“We will make love an art and we will love like artists.” – Marianne Williamson

Hi   I’m glad I have a few minutes to write on the True Yoga Blog.  So many good things are happening and I love being able to share with you.  It’s amazing to feel all of the positive support from those of you I know and, also, those of you I don’t know or have yet to meet.

First of all, did you see that THE amazing Yogini goddess, Sharon Gannon, commented on the True Yoga Blog in the last post?  I’m so appreciative of and humbled by this gesture.  Thank you for your comment, Sharon, the Divinely inspired and sacred music you have created, and, for the blessings you offered.  Infinite blessings to you, all of us, and our planet, and the spiritually sacred work you are bringing into our world.  It’s amazing to feel connected to you and to feel your support, also.  I look forward to our paths crossing again, in person, in the not so distant future.  In the meantime, I’m grateful for the powerful energy and connection you have shared with all of us through your music, and also, your support of the True Yoga Blog and community.  We are all one…OM. 

So…what’s the good news?  Well…there’s a good chance I will be writing a book.  Yea!  I was contacted by a reputable publishing company last week and we are in the process of finalizing the publishing contract.  The book I’ll be writing is about cleansing, but, it’ll be about more than just that.  (If you want to know more, you’ll have to buy the book. )  I can’t believe I actually get to say that!  lol  For real, though, that’s really awesome.  It will be approximately 50,000 words, which is substantial but also feels manageable…which is good…since this is my first book.  The book will be published by Spring 2011.  What an amazing blessing.  How phenomenol that, just a week ago, I wrote on the True Yoga Blog that I’d like to write a book one day.  Well, it looks like that one day has arrived sooner rather than later.  I am incredibly grateful, humbled, thrilled and inspired with the potential of this vision and intention being realized.  Thanks be to God and guru.  Jai guru. 

A couple of weeks ago, when I was running, (I’ll talk more about running in another post and what the International Yoga Champions had to say about that…nothing bad…just that they felt like they could no longer do it anymore because it was too damaging for their body with where they had grown to in their Yoga practice.  I just attended a Yoga class with the International Yoga Champions, Brandy and Kasper, last week.  It was incredible.  I will share more about all of the inspirations which opened up from that experience, including, that I’ll be participating in the local Yoga competition here in Dallas in October.  The Yoga competition is not about competing with others…it’s about competing with oneself.  It’s about raising the bar for yourself to grow and improve in your practice in all areas of your life.  I finally realized this is what it’s about.  For the last couple of years I was somewhat critical of the idea of a Yoga competition, but, I feel like now I finally understand and get what it’s about.  So, I’m also really looking forward to that.) 

So, back to the incredible blessing of getting to write a book.  A couple of weeks ago I was running with my iPod on shuffle and this track from a talk, which was given by a monk from the Self-Realization Fellowship, came on my iPod.  This reminded me of and speaks to how miraculous God’s grace is in our lives, when, we are open to receiving it.  Do you realize we are living in a mysteriously-miraculous-Divinely Intelligent-molecular reality?  I do.  Well, I do now.  I suppose I always knew this, but now, I realize this.  As the amazing Yogi, Dharma Mittra, says…be receptive to the Grace of God.  Indeed. So, here is what a monk from the Self-Realization Fellowship has to say about that.  The title of this talk is called Faith:  A Cornerstone of Spiritual Living.  Faith is the first quality of enlightenment, also called, Sraddha, in the spiritually inspired and sacred language of Sanskrit.  By saying the wordSraddha, one can awaken faith within themselves.  Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages on the planet.  It is called the language of the Gods.  It was a seen language which invokes the vibrational experience of whatever one is seeking to align with in their hearts and minds.  In other words, the experience of peace carries a vibration, as does, faith, or any other energetic experience, i.e. love, joy, etc.  By saying the word shanti, which means peace, one can awaken to the vibrational experience of peace.  And so it is with faith/sraddha, etc.  It is definitely powerful to say Sanskrit words and mantras to align yourself with the positive vibrations you are seeking to realize physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. 

