True Yoga Blog

The World Keeps Turnin'

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:39:00 +0000

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

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

And, also:

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

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

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

And, he offers us this affirmation:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The world keeps turnin'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om Namah Shivaya Om

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

The Mule Got Drunk and Lost in Heaven

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

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

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

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

There is a kind of adultery
That God encourages:

Your spirit needs to leave the bed
Of fear.

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

Women need
To utilize their superior intelligence
About love

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

Sometimes a poem happens like this one:

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

And lost in
Heaven.-Hafiz

Thank you for reading the True Yoga Blog. :)

The Presence Process-Sat Nam

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:51:00 +0000

Cheerio...

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

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

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

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

Sat Nam

Stay Close To Those Sounds

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

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

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

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

Everything in this world is
Helplessly reeling.

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

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

I will sing it this way,

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

How Do I Listen?

How

Do I

Listen to Others?

As if everyone were my Master

Speaking to me

His

Cherished

Last

Words.
-Hafiz

A Great Need

Out

Of a great need

We are all holding hands

And climbing.

Not loving is a letting go.

Listen,

The terrain around here

Is

Far too

Dangerous

For

That.
-Hafiz

No Conflict

No

Conflict

When the flute is playing

For then I see every movement emanates

From God's

Holy

Dance.
-Hafiz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sat

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

but onward to Nam.

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

And the active interpretation of Sat Nam emerges.

Love Is the Only Prayer~OM

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Well, hello...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can find more of Rumi's quotes here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om namah shivaya gurave~

Looking Out My Back Door

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:49:00 +0000

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

Looking Out My Back Door by Creedence Clearwater Revival

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

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

CHORUS

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

CHORUS

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

CHORUS

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

CHORUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om Namah Shivaya~

Wahe!

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:35:00 +0000

Hello...

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

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

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

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

Psalm 46:10 (King James Version)

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

One of my favorite invocations is:

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

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

Nishprapanchaya Shantaya
Who is always present and full of peace.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shiva Rea Sankalpa-Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:20:00 +0000

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

Wow...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om shanti, friends.

Infinite blessings to each and everyone of us.

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

Merry Christmas Solstice

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:20:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rewards For Clear Thinking

Think about this for a second:

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

(Even before you were born)

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

With the precision and care
No artist ever could.

Think about this for a moment:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No Place Like exhale for Holiday Yoga!

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:36:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bursting to Blog...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:21:00 +0000

(Please click on picture to enlarge and read.)

1 Corinthians 13:

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

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

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

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

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

In that instant of no-time, she says,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah and Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:22:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

Here is a powerful quote from Parmahansa Yogananda.

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

I Am Awake

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:33:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sri Ramakrishna

Pranic Realization

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:33:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

I will be back soon. Om~

Going with the Pranic Flow

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:37:00 +0000

(Picture of Neal Donald Walsch)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May our intelligence be guided by Divine Light and wisdom.

Ironyogini

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:45:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just Breathe

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:34:00 +0000

(Picture of Rod Stryker teaching)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om shanti :)

Forward Fearlessly

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:07:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This following excerpt is from the first chapter entitled:

The Excellence of Bodhichitta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moon Cycles and World Cycles

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:42:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Yugas, or World Cycles

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

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

The following passage was written by Paramahansa Yogananda himself.

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

Dwapara Yuga, The Present Cycle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spiritualization

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:29:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-To Let Myself Go, Ane Brun

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

If God Wills

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:33:00 +0000

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

Namaste~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marriage fills one with energy.
Another it drains.

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

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

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

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

You think this is preachy doubletalk?

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

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

True Thai Massage

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:44:00 +0000

(Thai Massage with Chock and Rocie)

I'm back sooner rather than later. As I've grown through these challenging, and yet, positive changes, it's allowed me more time and energy to focus on what matters most. It's interesting how any unhealthy relationship, whether it's to food or anything else, drains us rather than replenishes us with Life Force. That's why true Yogis who have been been practicing for many years can be more energetically alive and charged than a person who is considerably younger in years. It's instantaneously obvious in their aura they are making the right choices in their life and aligning with what's best for them. In other words, in reference to my last post, they are 'being the change they wish to see in the world.'...

