our teacher and healer. Well, it's the grace of God, the Spirit, breath that allows us to heal when we open to it and surrender our will to its Will, where it's guiding us to go and let go so we can grow in a better way.

"It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive." -Pema Chodron

So, I'm hoping to go to this Yoga and music festival called Wanderlust. I wanted to go last year but didn't make it. Of course I'll be there with video camera in hand. Wanderlust is a one-of-a kind Yoga retreat and music festival taking place July 29-August 1st at Squaw Valley USA in North Lake Tahoe. Obviously, in an incredibly beautiful setting. So, we'll see. But, whether I go or not, you should definitely know about it. Perhaps you'll be able to make it. Shiva Rea will be there. Just sounds like an amazing experience and a really fun place to meet a lot of awesome, fun-loving Yogis on the path. Lots and lots of beautiful people on the inside and out. One more quote for you before I relax and enjoy the weekend. This is what the poet Mary Oliver says in "Wild Geese":

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting,
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Have a wonderful weekend...

Om namah shivaya gurave~

Oh, also, renowned Yogi, Andrew Eppler, will be in Dallas next weekend at the Dallas Yoga Center. I highly recommend checking out some of his classes. Andrew is an incredible Yogi and travels the world teaching workshops. He lives outside of Norman, Oklahoma in a house he built with his own two hands. He's a carpenter and a true Yogi and also a magician. Just a beautiful person, all-in-all.

And, I know so many of you ask me to post info about your products and articles on the True Yoga Blog. I will be making an effort to get much of this posted soon. And, I will also be having a Yogini fiend help me with making updates to the True Yoga Blog, which, I'm so excited to have her help. So, please keep sending your requests and we will get them posted, in time. Thank you for your patience. Eventually, we will have a section on the True Yoga website where we will also be able to suggest and sell products, as well. I'm looking forward to the site becoming much more interactive and a powerful resource to support you in your Yoga journey and evolution.

My New Spring Fling-Tree Yoga

2010-04-07T12:23:00.001-07:00

Wow...long time no post. So, here is a long post. :)

I hope this finds you well. So many things I've wanted to express and communicate for so long but as Shiva Rea says, 'sometimes, life comes up.'

What came up with life? Well, for a few weeks I was seeing somebody a little...a guy. But, then I realized what I already knew, which is, this is the time for me to be single. I've been in and out of relationships for the past 8 years or so. I had three significant relationships during that time with the longest one lasting about a year and a half. All of those relationships were with women, although I've also dated men, as well. If I had to label myself anything I would label myself bisexual, although, I think labels are ultimately binding. I prefer to not label myself anything but to just be me. I believe bisexuality is much more prevalent than we realize, though. There's a lot of people, including therapists, who believe most people are bisexual. Although, it really has nothing to do with sex, I'm learning. That's such a small part of the big picture, although, an important part. Ultimately, it's about Love. And, that is how I let my heart lead me. It wasn't that I was actively seeking to date a woman...I just happened to meet women who I fell in love with. And, so, I let myself love them and I'm grateful I did. Will I end up with a woman? I have no idea. One thing I know is I will no longer go looking for Love, but, I will let Love find me. Love is all around me, and yet, I believe it's obvious when we know we have a connection with someone. I felt a connection with the person I met recently, although, I realized after a few weeks it wasn't a real Love connection with long-lasting potential. I'm realizing I will only explore relationships now if I feel that connection. I have no need to go out looking for it. I've always thought I would enter into a relationship with that person I intend to grow with for some time, be it to raise children, or whatever the intention is meant to be, when I am closer to 35. So, I've got time and, really, I've got more time than that...so in the meantime, it's my time...to nurture myself, to play, to grow, to enjoy all of the friendships and relationships in my life, to travel and take trips, to spend time in nature getting to know myself, to focus on the things I want to focus on to grow personally and professionally, and, to open to God's plan and surrender myself to what His vision for my life is and to align myself with that Intelligent Flow with each breath I breathe...

It's my time and I'm really ready to enjoy it on my own or in the company of my friends. All the Love we seek outside of ourselves is really inside of us, and so, we are our own soul mate. We don't need anyone else to feel complete, although it's wonderful to have a partner to share life with if that's meant to be. But, only if it's the right relationship that really aligns with us. I'm learning, though, that my idea of relationship is changing all the time. I'm in a place where I have no attachment to what that is supposed to look like, exactly, other than to share the journey of growing in a positive way with someone else. If I am meant to raise children with someone, then I would see myself sharing that journey with someone. It might look very unconventional, though...I don't have it all worked out yet, or, it hasn't worked itself all out through me, yet. I'm open to what I don't know that I don't know about how it's best for it to be or look. As Byron Katie says, love is an experience, it doesn't mean you have to live with the person. Do I believe in marriage? Yes. I do see myself being spiritually married one day...but who knows. I do have the vision of partnership with someone in my life, when I am really ready for that to be. I want to share a couple of quotes from Eckhart Tolle. My friend sends these out in his daily newsletter. He is a licensed therapist and his counseling practice is called Compassion Works. I love that name. That sums it up.

As I began class today I was talking about these quotes. What I said is that, through Yoga, we realize our relationship with everyone and everything including our Self and Highest Self. B.K.S. Iyengar says in his book, Light on Yoga, that Yoga is to yoke one's individual will with Universal Will. In other words, not my will, but Thy will be done. Yogananda says often we say this begrudgingly with a degree of dissatisfaction. Ideally, we would proclaim, Thy will be done! with enthusiasm and joy. Not my way, but, show me the way, and, help me! (It's ok to ask and pray for help, btw, in fact, it's suggested and recommended. Yogananda says to pray unceasingly. And, if you are really conscious, you will see you are praying in each breath. The question is, what is it you are praying for? What are the thoughts that are aligning with this inhale and exhale as you breathe? Thoughts of compassion, love, peace or otherwise?)

The intention of Yoga is oneness or harmony with all that is, our own body, mind and spirit and everyone else. Unconditional love for Self and everyone else. The teaching is whatever we wish or pray for our self, we are meant to pray and wish this for everyone without discrimination, even those we have felt have harmed or hurt us in some way. Yogananda says if you are a friend of your 'enemy' or whoever you 'think' your enemy is, even God will be your friend. This doesn't mean space and boundaries aren't needed, but the intention is to love your neighbor as yourself, even if you don't like him/her. Yogananda says we don't have to like everyone, but we must learn to love everyone as a soul. He says when you love anyone/everyone, even hateful vibrations can not penetrate you.

If you have a partner, then as the shift in consciousness happens in you, if it's not yet happened in your partner, it will frustrate those conditioned mind patterns, including the pain-body, in your partner that need your cooperation to keep themselves going.

The reactivity needs something to react against.

The pain-body needs another pain-body to feed on.

It needs your reactions.

So in the absence of that, there's frustration, and then there could be a shift in your partner.

It's enough for one partner to enter the surrendered state and then there's disorientation in the other partner for a while.

And then either the openness is there and the shift will happen, or you will separate, but it will be loving.

You will separate in love, well, not sure about your partner, but...

I've been exploring this relationship with the pain-body for quite some time now. In my last long-term relationship there was a tremendous amount of pain, it was during a very difficult time in my life. I would often have painful feelings in my body, physically, and instead of breathing into it, I would react against it or blame the person I was with for the pain I was experiencing. Yoga is meant to be healing physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and, as we heal ourselves, universally. As I would feel these uncomfortable places in my body, I would get upset. That relationship ended last June, and over the last (almost) year, I have done a lot of reflection and processing of my experiences and a lot of self-awareness work. (In the past, I would often get involved in another relationship right away and wouldn't take time to fully process and feel the one which had ended. I realized after this relationsihp I could no longer do that, but that I needed to take time to realy understand my experiences and feelings related to it and myself. I briefly dated two people over the past year, but that is it.) I was in a very unhealthy place when I met my last partner. My dad had just found out the cancer that was in his kidneys had metastasized to his lungs. It was a really painful time. When I met her, I was self-medicating. So, we participated in unhealthy habits together (drinking, etc)which resulted in a continuous breakdown of our relationship. I didn't want to feel the pain. Once we connected in that place, we couldn't break the pattern and get healthy together. So when we separated, a friend told me it would be essential for me to go a year with no physical intimacy with her. He said I needed to go 13 moon cycles, and that, when we have been intimate with someone we continue to share energy with them for a full year. I decided to follow his advice. He's also a psychic and a numerologist. Sex with someone can be an addiction like anything else, and we must be able to exist without it to be OK. As Michael Brown says, it surfaces all of our emotional stuff and issues that we need to look at and see. When a relationship is not formed in a conscious way, emotional patterns play themselves out, indefinitely, until we become conscious of what those patterns are that caused the breakdowns in the relationship. He said, after a year, then choose if you want to be in that relationship again. While it hasn't been a year, yet, and I still care about this person, I'm not attached to us being in a romantic relationship with each other anymore. It's been a tremendous year of growth. Everyone (like the Yoga poses) is our teacher and comes into our life for a reason to show us the things we need to see about ourselves. I hope there will be a lot of good things to see about myself, now, in any relationship I would grow into in the future, because I've done a lot of growing and learning how to be a better person, a better lover, someone who loves unconditionally and selflessly and is focused on giving rather than getting. (I'm not perfect, but I believe I'm growing healthier and better all the time) Even our most painful relationships can be great blessings in our life, or, our greatest teachers and I'm grateful for those relationships because of that. Who knows what God has in store. But, for now, I will be, happily, on my own awakening to His mysterious flow as I come to know what He intends, and is best, for me and my life. It feels awesome to know this is the time for me to be on my own, and yet, if Love flows into my life, I wouldn't resist it. But, I'm not actively trying to pursue a relationship right now, however, I'm of course open to the positive flow of Love, always.

"If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher." - Pema Chodron

What Eckhart talks about is completely related to the intention of Yoga as healing. So, as you feel uncomfortable places in the body, or heart, or mind, places that need to be breathed into and felt so they can be healed, we have two choices: to breathe into them openly and peacefully with love, compassion and acceptance of ourselves and others, OR, to fight against them, struggle with them and have negative thoughts and feelings about our self and others. I now choose the first one. All I can do is be the best person I can be. And, if someone I love doesn't intend to be that way there is nothing I can do to control them or make them be. As Michael Brown says, to love someone is to give them (and ourselves) the space to evolve. The only way life works is if we honor the Universal Principles, or Yamas of truthfulness, non-stealing, non-coveting, moderation and non-violence. If we don't, then there is karma we must deal with from our actions. We are all growing and evolving all the time, and yet, at a different pace. Some of us faster than others. When someone is not acting the way we wish they would we can either fight them and react against them, or love and have compassion for ourselves and them. Real change and healing in our self and others happens from loving, not from fighting. The same choice arises with tension in the body. How we react to tension in the body is how we respond to experiences and people in our life, either lovingly and compassionately or angrily and egoically. Which one will you choose?

"It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive." -Pema Chodron

When you are on your Yoga mat, move with awareness and take time to feel everything there is to feel in your body, heart and mind. We are all connected and we get to love ourselves and everyone into a better place with compassion and love in our hearts and minds. Shiva says in the last ten years since she let go of separating herself from others her life has become much better. Is it important to have space and boundaries she says? Yes. But, we are all connected and everything is an expression of ourselves. Whatever you wish for yourself we wish for everyone else, even those with whom we have felt some kind of struggle or pain. Compassion works, love works, indeed. This is Dharma Mittras message and why he suggests becoming a vegetarian...compassion, he says. Compassion, compassion, compassion. Shiva says let life flow into you. Do not push life away. All of your relationships, all of your experiences, allow them to flow into you and heal yourself into a better relationship with your body, heart and mind and them. Yes, sometimes, we must let go of the physical intimacy if it was a romantic relationship. If a choice is not best for us, we can always choose another choice, but as Eckhart says, at least we will part in peace and love with the person we've loved and love. Even if physical intimacy dissolves, the love and care remains and we allow ourselves to love someone, a past partner or anyone else, in a way that is better for ourselves and them. If a past partner wishes to stay connected as a friend, I believe it's best if we can allow ourselves to continue to care about the person in the best way possible, making sure it honors yourself, as well. It's a really powerful and a beautiful journey and evolution into a positive place with ourselves and everyone else. It doesn't mean there won't be tensions that arise, but it's understanding how to heal ourselves and these tensions in our relationship with ourselves and everyone else as we feel them, being non-reactive rather than reactive, dissolving old patterns and tendencies, no matter what the situation or experience is that arises. Feel it authentically, if it's anger, frustration or sadness...whatever it might be, but let go of blaming others for it. If someone did something that hurt you, you don't have to blame them, the Unviverse will take care of it with a powerful force called Karma.

"People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further." - Pema Chodron

Place your burden
at the feet of the Lord of the Universe
who accomplishes everything.
Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,
in the Transcendental Absolute.
God knows the past, present and future.
He will determine the future for you
and accomplish the work.
What is to be done will be done
at the proper time. Don’t worry.
Abide in the heart and surrender your acts
to the divine.
- Ramana Maharshi

So, now as I let myself open to loving anyone from my past or anyone else (even just as a friend or simply through space energetically)...I embrace what I feel in my body and Self along the way. If there is pain, I know the pain is the gateway into healing so I no longer resist it, but, I love it, instead, and I cultivate compassion for myself and everyone else that we are all being the best we know to be at this moment in time. When we know better, we will be better, when we are ready to be. As the gentleman at the car wash said yesterday, we are all works in progress. Beautifully said.

As I was practicing Yoga this morning I felt some discomfort in my body, and also, some sadness in my heart, reflecting on the loss of my father and the, sometimes, lingering pain of relationships or hurts from the past. There are still feelings there, at times, and I express and share those as it is best for me to express my heart and mind, and yet, I know now is not the time, nor may it ever be, for us to be anything other than friends. I'm OK with however it's supposed to be for I know Love will come into my life, again. (If a physical connection of any kind, i.e. active friendship must dissolve completely, with any past partner, for two people to grow independently of each other, then I allow myself to surrender to that, as well, i.e. loving and letting go. There's a song by Luka Bloom it's called See You Soon...it's wonderful...definitely one to download.) I felt the pain this morning and I let it flow into me and through me without resisting it. The tendency to fight it came up a little, or to just wish it would go away and I could just feel better. But, I let myself realize what is beautiful in the pain, because, in the pain is the healing. As I moved through the Yoga poses, I felt my body and paused in the places where I felt discomfort, for as long as I needed to, and breathed more deeply and fully into those places, with an intention in my heart and mind, connected to my breath, for healing to happen in my own body, mind and spirit and everyone I am connected to, especially the person we feel the tension or struggle with when we are breathing into those places, if there happens to be someone we think we feel a struggle with at that moment/time. If you look, you will often attribute your pain to someone or something outside of yourself. And yet, it isn't anyone elses fault. Everyone else is actually part of the solution to you knowing that better relationship with yourself if you are open to the Intelligence and grace guiding you into the better place to be with yourself, and everyone else, with each life filled breath you breathe.

Body workers understand what I'm talking about. They know that, sometimes, when massaging someone, it can feel as though they have taken on that persons tension or pain. I talked about this once with my first Yoga teacher and mentioned feeling as though I had absorbed someone elses 'stuff'. She said it's best to let it just flow through you and to let go of reacting against it or trying to push it away. Letting it flow through, rather than reacting or pushing against it, is the healing. Well, we can bring this practice to any relationship in our life. Feel the discomfort in your body and let it be there. That's the first step to acceptance and compassion. Then, without judging it, your body, yourself, or anyone else as good or bad or right or wrong, breathe into it and feel it and ask for the healing you are seeking. Of course you can always pray for yourself or anyone else who needs healing, especially those you feel hurt by, because it is they who are really in need of YOUR Love and compassion the most. If you are fighting them you are not loving them and it is no wonder why you feel frustrated or upset at them. So, practice loving yourself and EVERYONE else. This is the sacred teaching. As Shiva says, heal the schism. Even now as I write this, I can feel sadness, the need to release, so I let myself go into that, not as something that's wrong, but as part of this sacred Flow of life. I am feeling more and more courageous and open all the time about authentically being in whatever place I am in when I teach Yoga class. I no longer feel like I need to suppress or hide my feelings or emotions. If I am feeling some emotion, I will let myself feel and express that feeling openly with others, no matter what situation I am in, teaching a class, with a friend, wherever I might be. It's an allowing of life to move into me and through me, present to the pain and suffering of the world, and even my own Self, at times, and yet unafraid to feel it.

The guru is you, the healer is within you. Body work is wonderful. And, yet, all the body work in the world can not heal us. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own healing. You have the ability to make yourself better and the world a better place, one day at a time, one breath at a time. But, alcohol and drugs make that a difficult process...everything in moderation...but, this is why it's so important to free ourselves from our addictions so we can be conscious and compassionate and loving, and, strong-willed to grow in the best way we can for our self and everyone else. The world needs us to be healthy and well so we can share the Light and Love we are with others. Yogananda says the opposite of Will Power is not won't power, it's addiction. Yoga is such a powerful vehicle for healing us from our addictions. It keeps us anchored in what is best for us, and when we become enlightened to what that is we always have the choice to choose better. So, this is what I'm present to these days. With that being said, I'll be spending a lot of time in nature in the upcomimg months. Enjoying being outside, and, as you can see from the photo above, hanging from trees. Tree yoga is AWESOME! If you're interested you can check out a class in Dallas or you can purchase one of these slings for yourself and practice at home. It helps with the poses tremendously and is incredibly therapeutic and healing to be in nature and to open effortlessly. It feels amazing.

What else? One of the biggest projects I'll be focusing on, especially now that I'm officially single and loving it, is a website redesign. My vision is for this site to be interactive one day, with online podcasts, products and contributors to the True Yoga Blog. This will take some time, but I belive it'll be possible sooner rather than later. I'm ready to commit myself to this, so we'll see what happens. I'd love to be able to share Yoga classes and practices with those of you who read the True Yoga Blog from around the world.

Here's a couple more quotes from Eckhart which are so powerful. When we realize our interconnectedness with all things, we realize the positive difference our one life can make in this world. As we align ourselves with Truth, integrity and healing this can flow into the hearts and minds of everyone we know and the world can become a better place. I believe it. Anything is possible. And, as the Yogis realized, who practiced the Sun Salutations toward the Sun, Lightness or Goodness prevails over darkness, and yet, we need the darkness to come into the Light. Each one of us comes into it when we are ready. As Yogananda says, we will either be brought to our knees in desparation or devotion. What are you saluting? What is your intention? How will your one life make the world a better place? It is your ability to love others and yourself unconditionally which will determine the loving evolution of the planet. Om namah shivaya gurave~I see the Goodness in everything and everyone including myself.

Many are ready these days for that shift, even if they look unready on the surface.

There are many who look as if they didn't have a chance in this lifetime and maybe not in the next 5 or 10 lifetimes, but you could be very wrong.

And sometimes the most unlikely people are suddenly open, and all it requires is to come into your presence.

You might say a word or two and that's a trigger that awakens that which is already underneath all the mind structures.

Somebody who I met a long time ago at university wrote to me, "I wish I had never met you.

My life would be simple.

I would be conventional and normal."

Of course he doesn't know that it's not true...he would be very unhappy like everybody else. -Eckhart Tolle

One more thing about physical conditions...
because I've been told that some of you are having certain physical limitations here.

Limitations of the physical body for some people have been the only teacher.

Some have needed no other teacher than some continuous pain or continuous disability in the body.

And it drove them to the point of surrender.

The very same condition in other people drove them into more and more egoic contraction and misery and unhappiness. -Eckhart Tolle

I'll be back soon.

As you can tell, I'm going to be sharing my personal journey with you more and more. I hope it helps you to remember you are not alone and, perhaps, you will relate to what I share. We are all evolving into the best place we can be with each breath of the way. It is important to know how we need to release what we need to release and change (relationships, foods, unhealthy addictions/habits, etc. Shiva calls this 'dissolving') so we can focus our energy in a positive direction to grow in the best possible way personally and professionally. And, although it's not always easy, if we are willing to let go of our will and listen to the healing, loving voice inside of us it will guide us exactly where we need to go and will show us the way, how to be the best yogi, lover and friend we can be to ourselves and everyone else, AND, how to let go and let God, and, witness the miraculous manifestations, transformations, unfoldings and unravelings all around you and inside of you, each sacred step of the way, aligning you with positive changes in yourself and life, as you are strengthened and ready to make them.

