True Yoga Life Yoga Blog...

A Change is Gonna Come...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:44:00 +0000

OK, so here's the latest straight from my fingertips.

It turns out I am moving. I've never lived relatively calmly in this degree of uncertainty in my whole life, as far as I can remember. I'm learning to enjoy it.

If I told you what has transpired over the last few days, you might wonder why you are reading or considering what I have to say, simply because I can hardly believe these circumstances have existed in my life. And, I'm totally conscious my circumstances are ridiculously minor in relation to other people's situations in life. But, living without electricity in my condo for three days has been very interesting, and interestingly, enlightening. It's amazing what a little darkness can shed light on and how illuminating it can really be. I am writing you from my girlfriend's house, who has been gracious to let me stay here during this somewhat turbulent time. (Again, globally, it pales in comparison, but there have been some intense growing pains/stretches to breathe into.) What I realize, is I have majorly downplayed this transition I am making in my life. Having ended a relationship about 8 months ago, I essentially experienced going through a major separation. I've never had this experience on a personal level. I experienced this turbulence of separation when I ended my relatioship with my Yoga studio a couple of years ago, but have never experienced the intensity of separation with another person. It seems it does come down to forgiveness, love and compassion with ourselves and with one another, no matter what our situation is in life.

Anyhow, needless to say, life has certainly come up over the last week. It seems anytime I am going through a major transition in my life, this is the case. I'm totally ok with it not being this way, but there seems to be a pattern of 'breakdowns' anytime I go through a major change. Tony Robbins would say a breakdown is really a breakthrough. Or, in the words of Yogananda, "there are no obstacles, there are only opportunities."

So, I am moving this Friday...

Getting on my Yoga mat over the past few weeks, almost month, has been a pretty major feat. I have turned to meditation to see me through these times, as it's been difficult to find the time to phsically practice Asanas. And, I am totally ok with this. It's important to realize, and in fact I believe we ultimately must realize as we grow on this path, that our Asana practice, as beneficial and transformational as it is, is really a vehicle to open us up to deeper stages of connectedness. Eventually, even though still engaging in an Asana practice, we develop into meditation, which is the 7th limb of Astanga Yoga. As stated by Dave Oliver, it is the gateway into Samadhi, or Bliss. It is a gate we must pass through in order to realize this state of existence, or joy eternal, which is beyond the grasp of the senses.

Anyhoo, I will be back post-move. I am grateful to be able to share and express my experiences, it is beyond-believably-therapeutic to be able to open myself up in this way, through writing. Until then, we are in an intense time of transformation and we are ever-awakening to the positivity of our existence. So, breathe into all that is and love what is, as you breathe into it, and yourSELF.

Peace and be well...

All of you, are amazing...thank you for reading, expressing and being here to share in the journey.

p.s.- Even though I've posted this quote before, it never gets old...

"What is to give light must endure burning." - Victor Frankl

Oh ya, if you want to order Chocolate Bliss go to www.loving-foods.com.

Embodying the Flow

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:27:00 +0000

So, I really have been embodying the flow since I returned from my training with Shiva Rea.

The uncertainty of what's next in my life has had me feel a great deal of fear in moments. And yet, I have not allowed that fear to paralyze me from taking action, but rather, I have taken action in the face of my fear of the unknown. And, it is all working out ok. I actually signed a 12 month apartment lease, a couple of weeks ago, feeling I was being guided to move. I was planning on moving next Thursday, but just yesterday, I realized it is not the right time for this move to happen. I did feel guided through my meditation and the visions I received to take the steps to move, but the mystery of the Flow is it can guide us one way through blind faith, only to steer us in another direction unexpectedly...

This is why meditation is so important. We have to take the steps we are being guided to take in the face of all of our fears. And only through the stillness can we know that intimate guidance we are being given through the subtle whispers of the Intelligent Flow. Just this past weekend, Tom and Daphne Larkin, of Sanctuary Yoga in Nashville, TN, came to Dallas to give a two-day workshop at exhale spa. I am house sitting for a fellow-yogini friend of mine, Kendall Inman, and they stayed at her house with me while they were here. It was an incredible experience to be able to spend this time with them. They have been studying with Shiva for the past 8 years, and while Daphne Larkin is my assigned mentor through Shiva's Teacher Training Program, Shiva Rea is their direct mentor. We had many wonderful and enlightening conversations while they were here, one of which was about Isvara-pranidhana, or surrender to the Will. So, to embody the flow is to surrender to the Will and this is Yoga. B.K.S. Iyengar describes the very essence of this in his book Light on Yoga. Here is what he writes on the very first page from the chapter entitled, What is Yoga? Although I've written about this before, it seems we can not be reminded enough. These are the very first sentences:

"The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning to bind, join, attach and yoke, to direct and concentrate one's attention on, to use and apply. It also means union or communion. It is the true union of our will with the will of God." - B.K.S. Iyengar

Since returning from the silent meditation retreat at Yogananda's hermitage and ashram in Encinitas, CA, I have realized a new appreciation for silence. There are times when I am talking and I find the words become tiring and I long for the silence. The truth is, we do not need to travel to an ashram to realize the sanctuary of silence and peace which exists within our Being. Sometimes I imagine the possibility of observing one day of silence, at least once-a-month to begin with. Gandhi practiced one day of silence each week, although there's no need to rush into things, the idea of that feels a bit too intense. Perhaps even seasonally would be a good start, although I hope to be able to return to Yogananda's ashram on a regular basis and observe a few days of silence at a time. The experience of eating meals in silence, with a group of people I had never met before, was profoundly enlightening. There were a couple of times that I was brought to tears because it was such a moving experience. It had me remember that I am truly a child of God, and that I am sitting at His/Her table, eating His/Her food, walking on His/Her planet and that none of this is really mine. I'm really just a guest wherever it is I go during the short while I am here.

Oh ya, how could I forget the Chocolate Bliss? Well, I will have to write more in my next post about this. Stay tuned for that!

As we grow through the season of summer, we are in a time of intense change. As I sat in meditation last night, I began to sob as I felt the emotional intensity of the experiences I am growing through, the healing of a past relationship, my father's illness, changes and transformations in my work, the beginning of a new relationship, not knowing what's next, feeling afraid of loss and the fear of change, even though change is the only constant. It was at my training with Shiva, that Shiva spoke to me about spending time feeling the depths of my experience. As I shared with her about my father, she suggested I go down to the beach and sit with myself for a half hour and just wail. When she suggested this, it was hard for me to imagine I would feel that depth of sorrow within myself. Last night, I realized what she was talking about as I sat alone in my bed crying out loud.

As I share this, I do not share it from a place of sadness, but from a place of encouragement. The only way to know true healing is to know and experience true feeling, from the deepest depths of sadness within ourselves to the greatest heights of joy. The reality is it is all flowing from the same place of umbounded consciousness or Love. The Light of Consciousness is Love, but we must allow that Light to illuminate the depths of our insecurities and darkness to know the fullness of its energetic embrace and presence in our hearts and minds. So, as we grow through this season, allow the Agni (fire) of summer to unsurface the unseen within yourself. And, be receptive to the Grace. Amazing grace...I once was lost but now I'm found...was blind, but now I see.

One more thing, my dear friend and meditation teacher, Roy Williams will be speaking at the Unity Church of Dallas on August 17th at 10 am. He will be speaking on the three pillars of enlightenment, Study, Service and Meditation. I hope you will be able to attend as he is a true teacher who has positively impacted my life with his guidance and wisdom.

Until next time...Om shanti!

Have No Fear

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:28:00 +0000

Here I am. It has been a long while and the idea of writing this post feels more like writing a book because so much has happened. So many insights, awarenesses, and awakenings...it feels like I journeyed to another place and time. Which, in reality, I did. Sitting here on my air mattress, (yes, I've been sleeping on an air mattress for 5 months now, realizing how little I truly need... although, I'm hoping to have a bed again one day soon...I think I've learned the lesson) I just closed my eyes for a moment, and no words can express the gratitude I feel in my heart for the blessed experience I had during my time in California at Yogananda's Ashram in Encinitas and the Embodying the Flow Yoga training with Shiva Rea in Venice, CA.

My guess is several posts will follow as I share more about these experiences. (I'm looking forward to sharing more with you about the experience of being in silence for three days, eating meals in silence, and, of course, about the raw Chocolate Bliss I've been drinking for a couple of weeks now.) But, for beginners, there is a peace which I am experiencing which I have never before known. It is a feeling of a dissolving away of fear. I went in search of answers and I received blessed responses to the quetions I went seeking. It's as though I can feel a peacefulness swimming through me feeling the Presence of the One who spoke to me in so many ways: through the words of a monk, a Brahmacharya, in the silent communion of meditation, through videos, recordings of Yogananda talking, the inspiring Spirit of Shiva Rea, the friends I met along the way, signs and serendipitous experiences which pointed me in the direction I needed to go every breath of the way, and the deep, guiding intuition of the Intelligence of my own heart.