Some great news! Chock Petchprom, who is originally from Thailand and lives in Norman, OK with, Rocie, his wife of 40 years, will be coming to Dallas the weekend of Juy 25 and 26th from 9 - 1 pm to offer group Thai Massage, $60/person for 30-45 minutes of massage. If you are interested in receiving the best Thai Massage ever, you can e-mail me and I will add you to the list of participants if you would like to take part in this experience. Chock and Rocie are, most likely, moving to Thailand in a couple of months, so this opportunity may not come again for some while. They have 4 beautiful children who live in different cities in the U.S., but they will probably not return back to visit until next summer. The interesting thing about Chock, is he has his M.B.A. and worked in corporate America for over thirty years. As a child growing up in Thailand, he learned Thai Massage from monks and would give it to his mother. In the last 6 years, since he's been retired, he has dedicated himself to deepening his studies of Thai Massage. He knows more than anyone I know about the meridians and what they are connected to physically in the body. If there are certain issues that need to be addressed, he can discover where the body needs healing, or a releasing of blockages, through his intuitive sense of touch. The bodywork I received from him was, perhaps, the most healing treatment I have ever had. I hope you get to experience his gifted and incredibly healing touch.

What else has been going on? I've been reflecting on the True Yoga acronym that Truth Resides Universally in Everyone and on Gandhi's teaching that Truth is God and God is Truth. (And, of course it was the Black Eyed Peas who said, If you never know Truth then you never know Love.) We could take this one step further. What is more honorable than to be truthful in one's thoughts, words and actions? Truthfulness is one of the Yamas (the great universal vows that are not limited by class, creed, time or circumstance) in the eight-limbed path of Yoga, which is the path prescribed by the great sage, Patanjali, also known as the father of Yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a must-read for any true spiritual aspirant, and the eight-limbed path when followed and practiced earnestly, produces success in Yoga, the union of the ego with the soul, or the union of Atman (individual Spirit) with Brahman (Universal Spirit/God). It is also said that it is the yoking of individual will with The Will. To learn more about the eight-limbed path check out this site.

So, the Yamas are the guidelines for how we interact with the outer world, the social disciplines to guide us in our relationships with others, and one of them is Satya, truthfulness. Without truthfulness, life does not work. I love what Patanjli says about truthfulness. He describes it as: "To be in harmony with mind, word and action, to conduct speech and mind according to truth, to express through speech and to retain it in the intellect what has been seen, understood or heard." A perfectly truthful person is he who expresses in his speech exactly what he thinks in his mind and in the end acts according to it."

I think a lot of times what keeps us from being truthful is the fear of losing something. Maybe this somehow got instilled in us as a child. I can remember if I misbehaved in some way, as a child, sometimes, something would be taken away from me. So, I am practicing being truthful in my relationsihps, about my thoughts and feelings, even if I get a little scared that the person I'm being totally truthful and open with might not like what I have to say. But, what's interesting, is it's amazing how liberating being completely honest about our thoughts and feelings really is.

Also, if you like, check back to this post, because I'm going to post a poem here, as well, something by Rumi. Om shanti!

The Yogi Magician

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Sometimes, as Shiva would say, life comes up. I've been intending to update the blog for over a week, but more recently, it was difficult to find the time to sit down and write. I'm hoping I'll be able to find more time now so I can update the True Yoga Blog more often. I've been growing through some pretty major changes, as I'm sure we all have in our own way. It's interesting how our Yoga practice naturally purifies our life (tapas) of our unhealthy relationships to anything and anyone so we can have more time to invest our energy where it needs to be invested, in that which is going to serve and strengthen, not only us, but everyone around us. Each one of us is a microcosm of the macrocosm and the first place to look, when seeking to awaken positive changes in our life, is within our very own Self.

