Real Yoga Vid - A Must See By Anyone Claiming They Do YOGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp3WmdEFUiI&feature=plcp

Check out this vid series about yoga!

There is no need to 'modernize' it. Yoga is beyond trend, beyond generation gaps, beyond your ego-ic need for spectacle and fashion. Yoga is Connection to the Divine and always will be no matter what you think you're seeking!

This portrays the traditional role of the yogi - to be the spiritual part of society. They practice all aspects of yoga. They go into the mountains.

(It seems there are more men than woman. But there are woman, just not a lot - so let's not get hooked up around that.)

To be a yogi, though these days, you don't need to go into the mountains. What you do need to do is take on the attitude of not being caught up in the world of material gain, wealth, expression.

Practice letting go. Let go of all of your stuff materially: mentally, physically, emotionally. Georg F. expresses it very well. His words are interspersed throughout the series and he expresses it as a westerner who has embraced this task as a yogi - renunciation.

This is the first one of a 4 part series. Please watch all 4! Really worth it.

I miss going to Mysore classes...

I miss my Mysore classes. I miss the feeling of doing yoga in a room with people who are doing similar things. Although it was not a very communal atmosphere; everyone was there for themselves really. So was I. It just felt really good to be in your own practice with people around you. I practice at home alone now. Different. I've been doing that for about 9 or 10 years now. I've become my own teacher finally. I thank all my teachers and teachers of the lineage for their work and guidance throughout my first 20 years (off and on) in my 30+ years of practice.  I keep you in my heart.

Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah - Yoga Sutra #2

Yoga is "the control of thought waves of the mind" - as one translation of the Second Yoga Sutra states. Mr. Iyengar puts it another way, "Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness." Sri Swami Satchitananda says it this way, that Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah translates as "the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga."

Stopping Your Thoughts

So . . . What now? What do I have to do? It sounds like your thoughts are like horses and all you have to do is build a fence around them and they'll stay corralled and under control. Or they're like a swarm of mosquitos; unlikable, pesky things that you shoo away with all get-out with some kind of fly swatter or bug repellent (the soy kind). Or perhaps more like a barking dog tied to a post and hopefully you can find the muzzle. Hmmm - I don't know how to do that with my thoughts. Do you? Do I deal with each thought separately or do I lump them all together?

When this is taught in most yoga or meditation classes, sometimes the translation of the sutra gets lost and teachers and students tend to talk about stopping a thought or a number of them. I suppose it's a Christian thing - you know, your thoughts are the sin or . . . it's not about what you think but rather what you do with the thought, or it is what you think and what you do with the thought, etc. Confusing, isn't it? It occurs to me that that must have been misquoted for centuries probably as well. Stopping thoughts always catches people up. After talking to a lot of people, it is the one thing that most fixate on.

The Thought About the Thought

What I've been taught and what I've experienced though, is that it is the movement of thought rather than the individual thought itself. But how do you stop movement? And is that what we're supposed to do? The movement of thoughts to me is like the movement of air like wind. Sometimes it's gusty, and sometimes it's gale force strength. And other times, it's a welcomed breeze. Thoughts flow constantly. Sometimes you take notice. Sometimes you don't. So when do you take notice of thoughts? When they bother you of course. When someone says something that just gets under your skin, or when something happens and you have a strong reaction to it - like you feel embarrassed, or when you have to get or do something because your life depended on it. All worthy thoughts. How many times have you reiterated a conversation in your head hours, days after the conversation - or before the conversation has even happened . . . even if you didn't want to think about it, yet there it is? What makes thought waves so powerful? Pema Chödron said that her teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche would say - it is not the negative, but it is the negative about the negative. In other words, it is not the thought, but the thought about the thought which turns into another thought about that thought and so on, that gets us into trouble.

My First Meditation Retreat

I remember my first meditation retreat some years ago. I am a self-declared 'idea' person; Give me a problem and I will give you a number of solutions that are pretty creative and sometimes even original. Anyway, I was at this meditation retreat for the first time, sitting Zazen. I was determined to do a good job. I went with a friend who is a seasoned sitter, and so I mimicked him the first day. I sat for 4 hours straight without moving. OMG - I was so sore for the rest of the time. In order to get through this, I made sure I sat a lot (it was a very relaxed atmosphere about your schedule to sit - still very strict about eye contact and silence.) I battled the whole way through. I sat and sat, and still my thoughts came, ideas about: how to fix the roof; what gifts I can make each and every person there because they are so great; how much I wished I could eat (I was fasting as well); how much I wished I could wash my hair (little facility to do that at this place), and how I was right about being eaten alive by mosquitos (it was a hot week in August). Afterward, I told my teacher I found out how I wasn't as still and silent as I thought I was; I had always thought that I was a pretty laid back, quiet person. But I wasn't. Maybe that's why some of you don't want to do the meditation that asks you to be still. It can be a pretty shocking, and an eye opening experience, and some of you may not want to know. Through my years of practice, I learned that thoughts will always come and go, but it is most certainly about how your organism responds to those thoughts.