I left Dallas, for my trip, on July 3rd. My father, (who was recently diagnosed about two months ago with kidney cancer that has metastasized now in the lungs), drove me to te airport. (He was first diagnosed with kidney cancer almost two years ago.) A couple of weeks ago he started taking an experimental, 'life-prolonging' drug, used to treat kidney cancer by cutting off the blood supply to the cancer cells in the body. It was a huge blessing he was even able to receive the drug for free, considering the out-of-pocket expense is roughly $4,000/month with prescription coverage. With his fisrt go-around on the drug, his body was not able to tolerate it. After about a week and a half, he began to lose weight, dropping about 6 pounds in two days and then developig sores in his mouth. The day he drove me to the airport he was noticeably weak, having just stopped taking the drug a day or two before. Even his voice was scratchy. I love my father's voice because it has such a deep-heartfelt resonance, but it didn't have the strength I was used to hearing. As we drove to the airport he asked me what it was I was looking forward to the most about my trip. I said I was looking forward to all of it, but particularly, the meditation, the experience of being in silence and, in that silence, being with All That Is, all that I'm experiencing individually and collectively. As Yogananda would say, there is no individual thought. We are all part of a collective Consciousness, breathing the same Life Force, the same Intelligent Energy flowing through our veins. We are all waves, flowing from the One Source, and each of our thoughts create a ripple effect which affects every other wave in the ocean. I inhale from the ocean of Life, and I either breathe out Love or Fear, it's that simple, through the thoughts I am experiencing.

To say I've felt fear in my life recently is an understatement. And yet, it hasn't been a debilitating fear, but I have experienced it nevertheless. In some way, I think it's always been there beneath the surface. Some fear of feeling like I need to hold on for dear life, a fear of not being provided for and having enough. In Yoga, these fears relate to the first chakra. Awakening the first chakra is about awakenng to the realization that all of our basic needs are met by the Source of Life. We can let go and surrender fully to the Flow when we become Conscious of this, the anxieties, tensions, uncertainties, doubts, unecessary preocupations can all melt away, and in that melting we can feel the Presence of the One who is always there with its Loving Energy guiding each of our beating hearts into its Benevolent embrace. As Yogananda would say, God is nearer than near. Nearer than the breath in your nostrils, right here, right now.

But recently it seems the fear had escalated, both consciously and unconsciously. Perhaps my father being diagnosed with cancer triggered a deep-seated unsurfacing of this fear in myself which then began to expand into my perspective on everything. As we drove to the airport that day, I expressed my concern for the state of the world. You may be familiar with the Mayan calendar which only exists until the year 2012. Many have thought this prophesizes the end times. I have felt some very dark places in myself questioning if this may in fact be true. The rising gas prices, the melting ice caps, war, going through security at the airport, etc., etc., in no particular order, are enough to have any one of us feel the tension of fear from these realities.

And, yet, we are awakening to the Flowering of Consciousness, and in this flowering the dissolution of fear within our hearts and minds.

"So when you are alert and contemplate a flower, crystal, or bird without naming it mentally, it becomes a window for you into the formless.

There is an inner opening, however slight, into the realm of spirit.

This is why these three "en-lightened" life-forms have played such an important part of the evolution of human consciousness since ancient times; why, for example, the jewel in the lotus flower is a central symbol of Buddhism and a white bird, the dove, signifies the Holy Spirit in Christianity.

They have been preparing the ground for a more profound shift in planetary consciousness that is destined to take place in the human species.

This is the spiritual awakening that we are beginning to witness now." - A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

I just purchased a book with passages from Yogananda called, A World in Transition. The last day at the silent meditation retreat, I attended a service at Self-Realization Fellowship temple in Encinitas. The Brother read from this book. As soon as I receive it, I will post the passage he read to us. It is amazing. Yogananda speaks of the Global awakening of Consciousness and the spreading of Yoga as being the salvation of the collective consciousness. When I say Yoga, I am not just referring to the practice of poses. This is only one form of Yoga. Yoga is a state of consciousness, not anything we do. It is essentially what Jesus spoke about in the scriptures. Do not worry, do not fear, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Yogananda says it is the uniting of the spirituality of the East with the materially prosperous consciousness of the West which will bring about this salvation. It is two worlds becoming one and in that uniting realizing what is we need to do to heal ourselves and our planet. That is the greatest challenge we face, that we have been damaging our very own hOMe, without which none of us will continue to be. Undoubtedly, this mission requires the unification of the global consciousness to work together in a harmonious way to heal our very own environment. And, it's possible. I believe it's already happening. Just like growing into a Yoga pose, we can't always see right away the growth and change that is happening. But, with every breath we breathe, the positive change is taking place, this is what we must trust with blind faith.

Sometimes, more recently, I have feared whether this community is ready for this shift in consciousness. I must say, I have had my doubts, so much in fact, I deeply considered moving to India while I was away at my training with Shiva. It's not that I doubt you, it's more that I have doubted myself to be able to find the strength within myself to make it through these changes I am facing, and all of us are facing in our own way. I have literally feared not being able to provide for myself. It's really hard to admit this, but it is true. I have known for several months now this strengthening needed to happen within myself. I could feel it in my practice, being guided to grow into certain poses, Eka Pada Bakasana (Crow Pose) into Adho Mukha Vrkasana (Handstand), but not being able to find the inspiration or strength to inititate that growth. I am certain this has a lot to do with this experience I am growing through with my father. He has been a source from which I have drawn much of my strength. But, I am realizing this strength has been within me all along, and he is one of the expressions and the reflections of the Source which strengthens each of us in Its own way.

So, I'm not going to India, I'm going with the Flow, wherever the Flow wills me to go. Though the unconscious tensions arise, I am not afraid. I am not afraid to live, I am not afraid to die. I am not afraid. Bring it on. I fell flat on my face at my training, practicing the poses, Eka Pada Bakasana (One-Legged Crow Pose) into Tittibhasana (Insect Pose), which I have been guided to grow into. I laughed my ass off. Then, I laid on my back and relaxed, while everyone else continued on with their self-practice. After a few moments, I got up and went and bought Shiva a card in the gift shop at exhale Venice. When I returned to the room, everyone was in Savasana (Corpse Pose), so I quietly laid down and enjoyed one of the most Divine meditative experiences I have ever known. Fall on your face, laugh your ass off, surrender and forget fear, be like a child walking through the world with carefree, fearless abandon. What are you holding onto? There is no thing that is yours, let your hands be free and your heart open. Viva la Vida! (Thanks Coldplay) Here are a few words from Yogananda from the book, The Divine Romance:

"God's dream creation was not meant to frighten you, but to prod you to realize finally that it has no reality. So why be afraid of anything? Jesus said: "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" (John 10:34) Yet even Jesus for a little while forgot his immutable divine nature and cried out, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) But quickly he realized again that he was a son of God and could never be destroyed, which he proved by his resurrection. His whole life showed he had risen truly from the sepulcher of delusion.

If you know intellectually that life is a dream, but still have not realized it completely, and still haven't found God either, you are neither in this world nor out of it. That is a sad state. Don't remain trapped in that delusion. make a supreme effort to get to God. I am speaking practical truth to you, practical sense; and giving you a philosophy that will take away all of your consciousness of hurt. Be afraid of nothing. If death comes, all right. What is going to happen, will happen. Refuse to be intimidated by this dream. Affirm: "I will not be frightened by ill health, poverty, and accidents. Bless me, O Lord, that when You put me through trials, I realize their delusive nature and become victorious over them by positive action and by remaining inwardly united to You.

I have perhaps told you more than you would ever learn elsewhere in a lifetime. By coming to these services you will know how the cords of delusion can be broken. Study your Self-Realization Lessons at home and practice them faithfully. Each human being has to apply his own individual effort to get back to God. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not speaking the truth. God can help you, guru can help you, but only if you yourself are making the effort to find God. You can't get money by watching someone else work. You have to work for it yourself. And only your working at finding God will take you to God. So make your mightiest effort now. Reserve your nights for meditation. Meditate with undivided attention. Let there be no mockery of mechanical prayer. Give your soul to God. Then you will see that your life-every minute of it-becomes a magic existence." - Paramahansa Yogananda

And, I've got to leave you posting the lyrics from the song Pure Imagination, from Willy-Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. You know, raw chocolate is the food of the gods and the most nutritionally beneficial superfood for you on the planet. I'll be back soon to share more with you about this. It also releases Anandamide, the bliss chemical in the brain. In Sanskrit, the language of Yoga, Ananda means Bliss.

"Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination

We'll begin with a spin
Trav'ling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be."

p.s.-I will post a picture from the meditation gardens at Yogananda's ashram once I get them downloaded onto my computer. Namaste!

AUM...Stillness Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:27:00 +0000

Well, I leave tomorrow for Yogananda's Ashram in Encinitas, CA for 2.75 days of silence and meditation. Then, up to L.A., from there, for a four day Yoga teacher training with Shiva Rea, called Embodying the Flow.

I'll be back to posting when I return. Honor the cyle of transformation you are in as we expand into the fullness of the Summer Season. What is to give light must endure burning. I can't remember who said that, maybe it was Buddha. I put it in a post a long time ago, but there has been much burning taking place, not coincidentally, since the dawn of Summer. Trust in the Intelligent Unfolding and you will find the eternal joy you are seeking right within your own Self. Fear not, for there really is no thing to fear. Breathe into the changes and allow the positive Force of Life to guide you into alignment with all that is. Accept this moment, and in your faith and acceptance you will be receptive to the Infinite Grace illuminating you to the Light of Consciousness. Non-attachment will liberate you from fear and awaken you to the bliss of your Being. No worries...be happy.

A very special person shared this poem with me today. It's incredible...I hope you like it..

Happiness

There's just no accounting for happiness,
or the way it turns up like a prodigal
who comes back to the dust at your feet
having squandered a fortune far away

And how can you not forgive?
You make a feast in honor of what
was lost, and take for its place the finest
garment, which you saved for an occasion
you could not imagine, and you weep night and day
to know that you were not abandoned,
that happiness saved its most extreme form
for you alone.

No, happiness is the uncle you never
knew about, who flies a single-engine plane
onto the grassy landing strip, hitchhikes
into town, and inquires at every door
until he finds you asleep midafternoon
as you so often are during the unmerciful
hours of your despair.