Gandhi said it best...Be the change you wish to see in the world. So, that's what I've been practicing being. And, it is a practice, we are not supposed to be perfect at it. It requires a lot of love, compassion and forgiveness of ourself and others along the way, but it's an enriching journey, indeed.

This weekend I had an amazing opportunity. A fellow Yogi friend of mine and I drove up to Norman, Oklahoma to study with one of the most developed Yoga practitioners in our country, Andrew Eppler. (pictured above) I was just browsing around on his website and found this passage which he wrote about Ashtanga Yoga, which is his primary practice. I love what he has to say, it speaks to what I was just writing about in the beginning of this post...

"What is the purpose of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga? An Indian teacher might say something like "To unite common soul with super soul." The wisdom of Sri Pattabhi Jois's statement "Do your practice and all is coming" always makes me smile. It is difficult to argue with these kinds of statements, but for the Western mind they do leave some room to wonder.

Not all, but most people in the west discover yoga through the practice of asana or yoga postures. The yogic practices work quickly to make a person feel better. Kept up for any length of time Ashtanga Yoga will produce dramatic results in our bodies. After this there is a natural curiosity that leads us to look further into yoga. At this stage most people begin to read some of the classical literature about yoga and perhaps experiment with meditation and the various sitting practices. What does it mean to stop the fluctuations of the mind? Is this the same thing as contemplating one's navel??? Maybe!

From my own experience, and from lengthy discussion with my teachers and students, I have concluded that it means creating an internal, mental and emotional environment that is happy and stable. This can only be done by taking a deep look into our selves, our lives, and our position in life. We have to determine what sort of views we are going to hold on life and the nature of the world, and what we want. No small task! Whatever grasp we have on these big questions, it will be challenged. But with no grasp at all, it is not possible to be on a firm foundation that does not fluctuate. That means we have to work on it. We have to cultivate our views on life and think deeply.

By practicing the various yogic disciplines we can develop a stronger, more stable nervous system. We can also gain a more integrated, well thought out view of ourselves and what we want to do. Things are certain to happen in life that none of us are prepared for. In these moments we can see exactly what sort of spiritual practice we really have, and how much of it was only an idea. Efforts to create health and vitality in the body help us in ways that at first may be too subtle to perceive, but later this becomes very clear. Time spent improving our physical health, in meditation reflecting on ones feelings and impressions, controlling the unstable nature of the mind by cultivating the ability to concentrate- all of these things together can greatly improve our mental health and inner stability. Asana practice creates physiological changes which make the deeper, internal practices more accessible. With this vehicle we can reach the other stages.

I have noticed that my teachers are all very strong people emotionally and psychologically. These are the people that I have admired the most in my life. They are not easily upset or thrown off balance. They are capable of controlling their emotions, yet at the same time humbly acknowledge that they are as human as anyone else, and maybe more so. Their lives are no less challenging than anyone else's. But they draw inner strength from their practice and meet life's challenges with courage, humor and a calm, gracious dignity. This inner composure is what I believe the scriptures are referring to as "controlling the fluctuations of the mind." It is not easily won and cannot be faked. At least not for very long! That sort of strength takes many years and a lot of life experience to develop.

The way the world looks through our eyes has everything to do with how we are looking. The way the world responds to us and to our actions has to do with how we approach things, what we carry with us, and what our intentions are. Physical illnesses, negative thoughts like guilt, sadness, self pity and the results of our negative actions follow us around and darken our presence. This has a bad effect on everything and attracts misfortune. The effects of our positive thoughts, our practice, our joy, and efforts to evolve ourselves will shine through and have positive affects not only on us but everyone and everything around us as well. This balance of positive and negative thoughts, as well as actions, shapes the internal environment that we live in. It determines how we feel and what we attract to ourselves.