The Paradox of Still Mind

"Yoga is the suppression of the transformation of the thinking principle", as someone else puts it. Suppression? Hmm. I am not a fan of our potential interpretation of the word suppression. In psycho-talk, it can be interpreted as 'swallowing' or 'eating' your thoughts or words and that never ends well. How I have experienced this, "suppression of the transformation of the thinking principle" has taken a number of years of hard work to understand my reactive responses to external stimuli. Most of us react because we feel threatened by something/someone, or, we are anxious to prove something, and so on. What needs to happen is simultaneous to developing a Still Mind. Once you develop the Buddha Mind, you will realize that you are not separate and there is no threat (really) because there is no you. Before you develop Buddha Mind, you struggle with all the thoughts which anchor you into an identity that is separate. In other words, you need to develop Buddha Mind before you can transcend your reactionary self and you need to transcend your reactionary self before you can realize Buddha Mind. It is a paradox. Like peeling the onion, or chipping away at a stone. The only way through is to open your heart and risk the death that all of us are so afraid of - ego-death.

I always liked the word Transformation. Here it is talking about the transformation of the thinking principle. Transformation? Is a thought a thought if you don't react to it? Like the falling tree in the forest thing - it is a conundrum. Is the mind-stuff just like scattered dust particles in the air and only when you start to collect them do they become annoying dust-bunnies? Is that what "transforms" thought particles into real thoughts, whether you organize them, collect them or corral them?

Steps to Yoga

Movement of thoughts is the undulation of the mind when it is reactive. Now we're getting somewhere. It is not the thought that needs work, but the reactive mind. A lot of yogis/yoginis, swamis, etc. say that any kind of therapy is not necessary when you do yoga. But the key here is that you do "YOGA", not little 'y' yoga (mostly asana practice) or what it has now turned into because it is mostly a hedonistic practice to most - bhoga (meaning, doing yoga for its own sake for the appeasement of your own ego - i.e. look at what I can do). To do YOGA is to delve into the workings of your mind and how it effects your Being. Awareness is key, and to affect awareness, there needs to be some sort of dialogue (with a teacher who knows, a therapist who knows, etc.). But this is still not Wakefulness. Almost every yogi/yogini I know equates being aware of the present moment, of what you do or say in that moment, of how your organism reacts and so on, to and in line with Enligthenment. But this is not so. In awareness, there is still the "I" - You are aware.

The Heart Path

This is really only the beginning. The process that is the Heart Path will take you Home. The Heart Path really to me is about the final step toward Enlightenment and that is "Acceptance". You have seen who you are and you accept it. You don't try to hide, mask or manipulate it. You have seen the world as it is - truly, and you don't run from it, or hide. And you don't try to manipulate it. You have seen what other people are like and you don't do anything to change them. You just accept them. You have seen the truth of the wild, untamed world of animals, vegetable, mineral and you see them for what they are. Without greed or fear in your Heart. There is only Love.

My friend says this - Yoga (Union) is just that. You need nothing else. We're already there. Yoga IS the Cessation of the Thought Waves. That is Yoga. Yes, yes, yes I say. It is that simple.

. . . Yoga is the Stillness Within. Let It Be.

Walk with Grace.

Namaste

, 

Happy Happy Joy Joy

It is difficult these days to teach and discuss 'traditional' yoga - like Ashtanga, Iyengar, etc...because of this notion that only if you feel happy, elated, and bolstered, empowered during your yoga class are you doing something worthwhile. The whole idea that if you're not feeling that way, then you are somehow still "burdened by the pressures of everyday life" as one yoga (Anusara) teacher put it; that by virtue of the style of yoga that is perhaps more difficult during class somehow does not let you "rediscover that belief in infinite possibility" (as another teacher put it). I say - Bullshit.

I have always said that Anusara and the like have usurped the heart out of the other practices, and as a heart-felt, sincere, mindful practitioner and teacher, I do not appreciate it.

The Heart is in ALL Traditions of Yoga Practice (including Asana, Meditation, Satsang, etc.)