It comes to the monk in his cell.
It comes to the woman sweeping the street
with a birch broom, to the child
whose mother has passed out from drink.
It comes to the lover, to the dog chewing
a sock, to the pusher, to the basket maker,
and to the clerk stacking cans of carrots
in the night.
It even comes to the boulder
in the perpetual shade of pine barrens,
to rain falling on the open sea,
to the wineglass, weary of holding wine.
-Jane Kenyon

p.s.-Stillness Speaks is a book by Eckhart Tolle. I haven't read it, but it could be a great summer read. Peace...

hOMe Sweet hOMe...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:28:00 +0000

I had hoped to post before my trip to Rosemary Beach, Florida, but I got caught up in getting ready to go away. The vacation was awesome...exactly what I needed...four days of rest and relaxation. I feel rejuvenated in my body, mind and spirit.

As many of you know, the Summer Solstice was this past Saturday, June 21st.
For thousands of years, Yogis, Sages, Rishis and like-minded people have gone through the tradition of performing 108 Sun Salutations on the Fall and Spring Equinox and Winter and Summer Solstice.

The following is from an article written by Shiva Rea explaining the significance of the number 108:

The number’s significance is open to interpretation. But 108 has long been considered a sacred number in Hinduism and yoga. Traditionally, malas, or garlands of prayer beads, come as a string of 108 beads (plus one for the “guru bead,” around which the other 108 beads turn like the planets around the sun). A mala is used for counting as you repeat a mantra—much like the Catholic rosary.

Renowned mathematicians of Vedic culture viewed 108 as a number of the wholeness of existence. This number also connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth: The average distance of the Sun and the Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters. Such phenomena have given rise to many examples of ritual significance.

According to yogic tradition, there are 108 pithas, or sacred sites, throughout India. And there are also 108 Upanishads and 108 marma points, or sacred places of the body.

And, yes, one can offer a yoga mala of 108 Sun Salutations. Please take a moment to visit www.globalmala.org for more information on the power of 108 and joining the “mala around the earth” to be formed by the worldwide yoga community on September 21 and 22 of 2007. - Shiva Rea

The first Global Mala was held last year. This will be an annual event to take place each year on the Fall Equinox. People all around the world participated in this event...it was incredible...all part of the awakening of the Collective Consciousness.

So, on Saturday, while I was at Rosemary Beach, I participated in my own Summer Solstice practice. Whether one is able to perform all 108 Sun Salutations is not what's most important. Any cycle divisible by nine is said to be powerful. So, I meditated for 27 minutes and then performed 27 Sun Salutations. Just 27 Sun Salutations was pretty challenging. I've never gone through the full 108 cycle. I really have only began to recognize the significance of the seasonal changes since beginning my studies with Shiva last July. Prior to then, I was not as tuned into it. But, after going through just 27 on Saturday by myself, it makes sense to me why this ritual is usually performed with a group in order to make it through all 108. I can imagine it would be a bit easier and sustaining to feel the group's energy during the process. There were several instances where I wanted to give up, but I didn't. The practice is for each salutation to be a prayer, typically offering the prayers of the first 9 salutations to oneself, the second 9 to one's family/friends/community, and the next 9 to the planet and global community, and so on, depending on how many cycles one chooses to do.

It was a really powerful experience and I felt purposeful in my efforts. I am glad I chose to honor this tradition and will continue to from now on. It doesn't just have to be Sun Salutations, either. One could also say 108 chants (or 9,18,27), or meditate for 108 minutes, (9,18,27) etc.

One of the things I'm awakening to is the spiritualization of our city. Yes, you can take your spirituality with you anywhere, but it is the community which creates the collective consciousness. Even in the beautiful area of Rosemary Beach, there was a spiritual energy which wasn't present for me in the same way it is here. Dallas is feeling more and more like a spiritual place to me all the time...which is why I was so happy to come back hOMe.

I've talked about this with my friends who also study the Self-Realization Fellowship teachings. Anything can be spiritualized. Yogananda spiritualized the chants and songs he wrote, which is what makes them so effective for meditation. One of my friends shared with me about a spiritualized experience he had in taking a Tango class. Any moment can be connected to the Consciousness, if we allow ourselves to be Conscious enough to connect to it.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it yet, but I will be going to a silent retreat at Yogananada's Ashram in Encinitas, CA next Thursday. I can feel myself already being energetically prepared for this experience. I'll share more in the days ahead, before I leave to go away. Peace and blessings...

Jah Live!

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:22:00 +0000

Song lyrics | Jah Live lyrics

I feel blessed. This past weekend was one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had teaching Yoga. I taught a FREE Prana Flow Yoga Class, sponsored by lululemon athletica, at the Lofts at Mockingbird Station in downtown Dallas. There were at least 30 people in attendance for the class, which took place next to the pool on the rooftop deck overlooking the Dallas skyline. (I will post an actual photo of the event once I have one to share...lululemon took some awesome pics!) It was an incredibly inspiring location. We meditated and communed with Cosmic Consciousness, surfed on our Yoga mats, balanced in Airplane Pose holding hands, (with our eyes closed!) around the perimeter of the pool AND experienced the energizing essence of the Infinite Source with a true connection to community. Oh, and the whole class, give or take a couple of songs, was set to some of Bob Marley's greatest tunes...

We recited this mantra silently to ourselve with the word that resontaed most deeply for each of us. Such as:

Come, Father, come.
Come, Peace, come.
Come, Joy, come
Come, Consciousness, come.
Come, Light, come.

And, we gave thanks, as we sat in meditation, silently reciting...Thank You. I felt energetically transformed from the experience. When class completed it felt as though I was seeing the world with new eyes. I am so grateful to all of you who joined me and for offering your Presence and Intention to this blessed experience. I truly felt the Presence with us, not only of the One, but I literally felt the Spirit of Bob Marley with us, as well. I have no doubt his Energy was present there.

So, I will be offering another FREE class on Saturday, June 28th, as well. This will be at another great location in Dallas. Also, I recently sent out the True Yoga Newsletter so if you would like to receive it, please sign up for it online here.

In less than a month, I will be attending another Yoga training with Shiva Rea. Prior to my training, which begins July 6th, I will be spending a few days at Paramahansa Yogananda's Ashram and Hermitage in Encinitas, California. I have never been on a silent meditation retreat before and am really looking forward to this incredible experience. This is where Yogananda lived and wrote his highly-acclaimed book, Autobiography of a Yogi. I feel so blessed to be able to have this opportunity. I have heard that it is one of the most powerful experiences imaginable to get to feel the energy which eminates from his living space.

"You may be surprised at what seclusion with God will do for your mind, body, and soul…. Through the portals of silence the healing sun of wisdom and peace will shine upon you."

— Paramahansa Yogananda

I'll be back to post before I head out of town this weekend for a little relaxation and restoration in beautiful Rosemary Beach, Florida.

A Time to Awaken, Turn, Turn, Turn...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:04:00 +0000

I am really glad it's June. I'm breathing into changes and new beginnings as we unfold into the Summer Season. I've had an awareness of the magnitude of what this growth would be for the past 6 months. I believe this Summer Solstice, more than any other, is bringing about an intensity of awakening as we open up to the longest day of sunlight on June 21. We are in a time of spiritual transformation. I have been witnessing this evolution in my classes over the past year. In particular, the last 6 months has been especially transformational. It's amazing to get to work with all of the different groups of people, in all of the different places I teach, from exhale spa to several Fortune 500 companies. For the first time ever, we actually meditated, in a seated position, at the end of our class at the headquarters for Pizza Hut. If you ever see a Pizza Hut commercial, you can be aware there is a group of evolving Yogis who practice three times a week at the company's headquarters here in Dallas...

I actually do not watch the news. Once and a while I catch snippets of it, but for the most part I do my best to not tune into it. Of course I'm aware of the issues going on in the world. I just choose to be aware through my own senses and resources, rather than buying into the sensational b.s. floating through so many of the airwaves. Of course we're all aware of many of the crises which have happened recently around the globe. I believe these situations have everything to do with the intensity of energetic change we are all experiencing, personally and globally. So, what are we to do in times like these? Well, one, breathe into it and surrender...accept the moment for being what it is. So often when we are faced with challenges, personally or collectively, we tend to immediately make up in our mind that something is wrong. And, therefore, we become reactive to the situation. This reactivity can bring about anything from anger and rage to depression. What if there is nothing 'wrong' with what's happening in the world right now? What if it just is what it is? We wake up to our reality all the time. The environment is a perfect example of this. For so many years, we had no awareness of any damage we were doing. Then, gradually, we woke up and realized how our actions are creating harm. So it is with everything else...it's all waking up to our experience...again...personally and globally. If you want to do anything to feel like you are making a difference in even the slightest (or perhaps, way more powerful than we realize) way, you can begin with saying OM and rippling the sound of the vibration silently, after each OM you say, to all of creation. (as Dharma Mittra would say.) You are not powerless, but immensely powerful. All of us have the potential to be this active. I love this song I play in class. It's called Beauty by Vargo. I just heard these lyrics at the end of it for the first time today.

"The beauty of Nature is very fragile. All of you know that when you come out, breath, and then you look, and then you feel, and then suddenly you realize that you are more than a small piece of meat walking on earth." - Vargo

So, that's one way to say it. Another way is the infamous Marianne Williamson passage I will post at the end of this. (a personal favorite)

I also believe meditation is the way of creating the most postivie environment you can within you and all around you, especially in your immediate surroundings. So, meditate, meditate, meditate. And, three, take action in whatever positive way you can to make whatever difference you can make.