"When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space." - Pema Chodron

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.-Lao Tzu

And, I KNOW I'm not alone.

God bless~

p.s.-I have sought counseling from therapists, monks and nuns, regarding my sexuality. When I attended a service at an SRF temple in Encinitas, I talked to the monk, following the service, about my sexuality. He asked me what my concerns were. I said that I might go to hell. Or, that I'm not following the right path. He replied, Yogananda gave his talks in Hollywood at Hollywood temple. (implying that he spoke to a diverse group of people. Gay people, straight people, movie stars, etc. ) He said, we're all loving God, aren't we? And, I said, yes.

And, when I spoke with a nun last August at the SRF Convocation in Los Angeles I asked her about same sex relationships and whether it is considered ok or not ok. She said Yogananda (who was a teacher to Gandhi) never spoke about it, but, the present leader of SRF, Sri Daya Mata, has spoken about it. Daya Mata says that we all have a predeterminance for one or the other. Yogananda says we have all been women and men in past lives. He says every man is 52% man and 48% woman and every woman 52% woman and 48% man. She said it's important that whoever I am with knows I am here to find God or to walk a spiritual path. She said this is most important. And, she said look at it this way, you have more choices! We talked about many other things...living together, not living together and many things, as well. But, I can't deal with all that...I just gotta let myself love and be loved whenever the time is right again for me to surrender into love's embrace.

And, for now, I'll imagine I'm being hugged by all those I love and who love me because I could really use a good cry. I'll imagine anyone I've ever loved is hugging me right now and that, yep, that'll work. Thank you for helping me to remember I am ok and will be ok no matter what life presents me with and I can love myself and everyone else unconditionally with compassion.

I love Michael Franti! Here are lyrics from his song One Step Closer to You.

I've been down for far too long
Till my faith was nearly gone
I never knew somebody just like you
Could be a friend I could call my own

Till I let go of a broken heart
I let go to an open heart

I let go of my broken dreams
I let go to the mystery

And I believe in the miracles
I believe in the spiritual
I believe in the one above
I believe in the one I love

And take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
And even when I've fallen down
My heart says follow through
I take one step closer to you

I never meant to hurt you, no
And you never meant to hurt me too
But it seems like you always do

And even though I'm scared sometimes
If ever see you fallen down
I will be the one that's there for you

So I let go of a broken heart
I let go to an open heart
I let go of my broken dreams
I let go to the mystery

And I believe in the miracles
I believe in the spiritual
I believe in the one above
I believe in the one I love

And take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
Even when I've fallen down
My heart says follow through
I take one step closer to you

I'm walking, I keep on walking to you
I keep on walking to you
I'm walking, I keep on walking to you
I'm walking and I'm never going to stop now

I just take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
I take one step closer to you
And it don't stop, I take one step closer to you

I just take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
Even when I've fallen down
My heart says follow through

I'll take one step closer
I'll take two steps closer
Just take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you

And even when I've fallen down
My heart says follow through
I take one step closer to you
-Michael Franti

Om namah shivaya gurave

Spring Is In the Air

2010-03-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

(A budding tree at White Rock Lake in Dallas)

If one is afraid of losing anything
they have not looked into the Friend’s eyes.
They have forgotten God’s promise.

The jewels you get when you meet the Beloved
go on multiplying themselves,
they take root everywhere,

they keep mating all the time
like spring-warmed creatures.

Burglars hear watchdogs
inside of His gifts
and Run. -Hafiz

So...happy Spring...almost! I hope this finds you well and enjoying this incredible time of year wherever you are. We are in the time of great rebirth and renewal and the Light of Consciousness/Love is illuminating our hearts and minds more brightly than it ever has before. Or, perhaps, we are just ever-aware of its embrace as we come to love ourselves and each other better, one breath at a time. We are the lover we are seeking and everything else...

Positive change is in the air and it's incredible to let Life flow in its own intelligently inspired way. If we let go of trying to control life, we find there is a Goodness guiding us exactly where we need to be each and every moment. It's simply a matter of surrendering our will/mind/ego to this Intelligently guided Flow. To be a Yogi means to be at ease with the moment, with this breath...no tension...no stress...simply allowing life to be and flow through us knowing each moment we are guided into the place we need to be if we align our hearts, minds and breath with that intention. When we know what the best choice is in any given moment...notice I said best...not perfect...then we align ourselves with the Universal Will. And, to align our individual will with Universal Will is Yoga. I'm learning sometimes the best choice is to have A glass of wine (or two), or A piece of chocolate, etc. Yoga is not a path of denial. It's a path of knowing joy and bliss through the acceptance of suffering and then realizing suffering is only an illusion. Does pain exist? Yes. But, if we surrender to the pain and accept the enlightening grace in it, we can know the healing that is intended for us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The Yoga poses guide us into our body, mind and breath (spirit) and the breath guides us into stillness and meditation where we can know the Eternal Teacher within the heart (God) who wishes the very best for us with every breath we breathe. And, guess what? God is in everyone. So, that means, everyone, ultimately, wishes the best for us because to wish anything else would be to wish something against themselves because, in reality, we are all one.

The Partner Yoga adjustments workshop Ricky and I taught last weekend was awesome. Part two is this weekend. If you are able to take it I would highly recommend you joining us. You will experience amazing healing from this workshop, as well as, incredible strengthening and opening in your Yoga practice and self.

As far as everything else? Things are Good. I feel fortunate and blessed in amazing ways through the practice and path of Yoga. As Dharma Mittra says...be receptive to the Grace of God. It's simply allowing our hearts and minds to be open to Goodness flowing into us, trusting in the essential Goodness of Life, and allowing Life to lead the way. So, that is what I'm allowing to happen and it's awesome. One of the most powerful practices I have began, more recently, is consistently meditating every morning and night for 15 minutes. In this month's issue of Yoga Journal Magazine, Sting's wife, Trudie Styler (who is on the cover and you can read the article here), talks about this very practice in her life. She attributes this regular meditation practice to be the most powerful part of her Yoga practice. In the article she says, "Yoga practice is an exercise in listening, and it teaches you to tune in to your relationships." I am finding the best way to start and end the day is with stillness...sitting and feeling the presence of Source and knowing our connection to it. Offering everything up to it to be aligned with what's in the Highest Good for ourselves and others. This is a powerful practice and a life-changing and enriching one indeed. Not to mention, healing. We release more tension in being still than in any other activity. When you are sitting still and simply breathing you can feel energy move through and release out of you if you simply allow it to be and let go of any tendency to be reactive in any way, emotionally or mentally, to the flow of Life and everything Life is offering you at this moment...the comfortable moments, uncomfortable moments and everything in between. Let go and Let God.

So, sit, be and breathe well and witness the miraculous transformations that unfold within you and all around you as you let go and let yourself flow into Spring with a greater Faith in the goodness of all people and things and Life itself. I wish you blessings in the Spring and beyond.

"If you constantly think of illness, you eventually become ill; if you believe yourself to be beautiful, you become so." - Shakti Gawain

"By learning to contact, listen to, and act on our intuition, we can directly connect to the higher power of the universe and allow it to become our guiding force." - Shakti Gawain

"We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other people's models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open." - Shakti Gawain

"As your faith is strengthened, you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit." - Emmanuel

"Eventually I lost interest in trying to control my life, to make things happen in a way that I thought I wanted them to be. I began to practice surrendering to the universe and finding out what "it" wanted me to do." -Shakti Gawain

Also...I'm teaching at an awesome new Yoga studio in the Cross Roads near Denton. It's called Get Yogafied. I love this space and the community that is growing there. Check out their site and come join us for a class sometime...even if you live in the city. It's good to get out of the Dallas city limits once in a while. One of the founders of this Yoga studio wrote this poem and just sent it to me the the other day. I thought I would share it with you here.

Free Flowing

What do you think you’re made of anyways
Mostly water, or so they say

Water ain’t bound by balls and chains
Breaks free, flows, like falling rain

Solidity mere transient illusion
Melt your ice, withdraw confusion

How happy you’ll be
As you swim down your sea

Flowing in your current
Knowing nothing’s more urgent

Expectation not on the line
Never disappointed you now find

Love with intention crystal clear
Lacking now you’ll never fear

Get moving, find your tide, ride your wave
Grateful for all the paths you cross along the way - Shana Stein

The World Keeps Turnin'

2010-03-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe there was another earthquake. And, supposedly it shifted the earth's axis shortening the length of an earth day by 1.26 milliseconds. I had been feeling like the days are growing shorter...so maybe this was some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy on my part in my own reality. My heart goes out to the people of Chile. But, also, my heart goes out to the people of the world, our global family. All of us. May we realize the Truth of who we are and go deeper into our Being to know our connection to the Source of all that is. May we not waste time, but may we keep finding the answers to the questions we are seeking and may our intelligence be guided by Divine Light and wisdom. The time to turn inward is now. Now is the time to know our connection to Source and to let go of the distraction of worldly affairs. Yogananda says this:

The greatest love you can experience is in communion with God in meditation. The love between the soul and Spirit is the perfect love, the love you are all seeking. When you meditate, love grows. Millions of thrills pass through your heart....If you meditate deeply, a love will come over you such as no human tongue can describe; you will know His divine love, and you will be able to give that pure love to others...

And, also:

Never forget that God is the answer to all the questions life places before your soul. God is love, and love is the panacea for human suffering. There is nothing greater than love − God's quality of attraction and unity that is manifested in the soul of every being. This love, when expressed under all circumstances − in family, social, and national life − expands to embrace the whole world. Such universal love is the pure love of God. When you have achieved that love, then and then alone are you a citizen of the kingdom of God. Always be proud that you are a child of God; for just a little while you have been an alien in the kingdom of matter. Develop God's divine love inherent in you, and you will reclaim your citizenship in His kingdom of omnipresence.

When you learn to go within in meditation, you will find His kingdom. It is within you; God is within you. It is His power that is behind your ability to talk, move, and feel. Without Him you can do nothing. Though He is transcendent, beyond all things, He is also immanent; you can commune with Him right within you. If you remove the dust of restlessness from the mirror of inner silence, you will see Him reflected there.

Never miss your daily engagement with God in meditation. Those who are wise make it their business to contact Him. If you are sincere, you shall know God in this life; and to know Him is to be free.

And, he offers us this affirmation:

As I radiate love and goodwill to others, I will open the channel for God's love to come to me. Divine love is the magnet that draws to me all good.

Last week I was playing Pink Floyd's, On the Turning Away in Yoga class. I need to post these lyrics because they are so good and, also, timely.

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"
It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it's shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?

I love that song...except for when it gets to the part at the end where it's a little too much with all the hard core guitar and stuff...then I usually have to turn it off. Yoga teacher, Dharma Mittra, says...the real Yogi wants the light to go out so s/he turns toward the real Light...the Light of Consciousness, the Light of God, the Truth. Are you afraid? Sometimes I feel flickers of fear...but, ultimately, I'm not afraid. My meditation teacher says the acronym for fear is false evidence appearing real. Afraid of what? Loss? Death? I have faced both of these and I've learned...the infamous saying is true...that there is nothing to fear but fear itself, and, to have health is to have everything. In Yoga, they say our greatest fear is the fear of death. Yogananda says we must obliterate the thought that we are frail human beings. We must completely remove that idea from our minds. We are not frail. We are beings of Light, pure energy, cosmically connected to the Source of all of Creation, the Light of Intelligence, the Light of Consciousness itself. Om

And, yet, it is still surreal to realize how fragile we are in our planetary existence. We know we are not this body and not this mind, and yet, here we are. Is it all a dream? Perhaps so...and yet, nonetheless, there is the reality of death, and yet, in that apparent reality is the dissolution of the illusion that death is real. Life and death are one...the beginning and the end are the same. Through Yoga, the pairs of opposites cease to have impact. Duality dissolves. We realize we are the eternal Self...we are unbounded Consciousness...or as Jesus said...I am That I am. Hum sa. Birth and death are one. We are changeless...it is only the body which changes...but the Consciousness remains the same. Oh my gosh...I could go one forever. But, I'll leave it at that for now.

It's also surreal we can have moments of forgetfulness that we are spinning rapidly, moving through space at millions of miles per hour, as we rotate around a blazing ball of liquid gas in an apparently infinite universe with billions of stars and galaxies. Hmmmm...so...how's it going? What did you have for breakfast today? I'm joking around because sometimes I feel like I'm from outer space or something...well, I used to feel like I was the crazy one when I was a kid...feeling confused about why so many people seemed uninterested in this mind-blowing experience we call life. I would talk about thoughts and concepts and my family would often look at me like I was the crazy one. Well, guess what family...I wasn't so crazy after all, was I? I was always wondering why no one else was talking about the unbelievable reality we're all living in...I didn't understand why this wasn't the conversation at the dinner table at night. Not that there aren't other things to talk about, as well, other than flying through space at million of miles per hour, but, I never quite understood why we didn't spend more time questioning who and what we are and asking the great questions to the mysteries of life. My family was very introspective, but, I guess they needed to be a bit more traditional so I would develop the thirst, the longing for the answers and be willing to seek them from within myself...to really go on a soul journey. If it had just been spoon fed to me, I probably would have been disinterested or something. Can we just talk about TV? etc. Why do we always have to talk about Cosmic Consciousness Mom and Dad...I'm bored...can I please be excused? Don't get me wrong...I loved our dinner table conversations...but there became a time, as I matured through high school, that I became increasingly interested in the deeper nature of things. And, I was no longer able to find the answers I was looking for at the dinner table. My parents simply didn't have the answers to those questions. I would have to say I really didn't find fulfilling answers to those questions until I began reading and studying the teachings of Yogananda about 5 years ago. That was when it really all began to change and life began to lead me, rather than me thinking I could lead it. Over the past couple of years I have been studying the SRF home study lessons. If you haven't started studying these yet...I would encourage you to start now. I do believe we are supposed to be conscious of who and what we are and seek to ever-understand this better...and the great Yogis and saints who have walked the planet have taught is it's all about loving others as we love ourselves...and also about going inward to find the Truth. Yogananda says, through meditation, we can know the Truth of Jesus' words when he said, The kingdom of God is within you. And, so it is, Jesus...thank you.

OK, I would like to post the lyrics to a couple of other songs I hope you will download. One of the them is The World Keeps Turnin' by Trevor Hall. These are the lyrics to that song which you can find on itunes.

Seek and hide
Come along for the ride
There'll be many many ups and downs
Like the waves of the ocean
Return me to that sea again
First you're born then you die
Then you smile as you cry
But the song is lovely
The melody is filled with fire
Listen closely
Lifted higher

But all things
They must pass
I say all things
They won't last

We can go a thousand miles in the blink of an eye
When our loved ones leave us we often cry
We don't know where we're going
But we know where we've been
With this love in our hearts
There can be no sin
Give it all to the sky
And rest your mind

The world keeps turnin'

It gets merry like a merry go 'round
It gets cold like a frozen winter
Well I change like summer fall
But I know love is all in all
Seeds we're always sowing
The grace is always blowing
We've just got to lift the sail
And we're bound to hit the shore
We'll finally calm this storm

The other song is called Waiting for My Real Life to Begin by Colin Hay.

Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
I'll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down down down, on me

And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in
But don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened
But in my dreams, I slew the dragon
And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane
I'm walking in my old footsteps, once again
And you say, just be here now
Forget about the past, your mask is wearing thin
Let me throw one more dice
I know that I can win
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
And I'll check my machine, there's sure to be that call
It's gonna happen soon, soon, soon
It's just that times are lean

And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart, let the light shine in
Don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

One last thing...Dharma Mittra also says this:

"Always apologize to those you may have hurt in the past, pay it mentally or with mantras. Do not accept too many favors from others unless they are pure of heart. Do not hurt anyone by thoughts or physically. Love everything, surrender to the Lord for help, and automatically, you get peace. Doing Pranayama and reading the scriptures are techniques to keep you on the path to a clear and peaceful self."

Peace, Love, Health and healing to all of us with each individual and collective breath of Life we breathe. God bless us all.

Om Namah Shivaya Om

Oh, and I've gotta share this Hafiz poem I stumbled upon tonight in class:

The Mule Got Drunk and Lost in Heaven

The
Mind is ever a tourist
Wanting to touch and buy new things
Then toss them into an already
Filled closet.

So I craft my words into those guides
That will offer you something fresh
From the Hidden's Tavern.

Few things are stronger than
The mind's need for diverse
Experience.

I am glad
Not many men or women can remain
Faithful lovers to the unreal.

There is a kind of adultery
That God encourages:

Your spirit needs to leave the bed
Of fear.

The gross, the subtle, the mental worlds
Become as a worthless husband.

Women need
To utilize their superior intelligence
About love

So that their hour's legacy
Can make us all stronger and more clement.

Sometimes a poem happens like this one:

The mule I sit on while I recite
Starts off in one direction
But then gets drunk

And lost in
Heaven.-Hafiz

Thank you for reading the True Yoga Blog. :)

The Presence Process-Sat Nam

2010-02-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

Cheerio...

I hope this finds you well. Can we get some sunshine in Dallas, please? Hi God, it's me Leanne...sunshine in Dallas, please? I'm ready for Spring and beautiful weather. I love jogging outside, being outside, and, the healthier I feel, the more I want to be outside...except when it's cold...not so much then. Despite the unpredictable weather, I have been feeling good lately. I started practicing Yoga again at the studio where I began my Yoga journey...Suze Curtis' Dynamic Power Yoga Plus! I love that name...it's a mouthful for sure. I allow myself to adapt to the Yoga practice there...if I need to modify, I modify, and if there is something I feel better doing...I allow myself to do that, rather than feeling like I have to force myself to do something my body doesn't feel like doing. Which, I did in the past, at times. Now, I honor the flow of the class, but, if there is something which feels better for my body in a particular moment, I give myself that, in a way that is respectful of the group energy. I have been in Yoga classes, in the past, where it felt like a student was trying to show off their Yoga poses. It's not about showing off my Yoga poses. Perhaps, at one point in time, I got a little into that, i.e. ego...although not much. But, it wasn't ever to impress other people, mostly myself. But, now the only reason I do what I do...is for healing or strengthening. There isn't anything egotistical about it...because the reality is...no one cares what poses another person can do. The only reason what someone else is doing interests me, is because I can grow through their example. If I see someone doing something or practicing something I haven't done before, I realize that potential exists in myself. It may not be the thing I can grow into right now, but it widens the horizons of my perception of what's possible...and that's always a good thing. What I love about Suzes, besides the warm room (it's not hot, but it's warm to help your muscles stretch) is she has all of these different affirmations written on the ceiling. So, while you are practicing, you are reading inspiring messages. Messages like: I express myself, change is exciting, be true to yourself, I feel loved, ask and ye shall receive, I attract abundance, Be transformed through the renewing of your mind, thoughts are energy and energy becomes matter, smile, giggle, etc, etc. This was my first introduction to Yoga...thinking positive thoughts while practicing. The reality is what we focus on we create. This is why even in the classes I teach, where there aren't message written on the ceiling, I still do my best to incorporate a positive message and remind people that our thoughts affect us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And, of course, mentally. It's been a blessing being back at Suze's. Since being there over the past few weeks, I've also realized, what was missing for me over the past 9 months or so was a regular Yoga practice just for myself. I was practicing, but mostly at home, and always with the intention to share it with others. So, my own Yoga practice was often, in some way, work related. Now, when I practice at Suzes, I'm once again able to practice just for myself, to take care of myself and give myself what I need...which is a wonderful thing...

So, I meet with the producers of The Difference movie next week. I'm looking forward to it and will share more with you after I've learned more. It's wonderful to have been asked to be a part of this project, no matter what my participation is meant to be. I'm grateful to get to share my experience.