I am so tired of how Anusara and all its clones take away the joy that is inherent in the practice of yoga postures in all its traditions - even if it is not "playtime" in an Ashtanga class. It is so apparent that these teachers have abandoned the traditional yogas for the sake of appeasing their own egos. Truly, we are not kids any more and that notion that we must somehow get back to that, is a fallacy. It's steering those people who want to deepen and give birth to their true selves in the wrong direction. As 'adults' we know too much to become children again. And yes, we have a lot more responsibilities to actually be able to act like one and get away with it. But through the difficulties of life, we have a choice to make - either we hide behind the tricks of the ego acting like we are spirit which only accepts 'goofing off' as a way to be 'happy'. Or we can accept ourselves and others in cultivating a no-nonsense, present centered consciousness which sees things for what they are and in that find the burden of the pressures of everyday life lifting in the face of the truth. That is freedom. In becoming unburdened this way, we find true freedom, with that we are 'happy'.

The Way to Happiness

Unburdening yourself of the constraints of an ego that can't face 'ordinary', sometimes boring moments is the work of true yoga and is made accessible by embracing all aspects of yoga not only asana. Meditation, reading thoughtful spiritual books (not only the Power of Now. C'mon!), going to a really good therapist that recognizes Spirit as a part of our worldly experience, etc., all help to open you up to those 'infinite possibilities' beyond the pacification and gratification of our ego-ic nature.

What is really scary and really exciting about it all is that it takes years! Not months. Really, the work to unravel you; what you've built up over the years to protect you: your defenses, your opinions, your preferences all must dissolve to make all of this work and it's quite a journey. You don't entirely get rid of the ego (see my other writings). You need your ego to survive. So the first real step is to cultivate awareness. How you do that by convincing yourself that there is nothing you need to work on, is beyond me. Somehow though, it is thought that if you admit you have things to work on, you are admitting to being irreversibly flawed. That there is something 'wrong' with you. That you are unworthy of love and attention because you are not perfect. That, my friends, is the first thing to work on. It is not awful to admit to yourself that "I can be a real bitch/bastard sometimes". It is actually pretty freeing. And it's scary at the same time. Still, just because you grow to accept that about yourself doesn't mean you go around being one. Go toward the fear, the dislikes, the repulsions. See what they can teach you.

We Are All Perfect In Our Imperfection

There are many aspects of ourselves we don't know and won't know if the idea of admitting to our flaws repulses us. So the next step is acceptance of yourself. Can you accept that you are not perfect? And that Perfection IS in the acceptance of all that is you! When you accept that can you accept that people aren't perfect. That means everyone. If you can open your heart to that then you are well on your way.

Surround yourself with those who know that it is not readily accessible in just a few months. When you are with others who know, then when your ego flares up because it is fighting for its life, those around will show you the way to go deeper. Trust them even if what they say 'hurts' you or 'insults' you - that's a good way to tell your ego has a hold of you.

The Playground That Is Yoga

There's nothing wrong with being playful. In fact, all of this is play in one way or another. The key is to pair your asana practice with counseling, reading and meditation. Ask questions and accept guidance. Be wary of those who tell you to ignore or forget about the dark and move only into the light. Be wary of classes which only stress to appease your tendency to look for distractions and your ego-ic nature's incessant whining. And as well, be wary of those who say yoga is about being stern. Even the most disciplined class of Ashtanga, practiced with an open heart can be light-hearted and very loving.

The wonder of it all is that when you do this then there is joy. When you can stay focussed and present in the most difficult, challenging posture (for you) or situation, there is elation. When you can accept guidance and assistance without expressing arrogance, there is love. When you can look at yourself without criticism, there is peace. Let YOGA teach you this. Then life will be so much fun!

This was inspired by this blog post: http://yogaspy.com/2011/07/22/hooping-and-the-hybridization-of-yoga-in-america/#comment-4309

Asana Practice: Urdhva Dhanurasana

Yes. It has always perplexed me - Urdhva Dhanurasana. Even as I take the pose it is not very comfortable for me. I don’t feel ease and I can’t stay in it long. It took me years of concerted and sincere practice to even get me here.

I never learned from someone who could do this posture well. They are the kind of teacher who can’t believe you can’t do it. You know the teacher that says, just do this, or that, and they think it’s that easy. I had one teacher give up on me. That didn’t feel good.

So I took what I knew - by that time 20 years of practice, and started to practice on my own (doing it for 12 years now), and didn’t rely on a teacher to see me through. What I learned about my body: what it could do when I moved into things the way that it needed to, was a real eye opener. I learned a lot and my body opened up considerably after in the years that I’ve been teaching myself. I always told my students that the people with the most difficulty in postures are the lucky ones. We are the ones that really feel our bodies open and change and even tighten up again. We learn that there is an ebb and flow.