One of my beloved meditation teachers, Roy Williams, talks about the importance of the trilogy: Study, Meditation and Service. He says when you activate all three magic happens. So, one of the areas I get to improve in is service. This will be one of the changes I open up to in this new season. I look forward to working with the homeless community in one way or another. I've known Roy for several years and recently came to find out he was involved in one of the most dynamic changes in the city of Dallas over the past century. In 1988, two African-American activists (Roy Williams and Marvin Crenshaw) filed a federal lawsuit and changed the way Dallas elects its city officials, increasing minority representation, and therefore the face of the city. You can watch a documentary of this on KERA's website-simply scroll to the bottom of the screen. Roy told me that this entire change came about through the power of meditation. Through his meditation he was guided to file this lawsuit and then see it through to success and completion over three years. Every moment of the journey, he said, was guided by the insight of meditation. At one point, he and Crenshaw were offered a million dollars to not go through with the suit. But, Roy said he knew he could not accept it because he was being guided by Spirit to bring about this change. He knew accepting it would only cause breakdown in every way. Roy has been on the spiritual path for over thirty years and it's incredible to experience guided meditation with him. He is most definitely connected and one of the most powerful, yet humble, individuals I know. I feel grateful to get to learn from him.

Just this past Sunday, June 1st, I spent a couple of hours in meditation realizing the importance of going into the stillness to welcome in this month and powerful time of year.

Be still, and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:10

So, if you haven't begun a meditation practice, I highly encourage you to begin...now is the time to fully recognize your oneness with the Light of Consciousness to awaken the positive changes you can within yourself and all around you. I have more to share about one of these positive changes I intend to create through the power of meditation, but will share when the time is right. I am awakening to fulfilling a vision I have had for twenty years. I think it's so interesting we focus on growing into Yoga poses, when our real growth has nothing to do with Yoga poses. The practice of Yoga, and ultimately, meditation, is about awakening positive change within your immediate internal and external environment, and from there, growing into the greatest expansion possible for yourself and the collective community.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson

May we awaken to all that we are, our Highest Potential, as we grow into the ever-illuminating Light of Consciousness. OM, Peace, Amen...

I Know I'm Not Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:33:00 +0000

(Picture of Shiva Rea...click to enlarge.)

It's interesting to experience what's opening up in my Yoga classes. I've had this whole reconnection with my youth thing going on. I really believe Yoga opens up our connection to our youthfulness. I'm finding myself playing these songs in class simply because it feels good in the moment, so it works. I loved Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers back in the day. Recently, I've played a Tom Petty song here or there...and when I play it, or any song I feel that connection to...it feels so good that sometimes I'll sing. It's awesome.

So, I've been going through the emotional roller-coaster of life...so to speak. For the most part I find myself feeling consistently well, content, happy. But, there are moments where I realize I'm not feeling the intensity of my experience, especially given everything going on with my dad. Just today, I noticed how I've been giving almost all of my energy to another situation, but beneath the surface of everything, dwells these unfelt feelings about everything going on with my dad. It's interesting how life inevitably slows us down and makes us feel our feelings...one way or another. What's really beneath the surface of all of the stimulation/excitement we're covering everything up with? For me...it's a feeling of heaviness...when I go into the depth of the feelings I'm experiencing about my dad. I mean, there are so many feelings, it really is the full rainbow of emotions related to my father having cancer. And, it's not that I need to dwell there, but I certainly need to be conscious of what is.

But, I'm not afraid to feel it...as my first Yoga teacher said...feeling is healing. And, the Lightness shines brighter on the other side when we are authentic with ourselves, our experience.

On a lighter note...I'll be heading out to L.A. again in July for another training with Shiva called Embodying the Flow. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts in my life, over the past year, is to feel the mentoring and guidance of a true Yogic Master. She is the embodiment of Yoga. I feel her Presence guiding me all the time...and, I mean, she is fricking beautiful. Her natural beauty and Grace inspires and transforms all of those who are blessed to be connected to her. Through studying with her I've learned, as Michael Franti says in his song, that "I know I'm not alone."

And, let's see, what else. Well, I'm single again so I'm learning a lot about opening my heart, even though sometimes it's scary and painful. But, it's always worth it. The only way anything can flow is with an open, free heart... This poem by Hafiz, though, has been particularly powerful for me in those moments when I've felt the feeling of loneliness...which seems to still creep in every once and a while. So, I hope you find it meaningful to you... Peace...

Don't surrender your loneliness
So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

-Hafiz

When Lightning Strikes

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 21 May 2008 02:21:00 +0000

So, let's see...what's new...

Hmmmm... Well, I will be taking this weekend off from teaching Yoga to rest and restore. I feel like I'm doing well, given the emotional intensity of the experience I'm growing through right now with my dad. In the moments when I'm just sitting and being, like right now for the most part, I can really feel the emotional impact of what I'm experiencing.

Something amazing happened...well actually a couple of things, really. Last Wednesday night I was sitting in my bed watching the Soul Series Webcast on Oprah.com. She was talking with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist who 'suffered' from a stroke when a blood vessel exploded in her brain. I put quotations around the word suffer because it seems as though she really didn't suffer at all. In fact, the experience was profoundly enlightening and transformational for her. She remained conscious the whole time when her left hemisphere of her brain 'went out.' She has written about her profound spiritual experience in her book, A Stroke of Insight. She believes Nirvana is just a thought away...for all of us. When she had the stroke, her logical side of her brain (left hemisphere) ceased to function and only her right mind was working...this gave her the perception to know she is connected to all that is. I highly suggest watching this webcast, as my writing can not do it justice. But, it's amazing to realize that even fear is only somethig that is generated by a specific place in our brain. That, literally, there are certain cells, in the left hemisphere of the brain, that have the function of transmitting fear. Without the left side of the brain functioning, there is no fear...

While I was watching the webcast, there was a huge storm taking place. As I sat in my bed I heard thunder rumbling, but it sounded like all the lightning was very distant. All of a sudden, lightning struck the tree which is just outside my bedroom doors...literally about 10-15 feet away. I have never been this close to lightning striking in my life! It was incredibly scary...I thought my roof was going to crash in...and I really wasn't even sure what had happened at first. I mean, I knew lightning had struck something, but I didn't know what. It was fascinating because I saw this orange glow right when it happened. And, the fear, but also power, that surged through my heart was intense...unlike anything I've ever experienced. In daylight the next morning, I could see it had struck the tree. Bark was scattered all around the ground, so I saved a piece of the bark that had been struck off.

When I spoke with one of my meditation teachers the next morning, he said "That's a sign...that's the Universe telling you something." I replied to him, "Ah, ya, I know...I got it...it doesn't have to tell me again." So, what did it mean? When it happened I had been thinking about something...a situation I had been involved in that was depleting my energy...in other words, I kept giving my energy away to it. The moment the lightning struck I knew, once I got over the initial fear, that the Universe was telling me to stop thinking about it, giving energy to it, focusing on it. So, I did. I appreciate the signs, as shocking as they may be at times. Sometimes we do need that drastic of a wake-up call when we aren't listening.

So, then I was watching a video of Puppetji yesterday. This video is really hilarious. Everyone should know about Puppetji. I mean, think how much we learned from Sesame Street and from those puppets. Well, I know I did...that was one of my favorite shows. Mr. Rogers was good stuff, too. So, check this out. You will laugh...but, if you take class with me, I would appreciate it if you don't take his advice about punching your Yoga teacher. Just a request. But, also, check out how when he says "Stop it" there's thunder and lightning that rumbles. So, my conclusion is that when lightning strikes, it's the Universal sign for Stop It. As cool as it was, I think, next time, I'll do my best to listen before it has to get that loud. If I don't post before the weekend...Happy Memorial Day!

Oh, Behave!

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:51:00 +0000

You make me horny, baby...eh hem...I mean, Guru Pitka. LOL. I mean, I'm really not kidding...Mike Myers as a Guru does turn me on. Is that weird? I would definitely date him if I could. Oh well, I don't think he's available.

So, you know his production company told me if I posted something about Mike Myers' new movie, The Love Guru, where he stars as The Guru Pitka, they would forward it on to the Guru Pitka (Myers) himself. So, here it is. How will I know if he reads it though? If you really do read this, your Holiness, will you leave us a comment with some thread of your knowlege? A sutra, if you will? Shine your enlightenment upon us, we are true seekers...

My favorite part of The Guru Pitka website is the part where he has the Mini Sutras...HILARIOUS. Check out the 1st Law of Happiness: Self Knowledge. He says Mariska Hargitay, Mariska Hargitay as a mantra. So, after I first watched the website, I literally sat down to meditate and, all of a sudden, the mantra Mariska Hargitay started coming through...I was like...what the heck...are you kidding me. So funny. It was actually a pretty soothing mantra, though. So check out the website, you will laugh a lot.

And, the movie premieres June 20th. I'm planning on going with a group of people from Yoga class, and elsewhere, to see it. (Unless, of course, upon reading this, His Holiness, The Guru Pitka, is so moved that he decides to invite me to the movie premiere. ;) ) Then, I would have to humbly decline to see the movie with my friends here...and make my way to the Lotus Feet of the beloved Guru wherever the premiere is...L.A. maybe?

OK, that's enough. So, I thought I would leave you with a little excerpt from Paramahansa Yogananda's book: How to Be Happy All the Time which is similar, yet different, to The Guru Pitka's book: If You're Happy and You Know It Think Again.

"Never can I thank my teacher enough for constantly saying to me, "Learn to behave."

I discovered I could see myself reflected more clearly through others' minds, especially through my Master's unprejudiced mind, than through my own hazy understanding.

I began to associate with calm minds and to ask them how I looked from their mental perceptions, for I found there was a difference between what I thought others thought of me and what others actually thought of me in their inner minds.

It takes a lot of courage to risk a word battle, or other trouble, just for telling people their faults. That is why most people are afraid to criticize you to your face. Most people bite you behind your back and silently criticize you in their own minds.