A friend of mine is reading Michael Brown's book, The Presence Process. It's a 77 day journey of meditative practices. She shared with me that one of the practices is 15 minutes of conscious breathing/meditation in the morning and in the evening. Although it's been my intention to cultivate this practice, I have had a difficult time, more recently, being regular with my evening meditations. It's interesting how it's incredibly helpful to commit to these practices when we know someone else is practicing them, also. Just knowing she is going through this process, as well, has helped me to reestablish a regular evening meditation. I'm just beginning, but I'm finding I'm feeling increasingly inspired to find this time for myself and to not allow other things to get in the way or deter me from it. I haven't decided to read Michael's book, yet, although I probably will. One of the things Yogananda talked about is how he rarely read. He believed all the information we seek in a book is really ever-present, everywhere. I understand, for most of us, this idea is a bit 'out of the box.' But, he would encourage people to not read so much, but instead, to meditate. He would say that in meditation is where the answers are. That is the journey we need to take...not into a book...but into ourselves...for inside ourselves is where all the answers dwell. Granted, we can discover a lot of information about the world...but wisdom awakens from the eternal teacher within. I'm also going to practice this...reading less...and meditating more. There really is only so much time...and I would rather focus my energy on meditation more and more. This doesn't mean I won't read at all...but I will be really conscious about what I choose to read. That's what I know. It's so inspiring what Yogananda accomplished in his lifetime. It's said he accomplished more than any other spiritual teacher in the last century. He wrote enormous amounts of teachings, and what he wrote about, were the insights he realized through study and meditation. I hope you will have the opportunity to visit his incredible meditation gardens in California if you have never been. There are several throughout the state, including gardens in L.A., San Diego, San Francisco, etc.

I would like to post a couple of poems here. These poems are by Hafiz and Rumi. I finally got my Hafiz poetry book, called The Gift, back. I'm glad I get to share these with you...they are really incredible. I hope you enjoy them. Until the next time...even if it isn't sunny where you are...may the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you and the pure light within you guide your way on.

Sat Nam

Stay Close To Those Sounds

The sun turns a key in a lock each day
As soon as it crawls out of bed

Light swings open a door
And the many kinds of love rush out
Onto the infinite green field.

Your soul sometimes plays a note
Against the Sky's ear that excites
The birds and planets.

Stay close to any sounds
That make you glad you are alive.

Everything in this world is
Helplessly reeling.

An invisible wake was created
When God said to His beautiful dead lover,
"Be."

Hafiz, who will understand you
If you do not explain that last line?
Well then,

I will sing it this way,

When God said to Illusion,
"Be."
-Hafiz

How Do I Listen?

How

Do I

Listen to Others?

As if everyone were my Master

Speaking to me

His

Cherished

Last

Words.
-Hafiz

A Great Need

Out

Of a great need

We are all holding hands

And climbing.

Not loving is a letting go.

Listen,

The terrain around here

Is

Far too

Dangerous

For

That.
-Hafiz

No Conflict

No

Conflict

When the flute is playing

For then I see every movement emanates

From God's

Holy

Dance.
-Hafiz

How could anyone resent sunlight?
Keep walking in this spaciousness
where the sun's flame is a white hawk.

But there is something flying higher.
Notice how you say not more.
Not this, not that. I do not know.

Negation points to affirmation.
Say rather what completely is.
-Rumi

p.s.-in case you are wondering what Sat Nam means...

The Mantra Sat Nam
Sat Nam is a mantra commonly used in Kundalini Yoga and amongst its practicioners. It is frequently repeated three times at the end of a yoga session. But what is the importance of Sat Nam, what does it mean.

I’ve heard the following interpretations for Sat Nam via my Kundalini Yoga instructors:

•Truth is my identity
•My identiy is Truth
•My True Self
•Truth is our identity
It has been called the process of naming ones self Truth. It can be used similar to Namaste, (the divine in me aknowledges and pays tribute to the divine in you.) Where the “Truth” is the divine.

Being one who likes to get to “Source” info, I decided to do some further research into the nature of Sat Nam. I made an assumption that Sanskrit is a rather root dialect and that “Sat Nam” in Sanskrit would provide supplemental information on the nature of Sat Nam.

I found this Sanskrit Dictionary, and looked up the words, Sat and Nam.

Sat

1.being
2.real
3.that which really exists
4.the real existent truth
I’ve seen it written that Sat means Be, or more apprpriately Be-ness. Which would be the essence of being. (HPB’s Secret Doctorine) I suspect some careful analysis would find an interesting correlation between Be-ness and emptiness. (For those of Buddhist faith)

but onward to Nam.

1.To bow
2.To submit or subject oneself
And so one is bowing to Truth, to Be-ness the essence of being.

And the active interpretation of Sat Nam emerges.

Love Is the Only Prayer~OM

2010-02-06T19:06:00.001-08:00

Well, hello...

Let's see...today is February 6th. Next Saturday is the Special Partners Thai Yoga Workshop I am leading at exhale dallas. This is such an awesome class. I love teaching these partner Yoga stretches, many of which are influenced by Thai Yoga Massage, because they feel amazing and are incredible for learning how to give your friends and loved ones the therapeutic and healing gift of touch. This will be the third year I have led this class...and every year...all of the participants feel awesome. Blissfulness oozes and flows all around the room during this workshop...

So, I must say, many wonderful and mysteriously inspiring things are unfolding.

Well, now it's the 9th...I had to step away from writing this post...but, now I'm back. I have no idea, yet, what my involvement will be, but I've been contacted by a film production company about an inspiring docu-drama which is being made. Here is just a little info about the project:

A strong community of 6,000 talented, creative, adventurous and invincible people shape shifting the world through collaborative activity. Each person contributing his or her knowledge, wisdom and experiences into a sizzling melting pot to create an extraordinarily stunning film that inspires you and all of humanity, to reach your fullest and most absolute expression of yourself. We're making a film and in the process opening hearts, minds and unleashing people's magnificence.

So, anyhow, they contacted me because they were seeking individuals, in Dallas, in the self-improvement and holistic field and they found me through the Internet, and I'm guessing, because of the True Yoga Blog. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that I've been writing on the True Yoga Blog for over four years now. I love that it calls me back again and again. Like a true love.

Lately, I've been turned on to the spiritual teachings and work of Michael Brown. I've known about him for several years. But, I decided to watch some of his videos last week on YouTube. They are awesome. His teachings resonate very deeply with me. One of his teachings is that to love someone is to give them the space to evolve. I have, previously, been one of those people who wanted to try to make someone else change for the better. And, in some ways, exerting my will upon them, because I was afraid if they didn't grow and evolve with me I would lose them, or my connection to them. But, we are all evolving at our own pace, through space and time, and the timing of our evolution is perfect and whole for each of us. I'm realizing, just because someone may not be evolving at the same pace as me, it doesn't mean I have to stop loving them, or can't still be open to the evolution of love with them. As Byron Katie would say, love is an experience. It doesn't mean you have to live with the person. This has also been enlightening, because I've been inclined, in the past, to want to live with someone I love. Mostly, because this was the traditional script I had modeled for me. I've come to realize I am not traditional. Although I have respect for traditional values...I don't fit into that box. I'm looking forward to sharing more...but I'll leave it at that for now. It's liberating when we realize we can go with our own flow. What is most important is to live a life of honesty, integrity, authenticity and truth, with our self and everyone else. Everything is available to us when we are not afraid to be who we are and to express ourselves openly and honestly about that. I suppose this is one of the reasons why the great mystic Kabir would say:

Take care of yourself, it is you who you have to know.

Anyhow, I encourage you to listen to a few of his videos. The ones I've listened to are:

Everything is love
Love is to Evolve
Sexuality and Intimacy: Manipulation for the Orgasm

Sometimes it feels like we are evolving so fast these days there isn't time to absorb all the incredible teachings that are flowing to us and opening our hearts and minds, into the eternal now and the fearless, faith-filled present. But, I realize, ultimately, I am the teachings and the teachings are me. The essence of wisdom is to see the guru in all, but also, to realize the eternal teacher dwells in our heart. We are the guru we are seeking. The questions and the answers already live within us. It's simply a matter of trusting ourselves to follow our heart and go with the flow where we know we are being guided to go.

Let's see...what else in the Yoga world? Which, by the way, if you haven't realized yet...Yoga is everything...it is the eternal oneness we all are. I'm feeling like there is so much more I want to share...but I will let things be for now. I'll be back in a couple of days to write more, especially about this amazing gathering I went to which was an enlightening discussion about the dissolution of fear, surrounding sexuality, in the emerging consciousness of the oneness of our hearts and minds. It's called Liberation 2010, and, this first-ever LGBQT spiritual conference is taking place in L.A. in early April. I realize no matter how I identify with my sexuality, I am definitely an ally to the liberation of the hearts and minds from the phobias, that have plagued so many in our culture, for so long, surrounding sexuality. Byron Katie will also be speaking at this event. Regarding the awareness that everyone is guru and our teacher, Byron Katie, and all self-realized teachers, would say our enemies are our friends, our friends are our friends, and if your friends try to tell you your enemy isn't your friend...it might be your friend who is actually not your friend. (if that makes sense) Yogananda says you don't have to like everyone...but you must learn to love everyone as a soul. He says we must learn to love our 'enemies', and if we do, even God will be our friend. Although, I believe as we progress on the path, we see more and more clearly, and appreciate more and more, those opportunities we have to face our fears, and love our enemies. Because, it is through fear which we liberate ourselves. So, we start to celebrate the opportunity to befriend and love our enemies because we really realize they are blessing us with the opportunity to see our self and to liberate our own heart and mind from that which we fear the most. And, as we know...there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Now when I feel that faint flicker of fear about loving someone I feel a little afraid might hurt me, instead, I consciously observe the fear and celebrate the opportunity to open up to that which I fear the most. It is when we can learn to celebrate our fear that life becomes magically Divine. They say, we must love like we can't get hurt and sing like we aren't getting paid. I put the picture of the Beatles album on this post because Yogananda is actually on the cover of that album, as well as, three other Self-Realization Fellowship gurus, Sri Yuketswarji, Lahiri Mayasa and Mahavatar Babaji. (I found this out, thanks to a friend, who, brought this fascinating information to my attention yesterday. On this website, you can find out who all the people on the cover of the infamous Beatles album are. SRF gurus are disciples of Christ and Krishna.) He's in the back on the right. Apparently, Gandhi is also on the cover. Yogananda was one of Gandhi's teacher. He initiated him into Kriya Yoga, the highway of self-realization. George Harrison was also a devotee of Paramhansa Yogananda. One of my friends who has studied Yogananda for a long time says, whether they know it or not, Yogananda is basically the guru of everyone in the West. He, undoubtedly, accomplished more for the progression of spiritual awakening in the West than any other teacher in the last century. He really is furthering the teachings of Christ in a God-conscious, non-denominational way. Which is what our worlds needs...not divisiveness...but one-heartedness...love.

And, if you don't know yet. Krishna Das...whose music is actually on the True Yoga DVD (which is incredible, I'm still so humbled by his graciousness of allowing me to have his music on my DVD) will be in Dallas along with Deva Premal and Miten. This will be an amazing musical and spiritual experience. I highly encourage you to go, if you can. They will be at Unity Church in Dallas on April 5th. Tickets are available online. This is what they sing in one of their songs...Love is the only prayer. You can learn more about Deva's incredibly inspiring music on their website.

The new Saturday Yoga class I will be teaching will begin Saturday, February 20th. Class will be on Saturdays from 10-1115/30 am at Robert Bellamy's beautiful garden sanctuary in Dallas.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you at the Partners Thai Yoga class this Saturday at exhale. Until then, I'd like to leave you with some incredible quotes by Rumi, at a perfect time, as we open our hearts to the month of love...and loving and living without fear. Breathing the eternal prayer of love in the breath...inhaling in the infinite expressions of love in this breath, our friends and those we think or feel are our foes, and exhaling the consciousness of light and love to all in each breath. The great mystic poet Hafiz says, every morning the many expressions of love walk out into the infinite green field. (as soon as I get my Hafiz book back, I'll post the whole poem...I love that poem)

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.-Rumi

The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along. - Rumi

This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.-Rumi

Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul.-Rumi

Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.-Rumi

Only from the heart Can you touch the sky.-Rumi

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.-Rumi

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.-Rumi

Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.-Rumi

Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.-Rumi

You can find more of Rumi's quotes here.

May the Lover love us into love with the One who loves us all with each breath we breathe. Each of us, is the Love we are seeking. So, love everyone around you because it's all you realizing how to love you, yourself, the Lover of all that is in a sublimely Divine way. OM

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day, valentine. I realized I needed to post something Krishna Das wrote. His new album is called: Chants of a Lifetime: Searching for a Heart of Gold.Here is what he has to say...

Chants of a Lifetime is about Krishna's search for true meaning within. He details his struggle with seeking outside himself for love and acceptance and the connection he found through chanting.

My life has been spent searching. Even before I knew what I was looking for, everything that has happened to me has led me into the presence of love, whether it was the physical presence of my guru or the presence of love deep within my own heart. No matter what my life may look like from the outside, on the inside it is a constant process of turning toward that place, of trying to come face-to-face with love.

The more I chant and share my path with seekers from so many different countries and cultures, the more I am being transformed myself. The purpose of this book is to illuminate the part of my path that surrounds and gives life to the chanting. I hope that by sharing the way I see my life, some of my experiences and some of the things I've learned while waiting for the door of my heart to swing open may be of help to those of you who are trying to open that same door.

Chanting alone is not my path. It is my main practice, but my life—and everything in it—is my path. I had the opportunity to spend several years in the presence of my guru, and I've been able to meet many saints, yogis, lamas, and instructors from different spiritual traditions. Without the blessing of these wonderful teachers and my experiences with them, I wouldn't have been able to pass through the darkness and despair that have often filled my life, and finally begun to learn how to be good to myself.

When we do kirtan, the practice of what in India is called "chanting the Divine Name" over the course of a few hours, we are letting go of our "stories" and offering ourselves into the moment over and over again. Chanting is a way of deepening the moment, of deepening our connection with ourselves, the world around us, and other beings. The Sanskrit chants that we sing—recognized for millennia as the Names of God—come from a place deep within each of us, so they have the power to draw us back within. If we go deep enough, we will all arrive at the same place, our deepest Being.

When you hear my story, maybe it will resonate in your heart because, even though all of us walk our different paths and live our different lives, we are all headed to the same place: our One Heart of Gold. - Krishna Das

Reading what he wrote is one of those experiences where it has me feel so good I want to cry...tears of joy...tears of relief...for this ever-expanding consciousness of love, oneness, which is ever-awakening in our hearts and minds.

Om namah shivaya gurave~

Looking Out My Back Door

2010-01-28T15:49:00.000-08:00

I took this picture last Friday evening from the backyard...gorgeous.

Looking Out My Back Door by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singing,

CHORUS:
Doo, doo, doo, Looking out my back door.
There's a giant doing cartwheels,
A statue wearing high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola listening to Buck Owens.

CHORUS

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flying spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Wond'rous apparition provided by magician.

CHORUS

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flying spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.

CHORUS

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.

CHORUS

Man, I love that song...I used to listen to it all the time in high school. One of my favorite teachers ever, Mr. Ponikvar, who was my Honors English teacher when I was a junior in high school was amazing. We would walk into class and he would be singing some CCR song or some other classic tune. Or, in the middle of class he would start singing. Or, when you would be walking down the hallway, he would be whistling. He was/is definitely a yogi. I really credit him with inspiring in me a passion for writing. He had such a passion for literature...but exploring it in a trascendental, spiritual way...which spoke to me even when I was 16. I've been into the spiritual reality of existence for as long as I can remember. I was always asking the deeper questions, even when I was a child...

So, let's see...what's going on... Well, we are postponing the Brazil trip for a later date. We didn't really give ourselves enough time to promote it and share it with everyone...so we will figure out a better time and let you know those dates once we have decided.

Perhpas the most inspiring and transformational experience I have had, recently, (other than attending the Yoga workshop in Austin with Shiva Rea a couple of weeks ago) was when I went to see Byron Katie this past Sunday night in Dallas. I have known about Katie for the past several years. Over the past couple of years, I have been hearing more and more about her. As they say in Yoga...when the student is ready, the teacher appears. So, I was ready for Byron Katie and she appeared in Dallas this past Sunday. What an amazing experience. Here is a little information on her work which is called The Work.

"The Work of Byron Katie is a way to identify and question the thoughts that cause all of the suffering in the world. It is a way to find peace with yourself and with the world. The old, the young, the sick, the well, the educated, the uneducated-anyone with an open mind can do this Work.

Byron Kathleen Reid became severely depressed while in her thirties. Over a ten-year period her depression deepened, and Katie (as she is called) spent almost two years rarely able to leave her bed, obsessing over suicide. Then one morning, from the depths of despair, she experienced a life-changing realization.

Katie saw that when she believed that something should be different than it is ("My husband should love me more," My children should appreciate me more,") she suffered, adn that when she didn't believe these thoughts, she felt peace. She realized that what had been causing her depression was not the world around her, but what she believed about the world around her. In a flash of insight, Katie saw that our attempt to find happiness was backward-instead of hopelessly trying to change the world to match our thoughts about how it "should" be, we can question these thoughts and, by meeting reality as it is, experience unimaginable freedom and joy. Katie developed a simple yet powerful method of inquiry, called The Work, that made this transformation practical. As a result, a bed-ridden, suicidal woman became filled with love for everything life begins.

Katie's insight into the the mind is consistent with leading-edge research in cognitive psychology, and The Work has been compared to the Socratic dialogue, Buddhist teachings, and 12-step programs. But Katie developed her method without any knowledge of religion or psychology. The Work is based on one woman's direct experience of how suffering is created and ended. It is astonishingly simple, accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, and requires nothing more than a pen and paper and an open mind.

Since 1986, Katie has introduced The Work to millions of people around the world.

The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want. If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark. You can try and try, and in the end the cat will look up at you and say, "Meow." Wanting reality to be different than it is is hopeless.

An yet, if you pay attention, you'll notice that you think thoughts like this dozens of times a day. "People should be kinder." "Children should be well-behaved." "My husband (or wife) should agree with me." "I should be thinner (or prettier or more successful)." These thoughts are ways of wanting reality to be different than it is. If you think this sounds depressing, you're right. All the stress that we feel is caused by arguing with what is.

People new to The Work often say to me, "But it would be disempowering to stop my argument with reality. If I simply accept reality, I'll become passive. I may even lose the desire to act." I answer them with a question: "Can you really know that that's true?" Which is more empowering-"I wish I hadn't lost my job" or "I lost my job; what can I do now?"

The Work reveals that what you think shouldn't have happened should have happened. It should have happend because it did, and no thinking in the world can change it. This doesn't mean that you condone it or approve of it. It just means that you can see things without resistance and without the confusion of your inner struggle. No one wants their children to get sick, no one wants to be in a car accident; but when these things happen, how can it be helpful to mentally argue with them? We know better than to do that, yet we do it, because we don't know how to stop.

I am a lover of what is, not because I'm a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality. We can know that reality is good just as it is, because when we aregue with it, we experience tension and frustration. We don't feel natureal or balanced. When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind and fearless.

Wow...the more I read her writing and learn about her...the more I resonant with her work and teachings. It's so inspiring to me that her whole process developed from her own self-inquiry...not from some kind of formal teaching/training or study. But, simply from her own willingness to turn inward. Shiva Rea often talks about one of her gurus who was completely self-initiated into Yoga and became self-realized on her own. She didn't have any formal guru. Everything in Yoga teaches us the teacher is within...and yet...how often we look outside ourselves for the answers. Anyhow, I highly recommend reading this information on Katie's website. This will give you a good insight into the process she has developed...the four questions to ask oneself when any thought arises in our mind that we feel some kind of struggle about.

I hope you have an awesome weekend. I'm looking forward to the Partners Thai Yoga workshop at exhale spa Dallas on February 13th from 3-5 pm, as well as, the new Yoga class I will be teaching on Saturdays from 10-1115 am, beginning, Saturday, February 20th. This Yoga class will be at an incredible location in Dallas which will offer us the opportunity to practice Yoga outisde in a beauitful setting...weather permitting. When weather does not permit, there is a wonderful space we can be practice in indoors, as well.

Jai Guru-Victory to the Teacher, the eternal goodness within each of our own hearts.

Om Namah Shivaya~

Wahe!

2010-01-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Hello...

Wow...it's been a long time since I was sick. I started to come down with something Friday night and it has taken me all the way until now to feel better. But, I'm grateful I didn't have to go to the doctor. As soon as I got sick, I knew there was going to be some emotional healing I needed to experience. I realized there were some things I would need to communicate, express or say with different people in my life. Whenever I have been sick, more recently, I've realized there is, usually, some kind of emotional healing related to it. Something we need to process or deal with that we have been avoiding feeling...