So it taught me that for me, Urdhva Danurasana was always going to be a challenge and the things like  Kapostasana, might not ever come. But it doesn’t mean I don’t venture into that realm of back bends - I keep practicing. There are days when I can feel what it’s all about. And then the next day it’s gone. I accept that about my body and that’s what yoga’s all about. Isn’t it?

So absolutely go slow. Ease into it. But most importantly - move as if there was no where to go. No goal in sight. Just keep expressing the energy of back bend, or forward bend, or inversion, or any other type of posture you’re doing. Doesn’t matter if it ‘looks’ like you are in the posture perfectly, it matters how deeply you can go into the feeling of the energy of the posture.

Ask me about anything: If you’re struggling with any posture including backbends, send me a note. I’d be glad to assist. 

A note from SBYC's FB page...wanted to share it here

Hi - while I genuinely appreciate the work and dedication of those who sincerely study, practice and teach yoga in their particular way to encourage, and effect change in social and individual consciousness, I can not allow the posting of these teachings on SBYC's FB site because I can not endorse the method with which they are presented at times.

I have a very clear notion of how yoga is to be presented, and with my heart, to me, it is not about joining a single group, following a particular swami, seeing 'god' as a separate and isolated entity that is beyond our intimate and personal knowledge, or advocating for the Light only, etc..

Everyone living is a separate entity - of course we all know that. And while practicing and studying these teachings we must remember that everyone is different. The human heart/mind has certain sensitivities, or preferences which guide an individual along their chosen path. These eventually dissolve to show that we are not separate at all. But in the initial stages of Self-discovery, our egoic nature gets caught up in the how we are read and seen by what we chose to do. It is a lonely path truly, because no one else feels or sees things the same way you do, and so the individual must begin and continue for years their journey in a way that speaks to them.

Anyone who has been walking the spiritual path knows this intimately. How many 'styles' of meditation, asana, teachers, books, workshops, retreats, have you gone through in your years of practice? This is good. Opening up to different practices and work, only deepens your process. It deepens the process sometimes by confusing us at first. The mind has a way of latching on to a particular thought or way by convincing itself that this is the ONLY way until the heart is no longer served by whatever it is, and must move on to find 'flow'. The searching will continue until the heart settles into a LOVE that is deep and eternal, and directed outward.

Yoga practices which include everything from asana styles, meditation traditions, Bhakti especially, all help to bring about Self-realization, Union with the Beloved.

I encourage you all to find your own path. To be still for a moment and really listen to what is being asked of you. Then move in that direction.

I am grateful that along your path you have stopped here if only for a moment.

Namaste

Peace!

Variation of Leg Behind the Head Pose...

Variation for leg behind the head pose. Working into it and stopping along the way.

I love to do this variation of the leg behind the head posture. Took me a long time to get here. When I’m here I feel a certain kind of freedom in my body and mind that only comes from the kind of practice that will get you here. For some people this is a posture that comes simply and naturally. For me it took about 10 years! Think about it…

On Our True Non-Dualistic Nature...

“We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence. We should find perfection in imperfection. For us, complete perfection is not different from imperfection. The eternal exists because of non-eternal existence. In Buddhism it is a heretical view to expect something outside this world. We do not seek for something besides ourselves. We should find the truth in this world, through our difficulties, through our suffering. This is the basic teaching of Buddhism. Pleasure is not different from difficulty. Good is not different from bad. Bad is good; good is bad. They are two sides of one coin. So enlightenment should be in practice. that is the right understanding of practice, and the right understanding of our life. So to find pleasure in suffering is the only way to accept the truth of transiency. Without realizing how to accept this truth you cannot live in this world. ..” - - Suzuki Roshi Zen Mind, Beginners Mind

Early morning Ashtanga yoga class, Oakville ON

Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga Classes Oakville ON.

NEW CLASSES ADDED

TUESDAYS &  THURSDAYS 7:30am ASHTANGA! All Levels

Starts week of OCTOBER 9th/11th - 8-week program. $100/class session. Sign up today!