Your intimate friends do not criticize you openly for fear of offending you; but they criticize you inwardly, as you do them. If you want to know what your friends think about you, behave perfectly and keep constantly improving yourself by being unselfish, wise, calm, meditative, fearless, sweet, sincere, courteous, methodical, true to your word, and unafraid to be firm, and your friends will be so overwhelmed by your goodness that they will think, and talk loudly, about what you are.

Learn to make yourself behave and be happy, and you will influence all the people you meet to be well behaved and happy." -Paramahansa Yogananda

"Oh, behave!" See. Mr. Myers has been enlightening us all along...

Peace...

Here Comes the Blog...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:09:00 +0000

(Picture of Randy Pausch, (not my dad.))

Little darling...here comes the blog...and I said, it's alright...

So, how is everyone out in cyberspace? OK, first I have to tell a funny story about the unlimited potential of mindlessness.

This really happened to me. Every once and a while, I imagine these "things" will stop happening, but the wheel just seems to keep turning and turning and turning, and...

So, last week in Yoga class, one of the students invited me to his 60th birthday party. He's been attending Yoga with me for the past year and a half and it's been amazing to witness each other's transformation through the self-reflecting mirror of our connection/consciousness...

I thought when he gave me the invitation he said the party was this past weekend. He actually gave me two invitations, so I figured it would be fun to bring someone with me. I meditated about it and decided to bring a friend of mine who is on one of the local television stations in Dallas. (It's funny that you know this just so you know he and I don't really know each other that well.) I know him from my appearances in Yoga segments on that station.

I thought it would be a great idea to invite him because it would open us up to a new "pathway of flow" as Shiva would say. Something different, something unusual, something out of the ordinary, i.e. box. So, the day before the party I e-mailed him and asked him if he had plans for Saturday night. He informed me he didn't, and so we made the plans to go to this party together.

Saturday night came, and he came to my house and we went to the party. When we got to the guard house, the guard seemed confused about the party we were talking about. After a few moments, she called their house to see if they were, in fact, having a party. No answer. So, she asked me, "Are you sure the party is tonight?" "Um, no." I said. So, she looks at the invitation I had handed her and she says, "It's not until May 10th." "Oh...great....thanks!" I replied.

Moral of the story. Was I embarassed? For like, one moment, which was probably one moment too long. Of course I laughed it off and pretended not to be. "Well, what do you want to do?" The funny part is, the night which I had "planned" not to be "a date" with my friend...ended up being a sort of "date" because I was mindless and didn't know "the date" of the party I was going to. Not coincidentally, it had just so happened to be his birthday the day before, and I didn't even know it. So, the party mishap, turned into a spontaneous (sahaja) birthday celebration with/for my friend. You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you find you get what you need. Amen.

We ended up grabbing a bite to eat, and then we went to this sushi restaurant in Dallas, Sushi Sapporo, gotta give it props, it was great times, and we sang karaoke. It was slightly tortorous being at a sushi restauarant considering I haven't eaten any fish since the middle of March....phhheewww...it's been a little intense. I'm learning a lot about breathing into this release.

Anyway, it was an awesome evening. I had the best time being mindless and spontaneous...I highly recommend it. Innocent mindlessness is just that...innocent. So, let your mind go...relax...breathe...do whatever you need to do to enjoy life...as long as it's in moderation most of the time. Once in a while, we're bound to slip a little, it happens. Maybe it's kind of like when we were kids...when we think we've slipped, we're actually sliding...remember that thing... Slip n' Slide? It's funny...because I loved that thing...remember? The yellow banana looking thing you put in the backyard and ran your garden hose over? Then, you would run...excuse me..."balls-to-the wall" and slide your ass off as far as you could. That was great stuff. And, the interesting thing, was I only liked it at certain places. Actually, ironically enough, one of my childhood friends who I haven't talked to in almost ten years, just reconnected with me. I liked it at his house, in his backyard. That's one of the only places I can really remember enjoying it that much. And, I think it had nohting to do with the "Slip n' Slide" it had everything to do with who I was slipping and sliding with. Wow, life is a miracle when we realize how sweet it is, the love that's been in our life since we breathed our first breath, and even before. I mean, that's been something I've been realizing...how important it is that our mother, and father, (if he happened to be there,) sent us loving energy and vibrations when we were in the womb. Some children aren't blessed with this love and affection from the moment of conception. They don't always know it in their immediate family. No wonder why Jesus taught the essential teaching of loving our neighbor as we love ourself. This is the only truth which will bring healing to the planet.

So, I have some knews to share. At first, I thought it might be a really heavy post. Then, I remembered over the past couple of day, God is so amazing. Every hardship we face is really his Grace disguised. It becomes visible to us when we accept our situation or reality. And, it requires faith to accept what we are given. When we invest our hearts in loving the One who loved us into existence, we realize that Love is eternally with us.

Jesus said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37 – 40)

And, so, I've learned I must be authentic. It can be scary to be authentic, at times, because what if people don't have your best interest at heart? And, at the same time, I believe, when we follow the teachings of Jesus, or ultimately, of Universal Law, then we are taken care of beyond our wildest dreams. It is all Good...because it is all a dream. ;)

I found out this past Monday that my father, who had his kidney removed almost two years ago,(with a tumor in it) was diagnosed with having "spots" on his lungs. I have already been enlightened by the Grace of God, his unyielding and unconditional love, in more ways than I could have ever imagined in the past 48 hours. This diagnosis is not negative news. It is the opportunity for awakening, as Eckhart Tolle talks about in A New Earth, when we accept the return movement we will all make in our life.

Have I cried? Yes, a lot. In fact, just writing this right now brings tears to my eyes and a swelling over of love and emotion in my heart . I didn't teach today at all. I couldn't. And, I'm writing this right now because I can't sleep at the moment. Yesterday, I taught three classes...miraculously...in my first two classes I was blessed with the incredible opportunity to share my experience with the class. This was one of the most healing experiences I've ever known...to be this open...this authentic...this in the moment with mySelf and with their Self.

Two years ago when my dad had his kidney removed, I was not comfortable enough with mySelf to be able to communicate openly with my father about his experience. I mean, yes, of course we talked when he was in the hospital, the day of the operation, but leading up to it, I held back, I suppose I was intimidated and scared by the whole thing.

I'm realizing one of the most healing forces available to us, beyond breath and stillness, is communion, i.e. communication with one another, from that connected place called Presence. When we are fully present, i.e. not consumed with fear, anxiety, insecurity, etc., etc. we literally open ourselves up to the Grace of God. Resist not and accept all. That reminds me of the Rumi poem which I have to post. Before I post that, I want to share something with you from Oprah. It's been incredible to witness her transformation as she's grown through this experience with reading and studying A New Earth, and sitting in Satsang with Eckhart Tolle for 10 weeks. I've watched each episode...it's incredible. She featured a short segment on today's show about Randy Pausch.

I'm sure you are familiar with Randy Pausch, a popular professor at Carnegie Mellon University. When this 47 year old husband and father of 3, learned he was dying of pancreatic cancer, Randy gave his last lecture which became an internet sensation viewed by millions around the globe. His lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" became the #1 best selling book in the United States, called, "The Last Lecture."

"I am dying soon. And, I am choosing to have fun today, tomorrow and every day I have left. Because if you lead your life the right way, the Karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you." - Randy Pausch

(Interesting, that my father, and his brother, both attended Carnegie Mellon.)

My favorite quote from this episode of Oprah today was actually by Dr. Oz. (No, I don't watch Oprah every day, just in moments of Divine timing.)

"The biggest lesson of all, for I think a lot of us who've gotten to know you through your work and the great book, is that hope is not about a good outcome... Hope is about making sense about what's going on in life. Randy, you shined a very bright light on a deep, narrow, dark ravine we have to go through at the end of our lives. That beautiful part of our human existence we often forget about. Thank you for that." - Dr. Oz

“And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” - I Corinthians 13:13

Phhheewwww....ok, I'm think I'm going to sign off for the night, before I get washed away by my tears. Thank you, Heavenly Father, both in the Manifest and Unmanifest, the Physical and Spiritual, the Eternal and Paternal, for all the blessings you bestow and have bestowed upon my life. I humbly bow to You.

Namaste...

p.s.- stay tuned for a blog about The Guru Pitka...may we each awaken to the Guru within us...

Know Thyself

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:55:00 +0000

Well, let's see...much has transformed since I last wrote about the 'wondrous' wallet episode. The breakdown of losing, and then finding, my wallet shined light on many situations in my life where I had been neglecting to listen to my intuition.

So, I've spent the last week and a half growing through these changes. What supported me greatly in going through this particular experience of loss was The Chapter 7 Webcast on Oprah.com from A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. This part is in the first 10 minutes of the webcast. If you haven't been watching these webcasts...it's time to join the awakening and listen. There are over several hundred thousand people worldwide who are participating in these weekly webcasts and experiencing amazing shifts and transformations in their lives. I have found every class to be incredibly beneficial. These webcasts have also supported me in making some of the changes I needed to make in a peaceful way, particularly with a shift in a relationship...

Here is the excerpt which was so powerful for me:

"Before you ask any other questions, first ask the most fundamental question of your life...Who am I? You are not the ego. When you become aware of the ego in you, it doesn't mean you know who you are, it means you know who you are not. But, it is through knowing who you are not that the greatest obstacle to truly knowing yourself is removed."

The best starting point is to ask, Who aren't I?

When you realize who you are not, then suddenly who you are becomes revealed to you. Who you are cannot easily be put into words, because if it could it could be answered in one simple sentence, and then everybody could repeat that answer and believe that they know who they are.