When a person realizes this, not as a concept from a book, but as a personal conviction, it creates a great shift of interest. We start to wake up. We realize and become certain of the fact that what is going on inside of us creates what is happening outside of us, and not the other way around. The stronger, brighter and clearer we are, the better everything gets and the more fun life is. This leads us away from the material pursuits and toward inner work and simplicity. Kindness, humbleness and compassion emerge. These are the mark of a true spiritual aspirant.

Money, possessions, fame, prestige, recognition, influence- all of these things may be enjoyed by us. However, if they are seen as the true goal in life then we miss the point and lose our way. Detachment, simplicity and inner peace go out the window as we reflect on our desire for material things and our discontentment with the present circumstance. Insecurity, greed and manipulation are sure to develop. All the teachings agree on this. Those sought after things will come and go as fate may determine, and according to our magnetism, or ability to attract them. The strength, stability and radiance inside each of us create this magnetic force that acts upon the world around us. To understand and make efforts to increase that inner strength is to become a yogi. It requires discipline and dedication. Then a hidden power and grace emanate from that personality. This has a positive and very powerful influence on the surroundings of that individual. Not every one can see that brightness right away, but it acts as a concrete force of nature none the less. Other spiritual people from all traditions can recognize it immediately.

Life can be so beautiful if we cultivate the beauty. Yoga is a true effort to cultivate that beauty. In spite of our faults and failings, if we are making efforts to improve, then at least we know we are on the path. We live in difficult and intense times where mental health and inner peace are at an all time low. I believe these ancient practices offer a path to healing and happiness for anyone who has the strength to practice them. OM"

WOW! I love him, but I love him even more now. What a teacher! My journey to visit him was truly magical. He has been practicing Yoga on a daily basis for 24 years, since the age of 14. I had the opportunity to stay with him at his hOMe, as well, and it was an incredible experience. And, he also did Magic tricks right in front of me, which were awesome. He is truly mystical. I hope each one of you has the opportunity to cross paths with Andrew Eppler sometime along the way on your journey of Yoga. I'll be back to write more soon. I also want to share about the incredible Thai Massage experience I had, it was the best bodywork I have ever received, and I have received many wonderful treatments. This beautiful couple will be coming to Dallas to offer and share their healing massages sometime in the near future, when a group of us is ready to receive it. I'll be back soon...

Enjoy the magical and mysterious unfolding of your day.

Om shanti!

p.s.-And, he did that pose in the pic...it was amazing!

The Sun is With Us...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Hello!

I feel inundated these days with electronic communication. I don't know what happened...I used to love to e-mail...but I'm finding I feel overwhelmed with all the e-mailing, texting and impersonal electronic communication that's become a part of our life. I've tried to remember how long it is that I've been texting and I think it's about two years too many. It's reflective of our longing to connect and, yet, on some level it's insufficient and draining. I want to commit to being better and not getting caught up in it...but sometimes it's hard to go against the times. I guess I needed to let that out. Phhhewwww...sometimes a Yogini has just gotta vent.

OK, onto other things. So, obviously I'm feeling a little fired up. Perhaps it is the charge in the atmosphere from the expanded sunlight as we approach the Summer Solstice this Sunday. As Yogis, we are well aware now that the seasonal solstices and equinoxes are incredibly potent, powerful and spiritually significant times. I highly encourage you to honor some repetition of a derivative of the special number 108, which has been practiced by millennium during the seasonal changes by Yogis, rishis, sages, mathematicians and spiritually-minded people across the planet. This means anything such as 9, 18 or 27 minutes of meditation or Sun Salutations or mantras, such as OM, is an incredibly beneficial practice in igniting the positive shifts you wish to be made manifest within your consciousness and the collective consciousness.

This weekend I will be attending an awesome Yoga workshop in Austin, TX with world-renowned Yogi, David Swenson, who is an accomplished Yoga teacher and student of the late Pattabhi Jois. I have been aspiring to study with him for a couple of years now and I am grateful to finally have the chance. I've practiced to his 2nd and 3rd series Ashtanga Yoga DVD and it is amazing. It's been such a powerful tool for growing in my practice. This workshop comes at the perfect time and it's awesome it is taking place on the weekend of the Summer Solstice...he undoubtedly intended for it to be this way and for us to practice together to align with the Solstice. I can't think of anyplace I'd rather be this weekend...it feels great to say that.