PLZ call: 905.845.2332 - Leave a message. (name, number and which class you'd like to join)

Tuesday 10:30am - 12pm Ashtanga - cancelled

Tuesdays 7pm - 8:30pm Rockin' Vinyasa - Vinyasa class with great contemporary music! Level 2 running

Wednesdays 8:30pm - 9:30pm - Vinyasa Core - Vinyasa class with focus on Core work! Not to be missed. Level 1/2 running

Thursdays 11:30am - 12:45pm Vinyasa Core All Levels - cancelled

All classes held at the IGITA studio on Lakeshore in Oakville Ontario.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

I'm talking about ANTM sure but it's so much more than that!

I know this is an unusual thing to talk about for me...but I came across this article about the America's Next Top Model (ANTM) contestant, who was and is a meth addict (maybe Dr. Phil did something), and I really couldn't help responding. As I wrote, it became clear to me what the big picture was: the moral (ethical) and social responsibility of those who are much more fortunate (the 1%) than the rest of us. I realized a long time ago that all these newly rich individuals and corporations creating the big divide in our society, a very few of them, have any ethical social conscience. It used to be that the barons of industry were actively involved in their communities building things and donating to causes which in their day were about societal betterment for all. If the idea that promoting institutions such as: Education or the Arts were important to that betterment, then that is where they put their money. Now, the newly rich put their money constantly into themselves. We live in a very narcissistic and fatalistic age. It seems that everyone just takes care of themselves. They make sure they have much more than what they need, and maybe if they step out to donate to a cause, they do what is "trending"! Which is still all about them.

I wrote what you will find below in response to what people were saying about Tyra and the ANTM franchise. So this is how it went:

In this day and age, when corporations are being asked to take stock and responsibility of what effect their actions have on an individual and the whole of society (financially (banks/investment companies), emotionally (tabloids), health-wise (cig/pharma companies) and are sometimes being jailed for it or sued, the excuse that this is just a (reality) show and after the show, well, you're on your own; that there is no responsibility of the show to be mindful of those that have borderline personalities, is just a bunch of hogwash.

But Hollywood is full of that, isn't it.

I'm only interpreting and responding to, the responses people are giving defending Tyra. But she's the exec producer. She can change the way the show is conducted if she really wanted to. To have a marginally stable personality on a show because it's good for ratings (that's why they choose some people), well, the show is just as bad as a Springer show, or whatever the other shows are called!

She's convinced herself that she's doing a good thing, that she is contributing somehow (as they all do). We all know, she's making a shit load of money off you guys through the show. The cult-like following of her or any other celebrity (for that matter) can only add to the blindness that drives Tyra as a producer and those like her. We all contribute (yes, I've watched the show...duh), but that still doesn't mean she and her producers should continue to conduct themselves and the show in such a way that when someone really needs their help they are not there.

Tyra thinks she's a mentor to all the models, but really she only has herself in mind. Which is not a bad thing entirely if you divulge that in the beginning and let people make decisions on the whole truth of the show. Nothing wrong with having a successful show.

But... caring about the people during and after the show would only make a little dent in the bottom line and would probably catapult them into the realms of philanthropy and good works which is about legacy. Not something anyone with money, lots of it, think about these days. It probably doesn't occur to her as producer (a business person), to think about what she's leaving behind. There's a great opportunity here to do real good in your own community, to really make a difference, to finish what you've started, and not only Tyra but a lot of Hollywood...and the rich 1% are missing out. That's sad...tragic really. Can you imagine if they actually cared about the well-being of those that have gone through, (opened a counseling center, had (real) therapists on staff, were pro-actice in identifying troubled individuals and guided them to seek help, donated to America's (and all the countries' you find ANTM) foundations for good mental health, drug abuse, etc..) how great their legacy would be!

If Tyra thinks she's a mentor, then be a mentor. Mentor's stay for the long haul. (But are wise to those who just want to suck them dry or wise to when they can't help any longer). That's what mentors do. Business people and corporations are the ones who suck you dry for their own gain and then toss you.

Yes - some survive this treatment and that's because of their own strength and conviction, not because ANTM did you any favors ("agencies don't know what to do with you because you're so famous and still a rookie".)

So remember that ANTM is like any other show in Hollywood and is there strictly for ratings and revenue. And that means your idol Tyra... she is executive producer after all. She (the show) has enough money to change the foundations and mandate of the show and the 'schooling' of the contestants. But as exec prodr, she hasn't yet.

This is a call out to anyone who has the money and the power; will you take up the challenge of real mentoring and philanthropy? To have a social conscience and put some of your energy into caring deeply about your effect on those around you and who come to you for guidance? Do you care enough to follow through with what you've started given your resources, and make a difference in your community?

I'd like to hear from you.

http://gawker.com/5942348/americas-next-top-model-alum-is-now-the-face-of-meth?tag=television-without-pretty

Ashtanga and Vinyasa Classes in Oakville Ontario, Canada

Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga Classes Oakville ON.