So, we start with knowing who we are not. And that begins for people, sometimes with loss...if they lose something, a valuable they had identified with, or death comes into their lives, some kind of breakdown or disaster happens...sometimes those people suddenly awaken. Some thing has been taken away from them that they had identified with for many years, that had become part of their sense of self. And, if something very fundamental that has been part of your sense of self has been removed...death, loss, someone close to you who dies, then at first of course it leads to enormous suffering and you feel as though part of you had died also.

For some people that happens even if they lose posessions, because they were so identified with their posessions that when their posessions are removed they feel there's nothing left of me. Another situation related to posessions is social position. If people fall from some high social position, then these people, it can be extremely painful if they had become totally identified either with their posessions or social position and they are suddenly faced with a kind of huge emptiness in their lives. And the question arises...I'm nobody anymore?

And this is a decisive point where they can either continue to resist and suffer, resist what has happened internally...complain about it, tell themselves a story about it, how it's all collapsed. Or, they can suddenly come to a point of acceptance of what happened. And, acceptance of the present moment. So, the thing that was so important in their lives, actually left behind...I sometimes compare it to...you look at a person's life, it's a tapestry...it consists of all kinds of things that one identifies with...and when a great loss happens it's almost as if suddently there is a huge hole in that tapestry of my life. And, that is painful when you identify with the tapestry. But, behind the tapestry there is a Light that shines through. Because, without the Light there wouldn't be anything at all. That's why you can even see your life. Without the Light of Consciousness...nothing would be.

I'm using a kind of analogy...so when you don't resist...then this hole that's suddenly appeared in this tapestry of your life...there's a light that shines through that. There's suddently a peace that comes when the emptiness, that is left behind by the form that has dissolved, is not resisted internally. And, then through that empty space there comes what the Bible calls...the peace that passes all understanding. Because you can't explain suddenly...and people have reported that this has happened to them. They lost...sometimes in some cases...everything...they suffered at first...and then suddenly an inner shift happened. They accepted.

Believe in the Unbelievable

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:21:00 +0000

In God We Trust...

It's been quite the week. Not only was my wallet lost last weekend, it was amazingly returned to me this past Wednesday with everything in it. I learned it is possible to be a little too mindless. If I told you what I was carrying around with me in my wallet you would think I'd 'lost' it...(my mind, that is.) Not only was there a significant amount of cash in it, but a paycheck, two credit cards, a debit card, my social security card, my checking and saving account numbers written down, gift cards from several different stores, and oh ya, my driver's license...

So, to stay the event was stressful, is an understatement. Of course, it only illuminated, as I wrote in the previous post, all of the other situations in my life where I have been being unconscious. Unconsciousness exists anytime we've been prompted to wake up, but continue to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. If I look back, I realize my intuition suggested to not keep my Social Security card with me, and it definitely urged me to not carry that much cash. (And, it has guided me to transform certain relationships that have needed to change for their benefit and mine.) As I mentioned several posts back, when I attended Dharma Mittra last month he Highly suggested we become compassionate vegetarians to rapidly accelerate our spiritual growth. He suggested giving up all meat, (including fish), for a month to experience the impact it would make. He said if we do not eat meat, we will clear our psychic channels and awaken Divine perception/intuition. I don't think he meant in just a month, but, that it is possible to become that intuitive. The psychic channels are the Nadis, the intricate energetic pathways of our energetic body. You might think of the Nadis as being as intricate as the nervous system and the complex webbing of veins throughout the physical body.

Dharma's message is about having direct experience. Try it and see. So, I made it one month without fish. (I have not eaten meat, chicken or pork since 2003.) It's been intense, yet incredible. I literally felt a mourning when I stopped eating fish. I felt myself grieving letting go of the enjoyment that I derived from this food. I mean, I love sushi. It's one of my favorite foods. I knew it was going to have an impact in all aspects of my life. I haven't yet decided how it will look for me. When I was in California I met a lady who called herself a receivatarian. She doesn't eat meat, but if she goes to a friend or family member's house who is serving meat, she will eat it. Not that I would eat the meat, but I like this philosophy of not being too rigid and serious about the whole thing.

Interestingly, after losing my wallet on Friday night, I had a dream the same night that it was returned to me. When I woke up Saturday morning, there were a few moments when I wondered if maybe I had just dreamt losing it. I went out to my car thinking, "Surely, I just left it in my car and didn't see it last night." But, no wallet. I accepted the loss. I said to God and the Universe that if the person who had my wallet needed the cash, I wanted them to have it. All I hoped for was to have my articles returned to me, including the 9 digit number attached to my identity. So, I chose not to believe in the dream, and instead, to accept the reality of the moment. I was afraid of wishful thinking and then being disappointed, again, if it didn't come back.

Well, Wednesday morning, I received a call from my health insurance company, oh ya, my health insurance cards were in there, too. "We were wondering if you lost a wallet." I replied, "What, oh my gosh, are you kidding me?!!?" They proceeded to give me the gentleman's name and phone numbers who had found it. Before I hung up the phone I said, "I love you guys!... I love Dallas!" The lady just laughed and hung up the phone. I called the gentleman who had found it lying in a gutter the next night. I don't even know how he saw it because the wallet is black. He said he had been trying to contact me since Sunday. He called my gym, but they had not contacted me. Then, he called my credit card companies and found out I had canceled the cards. He said he was relieved because he knew I was still alive. Then, finally my health insurance company got a hold of me.

I said to him, "Well, the cash is gone, right?" "No," he said, "It's all here." "How did you see it?" I asked him. "I don't know," he said. "I just see things, I'm weird like that."

So here's a little of what I have learned:

1) Listen, trust, and follow your Intuition.
2) Pray, a lot.
3) Do not keep anything you would be sad to lose in your wallet.
4) Surrender and accept the lessons there are to learn in any situation, pleasant or upleasant.
5) Believe in Goodness and be open to the Unbelievable.
6) Be receptive to God's Grace. (that's a Dharma quote)

Here's an amazing poem I have to share with you. I found this book when I was in L.A. for Yoga training with Shiva. The book is called The Gift Poems by Hafiz.

Troubled

Troubled?
Then stay with me, for I'm not.

Lonely?
A thousand naked amorous ones dwell in ancient caves
Beneath my eyelids.

Riches?
Here's a pick,
My whole body is an emerald that begs,
"Take me."

Write all that worries you on a piece of parchment;
Offer it to God.
Even from the distance of a millennium

I can lean the flame in my heart
Into your life

And turn
All that frightens you
Into holy
Incense
Ash.

Infinite blessings...Namaste!

Dancing with the Divine

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:05:00 +0000

There's really only two ways to approach experiences in life...you can either let them bring you down or you can let them lift you up.

I would like to recite the quote from my previous post:

"Allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it.
You will find you dance with everything." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This was the quote that was at the top of the e-mail Shiva sent to us prior to the training. The last thing she wrote in the e-mail was:

"Rest well before coming to the intensive and we will enter the Dancing Universe together."

For the Waves,

Shiva"

A couple of the things Shiva asked us to reflect upon is when our Dance first went "underground." In other words, when we stopped letting ourselves be free. Or, when we stopped really enjoying and savoring the experience of movement, literally, the sensational experience of just being in our bodies. Just observe any child and it is obvious they experience this joy...

"To have a human form is a joyful thing."

Chuang Tzu (c.360 BC - c. 275 BC)

And, so, when did my dance first go underground? As a child, all forms of movement I learned were classical. I studied ballet and took gymnastics for 10 years. I loved these practices but neither one was totally liberating, there was something constricting and confining with both. Anytime I experienced dancing, (middle school/high school dances, college parties (unless I had consumed alcohol), or going to clubs) I never felt like I could be totally free in the movement. I always felt uncomfortable experiencing the sensual aspect of the movement. When I trace my experience back, I'm aware of where this shame came from as a young child, when I first developed the feeling that being sensual was "bad." I have talked about my experience at a young age with incest. When my mother discovered that it was happening she said, "God doesn't approve of that." I do not fault her for saying this, there's no way she would have realized the impact of these words. But, most definitely I have carried this shameful feeling with me about being sensual and sexual throughout my life. So, this is one of the reasons why Yoga Trance Dance has been such a healing experience. Of course we all have a dance that went underground, and for different reasons. It certainly isn't just because of shame. Just be aware, when's the last time you moved, I mean really moved and danced, in a group of people, without consuming any alcohol or artifical substances beforehand, and were totally liberated and free, not self-conscious at all? Perhaps at a wedding, but how often do those happen? In fact I remember a student telling me recently she had such an amazing time because she had danced her butt off at a wedding. So, if dancing makes us feel so good, why don't we do it more often? Hmmmmm...

I can not even believe I'm writing these words, but my wallet was lost, or stolen, last night. I suppose I'm getting to experience the self-fulfilling prophecy of what I wrote in a previous post about "life just continuing to come up, again and again." And, I feel a lot of this still has to do with changes I am growing through from the relatively recent separation. So, what do I make of all this? Well, here it is from a True Yogic perspective.

Anytime we lose something or something is taken involuntarily from us, it brings forth an emotional reaction. The reaction I felt was intense anger from a feeling of being violated. Whatever our emotional reaction is to any challenging situation, we can surmise these emotions are surfacing in us for a reason. There's a good chance if you look closely, you will see you've been stuffing your feelings about other experiences in your life, not honoring yourself in some way, or accepting situations which are not healthy/ideal for you. This is why the emotional reaction to the situation we are faced with is so strong, because the fuse has been slowly burning beforehand. We can only accept experiences which do not honor ourself for so long. Anytime we continue to abuse, or compromise, ourself by accepting an unhealthy situation, we can also surmise we are addicted to the situation in some way. Inevitably, the Universe will always give us a lesson, (if we do not learn it fully first on our own), that teaches us and reveals to us fully, (often in a very uncomfortable way), what is not working in our life. In other words, how we are not honoring ourselves in any given situation.