Also, I had the best experience this week. I went to the King Spa & Sauna, a Korean Spa, in Dallas and it was awesome. Apparently, these are starting to open up in other places across the country. The best way to learn about it is on the website. If you go, plan to spend at least 3 - 4 hours there relaxing in the hot tubs, steam rooms, sauna rooms and maybe even getting some kind of really reasonably-priced massage treatment. The therapists are awesome. I've had a lot of massage from great therapists and this was one of the best.

I'll be sending out the True Yoga Newsletter soon. As we grow into the summer, it is all about taking the time to heal. This is the first summer I've connected to balancing my Yoga practice with more of a Lunar energy during the hot summer months. It's interesting because last summer I was encouraging all of us to strengthen and ignite. But, this summer it's making more and more sense to me to be more Yin during this time of predominantly Yang energy. There is already so much energy in the atmosphere, we don't have to do much to feel energized because there is so much sunlight charging us. So, it's better to take this time to soak in all of this positive energy, but not overdo it in your Yoga practice physically. Instead, be purposeful and powerful, but don't overexert. Take time to breathe and really be in the poses. The Yoga postures are meant to energize us and plug us into Prana in the most powerful way possible so that we feel calm and energized in our body, mind and spirit. So, the new awareness that has come to me this summer is to be more restful and restorative, rather than athletic in my practice. Then, as we grow into Fall and Winter, that will be a time to ignite a little more powerfully in the practice to stoke and awaken the flow of Prana which has literally been harnessed and stored in the cells of the body during the summer months. If we take time to be restful, restorative and renewing in our practice now, we will feel ready to face whatever ways we are being challenged to grow as we evolve into the Winter Solstice.

One other thing, if you haven't eaten at Bliss Raw Cafe in Dallas yet...you gotta go...it's awesome raw food cuisine. I've eaten there a few times since it opened and I love it. I've been cleansing this week on all raw food, mostly fruit, to prepare for the Yoga workshop with David this weekend. I'm so inspired by those of you who've decided to cleanse for the first time. Our health is an ever-evolving process. Did you know there are scientists who believe we will evolve to living on purely Prana and sunlight alone? If you are cleansing right now (which, by the way, the week before the change in seasons is the best time to cleanse) I'm sure the thought of that makes you feel hungry. I gotta say, the more I practice and grow in this practice of Yoga, it doesn't seem all that far-fetched. We just feel better when we eat well, and the truth is, we really don't need that much food. Alright...I hope you have an awesome weekend and enjoy this time of positive change within you and all around you as we evolve into the Summer of our Soul. Om Shanti and Namaste!

Come Dance With You and Me...

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:57:00 +0000

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in an amazing movement experience this past weekend called Spiritweaves: Rites of Belonging given by Michael and Anneli Molin-Skelton, who live in Los Angeles. It was ecstatic dancing and I attended the Friday evening and Sunday sessions. As many of you know, I studied Yoga Trance Dance with Shiva Rea, who is one of the leading teachers of free-flow movement. Prior to my first Yoga Trance Dance with Shiva in early 2007, I had only danced in my more recent years when I would go out with friends to a club, and usually while consuming a few drinks. For the most part, though, I rarely danced since college, and really, I hardly danced since I stopped taking classical ballet at the age of 15, after studying and practicing it for 10 years. This is one of the things Shiva asks at the Trance Dance training is when did your dance first go underground? We were all born as dancers, or what I might call live wires, animated and in motion all the time, except for when we were sleeping.