Anyhow, back to the talk given by the monk from SRF.  Here is an excerpt from the CD. 

I’m going to kind of get off course a little bit here and talk about this relationship is not just a one way thing from us to God.  That we’re remembering this relationship.  God plays with us also.  And, I went to India in 1972 and lived there for about 4 years all together.  But, after I had been there for about 4 months, then another devotee arrived from the U.S. and he came to Ranchi where I was and the other monks decided wouldn’t it be nice to take him on an outing into the forest.  (Well, they never took me on an outing into the forest…we just got to working.)  So, we all went to the forest and we took our picnic lunch with us and we decided to, everybody go off on your own, meditate, refresh yourself, and then come back together and we’ll have lunch together.  Well, I was a little late getting back to lunch and they were already eating.  And, this visitor from the U.S.  said, ‘Oh, it’s too bad you are late because you missed the best part.  You missed the swiss cheese sandwiches.’  (laughter) And, I literally went into a state of shock.  I knew there were no swiss cheese sandwiches for hundreds of miles around.  But, it caught me by surprise so much and shock that my face registered real shock.  He was horrified that he had done that to me.  He said, ‘Forgive me, no look, this was just a joke, it’s alright, ya know.’ So, I got over it  (laughter) And, we went back to the ashram and several months went by and one morning about 10:30 in the morning, I was working there, alone, and a lady came in with a great big package about this big.  And, I didn’t know her.  She said, ‘I just came down from Nepal.  And, in Nepal they have wonderful dairies that were created by the Europeans who came to that area.  And, so I have brought from Nepal, all the way on the trains and everything, this for you.’  And, I knew she meant for the ashram but there wasn’t anyone else in the ashram, in the office.  And so I took it and opened it.  It was the biggest hunk of cheese I had ever seen.  Now, we’re talking about developing a relationship here.  And I was immediately embarassed and ashamed.  Because it felt to me that she was standing there, I was standing here, and, I didn’t see anything, but it felt to me as if Guruji (Paramahansa Yogananda) was standing here.  And that He was saying to me, ‘Do you think that if I want you to have cheese…I can’t give it to you?‘  And, so He says I want to hear that you are remembering this relationship that we have.  So, They work on it, too.

Somebody was going through some very heavy tests and he had to go to a meeting and he did not like what was going to be the result of the meeting.  He knew what was going to be ahead of time and God had been trying to tell him, ‘Surrender, surrender, surrender.’  And he slowed down to let a car come out of a shopping center and get in front of him and the sign on the back bumper said, ‘Surrender, let the river flow.‘  And he thought, isn’t that so touching.  God is working from His side on this relationship. 

Well, then, getting back to where we were with positive thinking.  Thinking there’s more, we need to develop a relationship with God.  Then, people can start to think about praying.  And guruji (Paramahansa Yogananda) says such radical changes are possible through prayer.  Because then prayer transcends law.   And God can intervene.  And faith healing, for example.  In faith healing, the person’s attena…guruji called faith an attena that is just reaching out there for the energy of God.  If the person thinks, oh God can’t heal me…it just closes it off.  But, if the antenna says, I know God can do anything that brings that, that allows that intercesion and that healing to take place.- Brother Anilananda

I love that excerpt from Brother Anilananda’s talk.  It really resonated with me when I heard it the other day and reminded me God is capable of anything, of causing any miracle to happen in our life.  But, we do have to do our part, too.  We must have faith and we must be willing to follow the Divine guidance we’re given. 

Also, here is an article I received in a newsletter from another Yogini, Dagmar Spremberg.  I met Dagmar when I led a Yoga retreat in the beautiful Montezuma, Costa Rica, in January 2009.  That was definitely a trip of a lifetime.  What an amazing experience.  If you haven’t ever been to Costa Rica, you’ve gotta go.  I look forward to going back again one day.  But, first, I hope to journey to Thailand and a few other places I’ve been inspired to visit.  This article reminded me to take it one step at a time and to appreciate the beauty in where we are, now, in the journey of life. 

Perfectionism– by Vidya Lahoti www.Vidya.TV

Trying. Striving. Working. Wanting. To become something else? Something better?  These words resonate through my mind over and over again these days. I find myself always making my effort 110%, trying so hard, even struggling at times to push myself to be better. Then a few days ago, as I found myself struggling to stay mindful – struggling to stay present, a small silent question popped into my mind: By striving for perfection, aren’t I assuming that, right now in this moment, I am imperfect? This question spiraled out into a series of mini breakthroughs. How can I truly be present and accept each moment completely if I am assuming that I will reach perfection sometime in the future? 

Even since I’ve arrived here in paradise, Costa Rica, I’ve kept on striving for something more, something even better. And since my surroundings are breathtakingly gorgeous and mother nature cannot be improved upon, my mind has taken on the task of improving myself. I started to examining each of the roles that I’m playing here in this life situation: yoga teacher, traveler, surfer, writer,vartist, friend, daughter, sister. And with each new role, a new and different ideal of perfection to strive for – better surfer, better teacher… better human. The only thing consistent here is the striving, the assumption that right NOW isn’t good enough. 

Self improvement is a way towards more, bigger better and faster – with discontent as our fuel. Spending a lot of time with people on vacation, I notice that they too are in the quest for more. Everyday, looking for more adventure, more luxury, more relaxation, more getaway. We are all in on this game together, each racing ourselves to the next level of achievement, even on vacation. Admittedly, there is a sweet sense of enthusiasm and excitement that flows up along with a new game to play – a new prospect of achieving something. A new excitement however oftener turns into a source of stress and anxiety. So there is a sweet spot to be found, a place between effort and surrender. Enjoy the motivation, enthusiasm of evolution while staying surrendered to the natural rhythmic flow of this evolution.

As a student of yoga, there are always asanas that we strive to achieve. If we let go of all effort, then the passion and excitement of moving forward into new expressions of our body will be lost. Balancing effort with surrender becomes an art form on the mat, dancing on either side to find the middle path. After years of fear and wonder, my first handstand was magic. Eventually I gave up trying so hard and fell into a playful practice – suddenly the handstand was me! It was a glorious afternoon, experiencing a new state of being – experiencing more freedom in my body. So the effort achieve transforms into a journey, marked by the satisfying thrill of discovering new ways of experiencing ourselves. Perfectionism is a creature that often changes shape, promising initially a fulfilling wholesome sense of satisfaction but quickly turning into a slave driver. Pushing  us to constantly dream of a “better” reality in the future. The mellow voice of reason kicks in at the perfect moment – just accept yourself where you are. It is always enough. Breathe a long deep breath. Take a moment to just see where you are, probably it is a place that you had already strived to reach. So breathe into it., accepting yourself exactly where you are. Count the sources of gratitude, recount the blessings that are abundant in your life.

With love

Vidya

In the end

these things matter most:

How well did you love?

How fully did you love?

How deeply

did you learn to let go?

– The Buddha

“If I could wish

for my life to be perfect,

it would be tempting,

but I would have to decline,

for life would no longer teach

me anything.”

– Allyson Jones

Speaking of taking it one step at a time and  enjoying each step fully…I was given a sample of a Yoga inspired product called Kushyfoot.  I love these and think they are a great enhancement to your Yoga practice, especially, if you are challenged with feeling like you slip and slide all over your Yoga mat.  These are toeless socks with traction to help you stay still and stick better in your Yoga poses.  I will definitely use these and they are really affordable.  Sometimes Yoga products can be a little pricey.  I love that Kushyfoot is a great deal.  What an awesome product to support you with finding greater stability and better form in your Yoga practice.  Even though it’s not all about being perfect, it’s still nice to have helpful and supportive tools to help us grow better.  Thanks, kushyfoot.    

I’m still spending all of my free time with my family and loving it.  We’ve enjoyed some really wonderful time together over the last several days.  They will head back to Ohio on Monday.  I may not be back to write before then, so if I’m not, have a wonderful weekend.  I look forward to sharing more soon. 

Blessings~