My intuition has been softly whispering to me for a long time about a couple of different situations I've needed to let myself let go of and change. Of course, after returning from the training, I knew I could no longer get away with the same behavior, to do so, would only inflict pain on myself, and therefore in some way, on others. So, I've been slowly adjusting into these shifts I've known I needed to make. When I lost my wallet, I felt really angry, taken advantage of. As Shiva would say, any emotion can be healing, even intense anger or frustration, etc. Emotions are energy in motion. They bring about change. It's scary to let go, especially of a wallet with all of our personal materials in it. At the same time, I know this letting go I'm experiencing is serving a Higher Purpose, and ultimately, will be healing and beneficial. (It doesn't mean I still don't experience moments of frustration, violation and anger, mixed with sadness. But, these emotions have been buried, and have needed to surface and be felt, so that true healing can take place.)

When I was at the training, I really began to experience what it means to Dance with the Universe. To not resist anything which comes our way, but rather, to learn how to flow with everything. To see we are being moved and danced by the great Dancer, and this energy that's igniting us and everything has been moving us before we even breathed our first breath. When I Trance Danced I really began to feel free, and in this freedom, I noticed there was no mental resistance, but rather, only the urge to liberate myself into the feeling deeper and deeper. Several times I experienced God's sensual current. As Shiva said, "Of course God makes love, how do you think all of us got here?" Whatever this Energy is, it is the energy of Creation and so this pulsation flows in everything. To not let ourselves experience this sensual current is to cut ourselves off in some way from feeling Its Flow. It's understandable how Yoga Trance Dance would be a healing experience for anyone who struggles with shame.

But, again, there are so many ways we can liberate ourselves from that which binds us through the flow of movement. We talked about what our insecurities about dancing are at the training. For some, it was feeling inappropriate to feel sensual. Many of us felt fears about not looking good, or feeling awkward, as one guy said, "what if I do something dorky." It is safe to say pretty much all of us have a fear of being seen, having ourselves be fully revealed/exposed. Some of the men expressed fears about not feeling masculine if they let themselves surrender to the Flow so much. In reality, masculinity can only be realized through acceptance of its opposite energy, which is the feminine. This, of course, is the entire Yin/Yang or Ha(Solar)Tha(Lunar) perspective of all Eastern movement systems.

And, anything which happens in our life is an experience we can detest or dance with. Shiva would say, "Dance with even the most mundane of experiences in your life." Like when you're at the DMV getting your license, can you dance in that situation? Or, maybe when you're standing in a long line at the post office, or filing your taxes. How can you experience the Divine Dance, the mysterious unfolding of the Universe in these moments? We're always being danced, it's our choice whether or not we seek to hear, flow and be guided by the music. We can realize the great comedy that is in any tragedy. Because, in deed, everything can be seen as lila, a Divine game. I suppose I prefer to relate to it now, as a dance, rather than a game. Just move and let yourself be moved and let whatever unfolds bring you deeper into the extraordinary Nature of the Dancing Universe. So, I'm about ready to turn in for the night. I will definitely be back soon. Before I go, this poem by the mystic poet, Hafiz, sums up everything I've written in an incredibly beautiful way:

Cast All Your Votes for Dancing

I know the voice of depression
Still calls to you.

I know those habits that can ruin your life
Still send their invitations.

But you are with the Friend now
And look so much stronger.

You can stay that way
And even bloom!

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun
From your prayers and work and music
And from your companions' beautiful laughter.

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun
From the sacred hands and glance of your Beloved
And, my dear,
From the most insignificant movements
Of your own holy body.

Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins
That may buy you just a moment of pleasure,
But then drag you for days
Like a broken man
Behind a farting camel.

You are with the Friend now.
Learn what actions of yours delight Him,
What actions of yours bring freedom
And Love.

Whenever you say God's name, dear pilgrim,
My ears wish my head was missing
So they could finally kiss each other
And applaud all your nourishing wisdom!

O keep squeezing drops of the Sun
From your prayers and work and music
And from your companions' beautiful laughter

And from the most insignificant movements
Of your own holy body.

Now, sweet one,
Be wise.
Cast all your votes for Dancing! - Hafiz

p.s.-Ok, the farting camel part is a bit descriptive, but it gets the point across.

California Dreamin...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:52:00 +0000

Namaste!

I'm back from Yoga Trance Dance with Shiva Rea. It was incredible...amazing...so many powerful awakenings, insights and explorations into the great Dance of Life and the great Dancer who is moving me.

One of the most powerful experiences of the training was getting to go through a totally sahaja (spontaneous) Yoga practice. A spontaneous Yoga practice is a practice guided only by the breath (Prana). In other words, when we are practicing Yoga we often adhere to some guidelines that have been taught to us. We move according to how other people have instructed us to move. In sahaja yoga, the practice is to move totally spontaneously and freely, without reservation or limitation. There is no prescribed structure, only to totally listen to your body and your guiding energy. There is no 'proper' pose to begin in and no necessary way of sequencing the flow of the poses. Most likely, one wouldn't even go through traditional Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) in a sahaja practice. I hope you get to experience this liberating flow at some point in your Yoga journey. One of the greatest benefits of flowing this way is we let go of old processes, (ways of doing things, moving, etc.) and, by being in this place of discovery and exploration, we begin to perceive new ways of opening, growing, moving, being, relating, to our practice, our body, ourselves and our life. As Shiva Rea would say, new pathways of Flow emerge...

One of the other powerful parts of the training was when she talked to us about becoming conscious of the places in our life where we need to let go of and release that which is not serving us. We are at a place of energetic change and transformation as we complete the third week of the Spring Season/cycle. Spring is a time of new beginnings, and, for these positive changes to unfold we most let go to allow space for this growth in our life. Often our hands are holding on tight to something and if we would just allow ourselves to release it, we would find what fills its space to be lighter and brighter, freeing us to experience the unbounded essence/Consciousness of Life and the Life energy within our own Self.

And, of course we Trance Danced! Actually, we experienced three Trance Dances, two led by Shiva Rea, and one led by all of the students in the training. I'm looking forward to holding the first ever Yoga Trance Dance in Dallas! It's looking like it's going to be Friday, May 23rd from 8-10 pm at exhale dallas. I'll keep you posted as details unfold.

I feel so blessed to have found such an incredibly inspiring teacher who can be such a powerful river guide (as Shiva would call herself) to lead me along on this Yoga journey. One of the other gifts I get to experience, when I travel to Venice, CA for trainings with Shiva, is visiting, meditating and attending church service at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California. The Lake Shrine was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1950. It is one of the most beautiful places, not only aesthetically with lush landscaping and picturesque surroundings, but it vibrates spiritually at one of the highest levels I have ever experienced. I love it there, it fills my spirit unlike anywhere else.

So the months ahead in Spring will be filled with wonder as the journey continues to unfold in an always mysterious, and never short of, miraculous way. I can already feel a transformation, just in how I experience my Yoga practice. I can only imagine all the other changes this transformation will give birth to as I breathe into these new spaces being guided by the Intelligence of my own breath.

p.s.-I have to share this quote with you I stumbled upon while searching for music on iTunes:
"Stop trying to answer the "How" in life and focus more on enjoying the "Now" in life."

This, too, will pass...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:47:00 +0000

"Allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it.
You will find you dance with everything." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Writing the previous post was incredibly therapeutic... I was able to cry after I shared about my uncle. It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly beneficial writing is. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to write and express and to feel a connection to you through this blog.

I am currently in the process of getting ready physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually for Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance Teacher Training. After completing the training, I will be able to lead groups in Yoga Trance Dance, which is one of the most liberating experiences I've gone through since beginning the practice of Yoga...

I intend to eat all raw food while I am away and to not drink any alcohol, as well. As I grow in my practice, I am finding I desire alcohol less and less. It almost always impacts the way I feel in my practice and tends to cause a lot of bloating in the belly. When I consume alcohol, I feel like I retain so much water, too, and it just makes moving through the poses more difficult. Of course, anything in moderation is ok, but I prefer to not drink during the week. If I do drink, it is on the weekends and in smaller and smaller amounts all the time.

One of the other preparations I am going through is getting a colonic. I had my first one today and my second one will be tomorrow. I hope this is not t.m.i.-too much information. This is a practice Dharma highly recommends. He referred to the importance of cleansing the colon many times. He recommends drinking salt water to cleanse the colon, but getting a colonic is also effective. This has been a recurring theme since I began studying the practice of Yoga and wellness in 2001. Even Anthony Robbins advocates colonics and cleansing the colon as the most powerful prevention for keeping the body free of disease (other than our diet, of course.) Dharma expressed the same belief.

So, I may not post until I return from my training next Monday. In the meantime, I do want to share another passage from A New Earth.

This, too, will pass. What is it about these simple words that makes them so powerful? Looking at it superficially, it would seem while those words may provide some comfort in a bad situation, they would also diminish the enjoyment of the good things in life. "Don't be too happy, because it won't last." This seems to be what they are saying when applied to a situation that is perceived as good.

These words are not telling you that you should not enjoy the good in your life, nor are they merely meant to provide some comfort in times of suffering. They have a deeper purpose: to make you aware of the fleetingness of every situation, which is due to the transience of all forms-good or bad. When you become aware of the transience of all forms, your attachment to them lessens, and you disidentify from them to some extent. Being detached does not mean that you cannot enjoy the good the word has to offer. In fact, you enjoy it more. Once you see and accept the transience of all things and the inevitability of change, you can enjoy the pleasures of the world while they last without fear or loss or anxiety about the future.