So, I'm glad being sick made me slow down and feel. I've been really busy lately, and of course, last weekend I was at Shiva Rea in Austin where we went through more than 15 hours of Yoga practice in two days. It was awesome, but not entirely restful. I haven't taken time to rest like this in a long time. It's been good...even though I haven't felt the best. I guess sometimes it takes not feeling well to slow ourselves down so we will rest. Master Yogi, Sri Dharma Mittra says it's in our restfulness that our impurities are removed. Through rest, we are able to dissolve tension on all levels...not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. It's powerful to simply lie and allow the waves of consciousness (chitta) to draw to the surface every unfelt feeling, thought and emotion. As the fluctuation rises to the surface, we can allow the Supreme Consciousness to dissolve it and return us back into the stillness again.

Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of consciousness. - Patanjali Sutra 1.2

Or, when the mind ceases to be disturbed by thoughts, feelings and emotions. Everything in Yoga, the poses, the breath, meditation is intended to settle one into this stillness, or Universal Consciousness...the supreme state, the supreme knower, the witness (purusha), the one who observes all things and is not idetified wiht the ego, or the world of change (prakriti). So much of our Self is superficially identified with the material world, even other people...and yet we are the Self...what really is there to identify with? That's why the Yogis realized the more we settle into that stillness, the more we realize the Truth of who we really are...unbounded Consciousness itself.

Psalm 46:10 (King James Version)

10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

One of my favorite invocations is:

Om Namah Shivaya Gurave
I offer myself to the Light/goodness within the heart, the eternal teacher

Satchidananda Murtaye
Whose nature is Supreme Consciousness and pulsates with the greatest joy imaginable.

Nishprapanchaya Shantaya
Who is always present and full of peace.

Niralambaya Tejase
Whose essence is completely free from limitation and sparkles with divine luminosity.

I just found this other translation, and I love it. It expresses it even more beautifully:

Om Namah Shivaya Gurave
I see the goodness in everything
and everybody, including myself.

Satchidananda Murtaye
I am a being residing in a state of
consciousness and grace.

Nishprapancaya Shantaya
I know that peacefulness is
always present.
I don't have to worry, because
I know that Supreme Consciousness
is in control, not me.

Niralambaya Tejase
I am radiant and joyful, regardless
of external circumstance, because
of this knowing.

"I’s a petition from the bottom of one’s heart to open to the teacher within. The mantra is meant to bring us into the right frame of mind to access our infinite being.”

So, what does all this mean? It means it's time to PARTY! Just kidding. Well, it's at least time to dance, even if it's just by yourself.

This is similar to what Shiva said...if someone is swearing at you...if someone looks at you in a mean way...you celebrate because it means you are standing in the Light. Don't take offense...simply turn it back over to the Light. I used to reject people's negative feelings, thoughts and emotions that I felt they were projecting toward me. Now, I breathe it in...I inahle it deeply and fully...because it's all Light...and some people would say...it's all Love...breathe in the energy of life...breathe in the Flow...and exhale out from your heart...exhale out love, compassion and turn it all back over to the Light, the Source from which which all things, all of us flow.

So, there's a lot of great things coming up, which I've posted on the Workshops page of the True Yoga website. The first is the Partners Thai Yoga Workshop on Valentine's Day weekend at exhale spa. This is one of my favorite workshops all year. People feel so amazing from this class. You can come with a romantic partner, a friend, or just by yourself and we will pair you with someone. In this class you learn amazing ways to stretch your friend or loved one and to make each other feel good. It really does awaken the bliss body. If I could, I would have someone give me these stretches as much as possible. I'm looking forward to having that special person in my life, again, when the time is right. Until then, I'm grateful anytime my friends will share some Partner Yoga love with me, and, I've been enjoying incorporating more of these partner assisted Yoga stretches in class, as well.

Speaking of Partner Yoga. Ricky Tran and I will be leading an Art of Adjusting Workshop on March 13th from 1:30 - 4:30 pm at Karmany Yoga. This class will be for students and teachers and we will explore some amazing partner assists, stretches and adjustments in the Yoga poses, both active poses and passive/restorative poses. I'm really looking forward to this clsas and will share more details with you soon...

And, of course...Brazil...Wahe!!! If you are looking for the experience of a lifetime, then join Global Soul Adventures founder, Kate LaCroix and myself as we journey to the most beautiful beaches of Brazil with a wonderful group of inspiring Yogis this March 17-28th, 2010. We will enjoy eco-adventure and Yoga as we explore the coast of Brazil, spending a few days at a time in each of these exotic locations. The islands we will be traveling to are islands most foreigners never get to experience. Because Kate has lived in Brazil, she knows the culture and land of Brazil very well and is able to guide us to some incredible places. We will also get to experience some amazing Yoga in Mother Nature in these inspiring, uplifting and beautiful locations. I'm looking forward to experiencing this amazing journey with you. For more info or to register, click here. You can also read more on the Workshops page, as well.

And, of course my heart goes out to the people of Haiti. Over $250 million that the U.S. has donated...that is inspiring. May God's grace alleviate the pain and suffering in the hearts and minds of all of those who have lost loved ones or whose loved ones were harmed in such a devestating loss. Our prayers go out to the people of Haiti.

Shiva Rea Sankalpa-Happy New Year

2010-01-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

OK, it's hard to believe I haven't written a post since December 16th. I felt like I had written a New Year's Message on the True Yoga Blog, but obviously, I haven't. Well, I did send out the True Yoga newsletter last week...so if you don't receive it and would like to, please submit your e-mail address here.

Wow...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What's been going on over the past month? A lot...but all good changes. Well, I suppose every change is good if we are willing to see the blessing in it. The practice of Anusara Yoga focuses on seeing the goodness in all things. I suppose all spiritual practices or teachings have this focus inherent in them. Life's obstacles and difficulties are our greatest teachers...

Just this past weekend I attended a two-day Yoga workshop in Austin, TX with my beloved teacher, Shiva Rea. She calls herself a river guide, although, if she is not enlightened...she certainly emobdies one of the most powerful connections, I've seen, to the Divine Light/Love...the energetic flow or current of life itself. We all embody this, although some of us are awake in that connection and some of us are not. When Buddha was asked if he was a God or a man, he replied...'I am awake.'

It had been almost two years since I had last studied and practiced Yoga with her. As many of you know, I am in her 200 hour Yoga teacher training program. I have over 250 hours of study with her, all that remains to complete my certification is to finish my book reports and videotape one of my Yoga classes when I am teaching. I hope to complete these last few requirements soon. At that point, I will be able to travel with her and assist her at teacher trainings, workshops and retreats. This has been a dream of mine. When someone asked me if the workshop I attended this past weekend was magical, I responded:

'Very magical. She's amazing. A goddess, for sure. One with the flow/light of love. Amazing to be in her presence. No other place I want to be when I'm with her. It's like heaven on earth. So much love.'

Over the last two years I have wished many times to be able to see her and study with her again. But, it wasn't able to happen because of all that was going on with me, such as the passing of my father. Shiva's mother passed away when Shiva was in her early 30s...so she certainly understand my loss and pain and it is so comforting to feel this connection to her. I feel so blessed to have been guided to be connected to such an amazing teacher as her. She truly lives and is the emobdiment of Yoga. Which, to me, the essence of Yoga is to love God, or Source, with all our body, heart and mind and to love our neighbor as we love ourself. The stretching stuff is nice, but the poses are really meant to connect us to our breath so we can open to the flow of Grace in our life and share that Grace/Love with others. As I've gone through many of these changes I've been healing from recently, the loss of my father, the ending of a relationship, I've struggled many time to find my breath. The hurt and the pain, from both, has often had me live in a resistance to life, rather than an opening. Shiva was talking about how many of us at the workshop were pushing our breath around. She said to not resist the flow of life moving through us. More recently, I had been resisting the flow of energy, or love, from certain people in my life because I had felt hurt by them in some way. Now I'm practicing letting their love flow into me and my love flow out to them, even just energetically. It's amazing what a difference it makes when we are not resistant to the people or experiences in our life. We realize everything is love expressed in infinite forms. The great sufi poet, Hafiz, wrote a poem about this. (and once I get my Hafiz book back, The Gift, I will post that poem here...I accidentally left it at Equinox where I teach.)

Yogarupa Rod Stryker also says to be grateful for all the moments of your life, everything that has happened and everything that is in this very moment. What an amazing way to live life. When we live with this awareness we can realize the blessing in everything, even through life's challenges and struggles. Sometimes we can't see the blessings or trust they are there right away, but the blessings always come and flow if we are faithful and patient.

I had been praying for a while to be able to study with Shiva again and my prayers were answered. It was interesting because a couple of months ago I was talking with a friend saying I hoped and believed Shiva would come to Texas. My friend replied that Shiva wouldn't come to Texas. Two days later, I found out Shiva was going to be in Austin for the workshop I just attended. And, the workshop was such a success...she is planning on returning to Austin next year, as well. WAHE! What a blessing to feel her presence in this state and in our communities. Her healing presence is helping to unify our hearts and minds into the one love, the one breath moving within each of us, interconnecting us all. I have so much more I can write about from my experience and I will share it with you over time.

One thing I wanted to touch on is something she said which was very powerful and expresses what I am writing about here. As many of you know, Ganesha (the expression of the Divine which is the remover of obstalces in our life) is connected to the First Chakra. The first chakra is at the pelvis floor, connected to the organs of elimination, and is our connection to our basic needs for security in the world. So, it involves our relationship to everything, including food, shelter, clothing, etc., and also our relationships with people, friendships, partnerships, etc. The spiritual teachings teach us we are taken care of and provided for and we get to be seated in faith about this reality. The teachings teach us to not worry about the clothes we will wear, or the food we will eat, but to know we will have what we need. Ganesha is the remover of obstalces, that force of the Divine which removes the obstacles from our path. But, one of the things Shiva said, which was so powerful, is Ganesha also puts obstacles in our life to help us to grow. So, once again, we realize there is a blessing in all of the trials we face in life, if we simply surrender to what is, and allow the grace to flow through. When we stop trying to control life, and allow ourselves to live in the deliciously ambiguous unfolding, the miraculous energetic reality of life reveals itself to us, moment-to-moment, breath-by-breath. And, we become awake to our own energetic existence and the energetic reality of existence which is being birthed from us and all around us with every breath we breathe.

I will leave us with this for now. Sankalpa means resolution. In Yoga, we cultivate an intention or Sankalpa in each Yoga practice. As Yogis, we know our positively aligned Sankalpas are already fulfilled for the greater good of ourselves and others. All of the great spiritual masters, teachers and saints teach us to give thanks in advance for our prayers. This doesn't mean we don't need to put forth effort on the path, of course we do. But, as Pattabhi Jois said, we 'practice, and know all is coming.' We allow our hearts and minds to be guided by Divine Light, wisdom and intuitive inspiration and we align our hearts and minds with that Divine guidance or Will. Whatever resolutions we are seeking become reality when our will is yoked with Universal will, and so it is. Iyengar says Yoga is when our individual will is yoked with Universal will. May we rest in the faith of our already realized resolutions as we resolve to evolve in 2010 and beyond.

Om shanti, friends.

Infinite blessings to each and everyone of us.

Oh, also, you gotta download the song, Let Your Heart Be Known by Steve Gold.

Merry Christmas Solstice

2009-12-16T19:20:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Yoga class was not what I expected which is what made it so awesome. I realized from now on it will be called a Winter Solstice celebration. (That way I will have more creative freedom, besides just playing Holiday music) When I practiced Yoga, the day before the class, to the music I had selected, I realized it was going to be too difficult to find the breath to the traditional Christmas song. Last year when I taught the Holiday Yoga class I was not as connected to the breath in my Yoga practice as I am now. The Friday before this year's Holiday Yoga class, I realized I would need to find some alternative music for class. I found some really awesome and beautiful Celtic Christmas songs which worked beautifully, from an album called Inner Splendor. Much of it was instrumental and then I played the occasional song here or there with lyrics in it, like Joy to the World, Silent Night, Silver Bells, etc. Of course, my favorite song of the season is My Grown-Up Christmas List by Michael Buble. Definitely one to download...

So, what made this year's class especially different? The primal screaming. I didn't know it would happen, didn't expect it at all. I'm learning the best thing I can do is be authentic with the people who are in class with me. The days prior to the Holiday class, there was such a heaviness and tension in the air, not with just myself, but it seemed with everyone around me. On Saturday, although I was looking forward to class, the feeling in the air didn't feel any better. In the hours before class, I started having many awarenesses and revelations about this time of year. In preparing for the class I found out practically every culture in the world has some kind of Winter Solstice celebration. Obviously in the West, it is Christmas.

"Christmas or Christ's Mass is one of the most popular Christian celebrations as well as one of the most globally recognized midwinter celebrations. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Christian Deity God Incarnate or Messiah, Jesus Christ. The birth is observed on December 25, which was the Roman winter solstice upon establishment of the Julian Calendar. [12] Christian churches recognized folk elements of the festival in various cultures within the past several hundred years, allowing much of the folklore and traditions of local pagan festivals to be appropriated. So today, the old festivals such as Jul, Коледа and Karácsony, are still celebrated in many parts of Europe, but the Christian Nativity is now often representational as the meaning behind the holiday. This is why Yule and Christmas are considered interchangeable in Anglo–Christendom. Universal activities include feasting, Midnight Masses and singing Christmas carols about the Nativity. Good deeds and gift giving in the tradition of St. Nicholas by not admitting to being the actual gift giver is also observed by some countries. Many observe the holiday for twelve days leading up to the Epiphany." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

When I arrived at class on Saturday it felt heavy. Like people were there for a Christmas Yoga class but they didn't know why. Is doing Yoga to Christmas music really going to put me in the Spirit? Because I'm definitely not feeling the
Spirit right now. Those are some of the feelings and thoughts I sensed in the air. So, I began the class talking about this powerful time of transformation and change we are in known as the changing of the seasons. However, this change, in particular, is more significant than any other seasonal shift we make throughout the year. The Winter Solstice is the beginning of a new Solar Year. That is HUGE. Our man made calendar is really messed up and not in rhythm with the natural flow of things. And, in our culture, we are certainly not encouraged to honor the natural rhythms, but to adjust ourselves to man's calendar...screw that.

Let's take this into consideration. First of all, what a year it has been. It's almost unimaginable all we've been through and grown through, individually and collectively. If you just pause for a moment and reflect back, you will find it's almost incomprehensible. Let yourself just be with that for some time. Maybe take a break from reading this post, fix yourself a cup of tea, and just close your eyes and breathe into that awareness for several minutes...it's immense...from a new President, to everything else that has gone on along the way, with one of the greatest transformations that has happened in the history of the world, or at least our country...a black person as the leader of the free world. This is something that needed to happen...no matter what your political beliefs...we needed to believe that real change is possible if we commit our hearts and minds to it. We can be the change we wish to see in the world, as Gandhi said, and we can inspire others to join us in that vision, just as Gandhi did, and so many others have done, as well. We can each make a difference in our own way...and we are lucky to have a President who reminds us of that everyday. There may be things we disagree with, but the future is brighter because of the hope we have in our hearts now. Hope that tomorrow can be better, if we choose better today, each of us, in our own seemingly insignificant and yet powerfully profound ways.

I have been stretched to keep an open heart in times when I've felt so hurt by others, and yet, I know that to keep an open heart is the only way. Or, as Deva Premal says, love is the only prayer. We must love, it is the only hope we have if we want to see the world around us transform into a better place, one breath at a time. We must love our neighbor as we love our self. We have witnessed what the other way causes, and continues to cause, for millennium. If we want the world around us to change, we must learn to love each other as we love our self, even our enemies, as Yogananda would say, it is the only hope we have, to let the resistance from our own heart melt away, even when it's uncomfortable, even when we are afraid of getting hurt. As Neal Donald Walsch would say, you've gotta sing like you aren't getting paid and love like you can't get hurt. Do we need to allow ourselves space, at times, to heal and evolve into a healthier place with those around us? Yes. But, in that space, we must keep our hearts open to the evolution, transformation and healing of love. Love heals, and love is our only hope. If each one of us could love the person we are most afraid to love, or feel most uncomfortable or have the most resistance to loving, in whatever way we are guided to, the world would be a better place. Everything in it's own time. Sometimes we must let go to find a better, truer way to love. As Deva Premal also says, love is space.

So, in preparing for the Holiday Yoga class, it occurred to me we have been moving through the great release, the great metamorphosis, the great death throughout the Fall Season. Some part of our self must die, so we can be reborn into a better relationship with everyone and everything around us. In Yoga, we might consider this better relationship is really born from the breath. As Rod Stryker would say, if we want anything in our life to change for the better, the first thing to change is our relationship with our own breath. This is why Rod Stryker always teaches a specific breathing process in his classes. This past Fall, he taught us the 1:2 breath. Inhale to a count of 4, exhale to a count of 8. After practicing this for several months, my breath has deepened with my inhale and exhale. But, 4 and 8 is a good place to begin for most of us. So, I have been practicing this breathing and noticing anytime my breath is irregular, ruffled, disturbed, etc. It turns out, it has been tremendously disturbed over the past year and a half. I would consider this is mostly because of my father's illness and passing away, some part of my subconscious knew, although I didn't want to admit it, but some part of me knew my dad was leaving. We never want to see it, but it is there before us if we are not afraid to look. I was too afraid to see the Truth. Which is understandable. I was also in a very stressful relationship. We were not able to connect in an authentic way with one another, in other words, we were not able to be in the breath/love (perhaps because of fears/tensions) with one another completely, and so I'm sure this had an affect on my breath, as well. I consider these disturbances/tensions in my breath were there long before these experiences occurred, perhaps since I was first born into the world, and through the practice of Yoga and the poses, these places of tension, or these holding patterns in the breath have been brought to the surface to be released and healed. Fears, hurts, tensions, anxieties, all of which have been suppressed for a long time, and have caused my heart to be constricted in some way, were brought to the surface through my practice and life experiences to be healed and released. To love another is to be in the breath with another. (The only way we can do that is to fully love and accept another person as they are, to not judge or analyze them because they are not what we think they need to be.) All of these hurts and the suffering I have gone through, have actually opened my heart to a deeper connection to my breath and the spirit, and the spirit, or, breath, of everyone I'm connected to...so in our suffering is actually our salvation or healing. Tonight in class I was saying that all of the people in our life are like Yoga poses. Some we like, some we don't. But, all are teachers and all are loving us into a better alignment with our self and everyone, if we simply surrender our will and open our hearts to loving in a better way...not the way we think it needs to look or be, but the way we are guided to love. We may not always get what we want...but we will get what we need. Which is love, all ways, as Shiva would say. All of love is an evolution, with our neighbor and everyone else we are connected to...may our hearts be open to loving, and may we exhale from our heart with every breath we breathe. May we be the best lovers we can be to our friends, our neighbors, our partners, our teachers and everyone in between. May our hearts be an outpouring of Divine Love and Light and may we realize the sacred opportunity it is to share this love and light with everyone we meet and know, even those we have felt hurt by in the past. May our hearts know healing, compassion and forgiveness with all of those we have known along the way.

So, I guess what I could say is we were all feeling a significant transformation and release happening, and Saturday, for many of us, was the height of that emotional intensity we've been feeling. It was the time when all of us came together to be joyous, and yet, what we were really feeling was disgruntled and angry. Pissed off at what? You name it, just feeling the tensions of the world, and needing a way to release it. I had forgotten, most recently, that my first Yoga teacher would encourage us to let it out, scream, moan, groan, shout, whatever needed to happen to feel to heal. During the first part of the class we flowed along to peaceful Christmas music, but as the emotional intensity built up in the room and I could feel the tension in people's hearts and minds, I suggested we start screaming. I didn't even know it was called primal screaming. I just said, think about it, what baby do you know that was born into the world happy? Aside from supposedly one or two saints, most babies come into the world screaming their heads off. They are pissed. I said, we are all being birthed into a new Solar Year, a time of greater Light and Consciousness. It's like we are being born from the darkness to the Light, yet again. Coming out of the womb and into the Light hurt like hell. It wasn't fun, and was somewhat painful, for most of us, obviously. Kicking and screaming we came into the world. What a picture. But, we had to let it out to be able to breathe. So, we breathed that first breath when we were born and then WAAAAAAAAAAAA, for a while, and then, we were able to find our breath and breathe peacefully.