Starts week of September 25th 12-week programs. Sign up today!

PLZ call: 905.845.2332 - Leave a message. (name, number and which class you'd like to join)

Tuesday 10:30am - 1pm A-Z of The Astanga Primary Series (12 wk program) All Levels

Tuesdays 7pm - 8:30pm Rockin' Vinyasa - Vinyasa class with great contemporary music! Level 2

Wednesdays 8:30pm - 9:30pm - Vinyasa Core - Vinyasa class with focus on Core work! Not to be missed. Level 1/2

Thursdays 11:30am - 12:45pm Vinyasa Core - Vinyasa class with focus on Core work! All Levels or an Ashtanga class (we'll see which class everyone wants) All Levels

All classes held at the IGITA studio on Lakeshore in Oakville Ontario.

Christine U at the Shama-Bhakti Yoga Centre

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore (well I'm mildly perturbed...haha)

Most of the time when I search for yoga sites for someone to follow because there is a resonance with their approach to the yoga practice: that, it is true and unencumbered, I can't find any. Pages upon pages are full of people doing 'stunt' yoga like that's where it's at or all about.

I'm getting really tired of it. You're just a bunch of showoffs. Really. Big deal, you can bend over backward and kiss your own ass. Big deal that you can put your leg behind your head. Big deal that you can do a handstand! Any circus freak can do what you are constantly bombarding us with on your websites and your blogs. And I don't think they're (the circus freaks) doing "yoga". They're creating a spectacle that is the circus.

Yes, I can do most of it. There are still things I struggle with daily. But that's what teaches me.

Yes - it looks pretty. BIG DEAL. Do you even know what yoga is? I don't think you get it. Yeah yeah, you're so impressive, that you can do that. Whoop! But that's what it's really all about for you isn't it? You crave for attention. For people out in the world to look at you and say, oh, I want to follow you. You're gorgeous or remarkable (because they are saying to themselves, I can't do that - so you must be great.) And stop blogging the perfect beautiful photo of yoga. Take a picture of yourself doing a pose. Yeah! That's part of the teaching. Would you dare to show yourself in a not so perfect pretty pose? Would you? The real learning of yoga is to get over that...as a individual, as a business, and as a culture.

Show me you're not perfect. If you want to keep showing those pristine shots on your website, then that's fine just don't call it YOGA! It's not yoga.  For crying out loud. Enough already! It's fouling around with what looks like yoga postures. And please don't write me about how a yogini wouldn't get mad. I am channeling 'Kali". You know Kali - the hindu goddess of creation and destruction! Sometimes things must be destroyed to create something new. And it's about time!

Please send me your not-so-perfect-yoga-asana-pic, I'd love to see it!

Anniversaries: A Moment to Reflect (Hard Lesson Part 2)

Wrote this a couple of days ago:

Anniversaries. I hardly celebrate my own. I even just quietly remember the death of my father on the day (November 1st, 2009; 11am) by lighting a candle, kissing his picture and saying "I love you Papa". Anniversaries are things that we celebrate in public and it is not a part of my nature to outwardly talk about the passed past. Pain of loss is a personal thing to me.

Today is just another day in my doings. But the lessons of the heart that/this day are always with me.

The years for me have taken away the palpable experience of the horror and pain of that day. For the most part, it is a faint sensation. That day was so painful for everyone and painful for me to witness their pain; I remember crying constantly as I watched what was happening. As the days went on, watching as innocent lives get taken because they had no other choice but to surrender to the fate of that day. To hear about those who went down with a fight and the stories from those who survived. Hearing about the sacrifices of those who went in to do their part in rescuing, searching, seeking and cleaning up. The aftermath was excruciating. People searching for their loved ones. The vitriol from those who only wanted to blame and attack back, and the pleads of those to let calmer heads and softer hearts prevail. And then, the pain of those innocent people who took the blame in the wake of the evidence against a select group.

But I don't express it outwardly. Maybe it's because it wasn't my country, so therefore not really my experience. I remember that day. I taught a yoga class - Ashtanga. At the time, I felt it was appropriate to have the class do 108 sun salutations (suryanamaskara) for the class. 108 is a sacred number. Like the number of times you are to chant the Gayatri Mantra or the number of beads on a Mala string, the 108 sun salutes were to be a prayer for peace: the chant heard across the land that we are with you in our hearts and souls. I said a few words about something, I forget. I went around partaking in the practice as a teacher would. Assisting to deepen the students' experience.