Having received her Masters from UCLA in World Dance, Shiva, who has also been studying Yoga for more than 20 years, found that these two paths of movement are interconnected and as we become increasingly embodied they, inevitably, merge. Here is an incredible explanation written by Shiva:

Yoga Trance Dance is a meeting of two great rivers, yoga and dance, which come from and are united at the source. That infinite creative source is the One, uniting us all. Yoga and dance are two of the oldest paths back home. Like lovers, they can get separated. Even though we are all born as natural dancers (just watch a toddler instinctually respond to rhythm), dance can easily get swept under the seeming demands of 21st-century living. It is actually the fragmenting effects of modern lifestyles that inspired the union of Yoga Trance Dance. Due to all that sitting, standing, driving, cell phoning, computer or cyber time, we have this strange combination of being more physically bound while mentally scattered -- a body/mind split. Some of these effects can be felt as stiffness, rigidity, limited range of motion (even when exercising - as on the treadmill or weightlifting), or disembodiment (the “living from the neck up” phenomenon). The antidote: Our body needs to move and our internal state needs to be rejuvenated through meditation and ecstatic embodiment.

Dance and yoga, particularly hatha yoga, are ways of calling us back into our bodies to irrigate our being with life energy known in yoga as “prana.” Prana is the animating force - the energy of being alive - and is most clearly felt through breathing. From the yogic view, the great breath flowing through us all is intelligence or consciousness itself. With flow yoga, we let the intelligence of our breath lead movement - the way a sailor tacks with the wind. Trance dance has a similar focus. Rather than emphasizing an outward performance, the goal of trance dancing is to let your creative energy move through you - to be guided by spirit (or “spiritus,” which is the Latin root for inspiration - the place where lifebreath and enlivening creativity meet). Thus, in yoga trance dance, form serves spirit, structure supports intuition, yoga prepares you for free-form dance, and your dance opens your being for a greater experience of the unified self that is yoga.

This whole meeting of yoga and dance has deep roots within yoga as well as cross-cultural branches. Within yoga, all of the different energies of the One - - the gods and goddesses - are depicted as dancing. The universe is viewed as theCosmic Dance of Shiva -- Nataraja. Shiva Rea was given her name by her father, inspired by a powerful image of Nataraja. Lord Shiva is seen as the first teacher of both yoga and dance, the consummate yogi and prime mover, sometimes sublime, at other times wild, and always free. The Yogin follows the pulse of the inhalation and exhalation, the dancer, the beat.

The contemporary explorations of this state of rhythmic-induced meditation are reclaiming “trance” as an accessible experience of embodied communion where the observer dissolves into the power of now, the flow, the dance. Yoga Trance Dance aims to provide you with a “sadhana” (practice or means of realization) so that you can explore for yourself the potency of free-flow yoga and dance as well as music that can continue to water your life. Our intention is to bring greater fluidity, breath, range of motion, stamina for life, and embodied joy into our being and lives. In the words of the dancing mystic, Hafiz, “Now sweet one, be wise, Cast all your votes for dancing.”

What I attended this past weekend was ecstatic dance, which is slightly less instructed and guided than what I've experienced with Shiva. Michael and Anneli are true mystics, gifted healers and guides. It's difficult to put into the words just how powerful this experience was and continues to be for me. It was profoundly healing on so many levels. It reawakened in me how essential it is to dance and that when we open ourselves up to the inspired and intuitive Flow pulsating and moving through us, the breath itself is intoxicating and healing, we need no other potion to feel blissful. And, in fact, no other potion works, only the breath, or Spirit alone can guide us into Bliss. As I was writing before, my first Trance Dance with Shiva was in 2007. Last year, I studied Trance Dance with her in Venice, California, which was an incredible experience. But, since April of 2008, I have trance danced only one time and it was when I lead a trance dance myself here in Dallas. Attending the ecstatic dance last weekend had me realize and remember how important it is for me to dance on a regular basis. I can not imagine life, now, without experiecing this kind of movement. And, of course, just like Yoga, it is especially powerful when we open ourselves up to experiencing it with a community of people. After our dance on Sunday, I had the opportunity to share the recent hardship I've been through with the passing of my father with the group. It feels as though I was able to release so much of the heartache and struggle by just opening myself up to them and allowing myself to share the pain I was experiencing. This was one of the most powerful experiences of my life to feel the outpouring of love, support and blessings from so many people I had never met before, but in many ways, feel more connected to because of this intimate experience we shared by opening ourselves up to dancing and just being seen. That's also one of the things Shiva says is our greatest fear is the fear of being seen. I mean, really seen. You know, even all the stuff that we think we need to hide, like our sadness, pain, darkness, heartache, struggle, etc. One of the most incredible things was to be with a community of people where I didn't feel like I needed to hide, much like how I feel when I am instructing in Yoga class, and even moreso now, because of this incredible experience. I actually realized there is beauty in the pain and there is nothing I need to try to cover up any more.

Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)

After I shared about my father, this loving woman sitting next me actually said...dance your grief. And, so I will. Ecstatic dance, just like Yoga, will be a part of my life now. And, I'm happy to share that every Thursday night at Move Studio there is ecstatic dance. So, I hope to see you there, from time-to-time, and to share in the dance, your dance and my dance, with you. Oh, and happy June...the Summer Solstice is almost here and the expanding Light of Consciousness is shining its Grace upon each of us through our pain, which is liberating us into the purity of Bliss, the unbounded Consciousness, within each of us.

Namaste!

A Time to Blossom

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

(Picture of the waterfall in Chagrin Falls, Ohio)

It's good to be back in Texas. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've said that in the 8 years I've lived here. I spent the Memorial Day weekend in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the suburb I grew up in outside of Cleveland. Every year on Memorial Day weekend there is a festival throughout the weekend called Blossom Time. It's the time when high school classes have their reunions, and although it was not a reunion for my class, I did get to see many friends. The trip back home was enlightening, but at moments, painful. It was my first time back since my father's funeral there this past December. He is actully buried there, even though he also lived here in Texas these past 8 years. I'm incredibly grateful I got to go to home to my roots, although now I understand why it took a Yoga studio to fly me up there for the experience. My subconscious mind knew it was going to be difficult and I would not have invested in it myself because some part of me was afraid to confront that which I needed to see about myself. I taught a Yoga class while I was there and that was one of the things I said. Everytime we step on our Yoga mat, it's like coming home to our Self. Well, in life there are real experiences of coming home to our Self in the deepest way possible and this trip back to Ohio was indeed that for me. I'm aware of the courage it took for me to go, to see the things I needed to see in mySelf and I am grateful I was inspired to go now, instead of putting it off for some time.

"The best way out is always through." - Robert Frost

I stayed at the parents of one of my lifelong friends. Her mom is into spirituality and new-thought and so I found a lot of interesting reading material while I was there. One of the materials that really inspired me is a publication called The Sun Magazine.

Here is something I read from the magazine which is awesome.

Who Dies?
By Stephen & Ondrea Levine

Once someone asked a well-known Thai meditation master, "In this world where everything changes, where nothing remains the same, where loss and grief are inherent in our very coming into existence, how can there be any happiness? How can we find security when we see that we can't count on anything being the way we want it to be?" The teacher, looking compassionately at this fellow, held up a drinking glass that had been given to him earlier in the morning and said, "You see this goblet? For me, this glass is already broken. I enjoy it. I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind knocks it over, or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, 'Of course.' When I understand that this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious. Every moment is just as it is, and nothing need be otherwise.'

When we recognize that, just like the glass, our body is already broken, that indeed we are already dead, then life becomes precious, and we open to it just as it is, in the moment it is occurring. When we understand that all our loved ones are already dead-our children, our mates, our friends-how precious they become. How little fear can interpose; how little doubt can estrange us. When you live your life as though you're already dead, life takes on new meaning. Each moment becomes a whole lifetime, a universe unto itself.

When we realize we are already dead, our priorities change, our heart opens, and our mind begins to clear of the fog of old holdings and pretendings. We watch all life in transit, and what matters becomes instantly apparent: the transmission of love; the letting go of obstacles to understanding; the relinquishment of our grasping, of our hiding from ourselves. Seeing the mercilessness of our self-strangulation, we begin to come gently into the light we share with all beings. If we take each teaching, each loss, each gain, each fear, each joy as it arises and experience it fully, life becomes workable. We are no longer a "victim of life." And then every experience, even the loss of our dearest ones, becomes another opportunity for awakening.

If our only spiritual practice were to live as though we were already dead, relating to all we meet, to all we do, as though it were our final moments in the world, what time would there be for old games or falsehoods or posturing? If we lived our life as though we were already dead, as though our children were already dead, how much time would there be for self-protection and the re-creation of ancient mirages? Only love would be appropriate, only the truth."

Om shanti...this may be one of the most powerful things I have ever read...absorbing these words brings tears to my eyes of relief and release...

Also, I wanted to mention something awesome happening this July 24-29 in Squaw Valley, California. It's called Wanderlust. The three-day event will bring together the world’s leading yoga teachers and the best performers in rock & roll, all in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty. It's a feast for both the body and the senses.

Music by Michael Franti & Spearhead, Spoon, Andrew Bird, Jenny Lewis, Gillian Welch, Broken Social Scene, Kaki King, Rouge Wave, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Girl Talk and many others.

Yoga taught by John Friend, Shiva Rea, Duncan Wong, Sianna Sherman, Elena Brower, Schuyler Grant, Janet Stone, Rusty Wells and more.

I'm hoping to get to attend...it sounds amazing. I will be back shortly with more to share...until then, enjoy being both gratefully alive and dead. :)

"I'll never see myself in the mirror with my eyes closed." - Dead, They Might Be Giants

In Memoriam~Pattabhi Jois 1915-2009

noreply@blogger.com (Leanne) — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:24:00 +0000

One of the greatest Yoga Masters on the planet, Sri K Pattabhi Jois, made his transition today. Pattabhi Jois is responsible for the Ashtanga Vinyasa system of Yoga, which is one of the most widespread systems of Yoga on the planet with hundreds of thousands of practitioners. Almost all modern day styles of Yoga, including Vinyasa and Power Yoga have been inspired by the Ashtanga system. Basically, anyone who has appreciated the gift of Yoga can offer thanks to Pattabhi Jois for his devotion and commitment to sharing and living the techniques and teachings of Yoga, so that we can benefit and grow in a positive way, thanks to his wisdom and knowledge. I said in class tonight, that it's my understanding he was not suffering from any disease, only from the effects of the human body aging and growing tired, which, even Yogis at some point retire this vessel. I also said that once a person has encircled the globe several times, learned how to do every Yoga pose, and inspired hundreds of thousands of people on the planet to practice Yoga to align with their highest Self, really what else is there to fulfill here? He probably just realized his mission was complete. I love some of these quotes of his:

"If we practice the science of yoga, which is useful to the entire human community and which yields happiness both here and hereafter - if we practice it without fail, we will then attain physical, mental and spiritual happiness, and our minds will flood towards the Self."

"Do your practice and all is coming."

I never had the chance to meet Pattabhi Jois, although I hoped I might at some point. But, I am grateful for his incredible teaching which has inspired me in so many ways. Thank you, guruji, for being a true Yogi and sharing your inspired wisdom with us.

This weekend I'm going back to the homeland, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, to visit with family and friends. There is a festival in my hometown every Memorial Day called Blossom Time, and it's the weekend when all of the reunions happen so I'm looking forward to seeing many dear friends. It's a blessing to get to return. I'll also be offering a class at a local Yoga studio there called Nishkama Yoga. I'm looking forward to connecting with the Yoga community there, as well. Other than that, thank goodness for the sunny, clear skies we've been enjoying in Dallas the past couple of days. It's been beautiful! If I'm not back before I go, I'll be back to write more when I return. Happy Memorial Day weekend...enjoy much rest and relaxation with family, friends and yourSelf...

Om shanti...

And, go Cavs!