We are each going through this rebirth in our own way. I would like to say we have made it through the most intense part. And, I really believe for those of us who screamed on Saturday, it helped a lot. I said to the class, whatever you are angry at, let it out. If it's a person, if it's the President, if it's another country, if it's war...whatever it is...let it out. Scream so God can hear you. But, instead of sending anger to that place, send Light. Scream so that God can't help but hear you. So many saints have talked about how when they first started on the spiritual path, they would talk all peacefully to God. Even Yogananda talks about this. Then, somewhere along the way they would start being authentic with God. Yelling at him, arguing with him. God wants us to be real with him. Most of us take our anger or emotions out on other people, when what we should be doing is yelling our frustrations to God. He wants us to relate to Him like we would any other human being...BE REAL...BE HUMAN...FEEL. Let Him know you feel. Scream your head off...yell at him in the car...whatever you need to do to let it out. But, let it out in a constructive way. Yell that He send His Light/Love to the places that need it. Most Yoga classes have become way to passive. What we need more than ever is to feel our emotions...the energy in motion that's moving through us. These experiences we are moving through, feeling and healing from. Lots of Yoga classes don't encourage you to let it out. That's why I'm so grateful for my first teacher who taught me to be real. She was and is such an inspiration. I'm looking forward to going back to practicing with her some for a while. It's been a while and whenever I go there it's like returning hOMe. Suze Curtis is awesome and amazing...a true warrior Goddess.

So, we all yelled and screamed. After class, my friend told me she would go to a Yoga class in L.A. a lot where the first ten minutes of class was all ecstatic dance and primal screaming. So, I didn't know we were primal screaming, but that's what we were doing. And, I'm realizing it's necessary and important. Think about it, the first thing we ever did when we came into the world, to breathe through this great transformation we had gone through was SCREAM. Whether you know it or not, and I'm guessing you know it, you are going through one now. If you haven't screamed yet...SCREAM...let it out. Don't hold it in...be uninhibited with your own Self. Do it...now.

You will see yelling and screaming at God, (not another person) or to feel what you need to feel is healing. I know sometimes we do take our anger out on others, but ideally this would happen less and less. The most powerful thing we can do when someone is yelling at us is to not take it personally. It is always their stuff. If we have to be exposed to anger, the best thing to do is to just be an open channel of love, compassion and forgiveness, so that anger can flow right back to them and they can deal with whatever it is they need to deal with in themselves. If we make them wrong for feeling what they need to feel, we make ourselves wrong. Hold the space for others to feel around you, and yet, be wise, in how you choose to connect to others. If the dynamic of a certain relationship is not healthy, then just like a Yoga pose, we must surrender our will of what we think the relationship should look like, to what the Highest alignment of that relationship is meant to be. It's a breath by breath journey. One day at a time. There is no exact answer...there is only letting go and surrendering to the will one breath at at time...and being in that question...how does it need to be so it is best for every ONE and facilitates the greatest healing possible for all.

Here's a long excerpt from one of my favorite books, It's Here Now Are You? by Bhagavan Das.

The peace that comes from letting go and surrendering is incredible. Again and again it keeps coming back to letting go of our own will to have a plan about where we're going and a goal. It seems that we spontaneously align the Plan of God for us. I think that's the whole "follow your bliss" thing. It's really Thy will be done, not mine, Jesus said it all. Love the Lord with all your heart and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. That's it. There is no one out there but us. And if we can just put God first, Om first-offer the food up, offer the day up, become conscious the first moment you wake up, think of God-then there is peace.

Surrender to yourself as being God. Go through the great Christian blasphemy-I am God. What we've lost is ourselves. During the process of doing what needs to be done in the moment, each thing becomes a stepping stone to the next thing. But there needs to be courage because it's a creative process. You can sit there with your paints looking at the white piece of paper forever to get a good idea. Or you can just let your hand sweep into the paint and start to feel what's going to come forth.

Initiation is necessary. It's necessary to have a Guru in the form of a human being whom you can see and feel. There is a certain sense of feeling that's important to be aware of and trust.

The birth experience is profoundly spiritual, coming from the womb of the mother and connecting with her. As we are on that nipple looking up into the luminosity of our mother's eyes, that is God. We are part of the circle of devotion. It sets the feeling tone for the spiritual journey of our lives.

Only through spiritual practice can we experience eternity so that we are devouring the world and devouring time rather than the other way around.

Compassion means being able to speak to all people, wherever their consciousness is, with no judgments about them; simply be there with them. That's compassion. No judgment. Just being there. That's being a real spiritual friend to the world.

Do you want to surrender to the divine plan, or are you going to try to force your own plan? There's a real problem when you have a plan. When you have a plan, Divine Mother breaks into your room and steals your money. I planned on becoming rich and famous, so Ram Dass introduced me to Jimi Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffries. He loved my voice, loved my art. He was going to make me a star, yet two weeks after we had made our plan Michael died in an airplane crash. Mother was the pilot. She's always at the controls. If I'd become a star, I'd probably be dead from drugs by now and never would have come back to the Mother. If you keep falling into her arms, you'll become tired of all your exteranl desires. She alone can fulfill your desires.

It's really time we took Jesus off the cross and got into the true meaning of the resurrection. The resurrection is our own consciousness within our hearts, here and now. The divine dwells within us, it is us. It is closer to us than our eyeball, which we can't even see because we are seeing out of it.

Tantra brings it together, which is the bindu. The female is within the male, and the male energy is in the female, and we project them outward and constantly become in a state of craziness. Everyone is mad and crazy, pretending they're not. Like Ramakrishna said, "You're mad for the world, you're mad over lust and money and power and stuff. Or are you mad for God?" Pick your madness.

It always comes back to just letting go with love. Just put love into it, whatever it is, and if you can't put love into it, don't do it. If you do it without love it doesn't have any power. It gets down to that. You've got to get the earth magic going. You've got to get the earth magic going. You've got to get the elemental earth mother backing your play. Then you get the power of the spot where you are. You acknowledge the spot. You sit in your house and say, "Thank you Mother for this spot. Thank you for this house. Thank you for my bed. Thank you for my chair. Thank you for my life. Thank you for you." This is the way. It's simple, it's the way of the child. If you become a little child, you shall enter the kingdom of heaven. That's really what it is. It's finding that childlike, spontaneous connection to the feeling tone, without putting a label on it. Just let it be, like raw sensations, experience the freshness of feeling. Just celebrate the body instead of all the trips we have about bodies.

We are love. Start really letting go, being in your bodies, and seeing the divine in the body. Tantra is worshiping the body as the divine. Not just your body, all bodies. Everyone's it. That feeling that every time we see someone, we really are looking at the Divine Mother; and she will play within their eyes for you.

Get into the breath. The breath is the seat that we sit on. It is something we can get hold of.

If you can get that atmosphere of devotion going, then the spiritual path is fun and exciting. You won't even have to try, it will no longer be work but a part of your everyday life- a part of every moment. Everything is just what it is. It can be as light or as heavy as we want to make it moment to moment. We get to choose each moment and how we want to live in it. How do you want it? It's the biggest deal of all, and yet it's not a big deal. It's just life and death. The joy in the enlightened beings I've been around is just incredible. It seems like this is what we all want-to be happy. You're going to be a lot happier if you don't have a plan. Because then, magical things can happen. You're open to people coming up to you because you know that everyone is God, so God's going to come up to you, give you a message, bring light to you, and inspire you. This is what the dakinis are. It's the external world awakening us. They circle around us when we become the upright stone, when we become still ouf of devotion. We show our love by stillness, by being heartfelt, by just getting into a divine mood. The divine mood is everything. Without the divine mood, none of this can happen. I think that's what's missing in the New Age. There's not a lot of divine mood going on. There's only a lot of hustle going on, more buying and selling.

Life is a journey to death, a journey home. Let go of the fear-Kali wants the blood of our heart. She is the pump of our heart, she is the breath, the power of the breath, the moment of the life energy. She's devouring the blood as it flows through us. Everything is that. So get generous, that's what it amounts to-real generosity of your life. It isn't your life, it's Her life. We are living Her. She's deeply compassionate and she is wisdom. We live in duality, yet her wisdom is nondual. So start from where you are, start with desire. If you're a man and you have a lot of lust, and lust is your problem, she's a beautiful young girl. Make God a beautiful naked girl, and go fot it. Guess what? God will come to you as a beautiful young naked girl and take you right through lust into the love. That's been my experience.

First you learn to concentrate. The easiest thing to concentrate on is music, sound. You get one-pointed. Then spontanteously, through your love, that will lead you into meditaiton. It's a gift, a state of grace. Meditation comes. I don't sit to meditate, I sit to love. I'm hopping in bed with the Divine Mother. Let's play Ma! Let's have fun! How are you? What's going on? You've got to get really simple with it.

Take it out of the heavy trip and make it into a light trip. Let the light be God for you. When I offer the flower to Ma, I put the flower down and step back; I look at the light coming off the edge of the flower, a scene so beautiful it explodes my mind in ecstasy. It's just the flower, but it's a flower given with love. So she accepts it and then the boon she gives it the light on the edge of the petals. I will come in that flower for you because you love me. Love is enough. Presence is enough. Presence is all that we have and all tha twe are. So let's just experience the presence and let ourselves have it. That's all it is. All these spiritual practices, sadhanas, disciplines, ashrams, and chanting is for purification so we can drop into that childlike state of wonder and surrender to existence.

How much do you want? How much freedom, how much liberation do you want? How much God do you want? Most people want about 2 percent. Maybe 1 percent. It's always going to be the few who really want to go all the way. But we're all going all the way anyway, whether we want to or not, because we're all really Here.

How to get here? How to show up for life? That's what it's all about. You have to be present to win. In one mind moment, it's gone. To be able to catch the wind, to be able to have the birds land in your hair, you have to be very still. When the birds chirp on top of your head, it's a great, blissful experience. It's being one with nature. We are the trees and we are the earth and we are the fire and the water and the air. We are all of this.

To see ourselves in others-all others-and to be ourselves in others until there are no others is what it's all about. There is only love, only One." -It's Here Now Are You? by Bhagavan Das

Here's one more thing I want to share with you. A poem by Hafiz called Rewards For Clear Thinking.

Rewards For Clear Thinking

Think about this for a second:

God (being God), having Infinite Knowledge,
Not only knew your every thought and action
Your life would ever experience

(Even before you were born)

But He also, being the Divine Creator,
Has etched every moment of your existence
With His own hand

With the precision and care
No artist ever could.

Think about this for a moment:

I have never heard a bird or the sun
Ever say to God,
I am sorry.

There seems to be a great reward
For clear thinking:
All existence is a pawn in the Friend's hands.

Look, one gets wings and gifts to the world
Music each morning:
One turns into such an extraordinary light
He actually becomes a sustainer of a whole planet.

One makes a thousand moons go mad with love
And blush all night.

When one can surrender the illusion, the crutch, of
Free will,

Though still live-for the benefit of others-
The highest of moral
Codes.

Quite a post, but it's been quite a year. Merry Christmas. May the Christ-consciousness be resurrected in our hearts and minds with every breath we breath. Jai guru!

Also, you've got to check out this video...spectacular. ;)

No Place Like exhale for Holiday Yoga!

2009-12-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

It's great to have the sunshine back in Dallas, although I'm pretty sure the temperature dropped about 40 degrees in a couple of hours last night. It's unbelievable the impact atmospheric changes can have on the body. I'm learning more and more to just accept where my body is each day, to not expect it to be where it was yesterday. If I just meet my body honestly where it's at, instead of placing all these expectations on myself, (and just allow myself to be in my breath) I find amazing things can happen in my Yoga practice. It's much better that way...I spent a lot of years trying to prove something to myself and often injuring myself along the way.

A couple of days ago I was in Whole Foods and I met this lovely gentleman named Walter. He was offering samples of a certain green drink. As I was browsing the greeting cards, I overheard him singing...it was beautiful. I made my way around to where he was and he offered me a sample. I said, how could I say no to you? He was singing and he said he would sing me a song. So, I asked him to sing a Christmas song. And, this is what he sang. Beautiful. Next time you go into the Whole Foods at Preston and Forest Lane, be sure to look for him and ask him to sing you something. You can tell him I suggested for you to hear him sing. He'll love it. (I wanted to post the video on the blog, but wasn't able to, so the link links to youtube. I guess it was time for me to get a youtube account anyway.)...

So, the Holiday Yoga playlist has been made, every year I teach this class I think I've found my favorite playlist, but it seems every year the songs just become more and more connected and beautiful. Something resonates even more deeply with me and I love this year's songs. Some I've played before and some are new. I'm in love with Michael Buble and his Christmas album is awesome. I hope you will be able to join me this Saturday at exhale spa in Dallas for the annual Holiday Yoga class. It's from 3-5 pm with refreshments following. It's an incredibly special experience. We will also be focusing on this powerful time of positive change and transformation we are growing through energetically/spiritually as we awaken to the Winter Solstice on December 21st. It is a time for celebration as those of us who are spiritually aligned in the Yogic principles, the Universal vows, known as the Yamas, are growing more and more connected in the One Light that illuminates us all. Those of us who live our lives according to these virtues grow increasingly connected to the Light of Consciousness within us and all around us and we know we are, indeed, part of a spiritual family here on earth, blazing through space at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. There is nothing to fear. We are growing stronger with each Divine, spiritually-charged breath of prana we breathe. Non-violence (Ahimsa) in thoughts, words and actions is the way, Truth (Satya) is the way, Moderation (Brahmacharya) in all things is the way, Non-stealing (Asteya) is the way, and Non-coveting/non-greed (Aparigraha)is the way. Here is an awesome article on the Yamas, which are the first limb of Yoga on the eight limbed path prescribed by Patanjali, the Father of Yoga, who lived before Christ. A very well-known Yoga teacher, Judith Lasater, wrote this article.

I hope to see you this Saturday. I also want to share the lyrics from one of my recent favorite songs by Michael Franti called Never Too Late. You gotta download this song.

Don't fear your best friends,
because a best friend would never try to do you wrong.
And don't fear your worst friends,
because a worst friend is just a best friend that's done you wrong.
And don't fear the night time,
because the monsters know you're divine.
And don't fear the sunshine,
because everything is better in the summertime.

But it's never too late to start the day over,
it's never to late to pick up the phone.
You know it's never too late to lay your head down on my shoulders,
it's never too late just come on home.

Don't fear the water,
because you can swim inside you within your skin.
And don't fear your father,
because a father's just a boy without a friend.
And don't fear to walk slow,
don't be a horserace, be a marathon.
And don't fear the long road,
because on the long road you got a long time to sing a simple song.

But it's never too late to start the day over,
it's never too late to pick up the phone.
You know it's never too late to lay your head down on my shoulders,
it's never too late just come on home.

Don't fear your teachers,
because if you listen you can hear music in a school bell.
And don't fear your preacher,
if you can't find heaven in a prison cell.
And don't fear your own self,
paying money to justify your worth.
And don't fear your family,
because you chose them along time before your birth.

But it's never too late to start the day over,
it's never too late to pick up the phone.
You know it's never too late to lay your head down on my shoulders,
it's never too late just come on home.

Hold to your children, hold to your children, hold to your children, let them know.
.

WE are blessed. OM is within us and all around us. Everywhere I go these days I see OM. OM is God. Right now I'm sitting at The Pearl Cup in Dallas, a fabulous coffee shop and the girl who works here noticed my OM necklace, she is wearing an OM necklace, too, and has OM tattoed on her wrist. OM is the vibration we align with as we become increasingly attuned to these spiritual practices and principles. Spiritual evolution is not possible without first embodying the Yamas in our Being. Gandhi said "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Off to work on my book reports for my Prana Flow Yoga 200 hour Yoga certification with Shiva Rea. Finally, the space has cleared for me to put my energy into this. I'm looking forward to completing my certification and being able to assist her at workshops and retreats as I continue to grow and evolve in the journey of Yoga. Om shanti, jai guru and Happy Holidays. Stand By Me just came on at the coffee shop. When the night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we see, no, I won't be afraid... The girl with the OM just said that's her favorite song in the whole world. Wow, now there is a guitarist playing live (click on that link and you can hear some of his music, I just found out his name is Bill Martin) right in front of me singing You've Got a Friend. God is good.

Ya know, just yesterday I remembered that a couple of weeks ago I attended a Kirtan and ecstatic dance here in Dallas led by Rudra Das. He invited us to cultivate an intention before we began the Kirtan and dance. He said, if you don't know an intention, a good one is always to just ask to grow spiritually in the best way possible. When I reflect over the difficulties of the last couple of weeks, I realize and remember that God works in mysterious ways. If we don't resist or fight against His plan, and surrender to it, He is always transforming us, opening us up to His Love and blessing us in amazing ways with His Grace. Now he is singing the sun is out, the sky is blue it's beautiful and so are you, dear roots, won't you come out and play.

And, now...Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly, all your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise.

He's also sangJoyful, Joyful We Adore Thee, another one of my dad's favorite songs and now he is singing Silent Night, too. As I left, he was singing Oh Holy Night.

It's time for Holiday Yoga with the ever-expanding Christ-Consciousness within us and all around us.

Bursting to Blog...

2009-12-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

(Please click on picture to enlarge and read.)

1 Corinthians 13:

Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It's 12:23 in the morning. I had turned off the lights to go to sleep and I couldn't go to sleep without writing this post. This has happened to me a few times where I know I will not be able to rest unless I share what I need to say. Oh my gosh...I'm crying as I write this.

The first thing I want to say is everything is going to be ok. I know we get uncertain sometimes. I know our faith and hope are challenged and we wonder if we are going to make it, if things are going to turn out alright. This is part of the spiritual path. Our faith is meant to be challenged so it grows stronger, our hope is meant to be questioned so it grows brighter. So be grateful for where you are...all the moments of your life as they are...and all the choices you've made as Rod Stryker would say. And, as Byron Katie would say...love what is.

"Byron Katie became severely depressed in her early thirties. For almost a decade she spiraled down into depression, rage, self-loathing, and constant thoughts of suicide; for the last two years she was often unable to leave her bedroom.

Then one morning in February 1986, she experienced a life-changing realization. There are various names for an experience like this. Katie calls it "waking up to reality."

In that instant of no-time, she says,

I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn’t believe them, I didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always.

She realized that what had been causing her depression was not the world around her, but the beliefs she'd had about the world. Instead of hopelessly trying to change the world to match her thoughts about how it should be, she could question these thoughts and, by meeting reality as it is, experience unimaginable freedom and joy. As a result, a bedridden, suicidal woman was instantly filled with love for everything life brings." www.thework.com

I have been through a great deal of challenges recently. Many of you know my father passed away a year ago, the 24th of November was the one year anniversary of his passing. Just today (or yesterday on December 6th) was the day of his funeral...the day he was buried in Ohio. I've gone through some incredibly difficult moments of pain, dealing with the grief of losing my father and realizing how much I miss him, which as the days go by, my love and longing for him grows deeper and deeper. I realize it doesn't become less. I miss his Presence more and more, and yet, in the missing I know I become more and more connected to his Presence, his Love and Light that is within me, moving in every cell of my body.

In addition to the loss of my father, I have been dealing with changes in a relationship and not having the primary person who was in my life, during the time of my father's illness and death, here for me right now. Perhaps in some way they are here for me, on some level, but I've not been able to talk to them because they are upset or not happy with me. On some of my most difficult days, I've had to deal with not having the person who said they loved me here for me when I needed them the most. But, I know it's a blessing in disguise, as part of my journey of healing is to know that I am the only one who can comfort myself, ultimately. Yes, those around me can love me and care for me, and I am SO grateful for the incredible support and love I feel flowing all around me in my life right now. And yet, I know that in my deepest darkest moments I need to know how to rely on and comfort myself in my pain. Through the pain, the grace and blessings reveal themselves. And, that is perhaps what I am most grateful for in my life right now, is feeling the outpouring of love, support and positive energy from all of the amazing people around me in my life. If you are reading this...you are one of those people. Thank you to all of my true friends.

Also, I know I'm not alone in feeling this intensity that so many of us have been feeling...if not all of us. I want to remind you we are in the end phase of the Fall Season (Vinyasa). Remember, in Yoga, a vinyasa is a cycle and a cycle is anything with a beginning, middle and end. Everything in life is a vinyasa. Every season, day, and even in every breath there is a beginning, middle and end. Over the last couple of weeks I've been reflecting on the significance of the Fall Season and this sacred and powerful transition from Fall to Winter as we align with the Winter Solstice. I used to think of the Winter Solstice, which is on December 21st and is the longest day of darkness, as the beginning of a time of darkness with the Winter Season. (in other words thinking it's going to get worse before it gets better.) But, now I realize it is actually the turning point in our spiritual evolution. In other words, the time of darkness is now, where we are most challenged emotionally and spiritually to release regressive energy and align with the Light of Consciousness in a more powerful and positive way, allowing healing to move through our hearts and minds with ourself and everyone around us so positive changes can take place. In other words, right in this very moment we are in the time of the greatest intensity of death. Fall is the season of death or the great transition, release, letting go both in Nature and in our inner nature. And, because we are in the very end of Fall right now (with only two weeks until Winter), of course this feeling would be most intense at this very moment. But, the shift is happening and the positive change is taking place. So do not fight what is. Love and appreciate it being exactly the way it is because it is serving your evolution and transformation, and consider you even sought for it to be this way to serve your greatest good and the greatest good of everyone around you. Forgive whoever you need to forgive, including yourself. Love everyone around you because as Dharma Mittra would say...'Everything is God and everything is within you. It's like money, what good is it if it's out there, you want it in your pocketbook.'

The Winter Solstice is the turning point and it is a time of celebration. It means you have moved through some of the powerful spiritual lessons you have needed to learn. We are all learning these lessons both individually and collectively, and our collective consciousness is evolving, even though it doesn't always seem that way. As we grow through Winter, the darkness gradually grows shorter and we blossom and emerge into a new reality. This reality springs forth from the one we have planted for ourselves from the seeds we've reaped, from the spiritual harvest of Fall, from all that we have sown from the year before. In Yoga, we could say Winter Solstice is like the New Year of our spiritual evolution, the one which is in alignment with Mother Nature. It is the ending of one cycle of seasons and the beginning of a new vinyasa. So, while the intensity we are moving through may feel like more than we can handle, in moments, remember...you are actually being reborn from darkness into Light.

You'll notice the title of my last post was Glory, Glory, Hallelujah. When I wrote that post about a week ago I was thinking of my dad. He loved the Battle Hymn of the Republic. I can remember being in church with him growing up, or sometimes just in the car or around the house, and he would start singing that song. He would love to belt it out and sing it. In church, I always remember him singing louder in that song than any other song we would sing. Especially when it got to the chorus of Glory, Glory, Hallelujah you could feel his heart bursting it out. My dad had the best voice, so full of love.

When we were deciding what songs to sing at his funeral, I suggested we sing this song. We didn't end up singing it, but that was ok. Well, this morning when I went to my meditation group...(and of course also on the date of my dad's funeral a year ago) that was the last song we sang. It's Yoganandas version of the song, so the lyrics are basically just...

As we die to make men holy,
let us live to make men free,
His love is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
His love is marching on.

Actually, I just read this was also Yogananda's favorite song and chant! How awesome. Well, guess what? My mom went to her church this morning. And, the song they sang during the offering, which they hardly ever sing was Fairest Lord Jesus. This was one of the songs we sang at my dad's funeral. He spoke to both of us in his own magical and mysterious way, reminding us and comforting us that His presence is always with us. What a miracle and blessing.

This month I'll be attending a 7 hour Christmas meditation with my meditation group. I would never have imagined a year ago, I'd be able to attend a 7 hour meditation. I'm ready and I'm really looking forward to it. I feel so blessed to be guided by Yogananda's teachings and all of the Christ-conscious gurus of SRF. This morning when I was at my meditation group, I noticed the sign that's in the picture above. I loved it so I took a picture of it. It must have been a Sunday school lesson for the children while we were in the meditation service. Recently, I've been reflecting on what a real friend is. What does it mean to be a true friend? I liked what the children had to say. I hope to have more friends like that in my life and I hope to always be a better, truer friend in that way to each and everyone I know. I love that they said that a friend 'hugs,' 'they don't judge people by their opinions' and 'not jealous.'

Here's a hug to all of you. Thank you for all the love and support you give back. If you are in Dallas, come to the Holiday Class at exhale this Saturday, December 12th from 3-5 pm with refreshments following. It's going to be an amazing, spiritually uplifting and positively transformational experience. I hope to get to share in this beautiful and inspiring class with you. We will be celebrating the Christmas season and the dawning of the Winter Solstice. Blessings...

1 Corinthians 13
Love
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

p.s.-Byron Katie will be in Houston and Dallas in January 2010. I've been getting the guidance to meet her for a long time, so I will be attending one of those events! My Thai Massage Teacher, Chock, is the one who mentioned it to me.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah and Happy Holidays

2009-11-29T16:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays. I had an awesome experience last week when I was teaching the Thankfulness and Giving Gratitude Yoga Class at lululemon Northpark this past Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving.

I taught the Yoga class in a corridor of the mall. As I was teaching, an older gentleman named John, who was volunteering with The Salvation Army, approached me. He had been standing off in the distance, listening to the music and watching from afar. He asked if the music I was playing was on a cd. I answered him that it wasn't...that it was a playlist I had made. He said he loved all of the music I was playing. About 10 minutes later he came back. And, so while the class was in Pigeon Pose, I spoke to him again. (can you imagine the whole class stayed in pigeon the whole time?! About 2 or 3 minutes) John said he wished he could be taking the class with us. He said he had had a stressful day and that just listening to the music and our breathing was healing. He became slightly teary-eyed as he told me this, and I let him know I would make him a cd of the music. So, yesterday, I went back to Northpark and gave him the cd. It was awesome to get to give the gift of music because I know how powerful music is to me.

Oh my gosh...as I'm writing this they are talking about this exact thing on the news playing in the background...just how powerful and emotional music is. I think they were talking about soldiers listening to music.

Anyhow, it was awesome to realize how healing energy can be, even if it's just being near a group of people who are aligning with a positive connection to breath/prana, listening to positive music, breathing positive thoughts and intentions together.

I will be back to write more soon...but just wanted to give a quick update. There is so much to be grateful for, I am especially grateful for Shiva Rea coming to Austin in January. What an awesome way to begin the New Year! The picture above is of my nephew, Luke, enjoying his first stuffing ever. He will be 2 on New Year's Eve. I am blessed and knowing I'm blessed is the greatest blessing there is.

Here is a powerful quote from Parmahansa Yogananda.

"This earth is full of imperfection; but in the Land Beautiful no clouds come and we can materialize the golden dreams of our earth sojourn. Only the ark of silence can take us to that Land. There all hearts meet in unity and wisdom; our love is not limited by human attachment, for our souls greet the Spirit in one another. If only you would take the ark of silence, you would reach that Land where you all want to go." - Paramahansa Yogananda

I Am Awake

2009-11-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

(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

Pranic Realization

2009-11-09T12:33:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I am attending a Thai Yoga Certification training here in Dallas with the gifted Thai Massage Therapist and healer, Chock Petchprom, and his wife Rocie.

The training was all day Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. We will finish the 30 hour certification next weekend with class all day Saturday and Sunday then, as well. I am learning so much, in particular, about the powerful meidicinal benefits of Thai Yoga massage and how it is possible to facilitate healing in the body, mind and heart through the releasing of blockages in the energetic meridians of the body. In Yoga, the meridians are called the nadis, and there are supposively 72,000 which run throughout the body. Thai Massage focuses on the 10 major ones.

Speaking of the nadis, I attended a really fascinating workshop with Edward Clark, who is the founder and choreographer of the well-known Tripsichore Yoga Theater Group in London. When I first attended the workshop, I enjoyed it but was uncertain how beneficial I would find his teachings and insights to be in my Yoga practice. I really resisted much of what he was talking about at first. Especially the idea that Yoga is not about going for the stretch. He said nowhere in the Yogic texts does it say the intention of the Asana, or pose, is to go for the stretch. The intention of the Asana is to awaken the flow of Prana/Life Force/Consciousness through the Sushumna Nadi, the central energetic channel through which all Consciousness/energy flows in our body and being. You can think of the Sushumna Nadi as the spinal cord, although it is an energetic pathway not something physical. But, it does flow through the channel of the spine, from the tailbone, all the way up along the spine, around the back of the head, over the top of the head, through the forehead, ending at the point between the eyebrows, known as the 3rd eye or 6th chakra/energy center.

It's been amazing to bring this new awareness into my Yoga practice. In the past, although I knew Yoga is a consciousness awakening practice through the poses and breath...my focus was often more egoic and on some level about attainment...trying to get 'somewhere.' After studying with Edward, my focus has been transformed, once again. Although, it was not comfortable letting go of my old approach, at first. If Yoga is not about trying to achieve something or get somewhere, (a better body, a calmer mind, etc., etc.) on some level, what's it about? For those of you who are able to practice with me here in Dallas...I'm so glad I get to share what he taught us in a practical, physical way, through the Asanas.

If you don't get to practice with me yet, essentially, what Edward was saying, is the whole intention of the Asanas is to maintain the integrity of the spine, or Sushumna Nadi, in any and all poses. The way we maintain the integrity of the spinal column is through the activation of the bandhas, or energy locks in the body-Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and Jalandhara Bandha. It's amazing what starts to happen in your poses, practice and self when you begin to activate the bandhas. Beryl Bender Birch, a well-known Yoga teacher in New York, says if we are not engaging the bandhas in a pose, we are just doing gymnastics. Perhaps this is a bit of an exaggeration, but Yoga is about becoming increasingly conscious and connected to our breath/Prana. Through the activation of the bandhas in a pose, we are more aware of our body, mind and breath, and our connection to all things. What I'm realizing is greater opening in my backbends, especially the region of the back behind the shoulders. By the New Year, I hope to be making Yoga podcasts available on the True Yoga Blog and website so you can see and practice what I'm talking about. So, there is a physical benefit to engaging the bandhas and activating the flow of energy up the spine, and yet, the intention of this activation is still much greater than just physical. The ultimate Yogic intention is to awaken the flow of Consciousness from the lower centers of awareness (the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd chakras) into the higher states of awareness (the 4th, 5th, 6th and crown chakra.) Through the activation of this flow of energy, we awaken to the energetic reality we are living, breathing and pranafesting with each moment, each breath we breathe. We are channels through which Light/energy flows. It is not flowing from us...it is flowing through us. The body and mind are an instrument to harmonize and direct the flow of this energy in the most powerful and positive way possible.

When I attended the SRF Convocation in L.A. this past August, the monk said that Yogananada would always say to keep your awareness focused at the Christ Consciousness center or 3rd eye/6th chakra. Cosmic energy or Light enters the body through the Medulla Oblongota at the base of the skull (where the brain stem and spinal cord join...it is the center which controls respiration in the body and the one part of the body which can not be operated on) and then is materialized into form through our conscious will, also known as the Christ Consciousness, 3rd eye or Eye of Light. If you imagine everything is energy and, therefore, everything is Light, this light is flowing into you and being pranafested, or manifested, faster than you mind can comprehend. In other words, the Light moving through you is being materialized into form faster than we can imagine. Everything is energy, therefore everything, in essence is Light. The Light moving through you is creating your Conscious reality every moment, with every breath you breathe. The best analogy I can offer would be the light that flows through a movie projector and then projects the picture onto the screen. In essence, you are the the projector. This will give us a good bit to pause and meditate on for a few days.

I will be back soon. Om~

Going with the Pranic Flow

2009-11-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

(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.

Ironyogini

2009-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

(Video of my friend, Kate LaCroix, going into the water to swim in the first event of the Longhorn Ironman...she's the one waving.:) )

Hello again. Things have settled some and I'm finding more time to focus and direct my energy into the positive places where I need to grow. For the past couple of years, I've been practicing strengthening in Crow Pose (Bakasana), Eka Pada Bakasana (One-legged Crow Pose) and Crow Pose into Handstand in my Yoga practice. Having healed into healthier places in myself, I'm finding more time/energy to invest myself more deeply in this growth. It's amazing how when we let go of giving our energy to what is not best for us (certain foods, relationships, habits, etc.) we find we have more Energy/Prana on our side strengthening and supporting us into growing in the way that will align us into that healthier relationship with ourself and everything else.

The other night as I was surfing the web, I decided to check out Youtube to find some Yoga inspiration and guidance in my Yoga practice, specifically with Crow Pose into Handstand. I found this clip of a fellow Yogini practicing this and after a couple of attempts I was able to do it! For two years I have been practicing this and seeking the answers to how to do it, but it's amazing how the answer doesn't arrive until we are fully ready to receive it. I had to first grow strong into One-Legged Crow Pose (and fall on my face a few times) before I was ready to practice this. So, I'm feeling very inspired as I realize, yet again, that what I was uncertain and unsure of being possible for myself, is possible with earnest practice and patience. Everytime I grow in my Yoga practice I realize my true potentil is unlimited. I have had many experiences, recently, where I've been reminded of this, besides my recent Yoga breakthrough.

About a month ago, I was reading an article in the October 2009 issue of Yoga Journal magazine called The Art of Staying Young. In the article, they interviewed Patricia Walden, who is 62 and has been a student of BKS Iyengar, one of the most beloved Yoga teachers on the planet, for 33 years. I first came to know of Patricia a couple of years ago when she was featured on the cover of Yoga Journal. On the cover, at the age of probably 60, she was doing full Kapotasana. (Pigeon Pose) This is the Yoga pose where you bend your knees and touch your feet to the back of your head in Upward Facing Dog. In that article, they were asking her how she was able to grow into that pose and suggested she must surely have been able to do it all her life. She replied that she had not always been able to do that pose. That, in fact, she had struggled with pain in her lower back, and that she had to go through a lot of discomfort to be able to grow and heal into that pose/place in her Yoga practice. She recited a quote from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali saying it was that guidance that inspired her to continue to practice. In The Yoga Sutras it says, practice with earnestness without interruption over a long period of time. So, she kept practicing and practicing and sure enough, she was able to grow into that pose.

In the most recent article I just read last month she was talking about overcoming the limiting tendencies of the mind. Here is an excerpt from the article:

"Sometimes I'll wake up stiff and wonder what my body will feel like if i start doing backbends. Then I begin practicing, and I forget that I'm 62. Twenty minutes into my practice, I feel younger. Inevitably, the power of yoga takes over and you feel ageless!

About 10 months ago, I went to my mat with the intention of doing a series of dropbacks from Tadasana (Mountain Pose). I thought, "Gosh, I'm over 60. I don't know if I'm up to it." Then I remembered Iyengar's 80th birthday. He did 108 dropbacks. His feet were planted; they didn't move. I realized it was my mind, and not my body, saying I couldn't do it. As we get older, we have to be careful of the tricks our minds can play on us. Sometimes your mind tells you to be careful for good reason, but sometimes it's telling you that your body can't do something that it can do.

I look at the films of the demos I made when I was in my 30s and 40s. I did a demo for my 50th and 60th birthdays. My poses are better, more integrated, than when I was younger. My flexibility and strength are more balanced, as are my effort and relaxation. I try never to take my body for granted. One of the things that comes with the aging process is that we feel such gratitude that yoga came into our lives and that our bodies still enjoy bending forward and backward.

I also enjoy more mental freedom now. My mind is much more expansive than it was in my 20s. I was judgmental and critical and narrow-minded. Things roll of my back now in ways they didn't when I was younger. I experience more contentment, and I don't have that obsessive thinking or cling to things like I used to. Asana, meditation, and pranayama are great, but the philosophy really pays off, and you start looking at things from a yogic point of view.

The Yamas and Niyamas (restraints and observances, the first and second of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga) are really in your cells. I don't think about whether I should tell the truth; there's no choice. And I allow other people in my life the freedom to be exactly as they want to be. Even though we know it isn't effective, we often try to talk people into doing what we think they should be doing. That's a prison. It takes times to plant new samskaras (patterns.) There is such freedom in letting people do what they want to do. You and they will be happier if they're doing what they want to do. Practicing Yoga is a way to free yourself from suffering.

When I was younger, I would think, "When X happens, I'll be happy." When, when, when. At a certain stage in practice, you see that you can't base your life on contingencies. Things change at any moment. Why not be happy now? Yoga has helped me go through really challenging times with grace and ease. You can say, "OK, things are hard right now, but everything changes." When everything is great and integrated, that will change, too. You savor good times and don't get as thrown with the changes. You just ride the wave. It's so much less stressful. -Patricia Walden

OK, well this is the whole article...but, it's amazing...I had to include all of it.

I also had another experience this past weekend which widened the horizons of my spirit. I went to Austin, Texas to cheer my friend on who participated in a 1/2 Ironman. (Swim 1.2Mi, Bike 56Mi, Run 13.1Mi.) I haven't ever watched a marathon before or attended any event like this. It was inspiring and amazing. There was a 74 year old man who completed the 1/2 triathlon! I witnessed many other inspiring individuals, including a woman who was significantly overwheight, but completed the entire event. Once again, it reminds us anything we put our mind to is possible. My friend will be competing in the full Ironman in Lake Placid next July and I hope to be there, again, to support her and cheer her on. She is such an inspiration to me, she just continues to raise the bar for herself again, and again, and again. This past weekend was humbling, enlightening and inspiring as I remembered I have everything I need within me to grow into stronger, healthier places in my Yoga practice and in myself.

This is what strengthening the core (3rd chakra) in Yoga is all about...activating our will and determination. Realizing what we can do and dissolving our limiting thoughts about what we think we can't do. I wrote quite a bit about this in the most recent edition of the True Yoga Newsletter, which I encourage you to sign up for if you do not currently receive it.

I will be back soon. I look forward to sharing with you a wonderful story from a monk, from the Self-Realization Fellowship, about the practice of prayer. In many ways, we could say the same thing about praying as practicing poses. Pray earnestly, over a long period of time, without interruption. So often, we don't see any immediate results in our prayers, and so we give up. Pray continuously, unceasingly and give thanks in advance.

Until then, check out Youtube for some Yoga inspiration. If there is a certain pose you are practicing and would like some guidance on, there is a good chance you can find the guidance you need, when you really look for it within yourself.

Just Breathe

2009-09-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

(Picture of Rod Stryker teaching)

OK, now I have another moment to update you. I'm in one of those places right now where it feels difficult to find a moment for myself. Life is very full, but I'm grateful for that fullness. Not to mention, I'm in the process of a move, which I mentioned in the last post, so my energy is not entirely settled being in between two places. I have moved a few things to my new space, but won't move everything for a couple more weeks. I think I'm actually doing surprisingly well with all of this, considering I've also been very busy. Everything in my life these days is about one moment at a time, the epitamy of going with the Flow. I'm participating in a 5 day Yoga training with Yogarupa Rod Stryker. Even though I had the vision of studying with him, I didn't officially decide to participate until today, the day it started. I was on the fence about it. But, now it makes perfect sense to me why this was the case...

I attended a different 5 day Yoga training with Rod last year, and it was one of the most powerful learning experiences I've had in Yoga. When I attended that training, it felt like everything was going against me being there. I remember last year at this time, there was a hurricane, in the Gulf of Mexico, moving towards Galveston and Houston. So that's what was happening in the atmosphere last year. Fortunately, this year there are no hurricanes approaching. But, yet again, the idea of attending this training felt overwhelming to me. Even though now that I'm attending it, I can't imagine not being there. I suppose it felt overwhelming because of all the other changes I'm going through right now, approaching the one year date of my father's passing, the ending of a relationship, moving, and keeping up with my regular teaching schedule while attending this training. Last year, I had people sub my Yoga classes while I was at the Yoga training with Rod, but this year, I decided I wanted to teach all of my classes this week...so I am. I'm just going with the flow with the training and attending whatever I can.

But, Rod talked about this very feeling of inertia at the training. He said along with any change we go through, there is always resistance that we are met with along the way. Shiva calls this resistance 'regressive energy.' So even with something like moving, the resistance is that we have all this stuff that we have to pack and move, etc. Anytime we realize there is a better alignment and we seek to grow into that alignment, sure enough, we are faced with some kind of tension. How true this is because this is what we experience in a Yoga pose, as we continously grow into a healthier and healthier connection to our breath, i.e. ourSelf (body, mind, breath) in the pose.

Rod talked about three elements connected to any change we are seeking in our life.

Shakti, which is our desire.
Karma, which for every desire, there is a certain amount of resistance we are met with.
Vayu, that which animates or moves us toward fulfilling our intention/desire.

Then, he offered this equation which is that our Shakti (desire) + Vayu (animating energy) must be > Karma (resistance). If our Shakti and Vayu are greater than the Karma we realize fulfillment or attainment of that which we are seeking. (He said if it's not...we are out of luck. Blunt, but true.) This doesn't mean we always instantaneously realize it, but in time, sure enough, we continue to align with that which we are seeking. He then talked about great saints, mentioning several names we are familiar with, such as Jesus, Gandhi, all of whom were met with great resistance in the realization of their intentions.

Anyhow, it's been a good first day. Interestingly, much of what Rod talked about is what I was talking about in Yoga class today. We are only one and a half weeks away from the Fall Equinox. Seasonal changes are greatly significant in Yoga because, as Yogis, we realize it is true that to everything there is a season. Much of our practice involves having the courage to turn, turn, turn, and allow the changes to happen that need to so we are able to find a healthier alignment with our Self, and Highest Self. Sometimes to find this healthier alignment we must have the courage to let go of what we've been holding onto, that we know is not healthy for us, ultimately. This can mean letting go of a food we eat, to a work situation, or relationships/friendships. Again, as Shiva would call it, letting go of 'regressive energy.' Powerful steps in clearing out regressive energy can be going through a physical cleanse, (which I'm doing this week eating only raw foods, fruits and veggies) cleaning out your closets or reorganizing/feng-shuing your home, cleaning out your file cabinets, etc. Yoga, of course, helps, too. It is the breath which is our greatest cleanser, not just on a mental/emotional level, but it is the most powerful way in which the body releases impurities, moreso than sweating, elimination, etc. Speaking of sweating, though, it's a great time to make it to a steam room as part of your cleansing process.

I highly recommend practicing some or all of these and you will be amazed at how the energy shifts and positively transforms within you and all around you. You will feel more energized and freer to invest your energy where it is needed to realize the positive changes you are seeking.

So, I mentioned I would share some of the events happening in the Dallas Yoga community. This weekend, the amazing Andrew Eppler, otherwise known as the Yogi Magician, will be here at the Dallas Yoga Center. I highly recommend attending a session with him if you can. I had the opportunity of practicing at his Yoga studio in Norman, Oklahoma, staying at his home and taking a private Yoga class with him and my friend Eric. My friend Eric introduced me to him after a couple of years of hearing about him from several Yogis here in Dallas. So, I'm very grateful to have finally met Andrew because of my friend Eric, a San Antonio Yogi, who practices at an awesome Yoga studio there, Yoga Shala.

Of course, you can also attend one of the morning Yoga practice sessions with Rod Stryker all throughout this week and Saturday. The morning sessions are everyday from 9 am - 12 pm and are $55/session. Rod is a true Yoga master, having been given the title Yogarupa by his teacher, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (PhD), who is spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute. The name Yogarupa means the "essence" or "embodiment" of Yoga. It's a blessing, and incredibly healing, just to be in his presence. Although I was up-in-the-air about attending the training, because of all that I'm growing through, I can't imagine not being there. Today is just the first day and I had a powerful emotional release, just from a slight adjustment Rod gave me in one of the poses. His healing spirit helped me to let go and the tears flowed.

And, there is one other Yoga workshop happening this weekend in Dallas with Julie Boyd, a former exhale dallas Yoga teacher, who recently relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. Julie has an amazing Yoga practice, and it is an inspiration to study and practice with her. Being around her will definitely bring greater inspiration, light and energy to your flow and you will feel uplifted. She is a true Yogini. You can find more info about the workshop through the link above.

Needless to say, the Yoga scene here in Dallas is happening. We've been ripening for many years and we are ready to heal from the flowing nectar of our efforts. The prana is positively powerful for those of us ready to receive it's Light and energy. I look forward to sharing many more events that will be happening in our community. Also, in a couple of weeks I will be sending out the Fall Edition of the True Yoga Newsletter. If you do not currently receive it, but would like to, you can sign up for it here. Have a blessed week, healing into a healthier place within you and all around you. As Yogi Bhajan says, 'thinking, thinking, don't think. Everything has been done, just relish in what is.' Another way of saying that is simply...let go and let God. Let go of thinking about what you need to do, and just let the changes happen as they will in their own Divine timing. Perhaps, you are not as in control as you think you are. What if you surrender your control and offer everything up to the transformation that needs to take place in a timing that is ingeniously and Divinely determined. I know it can feel hard to let go sometimes, especially when it involves our relationship to others. But, the reality is, we simply can not hold on or bring others along, no matter how much we may want to, at times. That doesn't mean we still can't love, but we must set everyone free to find his/her own way. The more we let go, the more we can all Flow. We must all find our own way, but one thing is for certain, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. May this prayer guide us as we grow into the cool, crisp and refreshing days of Fall.

Place your burden
at the feet of the Lord of the Universe
who accomplishes everything.
Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,
in the Transcendental Absolute.
God knows the past, present and future.
He will determine the future for you
and accomplish the work.
What is to be done will be done
at the proper time. Don’t worry.
Abide in the heart and surrender your acts
to the divine.
- Ramana Maharshi

Om shanti :)

Forward Fearlessly

2009-09-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well, hello, again. If you read the last post, I am still intending to update the True Yoga Blog with more information about the Yugas, but we'll let that come in time...I mean, really...what's the rush...we got a few thousand years, yet, in Dwapara Yuga. Jokes aside, I do plan to update it in the near future because it is fascinating information.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some of what's going on in my world and in the world of Yoga around me. First of all, I am moving and I am really happy about it. I've lived in a great place for about a year now, but I decided, since I am currently unattached, that I would enjoy living with a friend for a while. It's going to be awesome because there is a backyard and I'm looking forward to a lot of Yoga outside. The body can open with such greater ease when we practice Yoga outside. It's amazing what being immersed in the elements does for us on every level, especially energetically. It's no wonder why kids are so full of life because they are in constant connection with the energizing elements of Mother Nature. I'm looking forward to developing and working on many projects while I spend this time with my friend. I am going to be developing Yoga podcasts which I look forward to being able to share with you so you can practice Yoga with me wherever you are in the world. This has been a longtime vision of mine and I am happy it will finally be coming into fruition.

I am experiencing greater Light and positive energy in my Yoga practice than I have ever felt before in my entire 8 years of practicing Yoga. It's awesome feeling this unlimited potential within myself to grow in ways, I only dreamed could be possible. It truly is amazing when we realize everything we could ever need is inside of us. It's not that life doesn't continue to present us with challenges so we can grow, but, those challenges do not have to be struggles. We can see them for what they are and rise to the opportunity, rather than become discouraged. God knows I have grown through many challenging places in the last 8 years of my Yoga practice, and many times, I have felt discouraged. But, I am so much better and grateful for having had to grow through those places. I wouldn't trade it for the world. The perspective we realize through our life experience is one of our greatest powers. I have gone through losing everything and if I had never gone through that, I would not have ever realized that, ultimately, there is nothing to lose. If we have our health, we have the greatest blessing of life. This is why the practice of Yoga is so important for well-being. The Yoga Asanas are intended to keep us in optimal health so we experience the enriching journey of our spiritual experience and evolution. One of my favorite quotes from the SRF Convocation I attended this past August is a quote that comes from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.

"Every saint who has penetrated the core of reality has found there is a Benevolent plan unfolding in all things." - Paramahansa Yogananda

What a fantastic realization. This dissolves any tendency we might have to resist the challenging or uncomfortable experiences life brings us. Instead, we can celebrate them as opportunities for ripening and growth into the realization of this plan.

Interestingly, on the way out to the SRF Convocation I read an awesome book called The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron. I highly recommend this book...it has helped me out in many ways since reading it just a month ago. One of the most powerful teachings I received from it is the teaching of bodhichitta. As I open this book up to share some excerpts from it I'm realizing, as a friend of mine said, that I'm going to want to read it again, and again, and again. Like how about this:

Confess your hidden faults.
Approach what you find repulsive.
Help those you think you cannot help.
Anything you are attached to, let it go.
Go to places that scare you.-Advice from her teacher to the Tibeta Yogini Machik Labdron

This following excerpt is from the first chapter entitled:

The Excellence of Bodhichitta

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.-Antoine De Saint-Exupery

When I was about six years old I received the essential bodhichitta teaching from an old woman sitting in the sun. I was walking by her house one day feeling lonely, unloved, and mad, kicking anything I could find. Laughing, she said to me, "Little girl, don't you go letting life harden your heart."

Right there, I received this pith instruction: we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice.

If we were to ask the Buddha, "What is bodichitta?" he might tell us that this word is easier to understand than to translate. He might encourage us to seek out ways to find its meaning in our own lives. He might tantalize us by adding that it is only bodhichitta that heals, that bodhichitta is capable of transforming the hardest of hearts and the most prejudiced and fearful of minds.

Chitta means "mind" and also "heart" or "attitude." Bodhi means "awake," "enlightened," or "completely open." Sometimes the completely open heart and mind of bodhichitta is called the soft spot, a place as vulnerable and tender as an open wound. It is equated, in part, with our ability to love. Even the cruelest people have this soft spot. Even the most vicious animals love their offspring. As Trungpa Rinpoche put it, "Everybody loves something, even if it's only tortillas." (certainly a lot of tortilla lovers in Texas ;) )

Bodhichitta is also equated, in part, with compassion-our ability to feel the pain that we share with others. Without realizing it we continually shield ourselves from this pain because it scares us. We put up protective walls made of opinions, prejudices, and strategies, barriers that are built on a deep fear of being hurt. These walls are further fortified by emotions of all kinds: anger, craving, indifference, jealousy and envy, arrogance and pride. But fortunately for us, the soft spot-our innate ability to love and to care about things-is like a crack in these walls we erect. It's a natural opening in the barriers we create when we're afraid. With practice we can learn to find this opening. We can learn to seize that vulnerable moment-love, gratitude, loneliness, embarassment, inadequacy-to awaken bodhichitta.

One of the other powerful teachings I received from the book is the practice of Tonglen.

Tonglen, or exchanging oneself for others, is another bodhichitta practice for activating loving-kindness and compassion. In Tibetan the word tonglen literally means "sending and taking." It refers to being willing to take in the pain and suffering of ourselves and others and to send out happiness to us all.

Although there are many ways that we can approach tonglen, the essence of the practice is always the same. We breathe in what is painful and unwanted with the sincere wish that we and others could be free of suffering. As we do so, we drop the story line that goes along with the pain and feel the underlying energy. We completely open our hearts and minds to whatever arises. Exhaling, we send out relief from the pain with the intention that we and others be happy.

When we are willing to stay even for a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it. Then when we see someone in distress we're not reluctant to breathe in the person's suffering and send out relief.

The formal practice of tonglen has four stages. The first stage is a brief moment of stillness or openness-a moment of unconditional bodhichitta. The second stage is visualizing and working with the texture, the raw energy, of claustrophobia and spaciousness. The third stage is the essence of the practice: breathing in whatever is unwanted and breathing out a sense of relief. In the fourth stage we extend our compassion further by including others who are experiencing the same feelings. If we want, we can combine the third stage and the fourth stage, breathing in and out for self and other at the same time.

So the first stage of tonglen is a moment of open mind, or unconditional bodhichitta. Although this stage is crucial, it is difficult to describe. It related to the Buddhist teaching of shunyata-often translated to "emptiness" or "openness." Experiencing shunyata at an emotional level, we might feel as if we were big enough to accomodate everything, that there's no place for things to get stuck. If we relax our mind and stop struggling, emotions can move through us without becoming solid and proliferating.

Fundamentally, experiencing openness is having trust in the living quality of basic energy. We develop the confidence to allow it to arise, to linger, and then to pass on. This energy is dynamic, ungraspable, always in a state of flux. So our training is, first of all, noticing how we block the energy or freeze it, how we tense up our bodies and minds. Then we train in softening, relaxing, and opening to the energy without interpretations or judgements.

The first flash of openness reminds us that we can always let go of our fixed ideas and connect with something open, fresh, and unbiased. Then, during the following stages, when we begin to breathe in the energy of claustrophobia and unwanted feelings, we breathe them into that huge space, as vast as the clear blue day. Then we send out whatever we can to help all of us experience the freedom of an open, flexible mind. The longer we practice, the more accessible this unconditional space will be. Sooner or later we are going to realize that we are already awake.

In the second stage of tonglen we begin to breathe in the qualities of claustrophobia: thick, heavy, and hot. We might visualize the claustrophobia as coal dust or as yellow-brown smog. Then we breathe out the qualities of spaciousness: fresh, light, and cool. We might visualize this as brilliant moonlight, as sparkling sun on water, as the colors of the rainbow.

However we visualize these textures, we imagine breathing them in and out through all the pores of our body, not only through our mouth and nose. We do this until it feels synchronized with our breath and we are clear about what we are taking in and what we're sending out. It's fine to breathe a little more deeply than usual, but it's important to give the inbreath and the outbreath equal time.

In stage three, we start doing the exchange for a specific person. We breathe in this person's pain and we send out relief. Traditionally, the instruction is to begin doing tonglen for the ones who spontaneously spark our compassion, such as those we put on our list. As we breathe in we visualize our hearts opening wide to accept the pain. As we breathe out we send that bravery and openness. We don't cling to it, thinking, "Finally I have a little relief in my life; I want to keep it forever!" Instead, we share it. When we practice like this, breathing in becomes opening and accepting what is unwanted; breathing out becomes letting go and opening even further. Breathing in or breathing out, we are reversing ancient habits of closing to pain and clinging to anything comforting.

Some AIDS hospices encourage patients to do tonglen for others who have AIDS. This connects them in a very real way with everyone in their situation and helps to relieve their shame, fear, and isolation. Hospice workers do tonglen to create an atmosphere of clarity so that the people around them can find their courage and inspiration and be free of fear.

When we are practicing tonglen for a specific individual, we always include the fourth stage, which is extending the compassion to everyone in the same predicament. For example, if we are doing tonglen for our sister who has lost her husband, we can breathe in the suffering of other people who are grieving for lost loved ones and send them all relief.

I recommend using tonglen as an on-the-spot practice. Doing tonglen throughout our day can feel more natural than doing it on the cushion. For one thing, there is never any lack of subject matter. When a strong unwanted feeling arises or we see someone hurting, there is nothing theoretical about what we'll use to practice. Right there when it's very real and immediate we breathe in and out with the pain. Daily-life practice is never abstract. As soon as uncomfortable emotions come up, we train ourselves in breathing them in and dropping the story line. At the same time, we extend our thoughts and concern to other people who feel the same discomfort, and we breathe in with the wish that all of us could be free of this particular brand of confusion. Then, as we breathe out, we send ourselves and others whatever kind of relief we think would help.

It is also helpful to notice anything in our daily life that brings us happiness. As soon as we become aware of it, we can think of sharing it with others, further cultivating the tonglen attitude.

As warrior-bodhisattvas, the more we train in cultivating this attitude, the more we uncover our capacity for joy and equanimity. Because of our bravery and willingness to work with the practice, we are more able to experience the basic goodness of ourselves and others. We are more able to appreciate the potential of all kinds of people: those we find pleasant, those we find unpleasant, and those we don't even know. Thus tonglen begins to ventilate our prejudices and introduce us to a more tender and open-minded world."-Pema Chodron

I wanted to get this post out there...I started it the other day but didn't get to finish it as things have been busy. This information has helped me a great deal...I hope it will help you, too. It has helped me not only in my Yoga practice, but in my daily life. When I feel tension, I remember to observe it, instead of reacting to it. As I observe it, I am able to breathe into it, feel it, accept what is there and whatever it is I feel and then let it go, breathing it out for the release from my body and everybody I'm connected to, that we all experience healing both individually and collectively. Ultimately, I know I am only responsible for my own healing, however, it is a powerful practice to breathe with that loving intention in the breath. Instead of reacting against what's happening in our life, or feeling tension about something, we can instead open into our experience through our breath, accepting what we feel to be able to let it go and awaken that healing within us and, possibly, all around us.

Moon Cycles and World Cycles

2009-08-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

(Hey cool...a pic of the Big D)
I hope everyone is well. While my spirits are good, my energy feels a little low today and I know why...tomorrow is a new moon. More recently, I've been observing the lunar cycles in my Yoga practice, opting to not engage in a physical practice during full and new moons. This is an Ashtanga Yoga tradition and I'm realizing this teaching is very wise. Typically, Ashtanga Yogis do not practice during these phases of the moon, and the passage below explains why. The following information comes from the Ashtanga Yoga Center website. It also has a list of what days the full and new moons will be for the rest of the year. I highly recommend being attuned to the lunar cycles as this will help you greatly to understand what you are feeling energetically. Renowned Yogini, Shiva Rea, schedules all of her Yoga teacher trainings and workshops according to the lunar cycle and I can now see why. In fact, at the exhale spa studio in Venice, CA, there is a large lunar cycle chart on the wall outside the entrance to the Yoga studio room. It's important to be attuned to the lunar cycles so you can better take care of yourself and understand your body's rhythms.

Like all things of a watery nature (human beings are about 70% water), we are affected by the phases of the moon. The phases of the moon are determined by the moon’s relative position to the sun. Full moons occur when they are in opposition and new moons when they are in conjunction. Both sun and moon exert a gravitational pull on the earth. Their relative positions create different energetic experiences that can be compared to the breath cycle. The full moon energy corresponds to the end of inhalation when the force of prana is greatest. This is an expansive, upward moving force that makes us feel energetic and emotional, but not well grounded. The Upanishads state that the main prana lives in the head. During the full moon we tend to be more headstrong.

The new moon energy corresponds to the end of exhalation when the force of apana is greatest. Apana is a contracting, downward moving force that makes us feel calm and grounded, but dense and disinclined towards physical exertion.

The Farmers Almanac recommends planting seeds at the new moon when the rooting force is strongest and transplanting at the full moon when the flowering force is strongest.

Practicing Yoga over time makes us more attuned to natural cycles. Observing moon days is one way to recognize and honor the rhythms of nature so we can live in greater harmony with it.

Something else we learned about while I was in L.A. at the SRF Convocation are the Yugas. Although I've had some understanding of the Yugas in Yoga, it helped to hear one of the monks talk about it. Apparently, we are 300 years into the ascending age of Dwapara Yuga. I'd like to post a passage from a book called A World in Transition: Finding Spiritual Security in Times of Change by Paramahansa Yogananda with writings also by Sri Daya Mata, Tara Mata, Mrinalini Mata, and Brother Anandamoy. This wil help us all to better understand the Yugas, or World Cycles. This passage is written by Brother Achalananda.

The Yugas, or World Cycles

In The Holy Science, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramhansa Yogananda's guru, explains that human civilization follows a definite cycle of evolution and devolution, upward and downward through four ages or yugas. In the scriptures of India these four ages are called Kali Yuga (which lasts for 1,200 years), Dwapara Yuga (2,400 years), Treta Yuga (3,600 years), and Satya Yuga (4,800 years). These correspond to the less specific Greek concepts of Iron Age, Bronze Age, Silver Age, and Golden Age. Many illustrations from history could be given to show the workings of these ascending and descending cycles, which consist of 12,000 years of upward evolution of civilization followed by 12,000 years of gradual degeneration.

With the rise and fall of these cycles, man's ability to grasp the true nature of creation and of himself increases and decreases correspondingly. In Kali Yuga, when man in general is completely blinded by maya (cosmic delusion), he cannot conceive of anything subtler than the physical attributes of the world around him - solids, liquids, gases. During this period man is totally absorbed in the problems of material existence - food, shelter, fuel for warmth, the other basic necessities for physical survival. As the cycle ascends to Dwapara Yuga, his consciousness becomes refined to the point where he can go beyond gross outer forms and comprehend the subtler forces-the atomic and electromagnetic structure of creation. In Treta Yuga he advances further, and gains knowledge and power of the attributes of universal magnetism, the underlying source of all electrical forces. And in the highest age, Satya Yuga, his consciousness is attuned to the presence of God-the creative power emanating from the Divine, which sustains the universe through vibration. In the descending half of the cycle, this process is reversed. A more complete discussion of the yugas may be found in The Holy Science, by Swami Sri Yukteswar (published by Self-Realization Fellowship).