The experience of what was happening, for me, still felt close to home (I spent weeks at a time for a number of years in the city). I had a dear friend living there at the time. He lived on Bleeker St. and was actually taking a run down by the river as it was happening, not realizing what was going on as he jogged passed people running covered in soot the other way. Himself almost getting caught in it. (A lot of people afterward talked about how surreal and unreal it felt at first.) During the days that followed he talked about his feelings of helplessness. That even bringing socks and footwear for the volunteers to the salvation army did not ease the confusion, deep pain and the need to be able to do something. Living there was a constant reminder: the smell in the air of smoke and soot, and the posters of the missing up for months and months. It was not normal. I've kept the feelings of this day deep in my heart because although I am not American, I wasn't there and I have only tenuous personal connections, my friend's experience, my connection to the city, and witnessing it all on tv made it a part of my deeper experience.

I still mark the day in my heart. I still feel a kind of alertness on this day: A vigilance to treat everyone with kindness and to maintain a softness in my heart even at times when I feel frightened and alone. I still feel the loss and pain of those who experienced it directly, and I am only too aware of how this feeling is experienced by people around the world daily. It reminds me to take the feeling of that day and turn it into compassion in the present.

I was fortunate I feel anyway, to be able to go to Ground Zero on New Year's Eve 2001, to pay my respects and to pledge to always have them in my heart and yes today I am reminded again to do so. Because, of all the lessons we learn from day to day, the one that keeps coming back to me is, to Pray for Peace in the World and in Our Own Hearts.

Thanks for letting me share.

LOVE WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!

Peace!

Christine

The Hard Lessons You're About to Learn... (Part 1)

When did having a yoga class in a boutique or tea house or any other retail space become a good way to market a business? What does it say about that business? Is it cool? Hip? Chic? Interesting? Relevant? What does it say about us? What is this need to identify with anything that uses yoga as a catalyst for more sales? Has yoga become a label to identify ourselves with those other cool, relevant people? Has it become exclusive in the way that if you don't do yoga then we don't want you around? Has "YOGA" become so vapid in the eyes of those who do it that it's only use is to help promote, sell, or trend? Has yoga become just another item on the list of must-haves at the party of the year?

The attachment to the physical aspect of yoga (asana) without the graciousness of the spiritual aspect has led those who choose to believe it, marginalize yoga to the place of workout, the fountain of youth, and just another thing to help you relax at the spa. All fine benefits of yoga, yes, but not the raison-d'etre. Bringing yoga to our ego-ic level and understanding lessens its impact on our organism: our being. Projecting onto yoga all the same stuff of ego-identity that drive some to have face lifts, be the first to do: to have something, to brag, undermines yoga's essential and primary benefit: union with the Beloved. the Divine Heart, God, the energy of the cosmos. However you like to "name" it, it is all that and more. (As Ramana Maharshi says, to even name it, you have lost your connection to it.) All the stuff that yoga asks you to shed (boosting, grasping, attaching, hating) is actually amplified by the need to make it a part of who you think you are...all the adjectives: good, nice, chill, spiritual, cool, hip, relevant, interesting.

With the words, "I-do-yoga" come many reactions. There's a definite stigma: bad or good. Some of us let other's reactions dictate what we do. It used to be that I never talked openly about my practice or my teaching in front of my family because of all the jokes about it.

Yoga is NOT any of it.

Haha - but that publicly traded yoga wear corp (I even dislike mentioning the name because I don't want to market them) have helped shape the way in which yoga is seen, how we interact with it. Yoga, for a lot of people, has become just another commodity to exploit like anything that trends in social media: flavor of the moment. Look what they've started. And by a guy (the owner) who says he doesn't  do yoga. What a great little marketer. He's helped shape a generation of displayers: Look at what I can do; at what I've got; at who I know...or I've seen (rather).

Is this really the way you want to experience yoga?

Yoga asks you to be the antithesis of a good little marketer. To do without thought of reward. To give without thought of recompense. The lesson is to learn to shake this illusion (maya) of the material world and what you need from it...happiness, love, connection, comfort, prestige. It's all there, you've already got it all. But if yoga is used and not practiced then it can never bring you into the light of day and help shed the doubt that looms over us like a darkening cloud.

The emptiness is always there whether the material world seems to give you everything...you have become a slave to that idea...ask anyone who is encountering their own mortality!

It's a hard lesson to learn. But I will gladly teach anyone willing to go there! Are you? Willing I mean...