The recognition This, too, will pass brings detachment and with detachment another dimension comes into your life-inner space. Through detachment, as well as nonjudgment and inner nonresistance, you gain access to that dimension.

When you are no longer totally identified with forms, consciousness-who you are-becomes freed from its imprisonment in form. This freedom is the arising of inner space. It comes as a stillness, a subtle peace deep within you, even in the face of something seemingly bad. This, too, will pass. Suddenly, there is a space around the event. There is also space around the emotional highs and lows, even around pain. And above all, there is a space between your thoughts. And from that space emanates a peace that is not "of this world," because this world is form, and the peace is space. This is the peace of God.

Namaste!

The Breath of Change

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:31:00 +0000

I feel like I need to cry. Have you ever had that feeling where there's intense happiness and sadness simultaneously? And, because of that, it feels like neither one can release fully?

I feel as though I've been emotionally overwhelmed recently. Or, maybe I'm just ready to breath into the full intensity of life and everything there is to feel. I want to share something with you from A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. I love that I just turned exactly to the page I wanted to find:

"Someone recently showed me the annual prospectus of a large spiritual organization. When I looked through it, I was impressed by the wide choices of interesting seminars and workshops. It reminded me of a smorgasbord, one of those Scandinavian buffets where you can take your pick from a huge variety of enticing dishes. The person asked me whether I could recommend one or two courses. "I don't know," I said. "They all look so interesting. But I do know this," I added. "Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able, whenever you remember. Do that for one year, and it will be more powerfully transformative than attending all of these courses. And it's free." - A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle...

So, the last few days when I've sat in meditation I've noticed my breath has been uneven and constricted. I've felt tension in my chest and restlessness in my mind. Observing my breath has enlightened me to the changes I need to make to find my alignment with myself, my Truth.

"The Lord said:

The life force (prana) verily is one's greatest friend; the life force verily is one's greatest companion. O beautiful one, there is no greater kinsman than the life force; indeed there is none." - Shiva-Svarodaya

I believe our breath, prana, can become constricted for many reasons. Perhaps, we are going through, or have gone through, an intense experience and we are not fully feeling the emotions connected to that experience. Or, the breath can also become constricted anytime we experiencing immense growth, especially emotionally and spiritually. The breath can also become uneven when we are not following our Truth. In other words, when we know what we need to be doing, but we are not doing it, so we are in conflict with our Self.

Constricted, shallow breathing is not a bad thing. It's only a problem when we are unconscious of it. Once we become conscious of our breath, then we can allow it to reveal to us where the balance, opening, release or change needs to take place in our Self.

So, as I sat the past couple of days in a very distracted meditation, I had no choice but to be with my breath and let it reveal to me what I needed to see about myself. And, it did. One of the awarenesses I had is I haven't been spending enough time taking care of and nurturing myself. Any 'free time' I've had recently, I've committed to spending with other people. I love people, so it's easy for me to find myself in this situation. After feeling how uneven and tense my breath was, I have resolved to take better care of, and spend more quality time, with me.

I'm really realizing the truth of what Eckhart is talking about. We can literally be enlightened about ourselves just by observing the breath. It makes so much sense, but my guess is very few of us are aware of it very often.

"Being aware of your breath forces you into the present moment-the key to all inner transformation. Whenever you are conscious of the breath, you are absolutely present. You may also notice that you cannot think and be aware of your breathing. Conscious breathing stops your mind. But far from being in a trance or half asleep, you are fully awake and highly alert. You are not falling below thinking, but rising above it." - A New Earth

Perhaps, feeling emotionally overwhelmed recently has had something to do with my breath becoming constricted and needing to spend more time with Self. As I mentioned, there are so many wonderful things unfolding on the horizon. Next Wednesday I leave for Yoga Trance Dance training with Shiva Rea in Venice, California. When my mentor with Shiva Rea's Teacher Training Progam was talking to me she said, "Ya, that training will definitely have you shed some layers of your skin." In other words, it will be a powerful experience to liberate Self and dissolve away the limitations,constraints and insecurities of the mind.

And, the Summer Solstice Yoga Retreat is really coming together. I can feel the life-enhancing power this retreat is going to have for all of us who are there. It's already opening up my life, and having me grow, in positive ways just in the preparation of putting it together.

Mixed in with all of this, though, is a loss I've been going through on a personal level. My dearest Uncle passed away two weeks ago today. Some of you are aware of this because I took time off from teaching (one day) to feel the pain, and grieve, this loss. But, the reality is, I still feel it. I had no idea it would have such an impact on me. Have you ever had that happen? Not realize fully the depth of how much you loved someone until they are gone? My Uncle lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and in the past five years I haven't seen him and my aunt. Life became so busy, I was working hard to get on my own two feet, and trips to visit them didn't seem like a viable possibility financially. In other words, life came up. What I know now, that I didn't know in my twenties, is life come's up and keeps coming up. There is no perfect time, or a time when everything is resolved. So, we need to make the most of the moment we are given.

And, I realize I do not fully have closure. So, part of me sharing this with you is me creating that. It came up for me to share with some of you in class that I was experiencing this loss, but I didn't know if it would be necessary for me to talk about it. So, I held it back. Now, I know I at least need to open myself up and share...not for sympathy, just so my heart can release, let go and be in an open space. I wish I could have seen him one more time. He was such an incredible person. He was absolutely hilarious, fun-loving... one of the most loving and generous people I've ever known. He treated every human being as his equal and would make everyone he met laugh. (Not to mention, he was brilliant, a Structural Engineer and had a Masters Degree from Carnegie Mellon.) One of the qualities I admired most about him was that he was completely unconcerned by what people thought about him. I don't think it even occurred to him to worry about this. It's such a refreshing way of Being. How many of us can claim that? It seems most of us are deeply preoccupied with what people think. We can all learn something from Uncle Jack. Just be yourself. Don't worry about what people think about you. Don't even spend one moment thinking about it. Because it doesn't matter...all that really matters is what YOU feel about yourself. His carefree Spirit will stay with me in my heart and I am so grateful my heart was blessed to know him and love him...a true teacher, guru (remover of darkness/ignorance), was with me all my life and I didn't even know it or realize all the lessons he was teaching me until he passed. Namaste, Uncle Jack...I love you.

Spring is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:34:00 +0000

Happy Spring and Easter! It's been way too long since I last posted. Things have been effulgent. As many of you know, I sent out the Spring Edition of the True Yoga Newsletter last week. I'm really looking forward to the Summer Solstice Yoga Retreat I am leading in the breath'giving' Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. I can feel the energy and momentum building for an intensely positive, life-enhancing experience for all of us who will join together this summer. We specifically scheduled the retreat to take place during June 21st (The Summer Solstice) as this is an immensely powerful time of year, especially this year. We are awakening to a heightened Consciousness and it will be amazing to celebrate this transformation together in the Seasons, and in ourSelves, in such an uplifting atmosphere...

Last weekend's workshop with Dharma Mittra was an incredibly enlightening experience. Because of his guidance, I have given up eating fish and am committing to this for a month. I have not eaten meat for several years, but have continued to eat fish. He spoke to us about the importance of being a compassionate vegetarian and said if we choose this practice, we will drastically accelerate our spiritual growth. He said to try it for a month and see what happens. He says the only way to know is through direct experience. This pertains to anything, including knowing God through meditation. So, I figured it would be best to not wait to find out if there is Truth in his teachings and to make the change NOW. I've just finished week one. Not sure if I can expand on any radical transformations in my spiritual evolution at this point, but, it does feel I am listening to the Will, and therefore, I feel in alignment with my Highest Self.

Here is a video of Dharma. I love the way he speaks, his eloquence, and his beautiful accent. He is so poised and graceful. I look forwad to sharing more with you in the weeks ahead as I intend to post regularly again now that the newsletter has been released.

May your Spring and Spirit be filled with the ever-renewing Joy of the One who infinitely renews all things.

Enlightening Times

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:23:00 +0000

I just finished a weekend workshop with Master Yogi, Dharma Mittra. I feel blessed to have been able to be in his Presence. There are no accidents. When our time aligns...our time aligns. I have much to share about my experience with this True Yogi. It's been a while since I last wrote. Things have been effulgent as we complete the cycle of Winter and awaken to the birth of Spring this Thursday, March 22nd. I am working on releasing the Spring edition of the True Yoga Newsletter. If you do not receive the newsletter, you may sign up for it online here. Once I send it out, I will be back in the flow with sharing all my Yoga news with you on the True Yoga Blog...

Until then, I was asked if I would post this information about a new book for sharing Yoga with toddlers and pre-schoolers. It's so wonderful to see children opening up to the benefits of Yoga. There was a young girl who attended one of the sessions with Dharma this weekend. How amazing to begin a Yoga practice at such a young age!

Named the “Baby Yoga Expert” by Newsweek, Helen Garabedian, a certified yoga instructor and founder of Itsy Bitsy Yoga, offers an illustrated guide to simple, health-enhancing yoga sequences for 2- to 5- year olds.

Yoga can help your child have:

● Fewer tantrums
● Better and longer sleep
● Increased motor coordination
● Improved listening and ability to follow directions
● Better self-expression
● Higher self-esteem
● Easier relaxation
● A healthy and physically fit lifestyle

Praise for Itsy Bitsy Yoga:

“Many adorable and loving ways for parents and young children to spend quality time—interacting and learning—together. Fun, creative yoga movements coupled with songs, games and say n’ play encourage healthy times for moms and tots!”—Marsha Wenig, Founder, YogaKids®

To learn more about the book and its author visit:

itsybitsyyoga.com