The following passage was written by Paramahansa Yogananda himself.

I will explain briefly about the life cycles of the earth. These cycles consist of 24,000 years, divided into four yugas or ages-12,000 years of ascending through these yugas to increasing enlightenment, and then 12,000 years of descending through the yugas to increasing ignorance and materialism. Each of the half-cycles is called a Daiva Yuga. The earth has already passed through many complete cycles since the dawn of creation. The four ages of each Daiva Yuga are Kali Yuga, the dark or materialistic age; Dwapara Yuga, the electrical or atomic age; Treta Yuga, the mental age; and Satya Yuga, the age of truth or enlightenment.

Dwapara Yuga, The Present Cycle

The earth has already passed through Kali Yuga, the materialistic age of 1,200 years' duration. According to the calculations of my guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, we are about 240 (now 300-this writing is from the 1930s) years into Dwapara Yuga. Now
in its ascendancy, this is the electrical age, even though it may yet seem very materialistic. If you think about it, you will see how man has progressed from comprehending only gross matter to understanding and harnessing the energy in matter. In this age, man will make great headway in the electrical or electromagnetic field.

As Dwapara Yuga progresses, diseases will be treated and healed more and more by rays. Vibratory energy can reach the electronic factors of the atoms, the building blocks of matter, where gross chemicals cannot penetrate. After this war, you will see a great surge of devlopment in electrical science. Aviation will develop tremendously also. Travel will be much, much more by air. Planes are still viewed with doubt by many today, just as trains were once looked upon with fear; but planes are already taking over, and trains have become almost a thing of the past. Gradually, automobiles will come to be considered as carts.

The trouble in the second age is that there is not enough security, because science plays the part of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Man uses science not only to create and do good, but to destroy as well. Therefore scientific development is not yet safe. The present World War shows how technology of science is being used to destroy mankind. Out of conflict we will learn how to employ more scientific devices for human comfort. But unless we develop spiritual forces, we will also continue to use scientific knowledge to destroy.

People will learn from this war the devestating consequences of the misuse of technology. In the First World War, and in earlier times, it was considered chivalrous to fight. But the idea of chivalry has gone. In this war, no one wants to fight. After it is over, there will be so much fear of world devestation that if anybody tries to start a war, the rest of the world will fall upon that nation. I am telling you things far ahead of my time...

Man's destructive potential has grown much greater than his constructive power. There will be no safety in the electrical age. Methods of war on a greater and greater scale will come. So thank God that Dwapara Yuga, the electrical age, is only 2,400 years.

Here is one more passage written by Paramahansa Yogananda. I will post more information on the ages to come of Treta and Satya in the next couple of days. This is fascinating information, but I want to give you some time to soak it in. Here is the last article, entitled:

How Our World Will Change
From a magazine article published in April 1942, in which Yogananda made the following predictions about how the world will change as it moves into the new era:

America and India, situated on opposite sides of the earth, will represent the two highest types of ideal material civilization and ideal spiritual civilization. They will influence the whole world with their combined civilization. The material efficiency of America combined with the spiritual efficiency of India will lead the world to a balanced existence.

Science and religion will join hands to prevent the misuse of science in wars and to free religion from superstition, thus giving all the world a securer civilization.

Experimental psychology will investigate religious methods and yoga techniques for human perfection and God-contact.

No matter what happens, the world will become better and better until the United States of India, Asia, of Europe and of the Americas are achieved and become ready to amalgamate into the United States of the World.

The United States of the World will not come in a day nor in our lifetime, but a great deal of groundwork will be prepared in this twentieth century.

Yogananda also says to 'rise above the age in which you are born.'

"You do not have to wait for the end of the world in order to be free. There is another way: rise above the age in which you are born. In the material age, the majority of mankind is materially minded. But you will also find those who are living ahead of their times, Christlike souls. In the mental and electrical ages, you will find predominant the mentalities characteristic of those yugas. At the same time, there are other mentalities-some that are more highly evolved, and others not yet as highly evolved. Thus in the electrical age you can find people who are still living in the stone age. There is always a balance: some who are living ahead and some who are living behind the age of the civilization in which they are born.

Through repeated incarnations, those of lesser development will gradually advance until they express the mentality of the age in which they reincarnate, and eventually, the qualities characteristic of the higher ages yet to come. The cycles of this world are like a see-saw going up and down. But when we hasten our evolution through right living and a spiritual technique such as Kriya Yoga, we can find freedom in God within this or only a few lifetimes.

Another way in which we experience the end of the world is in the detachment that is felt in sleep, in dreams, in losing one's mind, and in death. These conditions are forced on us; so it seems that the experience of the end of the world is necessary to us. Its purpose is to teach us the delusive nature of the world and the true nature of our Self, the soul. The soul comes on earth and becomes entangled in the mesh of delusion. Through the suffering that comes to us then, the Lord wants us to see that the world is not perfect. In this way He helps us to break our attachment to it. God is trying to make us realize, through nonidentification with it, how delusive our existence here is. The more I saw of the world and its defects, the greater became my determination to know God.

I hope this helps to shed some Light on the spiritual evolution of our souls and planet. It's fascinating to consider all of this. The most important thing is to keep practicing Yoga, and when I say Yoga, I don't mean just the poses, ultimately, Yoga is meditation. So, keep allowing your Yoga practice of meditation to grow deeper and deeper. The most important thing we can cultivate is a desire to know God and this is a desire no one can give us, it is one we must find within ourself. But, I do believe the more we realize the delusive nature of the world, just as Yogananda says, the stronger we grow in that desire.

Blessings with each breath we breathe and may we share this Light, these blessings with all of those we know. Joy, joy, joy, joy ever-new joy, joy. Om shanti~namaste :)

Spiritualization

2009-08-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

(Picture from lawn at the SRF Mother Center in L.A. overlooking the downtown skyline. We meditated and chanted on those grounds sitting above the City of Angels.)

My experience at the Self-Realization Fellowship Convocation in Los Angeles this past week was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

I had no idea what to expect, other than knowing I would be participating in a week-long event of spiritual talks, daily meditations, devotional chanting and fellowship with 4,000 fellow Truth seekers. I am almost speechless in communicating my experience, as there doesn't seem to be any words to effectively describe how incredible it was...

What I can say, is I left Dallas last Saturday with a tremendous amount of tension and pain, not only in my body (in my neck and shoulders) but also in my heart and mind, healing from the loss of my father 9 months ago, and many other changes, as well. I have felt the healing from this powerful week and I am deeply humbled and grateful for the amazing energy I received from the blessings of Sangha (spiritual friendship) and Spirit. Paramahansa Yogananda truly is a Master, a Guru, and those who seek attunement with him and God, have the gift of healing others just by being in their Presence. And being in their Presence is incredible and uplifting as they are some of the most Divinely beautiful people I have ever seen...they radiate Joy, Light and Peace. There were 4,000 of us meditating and chanting together twice a day, one hour in the morning, and one hour in the evening. Everyday we participated in a healing ceremony, asking for and praying for healing for the bodies, minds and hearts of everyone we know, and praying for healing and peace on our planet. I have never meditated with 4,000 people. I hope everyone of you has the opportunity to experience this at some point in your life. In fact, I hope you have the opportunity to attend an SRF Convocation, I can assure you it will be one of the most powerful and positive experiences of your life. And, the Convocation itself is very affordable. But, a prerequisite to being able to attend is the study of the SRF Meditation Lessons, which can be ordered and sent to you via mail. They are incredible and I've been studying them for two years. The meditation lessons teach you the most effective meditation techniques on the planet, which are the techniques for Kriya Yoga, which include the Energization Exercises, the Hong-Sau technique and the Aum technique. This may not make sense to you but if you study the lessons it will. The lessons do, by the way, take a couple of years to complete. The sooner you begin, the better. I first learned these techniques about a year ago, but haven't been practicing them regularly yet. I am now committed to practicing them consistenly, as this is also a prerequisite to receiving Kriya Yoga. Yogananda suggests practicing the Energization exercises twice daily, in the morning and evening, although a beginner would benefit greatly from a consistent once-daily practice of the exercises. I've been wanting to learn them more thoroughly, and because I am a visual learner, I found this DVD of them online. Apparently, Yogananda never missed a day of doing the exercises, or meditating for that matter. There's a story they tell where they say one of the nuns saw Yogananda doing his exercises out on the lawn in the afternoon. A half hour later they saw him doing them again and they asked him why he was doing them twice. He replied saying he had missed his morning routine, so he did the first set to make up for the morning and the second set was his evening routine. They also say he did them, even on the day he died, which that story is remarkable in and of itself. This website give you a little insight into the miraculous days that followed his death, with no visible signs of decay in his body, even 20 days after he had passed away. But, there is also a story of his last few hours and the speech he gave at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, which I hope you will get to visit yourself and hear one day, as well. I also learned that George Harrison was a devotee of Parmahansa Yogananda. In one of my Yoga classes before attending Convocation, I mentioned that the Beatles had studied Yoga in India, but I didn't realize George Harrison was a devotee of Yogananda himself. That's awesome, what a blessing to be attuned to the same Guru as George Harrison...Hare Krishna, Hare Om. Shanti, shanti, shanti. Jai Guru. (I learned Jai Guru means victory to the Guru...Jai Guru!)

So, what else, besides feeling this tremendously positive healing from this amazing and life-changing, strengthening and enhancing experience. (Which I believe we are all feeling the blessing of in our own way, not only because 4,000 people were collectively praying for and meditating for each of us, but because we are all interconnected and as each one of us aligns with the Divine, and realizes that Divine and Higher attunement with Truth/God/Guru, it flows outwardly to each and everyone around us. That's how important our own transformation is. As Gandhi said, we really must be the change we wish to see in the world, and the true practice, although we are not expected to be perfect, but the true practice is to keep being it, i.e. devoting ourselves to meditation, Higher Consciousness, and to find that better alignment when we realize we have become deluded by the trappings of worldy desires, once again, forgetting our connection to the One who ignites all things into Being, whatever we consider this One to be. The reality is, this Source exists. The great mystic Kabir said...Student tell me what is God? He is the breath inside the breath. This is why Patanjali, the Father of Yoga, said we don't have to believe in God, but we must honor the breath, become conscious of the breath, for in the breath is the very essence of Consciousness itself. We must surrender our Will to the attunement/alignment with that Higher Consciousness, and to being guided by it each breath of the way. And, we must learn to truly love and honor that Consciousness in each other, meaning we sincerely and completely wish the best, the Absolute Highest, for each and everyone. And, it is the Consciousness/Truth that will set us free, in our ever-deepening devotion to it. Will we succumb to our lower nature at times? The monks say even the most devoted of Yogis will, but each we time we experience pain from our worldly experiences we remember that the ultimate Joy and fulfillment can only be found in our devotion to the One who ignited us into Being. Not even the best relationship in the world with another human being can be a substitute for that relationship with Supreme Consciousness..) I look forwrad to sharing more of the wisdom and inspiration I received from this blessed experience as we journey along.

Something I want to share with you is this ecstatic dance happening next weekend in Dallas on Sunday from 9-12 pm. I will be attending this event and hope you will, too. It's a 5Rhythms Moving Meditation, which is what ecstatic dance actually is, (moving meditation) and it's going to be amazing. I can't think of a better time to let go and flow with everything we've been letting go of and releasing in our body, heart and mind. Here's a little description about the experience, you can learn more here. I hope to see you there!

Grounded in our feet and with an open heart, we release our head to free our mind and step into the deep intuitive field of the rhythm of Chaos.

In Chaos we empty out into creativity and possibility. As we release control, we let go of contraries and begin dissolving all opposites. In Chaos we surrender fully to the dance deconstructing ourselves and all our movements until we are liberated and recreated once again. Chaos is the realm of nature and the intuitive mind. We dive below the surface of the dance, letting go of thinking, agendas, and plans so we can meet our real impulses and our spontaneous poetic intelligence; freeing them to move through our bodies and hearts and then into our creative projects, our relationships, and our artful, original lives.

"The teaching of chaos is to constantly seek the opposite and accept the contradictions.

When you're feeling joy, tune into your sorrow.
When you're feeling writer's block, keep your hand moving on the page.
When you're feeling rushed, move more slowly.
When you're paralyzed with fear, crank up the volume and DANCE." -Gabrielle Roth

"To let myself go
To let myself flow
Is the only way of Being.

There's no use telling me
There's no use taking a step back
A step back from me."

-To Let Myself Go, Ane Brun

Oh, and also, the new Prana Flow Yoga Class I am teaching at Karmany Yoga will begin this Saturday, August 15th. The class will be every Saturday from 9 - 1015 am. I am REALLY looking forward to this Yoga class and practice together. It's going to be awesome to be able expand into new horizons in our Yoga practice and lives and to feel the blessing of community strengthening us with each breath we breathe along the way. Namaste!

If God Wills

2009-07-29T12:33:00.001-07:00

(Picture of Chock Petchprom on left...Paramahansa Yogananda on right...two amazing teachers.)

Namaste~

A few awesome updates to share with you. First of all, the Thai Yoga Bodywork sessions with Chock and Rocie Petchprom were outstanding. They are such beautiful souls and it's amazing to experience the love and energy they bring to their work. It's incredible because I have been wishing for quite some time, several years in fact, to be able to travel to Thailand to expand my knowledge of Thai Massage. I have been practicing Thai Yoga Bodywork/Massage since 2002. I learned with a highly-skilled RMT here in Dallas, Raymond Core, who has spent a considerable amount of time learning Thai Massage in Thailand and practicing it here in Dallas. I am grateful to have had the experience to learn from him. I've also received some really wonderful and healing Thai Massage from Matt Chapman with Sacred Art Thai. He, too, is a devoted practitioner who travels to Thailand to continuously deepen his studies. I have been blessed to have met both of those individuals. But, my meeting with Chock Petchprom has been incredibly special and unique as it has been a true answer to my prayers. Not to mention, his spirit reminds me so much of my father. I've been praying to find a true teacher of the sacred art of Thai Massage. I thought my prayers would lead me to Thailand, but it turns out, my prayers have brought Thailand to me. What a blessing! I'm looking for a link where you can learn more about Chock because his accomplishments are incredible. When I find it, I will post it. At the age of 71, he has more energy than most 20 year olds. (he still runs 5 days a week!) Just being in his presence is soothing, energizing and healing. When I am around him, it's that feeling of knowing I am ok, that there is a Spirit that loves me and is guiding me through every moment of my life. It is the Spirit of my Father, who although is no longer with me in physical form, in his Heavenly form he is with me all the time and I know that now. I have witnessed many incredible moments since his passing last November. I know the people who have come into my life have been sent from the grace of His Spirit, that there are no coincidences and that I am blessed. Chock and Rocie will be returning on a monthly basis to Dallas, with their first return trip scheduled for 8/28-8/31. They will be available if you would like to schedule an individual session with them. I can hardly believe they were able to treat 15 people in the three days they were here last weekend. It's extraordinary to hear about his stories of healing with the many thousands of people he has worked with over time. He has helped people with diabetes, asthma, migraines, knee injuries, pms, carpel tunnel and many other conditions. Here are just a few lines from the article that was written about him in Oklahoma City, OK, entitled, The 'Miracle Man' In our Midst...

"The chances of meeting a person who served as a Thai Temple Boy in Wat Pho would be remarkable-especially to meet him in the United States. At the age of 10, Petchprom was selected by the Head Monk to live as a temple boy and learn the teachings of traditional Thai Massage, herbal remedies and meditation."

After graduating from high school, he went on to earn a bachelor's degree in science from Thammasat University in Thailand. He went to work for Scandinavian Airlines Systems and ended up in New York, and then later moved to Miami to study English.

"He then applied to the University of Dallas to pursue a double master's degree; one in Business Management, the other in Quality Control. Impressively, he was the first person to achieve a double master's degree from the University of Dallas, and the first in the nation to graduate from a Quality Control degree program. He took a position as a Process Control Engineer over the next six years with Texas Instruments in Plano, TX. He then continued his education a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. His resume is impressive by all standards, having worked in positions such as programmer, systems analyst, computer scientist, and database expert for companies like NASA, Oracle Corporation, Exxon Chemical Corp., and Kerr-McGee Corporation over the next 31 years.

In 2002, Chock retired and while at Barnes and Noble one day, he came across a Massage Therapy magazine on Thai Massage and Reflexology. "The information in it was information that I knew, and was trained in since my childhood in Thailand as a temple boy." He discussed the book with his wife, Rocie, who told him, "You have this knowledge and experience. Get certified to prove your training and help people who need this healing. To do this will be better than playing golf." With this mentality, and an enormous amount of self-motivation, he's traveled the globe seeking knowledge related to his youth as a Thai Temple Boy, and about how to heal others through massage."

There's so much more to Chock's story...this is just a glimpse. Needless to say, his knowledge and expertise on the healing techniques of Thai Massage is vast. He will also be offering a 30 hour Thai Yoga Bodywork Level 1 class while he is here that weekend on that Saturday and Sunday and the following Saturday and Sunday, as well. I will be taking part in this training to deepen my knowledge and experience. If you are interested in participating or learning more, please feel free to e-mail me at info@trueyogainc.com. I'm looking forward to this incredible experience to learn from one of the best practitioners of Thai Yoga Bodywork in the world.

So, what else? Well, I will be offering a new Prana Flow Yoga Class at Karmany Yoga Studio beginning 8/15. The Yoga class will be every Saturday from 9-1015 am. This will be an awesome opportunity to deepen your Yoga practice, not only through the Asanas, but through the practice of Pranayama and Meditation. We will also be learning some really incredible chants. After class is a great time to connect with our incredible community of Yogis, and I look forward to Saturday morning brunches, lunches, tea, or whatever the Spirit moves us to do...who knows! Maybe some Saturdays a drive out to the country or hiking with one another...the possibilites are endless! This is a description of the class:

Prana Flow Yoga with Leanne is an uplifting, inspiring and energizing Yoga practice designed to strengthen and heal the body, mind and spirit. Through the postures and the powerful alignment with breath, you will realize the potential to free your body of tension and to open and strengthen yourself in amazing ways. Classes are designed to therapeutically align you into the poses, so you can access places of peak awakening physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, honoring your body through the movements. We also will explore the Yoga practices of pranayama and meditation to positively grow into new places in your practice and Self. Letting the Eternal Teacher in the heart be the guide, we surrender our efforts to align our hearts with the highest Good with each breath we breathe. Om Namah Shivaya Gurave~I honor the Goodness within the heart, the eternal teacher. I look forward to seeing you in class! Om shanti.

This Friday will be the grand opening of the new lululemon store at Northpark Mall in Dallas. As an Ambassador for lululemon, I will be doing a one hour Yoga demo from 5 - 6 pm. I would love to see you if you can make it out to watch. I'm looking forward to being a part of this celebration as our Yoga community continues to grow in so many ways!

Then, the next day I'll be heading out to sunny L.A. for the week-long SRF Convocation. I'm sure I will have much to share when I return, but this, too, is a dream come true. I can't imagine a better time to receive such incredible insight and inspiration from the blessed monks, brahmacharyas, and spiritual leaders of SRF. I highly encourage you to begin a home study of the SRF Meditation Lessons...I've been studying them for two years. As Yogananda would say...everything else can wait, but your search for God cannot wait. Jai Guru! Blessed teacher, blessed guru, Yogananda. Thank you...

I think that will wrap it up for now. I'd like to leave you with a Rumi poem. One that has been particularly powerful for me this week. I stumbled upon it on Monday.

Some people work and become wealthy.
Others do the same and remain poor.

Marriage fills one with energy.
Another it drains.

Don't trust ways. They change.
A mean flails about like a donkey's tail.

Always add the gratitude clause
to any sentence, if God wills,
then go.

You may be leading a donkey, no,
a goat, no, who can tell?

We sit in a dark pit and think we're home.
We pass around delicacies.
Poisoned bait.

You think this is preachy doubletalk?

Those who do not breathe the God willing phrase
live in a collective blindness.

Rubbing their eyes, they ask the dark,
"Who's there?"