Equanimity is in essence a “…wholeness in a merciful awareness that clings to nothing and condemns nothing, that is simply a presence in which nothing obstructs the natural flow of loving kindness.” (quote from the book, Embracing the Beloved by Ondrea and Stephen Levine) To cling to nothing and condemn nothing that is in essence the enactment of being present to the awareness of a non-dualistic universe.

The True Magic of Yoga…

Throughout the centuries of Yoga practice, not only in our age, but since the dawn of Yoga, practitioners have been caught up with some idea or another of what yoga can do to help them “make friends and influence people”. And one of them is that meditation, the practice of asana, etc., can give you powers (siddhis). I’ve always been quite skeptical of that notion and have been vocal on occasion. Through my years of dedicated practice, I have never come across anyone who could actually do what they said they could (levitate for instance) or have never experienced it myself. What I did experience is a shift in the visceral feeling of my body which is probably the burgeoning connection of body-mind; a leveling out of my emotional body, a form of contentment, where now sadness is really sadness, happiness really happiness, anger is really anger, hurt is hurt; and a shift in body-mind consciousness, a taste of non-duality.

This became apparent slowly through years upon years of practice. My practice of either asana, meditation, and pure present-centeredness did not come without struggles, disillusionment, frustration and in some instances, real joy. It was a quiet unfolding which after years of arduous practice, on a retreat (my last at this particular place) something was revealed to me which altered everything and life has never been the same. The practices of Yoga can transform you and draw you in to catch a glimpse of Non-Dualistic reality, our true condition.

Yoga is not Magic; it’s Alchemy. It will not give you powers. You’re not about to bi-locate (although that would be fun), turn someone into a toad, or make the one you love yours just because you did an hour of asana, and some meditation. In fact, it won’t happen at all (but only for those who are to be true adepts). And if someone claims to be a great yogi because they can do such things, turn around and run! Yoga unfolds and unravels you slowly without a tremendous amount of hoopla!

Yoga is Alchemy where, like the quest to transmute lead into gold, your practice is the flame which transforms the raw material of – your body, emotions, and thinking mind into the Diamond body. To fan the flame of your practice, you immerse yourself into no-mind which together with the breath is the fuel for the flame. As Georg Feuerstein says: the traditional purpose is the radical one, not the one for the pursuit of a good looking body and becoming forever young, but rather, where the use of asana is to assist the development of the transubstantiated body – the Diamond Body (…no it doesn’t have “yoga butt”). But, he says, there are very few of us who have the determination and stamina to develop this mastery of the practice. Because of this – Are we left with what he calls “garden variety yoga”? No luckily we’re not. Through asana practice, one can “taste” the existence of non-duality, which is essentially like Samadhi. We can flow in and out of this state . It’ll happen, whenever it is to happen. You have no control over it, can’t predict it or plan it. Although, if in fact you do have expectations of developing some extraordinary powers, they will surely be shattered or dissolved – depending on the strength of the expectation. With sincere and constant practice, self-evaluation and observation; engaging in alchemy with the breath and no-mind, one can achieve this state and experience our true condition, the Non-Dualistic Nature of Reality. This is the true Magic of Yoga.

A prayer: Now is the Time, by Hafiz

Now is the time to know

That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider

A lasting truce with yourself and God?

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child’s training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

with veracity and love.

Now is the time for the world to know

That every thought and action is sacred.

That this is the time

For you to compute the impossibility

That there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is Sacred

 

 - Hafiz

From the book - Zen in the Art of Archery

Master: The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen.

We masters say: one shot - one life! What this means, your cannot understand … if the shot is loosed with a jerk there is a danger of the thread snapping. For purposeful and violent peole the rift becomes final, and they are left in the awful centre between heaven and earth.

Student: What must I do then?

Master: You must learn to wait properly.

Student: And how does one learn that?

Master: By letting go of yourself, leaving yourself and everything yours behind you so decisively that nothing more is left of you but purposeless tension.

autobiography - Eugen Herrigel

Love is ever present...

Love never changes. You do. You change with each passing day. Fickle because of who you want to be, who you want to know, what you think. You change according to your needs, your wants, your desires. Love that is projected, narcissistic love, love that is conditional is not real love... 

That’s ok. We all do it. 

Big Love never changes. It is ever present and constant. When you stop, in the stillness of present centeredness; in the silence of equanimity; in the warm embrace of Divine Love, Love will be there. Ever present and available to you with each moment. 

Peace and Love friends!

Freshly blended citrus juice for the morning...

Refreshing and energizing! YUM!

Don't look toward the goal...

Constant practice alone is the secret of success.

Quote from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika